Alaska Senate Republicans

Full Press Release

News from the Alaska State Legislature, the Office of Senator Kaufman
For Immediate Release: May 07, 2026

Operating Budget Emphasizes Need for Sustainable Fiscal Plan

Senator James Kaufman Web Site Send Email

JUNEAU – Today the Alaska State Senate passed the Fiscal Year 2026 Operating Budget in a vote of 16 to 4.

The Senate Republican Caucus appreciates the Finance Co-Chairs for making the difficult decisions necessary to keep our state afloat. They worked diligently for the past five months to craft a lean and fiscally conservative budget with flat funding while taking Fiscal Year 2027 into consideration.

This is a tough fiscal year with many financial constraints due to dropping oil prices, volatility in the stock market, and uncertainty surrounding federal funding.

However, our fiscal crisis was entirely avoidable.

Had the state government instituted a GDP-based spending cap, enacted reforms within our state departments to ensure efficiency, searched for expanded economic opportunity, and restructured the permanent fund and dividend for sustainability and stability, we could have millions saved instead of billions in deficit.

Our counterparts in the Democrat-lead Majority continue to push solely for new revenue while blatantly ignoring the many other factors that contribute to a sustainable fiscal plan.

As Sir Winston Churchill said, “For a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle. ”

The Democrat-lead Coalition keeps attempting to create boogeymen of corporations in a feeble attempt to hide years – if not decades – of fiscal irresponsibility and neglect of basic economic practices.

This is a financial crisis of the state’s own creation. In 2013 our state savings (cumulative between the CBR, SBR, and ERA) was $30 billion. Now, our state savings has been spent down to $6 billion.

If we spend our savings, the legislature will not be choosing which departments to trim or which vacant positions to cut. We will be choosing between funding for Fish and Game studies to ensure we maintain sustainable levels of hunting or Department of Natural Resources being able to issue permits; between funding for education or Medicaid; State Troopers or fire prevention.

Essential services that maintain our families and communities will begin to disappear. We cannot change the past. However, we can learn from it.

In order for our state to survive, we need to create a sustainable and responsible fiscal plan that includes a spending cap, efficiency-focused reforms, and restructuring of the Permanent Fund and dividend.

We encourage our counterparts in the legislative and executive branches to learn from past mistakes and pursue responsible policy that ensures growth and wellness not just for our state coffers, but for Alaskans’ pocketbooks as well.