All Americans have the right to support causes they believe in without fear of harassment, intimidation, or “cancellation.” Yet a new law in Alaska would diminish the free speech rights of many Alaskans […]
The Importance of Donor Free Speech
COVID Relief Funding: Are Alaska’s School Districts Spending Responsibly?
Introduction The Alaska Department of Education and Early Development (DEED) has released several dashboards showing how COVID relief funds for education in Alaska are being utilized. In total, Alaska’s school districts have received […]
Anchorage’s Fiscal Health Receives a ‘D’ Grade
As of 2020, Anchorage faced a financial cliff of $658.7 million, leading Truth in Accounting (TIA) to label it a “sinkhole city” because the municipal government did not have enough assets to cover […]
Anchorage School District Payroll Analysis, 2018–2020
This payroll analysis will examine the annual salaries, benefits, and total compensation for different groups of Anchorage School District employees in school years 2018-2019 and 2019-2020. The Anchorage School District’s searchable payroll database […]
Testimony: Health Care Services By Telelealth
Major Win for Alaska Students
Yesterday, something truly historic occurred. Nine years after Alaska Policy Forum began calling attention to our state’s poor student outcomes, and proposed adopting “the Florida reading reforms” as a remedy, legislators have finally […]
Alaska’s Unemployment Insurance Taxes, Ranked
Unemployment insurance taxes (UI taxes) have significant effects on a state’s business climate, and unfortunately, Alaska’s system ranks 43rd out of 50, according to a recent report by the Tax Foundation. UI is […]
Private School, State Reimbursement: Family Choice
by Jodi Taylor, Alaska Policy Forum Board Chair Alaskan parents have a legitimate right to choose the school that is the best fit for their children, even if that is a private school. […]
Interested In Knowing How Your Legislators Voted On Their Own Pay Cut?
Alaska Policy Forum’s simple Legislative Vote Tracker tool allows you to easily see how your state representative and senator vote on bills. For example, 57 out of 60 state legislators voted in January […]
Costs & Risks of Alaska Pension Changes
Experts from Reason Foundation’s Pension Integrity Project recently joined us for a 45-minute discussion on the costs and risks of changes to Alaska’s pension systems. You can watch the recording here (begins 04:30), […]
National Charter Schools Week
Guide to COVID-19 School District Funding
Alaska has received hundreds of millions of dollars in federal COVID-19 relief funds for education, most of which have gone straight to public school districts. Alaska Policy Forum (APF) has written extensively about […]
Op-Ed: Alaska Businesses Need Unemployment Insurance Reform
This op-ed was originally published in the Juneau Empire on March 15, 2022. by Jeff Garness As the primary payers of the unemployment system, business owners like me have a vested interest […]
WEBINAR: Costs and Risks of Alaska Pension Changes
In 2006, the state of Alaska moved from one type of retirement system (defined benefits pension-DBP) for state employees to a 401(k)-style defined contribution retirement plan. The reason for this switch was concerns […]
Alaska’s Congressional Special Election Disgrace
The special election to fill the remainder of late Congressman Don Young’s term is a perfect storm of confusion for most Alaskans, devastating trust in our elections. The special statewide primary election to […]