{"id":110,"date":"2026-05-16T04:08:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T04:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movingtoalaskausa.com\/?p=110"},"modified":"2026-05-16T04:08:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T04:08:00","slug":"alaska-legislators-approve-2-5-billion-for-new-construction-and-renovation-projects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movingtoalaskausa.com\/?p=110","title":{"rendered":"Alaska legislators approve $2.5 billion for new construction and renovation projects"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Five days before the end of their regular legislative session, the Alaska Legislature has almost finalized the state\u2019s annual capital budget, one of four regular budget bills that pass through the Capitol annually.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Alaska Legislature approves plan for mental health education in schools<\/a><\/p>\n

Passed by the state House in a 24-16 vote on Friday, the capital budget contains $2.5 billion in spending, including $323 million for drinking water projects, $148.3 million for K-12 public school repairs and construction and $42.5 million for the University of Alaska.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Various federal programs are expected to pay for the bulk of the bill \u2014 $1.8 billion in total. State accounts would be used to pay for the remainder.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

The amount of state money in this year\u2019s capital budget is almost double what it was last year, <\/span>when spending was near a record low<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Even with the increase, spending remains short of what\u2019s needed to cover deferred maintenance. Two years ago, the statewide deferred maintenance backlog <\/span>was estimated at $2.4 billion<\/span>, with $180 million per year needed to keep that figure from increasing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The part of this year\u2019s budget devoted to deferred maintenance is near that amount \u2014 it does not significantly reduce the backlog.<\/span><\/p>\n

The capital budget covers spending in fiscal year 2027, which starts July 1. If oil prices are higher than predicted during the first half of that year, the state would earn millions of dollars in extra revenue, and the bill calls for diverting that money to a variety of maintenance and construction projects statewide.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis capital budget, to be honest, is in some ways a huge step forward over last year,\u201d said Rep. Calvin Schrage, I-Anchorage and co-chair of the House Finance Committee in charge of the capital budget.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe see a much larger investment in being able to address some of our key areas in the state, but it also, I will recognize, does not go far enough, given the levels of deferred maintenance and other needs throughout our state,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Before the final vote, House lawmakers spent two days considering possible amendments to the bill but adopted only two. The most substantial restored some federal funding for <\/span>the West Susitna Access Project<\/span>, a proposal to build a road into the western Matanuska-Susitna Borough in order to support mining projects.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more State lawmakers approve Alaska Railroad land sale to port town of Whittier<\/a><\/p>\n

Members of the House Finance Committee <\/span>had eliminated the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority\u2019s ability to accept federal money<\/span> for the project. On the House floor, lawmakers restored half of the receipt authority.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rep. Kevin McCabe, R-Big Lake and a booster of the project, thanked his colleagues for restoring that money but said he couldn\u2019t vote for the bill because it didn\u2019t contain full funding for the access project.<\/span><\/p>\n

Even then, \u201cIt\u2019s a decent bill. It\u2019s got things in there for just about everybody,\u201d McCabe said.<\/span><\/p>\n

The House\u2019s vote sends the capital budget back to the Senate, which <\/span>approved an earlier version of the bill<\/span> by a 19-0 vote on April 21.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Before that vote, House and Senate leaders negotiated an agreement that would allow the House to add no more than $100 million in projects funded by general-purpose state dollars to the capital budget.<\/span><\/p>\n

The House-passed version abides by that agreement, and Senate aides familiar with both the budget and the agreement said they do not expect senators to object to the House\u2019s additions.<\/span><\/p>\n

House and Senate lawmakers <\/span>are negotiating a compromise operating budget<\/span> and a compromise mental health budget; those are expected to pass from the Capitol on Wednesday, the last day of the regular session. Legislators and Dunleavy previously approved <\/span>the supplemental budget<\/span>, the first of the four regular budget bills.<\/span><\/p>\n

After being transmitted to the governor, all budget bills are subject to his line-item veto powers. Dunleavy may eliminate or reduce specific items in the budget but cannot add any or increase their amounts.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Alaska development agency approves $190 million budget for Arctic refuge oil exploration, leasing<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The state\u2019s capital budget for fiscal year 2027 is all but complete as lawmakers near adjournment of the regular session.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":109,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nAlaska legislators approve $2.5 billion for new construction and renovation projects - Moving to Alaska<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movingtoalaskausa.com\/?p=110\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Alaska legislators approve $2.5 billion for new construction and renovation projects - 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