Sitemap - 2021 - The Alaska Memo by Matt Buxton
Alaska and the terrible, horrible, mostly bad year
One last Lora Reinbold newsletter for 2021
Redistricting and omicron, oh my
‘This is going to be a real nightmare.’ Redistricting lawsuit gets underway
Dunleavy's budgeting 'like a bunch of drunken monkeys'
Let's look into the redistricting lawsuits
Surprise! Bronson did, in fact, meddle with the city's water supply.
Anchorage is a clown car and Bronson’s at the wheel
Bronson's undermining the city
Getting in the spirit of the (campaign) season
Covid-19 matters to Bronson… when it comes to cutting
The extreme right gets its candidate for governor
The extreme right is getting more extreme
A conspicuously skipped coinflip reveals another underhanded redistricting outcome
It's rerun season for the far-right
With thin precedent on redistricting, fate of current plan could be anyone's guess
Looking ahead at redistricting's next steps
Redistricting Board finalizes plan with attempted dig at dissenters
Alaska Redistricting Board shows its ugly, partisan colors with Eagle River fix
Redistricting Board settles Senate pairings for all but Anchorage
Redistricting Board approves new House districts after tense day
It's aliiiiiiive. Campaign contribution limits revived by APOC.
Grifty, conspiratorial and anti-science. The vaccine-skeptic summit was peak Bronson.
Their lies are killing us and lining pockets.
In prove-it moment for the extreme right, Zaletel recall falls on its face
Anchorage Assembly passes mask mandate, Bronson manages to both-sides the hate
Bronson, allies accuses Assembly of overstepping bounds that they themselves are trampling
Bronson administration meets the consequences of their anti-science, pro-covid actions
'The pilot here doesn't understand our plane is crashing.'
From covid-19 to elections, the Bronson administration isn't acting in good faith
After wave of antisemitism and hate, it’s clear why Bronson doesn’t want the pandemic to end
Hate-filled backlash is making it harder to want to run for office. And that's the point.
The Anchorage Assembly's pending mask mandate is a big deal.
'Low-risk doesn't mean no risk.' The problem with playing the odds with covid-19.
If Bronson and Dunleavy won’t step up on covid-19, they should at least stop making it worse
'We are the worst place in the pandemic.' Alaska begins rationing care statewide
Political opportunism is dragging out the pandemic and state's fiscal uncertainty
Have a nice trip, see you later this fall
A divided Legislature stumbles once again
A step forward and two unvaccinated steps back
'The less covid, the better for us.'
Hospital capacity matters but fewer covid-19 cases would be even better
Covid-19 seizes the legislative spotlight (that it should've had all along)
A $1,100 PFD and a lot more left
The Game of Leverage and Concocted Constitutional Crises
Redistricting gets underway and Alaska's investment income takes center stage
Legislature's bipartisan baby steps run into instant gratification problem
Garas and Walkers and Bear Doctors, oh my!
The Senate Finance Committee's had it with Dunleavy
Legislators publish balanced path to larger PFDs. Dunleavy sticks to demands.
PFD in peril. The special session is a big bet by Dunleavy
He's running... and demanding that taxes be put to a vote of the people
Dunleavy lets PCE ruling stand, avoiding risk of expanded precedent
Judge rules PCE cannot be emptied as Dunleavy administration had claimed
Dunleavy supports a sales tax to cover cost of larger PFD, drops demand for voter approval
The PCE lawsuit is going to be a game-changer no matter the outcome
The PCE lawsuit gets it day in court, Morgan resigns and Dunleavy proposes—GASP—revenues
'Nobody believes that.' Conservatives balk as the consequences for their actions come due
With the special session delayed, legislators continue work on fiscal plan
The delayed special session is nearly as weird as the 2022 elections are looking
The problem with 'We’ll figure it out later' fiscal plans
The Legislature's long-shot fiscal plan comes into very blurry focus
Dunleavy fired anti-Trump attorneys, what will he do now one's exposed as a racist homophobe?
Dunleavy's gambit on PCE could have far-ranging consequences
AFN, others file lawsuit against Dunleavy's 'back-door veto' of Power Cost Equalization
The long-awaited final order in Recall Dunleavy lawsuit is finally out and it's a doozy
Bronsonville was spiraling, so the Assembly gave it a 'quiet death'
Ranked-choice voting is here to stay. (Probably)
Politics are a long game and Alaska summers are short
With few details, Bronson hopes to dodge public input on mass shelter
Gara for governor? And the working group gets underway
The success of the Legislature's working group hinges on compromise, so don't hold your breath
Dunleavy has made a real mess of things, but at least there's a silver lining
Dunleavy's short-sighted PFD shenanigans could upend Alaska's budget process
Alaska's saved from the brink of shutdown by a... working group
The clock's ticking if legislators want to avoid a shutdown
Deal coming together to avoid government ‘pause’
With shutdown looming, Dunleavy renews push for $2,350 PFD that legislators already rejected
The firefighter and the arsonist
Dunleavy has painted himself into a corner and is trying to sue his way out
Dunleavy pledges shutdown, demands Legislature appease House Republican minority
In night of excuses, Republicans vote against budget, the PFD, PCE, scholarships and oil credits
As end nears, legislators look to spread the pain if compromise fails
'I don’t believe it.' Legislators trash Dunleavy's dividend plan
'Pick. Click. Pay your taxes.' Or don't.
‘The governor’s plan works fiscally IF’
Don’t call it an income tax, call it an income fee
There's very little certainty in Dunleavy's budget plan
‘We don’t have a crystal ball,’ Dunleavy team admits when pressed on budget plan
Permanent Fund spending limit 'merely a guideline,' argues Dunleavy administration
'Total frustration' as Legislature's budget battle to drag on past Memorial Day
Something doesn't add up with Dunleavy's dividend plan
The pandemic takes a turn toward personal responsibility
Like it or not, the $2,300 PFD is a major turning point
$2,300 PFD and a $1.5 billion overdraw
The best laid plans of budgets and transparency
Dunleavy's conversation starter on the PFD will end with big cuts or big taxes
Of confirmations and Anchorage elections
Operating budget clears the House with several GOP amendments and one big problem
The brewing battle between the haves and have nots
The Senate operating budget has a point to make
Angry, Young and Sick. Fairbanks' covid-19 surge could be a sign of things to come.
After long, exhausting and mostly dumb weekend, the House postpones final debate on the budget
As the budget advances, the size of the PFD starts to take shape
After marathon session, Legislature finally approves covid-19 disaster declaration
Who could've possibly seen this coming?
We're all over the pandemic, but that doesn't mean it's over
And the Reinbold came back the very next day
The problem with high-tech solution to elections
One thousand four hundred twelve rejected ballots
The end of the Chair Reinbold Era
It's almost nearly time for the budget
Domino's Pizza Tracker, but for voting
Navigating the pandemic's sea of gray areas
'We will do whatever we can to be obstructionists'
There are strange things done in the Capitol gym
A year of more questions than answers
It's going to be 'halfway' through session forever
Anchorage’s election is as boring as it is consequential
How's Alaska's economy doing? Not great but it also kinda depends
A word of warning as the 2022 election season gets underway
This isn't going away anytime soon
Navigating the marketplace of bad ideas
When will it be safe to stop wearing seatbelts?
It's budget closeout week in the House
Lora, you're embarrassing yourself
The Big Lie, blockchain voting and the Domino's Pizza Tracker
This is getting out of hand, now there are two of them!
What a year, what a week, what a day
The need for public condemnation
Murkowski backs Haaland for interior secretary
The merry world of alternative facts
'It saddens me to make this decision'
'We don’t know, we don’t think so'
'It makes us feel like you don't care'
The equity of emergency funding
‘We’ll get through whatever we’re getting through right now’
Time flies when you're having fun (spending down $16 billion)
The weaponization of disinformation
The problem with platforming Nazis
Setting the course for session
It’s a new day but the House is stuck in 20-20