This is a copy of the Letter of Support APF provided to the Senate Finance Committee on May 18, 2021. Click here to open a printable PDF of the Letter in a new tab. […]
Letter of Support for SB 102 – Compact for a Balanced Budget
Webinar: Responsible Alaska Budget Q&A
Alaska is facing a budget dilemma, and as the years pass it becomes increasingly clear this financial emergency cannot be ignored. To help combat the crisis, join Alaska Policy Forum for a virtual […]
Coalition Letter: Oppose the $15 Minimum Wage to Save Our Businesses
A nationwide coalition of 62 groups, activists, and legislators, including Alaska Policy Forum, sent the following letter to members of Congress, urging them to oppose a $15 federal minimum wage. Click here to […]
Flattening the Coronavirus Curve Shouldn’t Be Shouldered Solely by Private Businesses
By Win Gruening This op-ed originally appeared in the Juneau Empire on March 19, 2020. In the space of a few short months, our world has been abruptly upended. On March 11, the World […]
Right-Sizing Alaska’s State Government Workforce Part II
Earlier this year, we commissioned and published a report by Key Policy Data (KPD) providing an analysis of how much Alaska pays for its public employees, comparing their compensation to their private sector […]
2018 Alaska Legislature Grades
412 Anchorage City Employees Cost More than the Mayor in 2017
True to one of our guiding principles that government should be limited and as transparent as possible, we are providing the most recent annual payroll for the Municipality of Anchorage. We believe it […]
Why I Voted Against the Anchorage School District Budget
By Dave Donley, Anchorage School Board Member At the February 20 Anchorage School Board meeting, I voted against the proposed Anchorage School District FY19 operating budget and a new six-year capital plan. After […]
Alaska options for health care reform and administrative improvements to the Affordable Care Act
By Roger Stark, MD, FACS, Alaska Policy Forum Visiting Scholar and WPC Health Care Policy Analyst Patients are the most important part of the health care system and they should be in charge of […]
Right-Sizing Alaska’s State Government Workforce
A few weeks ago the Alaska Policy Forum highlighted an analysis from Key Policy Data, a national data visualization firm. The analysis found that in 2016 Alaska had the second-least productive state and […]
Will Alaska be Swallowed by Health Care Costs?
Some good questions were asked this week by state legislators about Alaska’s ballooning health care budget. On Wednesday, January 19 in the Senate Finance Committee meeting, Governor Walker’s Director of the Office of […]
Alaska’s Budget Deficit: Have we really cut enough?
In a large statewide poll conducted by Hellenthal and Associates in the spring of 2017, Alaskan voters agreed with the following statement by a two-to-one margin: “The state budget needs to be drastically […]
Another New Tax Proposed for Alaskans
The administration of Alaska Governor Walker is scrounging for every dollar it can get from the populace. His latest move is to duplicate registration that is already achieved by the federal government by […]
More Taxes Will Discourage Investment
We are happy to see the distinguished think tank R Street Institute recently weigh in on Alaska. We agree with their conclusion that, “more taxes will only discourage the investment and growth Alaska needs […]
Leading Tax Experts to Alaska Legislature: Whatever You Tax, You Get Less Of
The Tax Foundation, the nation’s leading independent tax policy nonprofit organization has published their take on the governor’s tax proposal. Highlights: “When Alaska’s legislature convenes in the year’s fourth special session on Monday, […]
AK Capital Budget & Non-Mission Critical Items
Look at this if you want to see excessive spending (some pork). Think of this in terms of your PFD and value the items at $1,000–last year’s PFD.