Legislators, who received a 67 percent raise a couple of years ago, will want to distance themselves from the salary commission and any suggestion that they are taking care of themselves.

This will be a great opportunity to amend the bill and to reject the automatic raises and to eliminate the commission, which was set up to allow legislators to avoid voting on salary increases to take care of themselves.

In theory, a real independent commission would work.

But Dunleavy destroyed the credibility of this organization in 2023 and it can’t be salvaged. Dunleavy removed all former members of the commission and replaced them with a compliant group and a prearranged plan to approve raises for Dunleavy, the lieutenant governor, top Dunleavy employees and legislators.

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Perhaps Dunleavy will create a new child care task force to study the work of the first task force.

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The State of the State speech Tuesday included a sermon about school choice from Gov. Mike Dunleavy, along with his flawed interpretation of the Harvard charter school study.

The only choice that Dunleavy needs to make is to support public schools in Alaska.

The Alaska Constitution spells out the mandate, which is to “establish and maintain a system of public schools open to all children of the state.”

What the Dunleavy speech didn’t include was any mention of the message he sent earlier Tuesday to some Alaskans by email urging them to testify Wednesday against a House bill to increase education funding. He should have come clean with all Alaskans about this.

“Speak out against HB 69 and demand accountability in education funding,” he said in his email, not in his speech.

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The Alaska Legislature has yet to be given a good reason to hand over the $50 million that Gov. Mike Dunleavy wants for the Alaska Industrial Development & Export Authority for a gas pipeline study.

The Alaska Gasline Development Corporation can’t find a private company willing to pay $50 million for the final design and engineering work on a proposed gas pipeline unless there is a pledge to get that money back from the state.

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I had expected that those Republican legislators who are afraid to counter anything emitted by Donald Trump would be intimidated into voting against House Joint Resolution 4 in Juneau today.

The measure in the Alaska Legislature calling for the retention of Denali’s traditional name should have been approved unanimously, but 10 Trumpists voted against it.

The House Rules Committee held a hearing on the matter Monday, creating a revised measure that was approved 28-10, with Rep. Kevin McCabe calling for reconsideration. Passage of this resolution won’t stop Trump, but it’s a good idea to get this on the record.

The arrogant way in which the Trump edict came about, issued with no attempt to consider the opinions of Alaskans, will help ensure that the mountain remains Denali, not McKinley, to Alaskans.

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In his State of the State Speech Tuesday night, Gov. Mike Dunleavy will recycle the empty education slogans that constitute his alleged education reform plan, which met with statewide opposition last year and will do so again.

Dunleavy will use his speech to mention the Harvard study on charter schools that he has been promoting for the past year, misrepresenting the contents. He has repeatedly failed to acknowledge the flaws and weaknesses in that study, which have been exposed by a diligent Fairbanks high school math teacher.

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In late 2010 or early 2011, Gary Chouest, head of the family business, talked to Young on the phone, offering to raise funds for Young’s legal bills from his various family-owned companies, according to a House ethics investigation.

In January 2011, at a fundraiser in Texas, Gary handed an envelope to Young that contained a dozen $5,000 checks. The checks were from 12 family companies, all of them at 16201 East Main St. in Galliano, LA.

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It was an impulsive decision by President Trump to pardon all of the January 6 criminals, including violent offenders, according to reporting by Axios.

"Trump just said: 'Fuck it: Release 'em all,’ an adviser familiar with the discussions,” told the news site.

This contradicted the promise that Vice President Vance made eight days earlier on Fox News: "If you committed violence that day, obviously you shouldn't be pardoned."

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Sullivan always uses the “didn’t read it,” “didn’t see it,” “didn’t hear about it,” “didn’t know about it” excuse when he can’t think of what to say or is afraid that Trump will take offense.

It is a scam, of course, as Sullivan comments all the time about things he hasn’t read when he believes he is operating in a safe space.

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With Trump’s command, the federal government will waste money changing maps and documents and force federal employees to call it McKinley, but most people in Alaska will continue to call it Denali, the name that has been state policy for 50 years and was in use long before the United States came into existence.

Keep it Denali, regardless of Trump’s McKinley obsession.

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