Alaska congressional delegation touts infrastructure bill to state legislative committee

JUNEAU, Alaska (KTUU) - Alaska’s three-member congressional delegation spoke to the House Labor and Commerce Committee on Friday about the recently-passed $1 trillion federal infrastructure bill and the need to work together to ensure the state of Alaska gets the most out of it.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy appointed Miles Baker, his former legislative director, late last year to take the lead on the infrastructure bill from his office. Baker spoke to the House Finance Committee last week.

“There’s a lot more that we don’t know than we do know about this bill,” he said.

Around half of the $1 trillion will be disbursed over the next five years through formula programs in areas like transportation and to improve ports, roads and bridges, Baker explained. The other half will go out through newly-created programs.

A lot of federal guidelines on how that money can be spent have not been released yet. That’s expected in the second or third quarter of this year, Baker said.

He explained that the Dunleavy administration is planning to introduce an appropriations bill later in the year, separate to the budget, with some of those infrastructure spending items. Legislators across the aisle say a special session could then be necessary to approve them.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, was a key figure in passing the bipartisan infrastructure bill. Along with fellow Republicans, Rep. Don Young and Sen. Dan Sullivan, she highlighted that the Legislature, tribes and local communities will need to apply for grants and compete against other states for billions of dollars of funding.

“Let’s be competitive where we need to compete,” Murkowski said.

One example is the Port of Alaska. Several legislators asked whether Alaska could realistically expect to receive funding for it when competing against other, larger states.

Murkowski suggested that was possible, particularly because of the port’s strategic importance to the state’s military bases. Around 50% of the Alaska’s fuel and freight also comes through the Port of Alaska.

“It is viewed to be very competitive,” Murkowski said about the port.

Estimating how much Alaska will receive from the bill over the next five years is difficult as it will depend on the grants Alaska receives. Sullivan said some estimates are that Alaska could get between $7 billion and $8 billion. He highlighted some key areas in the bill:

• Around $1 billion for “essential” ferry service in Alaska
• Over $1.25 billion for broadband infrastructure across the state
• $250 million for the Port of Nome and $180 million for the Lowell Creek flood diversion project in Seward

Sullivan said that setting up broadband infrastructure across Alaska over the next five years is achievable. The delegation emphasized the bill, which they all supported, could allow the state to catch up with the rest of the country when it comes to infrastructure more broadly.

“I always like to say that Alaska is a resource rich, infrastructure poor state,” Sullivan said.

Alaska’s federal lawmakers said it was rare and possibly “unprecedented” for all three members of the congressional delegation to address a state legislative committee at the same time. Their appearance before the House Labor and Commerce Committee was warmly received by both Democrats and Republicans

Anchorage Democratic Rep. Zack Fields, who chairs the committee, thanked the delegation and said he was excited about the possibilities that come from the infrastructure bill.

“Alaskans wrote this bill, it’s clear,” he said. “You can tell by reading the substance of this bill.”

Young, a former teacher, offered a word of warning to the state legislators watching along.

“I don’t want to see any bickering,” he cautioned. “You could have discussion, but we want to make sure we get that money that we’ve appropriated, or have got into this bill, spent correctly for the advancement of our state.”

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