Jesse Bjorkman

Prince William Sound faces a winter without ferry service as the Aurora is overhauled

“they may have had one ferry call in the last 3 years or so”

Lawmakers press state on Safer Seward Highway project's size and funding as DOT reopens comment

“significant continued pushback on the Seaford Seward Highway project design, limitation of, of access to trailheads, mountains, other things”

Alaska's new judicial ethics code changes reporting of incapacity and misconduct

Troopers arrest North Pole man found inside vacant Fairbanks apartment

“we do arrest people for burglary and trespassing all of the time for a similar situation that you just provided.”

Where Alaska's gas-line tax deal stands, and what's still stuck

Alaska raises unemployment benefits, updates travel insurance law

“42 Other states have passed this model so far, and It's good, good policy.”

Alaska Senate passes S-corp LNG tax with 2028 effective date

Three lawmakers get paid for late travel claims, and one filed most of them

Dunleavy vetoes rural transit planning bill

“would like to see DOT consider more non-motorized users of our rights-of-way as they are engaging in transportation from place to place”

Five candidates file for Alaska governor in 2026

Alaska Senate rejects healthcare compact bill in 11-9 vote

Alaska Senate adds telehealth parity and disability coverage to benefits bill

Alaska Senate passes bill letting pharmacists treat minor illnesses without a doctor's call

Stack Energy Plans Multi-Gigawatt Data Center Near Prudhoe Bay

Alaska Senate Passes Education Bill With 4% Property Tax Cap

“when the check arrived at our local school districts and our superintendents and principals and teachers went to cash that check, it was actually less money than we had funded K-12 education before”

Alaska Senate Passes Statewide Styrofoam Ban for Restaurants

“This is an important issue, one that people might not think about as being extremely important as we consider other weighty issues. But I wanted to point out a provision in this bill that allows for a local option. If a community, municipality, local government wants to reverse the styrofoam ban, they can.”

Senate Passes Insurance Gap Fix for Gig Economy Drivers

House Finance Committee advances auto-IRA bill for Alaska workers

Senate panel advances bill requiring humans in autonomous commercial vehicles

Alaska Senate committee hears nurse staffing bill amid safety concerns

“I know that having safe staffing levels in hospitals and having work environment where folks feel supported and, and, um, able to execute their job in a reasonable manner, especially when dealing with patients, is super important.”

Alaska Lawmakers Advance Electronic Pull-Tab Gaming Bill

“you have created some danger in allowing one manufacturer to completely control the market in Alaska by allowing that manufacturer a very significant level of price advantage for their product by owning a distributor”

Alaska House panel expands farm tax breaks to flowers, hay

House panel rejects gaming price caps after industry debate

“Setting a cap at 30% would essentially risk creating deadweight loss in the economy, meaning that smaller manufacturers who do not have the assets and resources to compete in the market would essentially be priced out of the market because they could not compete.”

House Resources passes agricultural land lease bill unanimously

Alaska Senate passes bill to expand early intervention for delayed children

Senate panel advances bill barring felons from school boards

Alaska lawmakers debate farm tax break for horses, flowers

Senate panel advances Native corporation reporting exemption despite concerns

“based on the research that my office have done, exempt— these three things together would exempt the vast majority of Alaska Native corporations from reporting. And so, it goes a long way to achieving the same thing as Section 2. But for some of the very largest corporations, they would still— the ones that sort of for which this reporting isn't really a burden or isn't as much of a burden, they would still have to do the reporting.”

House panel hears electronic pull-tab bill with 35% manufacturer cap

“Currently, there is no cap on what a manufacturer can take as a cost of their contract to provide paper pull tabs. There's none at all. Zero. Unlimited.”

Alaska House panel debates insurance gaps for gig delivery drivers

“What's happening is the Property and Casualty Insurance Trade Group and kind of their national standard is that when a courier is driving around and they have their app open, that they essentially are working and using their car for commercial purposes. At that point in time, then people's personal insurance, they don't cover the driver.”

Alaska Senate Advances Right-to-Repair Bill for Consumer Electronics

“most simply, the bill was narrowed to— from a broad swath of electronic things to only consumer electronics.”

Alaska Senate committee advances sports betting bill with tax revenue promise

Senate Committee Advances Healthcare Licensing Compact Bill

House Committee Hears Divided Testimony on Electronic Pull-Tab Bill

Alaska bill would require human operators in autonomous freight trucks

“It seems to me that an autonomous vehicle that was not under kind of the structure plan and protection of a company that was specializing in autonomous vehicles would be more of a safety risk than one that was. So why is there a carve-out for autonomous vehicles for, for private use?”

Alaska Legislature Falls Two Votes Short of Overriding Elections Bill Veto

Alaska House panel considers doubling bulk fuel loan cap amid price crisis

Senate panel debates $1B tax break for Alaska LNG amid cost secrecy

Senate panel advances resolution urging federal reclassification of 911 dispatchers

Alaska Senate panel hears proposal for immigrant integration office

Senate advances farm tax bill, carves out Anchorage exemption

Alaska House Committee Advances Five Bills in Single Session

Alaska Senate Panel Advances Social Media Ban for Minors Under 16

“We've had some significant incidents in my school district, and I know many school districts around the state, with students having some very, very negative interactions that have spilled over into school because of things that have started on social media. Sometimes violent altercations and interactions that have led to threats of pretty, pretty intense violence at school, and then sometimes violence gets carried out.”

Alaska Senate passes bill to ease classic car import registration

House panel advances statewide evacuation alert system

Senate panel advances property tax assessment cap bill

“It simply is a smoothing over time by which assessed values are allowed to rise so that they are consistent and expected by property owners and so that their property tax bill are something that is not a shock when it increases by thousands of dollars from year to year.”

Senate advances pension bill without updated actuarial analysis

Senate Finance Advances Agricultural Leasing Reform After Farmer Cites $9,000 Annual Fee

Senate panel adopts changes to health care compact bill

Senate panel hears workforce plan for Alaska LNG pipeline