Will Stapp

House Finance advances Alaska LNG tax bill, curtailing North Slope's power to negotiate

Same committee, same day, two close votes on Alaska LNG ratepayer protection — and they didn't go the same way

“I think the RCA already has, you know, enough due diligence and power to be able to ensure that they're not going to basically sign off on a gas contract that's, say, exorbitant to Alaskans.”

House Finance writes a $16 gas-price cap into Alaska LNG bill — even if Enstar's contract isn't signed

“this amendment basically mirrors what we know to be the contract that Instar already has with the developer based on Instar's testimony”

House Finance amendment lets pipeline-route municipalities bill Alaska LNG directly — skipping the state appropriation step

Alaska's filing deadline turned the 2026 election from rumor into a real race

ENSTAR says it locked in a price for Alaska LNG

Stapp draws same-party challenge in East Fairbanks House district

North Slope, Kenai mayors negotiate gas line property tax as House Finance delays bill deadline

AGDC tells House Finance that Alaska property tax is 10 times higher than competing LNG projects

Energy consultant tells House Finance that property tax makes Alaska LNG unfinanceable

Alaska House raises unemployment benefits, expands telehealth coverage

Alaska Passes Age of Consent Bill After Weeks-Long Senate Delay

Alaska House passes tobacco age increase, vape tax, cigar lounge exemption

“the fundamental difference between the T21 federal law and this bill is the state, if you pass this, is now actively going to punish people who are 20 and 19 years old. Mr. Speaker, those kids are going to go to war someday, okay? That's why they joined the Army.”

Alaska Legislature fails to override veto of pension bill

“Better benefits cost more money, Mr. President. And this bill is probably a better benefit than the current 401 for a lot of employees, but just know the reason it is is because it's going to cost more money.”

Alaska Legislature approves $1,000 PFD, $200 energy relief payment

House panel cuts youth tobacco fines, advances Tobacco 21 bill

“if you go on Fort Wainwright or JBear or Eielson or Elmendorf, you will find hundreds of people that are not age 21 that are actively using tobacco products.”

Alaska House Passes Paid Parental Leave, Exempts Seasonal Workers from Sick Leave

Alaska House panel hears testimony on statewide spay-neuter program, no vote taken

House Finance approves pharmacist prescription bill after rejecting nurse compact

“My only reservation— I have two reservations here. Number one, I don't want to do anything that effectively kills the underlying bill.”

House panel hears gas line tax bill with 15-cent volumetric fee

“when I talked to the Glenfarm folks, they were here and testified Committee, obviously they have a rub at this 15 cents. They prefer 6 cents. I basically wanted the material difference between 6 and 15.”

House Finance advances fire station grant program after rejecting rural aid amendments

“if you go to 75% or 60%, I know we flipped the numbers backwards in the conceptual amendment. You are just going to have this program, if you do allocate money, it is just going to soak it all up to those ones.”

Alaska budget fight leaves $40M in senior, disability care hanging

House Finance Advances Paid Parental Leave Bill

“if we do this and we enact this in law and we know that we're going to burn through all these funds, and jack that employer contribution rate to the UI fund and all this back up, but we're going to run out of benefit anyways. What do we tell people that maybe they had one kid in 2029 and then— or 2030— and then in 2040 they're going to have another kid and we say, oh, by the way, we don't have that program anymore.”

Home care worker pay mandate divides Alaska lawmakers over rural access

Alaska Legislature Forms Conference Committee on $14B Operating Budget

House Finance advances pharmacist prescribing bill with drug restrictions

“I was under the impression with the adoption of Amendment 3, we basically took care of that issue with the RU486, mifepristone, misoprostol kind of banning from prescribing prescriptions to assign them”

Alaska House Panel Hears Push to Raise Tobacco Age to 21

House Finance Advances Education Funding Bill Despite Fiscal Concerns

“It basically defines administrative expense is strictly narrow to administrative employee salaries, administrative employee benefits, professional and technical services, supplies, communication, travels, dues and fees, and school board stipends.”

House advances expanded disability benefits for all public workers

House Finance advances education fund amendment, rejects gas pipeline revenue tie

“I can tell you that it is incredibly clear that the fathers of Alaska's constitution repeatedly rejected constitutional earmarks.”

House Finance cuts West Susitna road funding from capital budget

“This deletes a sizable chunk of that over and beyond what's necessary in the STIP. It's $94 million. And also, like, the West Zoo Access Project is one of the few things that we have in Alaska that is going toward positive steps for resource development.”

Alaska House passes dementia training bill for nursing aides

Senate Finance advances $2.8B operating budget to Rules Committee

House Finance considers multi-year school funding averaging bill

House panel questions education fund proposal with no guaranteed revenue

“the framers of the Constitution were very pro-education advocates. And the real question is, why did they decide not to include a dedicated fund for education when they drafted the state's constitution when we had one basically in territorial times.”

House Finance hears $8.4M in governor's budget amendments

House panel debates $113M education funding formula shift

Alaska Advances Mental Health Education Guidelines Without Mandates

House Finance Advances Mental Health Education Guidelines for Schools

Senate adds $156M to capital budget, prioritizes deferred maintenance

Alaska House panel hears bill to overhaul school funding timelines

House Passes Polystyrene Ban for Restaurants Despite Business Concerns

House Finance committee debates pharmacist prescribing bill amid abortion concerns

House Advances Corporate Tax Bill, Rejects AI and Nuclear Amendments

House Finance weighs bill to standardize state payment timelines

Conference Committee Forms to Resolve HB 289 Budget Differences