Tom Begich goes after Dunleavy over vocational-training vetoes

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Thomas Begich opened a direct line of attack on Gov. Mike Dunleavy on Thursday, accusing him of vetoing capital-budget money for three vocational programs that train Alaskans for exactly the kind of construction work the state's marquee projects will demand.

"The Governor vetoed funding to expand AVTEC, the Alaska Teamsters Construction Driver Training Center, and the Fairbanks Pipeline Training Center — the very programs preparing Alaska's next generation of skilled workers," Begich said. His point lands on an apparent contradiction: the state is chasing a massive natural-gas pipeline built on promises of Alaska-hire and a ready workforce, even as it trims the programs that would supply those workers.

Begich offered a funding fix of his own: tapping "more than $200 million sitting above what's needed in the unemployment insurance trust fund." That idea comes with a real catch, though. The fund is financed by employer payroll contributions and, by law, exists only to pay unemployment benefits — so redirecting it to job training would take legislative action, and likely objection from employers who fund it and from anyone wary of draining a reserve built for the next downturn.

Dunleavy has not responded to Begich or addressed these three programs publicly, but his office has framed this year's vetoes broadly as a response to a revenue shortfall. Whether the cuts amount to gutting workforce readiness or trimming around the edges depends on an individual philosophy on the role of government.

The attack is also notable for who's making it. Begich and Dunleavy aren't strangers — Begich served in the state Senate from 2017 to 2023, overlapping with Dunleavy's governorship, and the two have a working history from those years. A pointed, name-the-governor critique like this is a sharper turn than the gubernatorial field has generally taken so far, and a sign Begich intends to run against Dunleavy's record directly.