A month after the Juneau Access Road was put back on the political map by the Dunleavy administration, the Alaska State Senate has clawed back $37 million in funds set aside in years past for the project as lawmakers try to scrape together enough funds to pass a balanced budget by next month.
The Juneau Access funds are being redirected to the state Department of Transportation and Public Facilities as part of the annual capital budget unanimously passed by the Senate on Tuesday. Nearly all of the $2.9 billion budget consists of federal funds for infrastructure and maintenance projects ranging from roads to schools, with the state covering $162 million in the version passed by the Senate.
State Sen. Jesse Kiehl (D-Juneau), a member of the Senate Finance Committee that made the Juneau Access change last week before sending the budget to the full Senate for a floor vote, said during a press conference Tuesday he isn’t happy about losing a significant amount of projects funds from his district. But he also reiterated other Senate majority caucus members who are emphasizing the Legislature is being forced into a very lean budget for next year due to state shortfalls and federal uncertainties.
“To even get to the bare-bones capital budget, my district ended up contributing half a dozen ribs and a femur,” he said.
More precisely, the finance committee rediverted about $16 million approved in fiscal 2017 and $21 million from fiscal 2018 for the Juneau Access project back into the upcoming capital budget “for federal-aid highway state match, including unforeseen or federally ineligible costs in previous and current fiscal year federal-aid highway projects.”
Also redirected was $10 million in funds approved in fiscal 2022 for a deep draft port in Nome.
The Juneau Access Road was declared dead in 2017 by then-Gov. Bill Walker, but in early March of this year the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities announced it is seeking proposals “to conduct a feasibility study on improving transportation access along the west side of Lynn Canal.”
A debate has stretched out over decades about what combination of road and ferry access is best suited to link Juneau and the road-accessible communities of Skagway and Haines. A proposed 48-mile road on the east side of Lynn Canal between the north end of Juneau’s road system and Skagway was projected in 2014 to cost about $575 million. The new proposal is focusing on the other side of the canal.
A DOT spokesperson did not immediately respond to questions from the Empire on Tuesday afternoon about how the Senate’s clawing back of previously approved funds for the Juneau Access project might affect the department’s interest in pursuing its future potential.
The state is currently facing a deficit of several hundred million dollars if it passes a status quo budget, with the projected deficit rising since the session started in January due largely to dropping oil prices. Concern is also being expressed by many lawmakers about further economic instability being created by Trump administration policies such as mass firings and global tariffs, which economics are increasingly predicting will result in a recession.
The capital budget, contained in Senate Bill 57, has about $119 million less in state spending than what Gov. Mike Dunleavy proposed in his spending plan. The bill will next be considered by the House, which is currently debating the operating budget. The House and Senate typically exchange the operating and capital budgets when each passes their respective initial chamber.
Among the major items in the capital budget passed by the Senate are $19 million for deferred maintenance at K-12 schools and $5 million for University of Alaska facilities; $26 million for Alaska Marine Highway vessel maintenance; and $10 million for unexpected repairs of sudden urgency statewide.
A press release issued by the Senate’s bipartisan majority states there are 26 new capital projects totaling $89 million in SB 57 including renewable energy fund projects in Pelican, Naknek, Skagway, Kwethluk, Quinhagak, and Nenana; port electrification for cruise terminals; courthouse security upgrades; and rental and senior housing assistance.
The all-Republican Senate minority caucus expressed general support for the capital budget as passed.
“With a budget already several hundred million in deficit and shrinking oil tax revenues, the Senate Republican Caucus appreciates the fair and balanced approach the Senate Finance Committee used to create the capital budget,” Senate Minority Leader Mike Shower (R-Wasilla) said in a prepared statement. “It was refreshing to see old and stalled projects be scrubbed to reappropriate money into current projects. This was a necessary step considering the tight monetary situation Alaska faces.”
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at mark.sabbatini@juneauempire.com or (907) 957-2306.
