Alaska State Legislature · Photo source · US government work
Andi Story
Representative · Alaska State House · District 4
49 articles · 20 transcripts
Affiliations
Alaska asks for free civics lessons as a new graduation requirement approaches
Alaska students starting high school in fall 2027 will need to pass civics to graduate. The state is asking for free lessons to post, not writing its own.
Native languages council to decide if state education employees can serve
“we really have a crisis in our Alaska Native languages here across the state in that we are not producing the speakers that we want to”
Sealaska Heritage Institute wins federal grant for Juneau's Tlingit language school program
“It highlights our Indigenous culture and languages. It is the 25th year of their program. It elevates Elders and children,”
Native Village of Paimiut gets $900,000 to teach the Hooper Bay dialect of Yup'ik
“we really have a crisis in our Alaska Native languages here across the state in that we are not producing the speakers that we want to”
An Alaska village will own its solar power — and sell it back to the utility
A state grant puts village-owned solar and batteries in Allakaket, letting it sell power to its utility instead of buying diesel. A second grant expands a hydro project.
Daniel J. Sullivan sued the state today over a denied Senate ballot spot
Denied a Senate ballot spot, Daniel J. Sullivan sued today. Lawmakers held a hearing on the same question the same afternoon.
State board approves UAS master's program for Native language teachers
“an urgent and escalating crisis, the rapid loss of Alaska Native languages and the academic infrastructure that supports their preservation”
Alaska early intervention bill awaits governor's signature
“Alaska currently has chosen to maintain one of the most restrictive eligibility standards for children to receive these Early Intervention Services requiring their— our children to show a 50% delay before they qualify for services. That means families may have to wait months or even years before their child can receive help and miss this important window for improving their development.”
TCLL graduates first 8th grade class after years of Tlingit immersion
Juneau's Tlingit immersion program graduated 8th graders who delivered speeches in Tlingit after years of fluency growth. • Students moved from reluctant speakers to confident communicators in the language. • Program is free for all students and partners with Sealaska Heritage Institute. • Graduates received traditional headbands and advance to high school.
Alaska House passes education package with teacher loan repayment, energy relief
Alaska House passed education bill with teacher loan repayment up to $5,000 yearly for hard-to-fill roles like special education and STEM. • School districts get energy cost reimbursement based on three-year heating and fuel averages. • Local school contribution growth capped at 4% annually to ease property tax pressure. • Bill heads to governor after final Senate approval on last day of session.
Alaska Passes Age of Consent Bill After Weeks-Long Senate Delay
Alaska raised age of consent from 16 to 18 after Senate delay sparked public outcry. • Omnibus crime bill also criminalizes AI-generated child abuse images and requires sex offender registration. • New rules make sexual assault by healthcare workers a standalone crime and expand parole board. • Lawmakers worried about compressed timeline but voted yes anyway.
Senate panel advances education bill with energy relief, loan program
Alaska Senate Finance Committee advanced a bill providing energy cost relief to school districts and expanding teacher loan repayment programs.
Alaska House passes fisheries tax credit expansion unanimously
Alaska House unanimously approved a bill extending a tax credit for seafood processors through 2037 and expanding it to all fish species, aiming to help the industry during poor market conditions.
Senate panel advances bill to stabilize Alaska school funding with enrollment averaging
“our education funding process is broken. School communities routinely do not learn their final funding levels for the upcoming school year until late May, after critical staffing and program decisions must be made.”
Senate panel advances full funding for pre-K students statewide
Senate panel voted to count pre-K students as full-time in school funding, removing a $3 million cap and 2034 sunset date to boost aid to districts.
Alaska schools face May 15 deadline for improvement plans, funding
Alaska school districts must submit three-year improvement plans and budgets to the state by May 15, a deadline that comes as districts budget without knowing their actual state funding.
House panel adopts fiscal note for Alaska Native languages task force bill
Alaska House Education Committee approved funding details for a bill creating a task force to assess how the state supports its 23 Alaska Native languages.
Alaska House passes education funding reform despite split votes on transparency
“Alaska's education funding process is broken. School communities routinely do not learn their final funding levels for the upcoming school year until late May, after critical staffing and program decisions must be made.”
Alaska House Passes Required Local Contribution Cap for Schools
Alaska House voted 24-16 to cap annual growth in required local school funding at 2%, shifting roughly $29 million in education costs from municipalities to the state.
Senate Finance considers $1M teacher loan repayment pilot program
Senate Finance is weighing a $1 million pilot program to pay off student loans for teachers in high-need fields.
House rejects Senate's $1,000 PFD budget, sets up conference talks
House rejected Senate's $1,000 PFD, sending budget to conference committee before May 20 deadline to resolve $477 million gap.
House Judiciary advances consumer data privacy bill with 'duty of loyalty'
Alaska House Judiciary advanced a consumer data privacy bill giving Alaskans control over personal data collection and a new duty of loyalty requirement borrowed from Utah law.
State Defends Transboundary Mining Oversight as Stakeholders Demand Stronger Protections
Alaska says water monitoring shows no mining damage from B.C. projects upstream of Southeast Alaska salmon rivers. • Fisheries groups and tribes say the state isn't doing enough to stop pollution threats or comment on new mine permits.
House panel advances Alaska Native languages task force bill after rejecting university, state agency seats
“I too speak against this amendment. I do believe that it is a legislative task force and it is important to have people coming before the task force representing so many different things having to do with the Tlingit language and culture and many other languages.”
House panel advances daylight saving time bill with Western Alaska carve-out
Alaska House panel advanced a bill to stop clock changes starting March 2028, but would split Western Alaska into a separate time zone if the state moves to Pacific Standard Time.
House Finance Advances Education Funding Bill Despite Fiscal Concerns
“We know it will cost $47 million, so that's one reason to vote no in addition.”
Alaska Legislature Falls Two Votes Short of Overriding Elections Bill Veto
Alaska Legislature fell two votes short of overriding Gov. Dunleavy's veto of a bill that would have let voters track ballots online and fix envelope errors before rejection.
Alaska residential schools seek doubled stipends to cover rising costs
Senate Bill 257 would double state funding for Alaska residential schools to cover rising costs. The bill aims to fix a funding gap that has remained stagnant since 2014.
House Finance cuts West Susitna road funding from capital budget
House Finance cut $95 million for the West Susitna Access Road from the capital budget. Lawmakers fear the project will drain federal funds from other state needs.
House panel advances Alaska Native language task force bill
“I think what's really important is we really have a crisis in our Alaska Native languages here across the state in that we are not producing the speakers that we want to.”
Alaska House Weighs $113M Education Funding Overhaul
“It seeks to give our districts more stability and more confidence in the public education that we provide. And so I just want to go through that really quickly. There's not many points, but right now what this would do, this bill, was we— our districts would start the year in July knowing their funding number.”
Alaska House passes dementia training bill for nursing aides
Alaska House unanimously passed a bill requiring nursing aides to receive dementia and behavioral health training as the state's senior population grows rapidly.
House Finance considers multi-year school funding averaging bill
“35% of our districts are in hold harmless status right now. And so what this bill does is it lets them finish out their hold harmless status and then it grandfathers them into— they just would smooth into the averaging.”
Galena School District Shows Early Learning Drives Math, Reading Gains
Galena School District's early learning programs show students performing above national math and reading norms, but most programs depend on grants that may not be sustainable long-term.
House panel debates $113M education funding formula shift
House panel heard testimony on a bill that would shift school funding to a three-year enrollment average, costing $113 million annually but giving districts budget certainty earlier in the year.
House Judiciary rejects consumer data privacy bill after 3-3 vote
The House Judiciary Committee deadlocked 3-3 on the Alaska Data Privacy Act. The bill would have let Alaskans control how companies collect and sell their personal data.
Alaska lawmakers urge federal reclassification of 911 dispatchers
Alaska lawmakers are urging Congress to reclassify 911 dispatchers as first responders to give them access to federal training, grants, and mental health resources.
House panel hears Fairbanks road service area reform proposal
House panel heard a bill to let second-class boroughs reshape road service areas without two concurrent elections, a process that has failed 60 percent of the time.
State employee per diem frozen since 2010 despite 40% inflation
House Bill 300 would raise state employee per diem rates frozen since 2010 from $60 to $82 per day, with automatic adjustments every three years starting in 2029.
House panel advances tribal victim advocate confidentiality bill
House committee unanimously advanced a bill adding two words to Alaska law to give tribal domestic violence advocates the same confidentiality protections as other victim service providers.
Residential Schools Seek Doubled Funding Tied to Base Allocation
Alaska's seven residential boarding schools want legislation to double their per-student funding to $25,700 and tie future increases to the base student allocation.
House passes bill requiring transparency at psychiatric hospitals for minors
The House passed a bill requiring psychiatric hospitals to conduct surprise inspections and allow minors weekly private calls with parents.
Alaska House panel hears bill to overhaul school funding timelines
“It is the norm that communities do not know their funding levels until after critical staffing program decisions have been made and local municipalities have finalized their budgets. Last year, community and districts didn't know their current budgets until right before school started.”
House panel hears bill to extend confidentiality to tribal victim advocates
House Bill 384 would grant tribal victim advocates the same legal confidentiality protections currently held by nonprofit and military counselors.
Senate Education Committee advances teacher loan repayment pilot program
Senate Education Committee advanced a bill offering teachers in high-need subjects up to $5,000 yearly for three years to repay student loans, targeting Alaska's teacher shortage.
House Education Committee advances CPR training bill with rural flexibility
House Education Committee advanced a CPR training bill Monday with amendments letting rural schools skip hands-on practice and delaying the requirement to July 2027 to pursue grant funding.
Alaska Tribes Removed 1.5M Pounds Marine Debris Despite Funding Barriers
Alaska tribes removed 1.5 million pounds of marine debris last summer but face barriers like grant complexity and equipment costs that threaten their ability to protect subsistence resources.
Alaska parole board grants 85% of recent applications, reversing trend
Alaska's parole board approved 85% of recent discretionary parole applications, reversing years of declining approval rates as prisoner programming improved after COVID disruptions.
Alaska House committee advances bill to expand early intervention eligibility
A House bill would lower Alaska's early intervention eligibility threshold to match federal standards, potentially saving $34.9 million annually in special education costs.