Campaign Phone
907-987-7638
Campaign YouTube URL
My campaign platform includes three goals, one of which is to preserve access to education and higher education. I believe that the Legislature must continue to work for a permanent increase to the Base Student Allocation, our education funding formula that provides essential base funding to our public and charter schools in Alaska. We also need to return to a defined benefit system for retirement, consider pay increases for teachers and support staff, and look at other stabilizing and investment measures to improve recruitment and retention of school employees. Our students are our future and I believe that when we invest in education in Alaska, we will see educational outcomes improve across our state.
I support an “All In” approach to energy generation in Alaska. After serving on the House Energy Committee, I have learned that there is no single one-size-fits-all solution to our energy costs and transmission challenges. In Fairbanks we have various sources of energy including coal from Usibelli, LNG from Interior Gas Utility (including their current line buildout in Fairbanks), and new renewable generation coming online as a multifaceted solution to increase energy capacity. This last session, the Legislature passed a comprehensive bill to improve transmission and reduce consumer costs, and I was proud to vote for that bill. Additionally, the prospect of new renewable energy resources coming onto our grid presents an exciting frontier.
It is past time that elected officials take bold and immediate action to promote the economic future of our state through measures to stabilize funding, find government efficiencies, and consider new revenue measures. I introduced legislation last year that would swap the funding sources for the annual Permanent Fund Dividend distribution and the state budget, putting the royalty funds from oil drilling towards PFD checks. This takes the volatility currently faced by the Legislature in our annual budgeting process out of the equation, stabilizing funding for essential services, while providing for annual PFD checks of over $1,500 for a decade or more. While this one bill is not a fiscal plan, it would be a big step in the right direction.
I have spoken extensively with state and municipal elections officials about ways to improve and bolster confidence in our election system. I support cleaning up the voter rolls to ensure accurate voter data. I also continue to support a mail-in voting, but hope to make the process more timely so that individuals in rural and remote Alaska never have to worry about whether their ballot was counted. While our elections system can be improved, I am quite proud of the work that our Division of Elections puts in to ensure the most accurate, secure, and safe elections process for all participants. Restoring and increasing faith in this process will ultimately help to increase voter turnout and confidence.
I support the continuation of our open primary and ranked choice voting system. As a young Alaskan committed to bipartisanship and building strong voting coalitions across party lines in my campaign efforts, I believe ranked choice voting allows for a greater diversity of representation. Our new ranked choice system had a trial by fire in the May 2022 special congressional election. Since then, I believe voters have become more aware of how this process works and where they can find additional information. As a candidate, I will continue to help provide voter education and support on this system, and to talk with my constituents about their specific concerns or questions.
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