By Nicholas Begich III This op-ed originally appeared in the Anchorage Daily News on January 18, 2020. On Friday, a group submitted an application to once again change the rules when it comes […]
Oil Tax Changes Require More Careful Consideration
Governor, Commissioner, Senator Announce Education Legislation
On January 15 at Turnagain Elementary, the Governor of Alaska, the Alaska Commissioner for Education, and State Senator Begich announced in a press conference new education legislation to address the 3rd grade literacy […]
Homer and Haines Ring in the New Year with Plastic Bag Bans
On New Year’s Day, Homer and Haines joined a growing laundry list of Alaskan communities banning single-use plastic bags less than 2.5 mils thick. As of January 1, Anchorage, Bethel, Cordova, Haines, Homer, […]
Alaska’s Supreme Court Considers Youth Climate Lawsuit
By Duggan Flanakin This article was originally published by The Heartland Institute on December 24, 2019. For the second time in less than decade, the Alaska Supreme Court will decide on the merits […]
For a thriving economy, government spend must come down even more
By Donna Arduin Kauranen This article was originally published in Must Read Alaska on December 11, 2019. One year ago, Gov. Mike Dunleavy submitted a budget representing the starting place for his budget […]
APF Releases Interactive 2019 PEAKS Maps
Click here to open the press release as a PDF in a new tab. ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Alaska Policy Forum (APF) has published new interactive maps of the 2019 Performance Evaluation for Alaska’s […]
APF Statement on Governor’s FY2021 Proposed Budget
Click here to view the press release in a new tab as a PDF. ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Alaska Policy Forum (APF) issued the following statement in response to today’s release of the Governor […]
APF Statement on FY2021 Revenue Forecast
Click here to open the press release as a PDF in a new tab. ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Alaska Policy Forum (APF) issued the following statement in response to today’s release of the state’s […]
Should States Subsidize Universities?
By Richard K. Vedder This article is reprinted with permission from the Independent Institute and was originally published in Forbes on November 11, 2019. Politicians have historically favored funding state universities, arguing they […]
Mississippi More than a Year ahead of Alaska in Fourth Grade Reading
By Bob Griffin This op-ed was originally published in the Anchorage Daily News and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner in December 2019. For decades, Mississippi was synonymous with poor student achievement. Not anymore. In 2013, […]
The Internet Should Be Fair and Open, Overregulation Threatens Economic Growth
This article originally appeared in The Alaska Landmine on October 22, 2019. Alaska has seen significant technological improvements over the years. Thanks to expanded broadband, thousands of Alaskans can be connected to anyone, […]
Alaska’s Tax Climate, Ranked
The Tax Foundation recently released the 2020 State Business Tax Climate Index, which ranks every state according to the burden of various taxes on their economies. Alaska’s overall score was third in the […]
EPA Allows Environmental Review of Alaska Pebble Mine
By Kenneth Artz This article was originally published by the Heartland Institute on October 11, 2019. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rescinded its Obama-era 2014 decision preventing consideration of the Pebble Mine project […]
“Well-Intentioned, but Poorly-Executed”: Law Firm Finds Serious Flaws in Education Ballot Initiative
Click here to open the press release as a PDF in a new tab. ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The Alaska Students’ Educational Bill of Rights ballot initiative contains “a number of potential legal flaws” […]
Students’ Bill of Rights: “Well-Intentioned but Poorly-Executed”
Proponents of the Alaska Students’ Educational Bill of Rights ballot initiative have begun collecting signatures, but according to a preliminary legal opinion from the law firm Holland & Knight: “The Initiative is a […]
National Coverage of the Administrative Order to Implement Janus
On September 26, 2019, the Governor of Alaska issued an administrative order to rectify the unconstitutionality of the current dues deduction process for union membership and restore the First Amendment rights of our […]