The free iHeartRadio app. Mike Porcaro. Behind the mic of your fist. It's 33 degrees with a winter weather advisory. I'll get to that in just a second. 39 in Palmer. 35 in Sildatna. 34 in Homer. Talkeetan is 43. Fairbanks is 38. Prudhoe is 11. Down in Seattle, it's 54, 43 in New York. Akaroa, New Zealand, 63. Pensacola, Florida, 73. Tampa, 75. Tifton, Georgia is 73. And down in the land of crash. Lake Havasu City in Arizona. It's 95.
I told him to bring a lot of sunscreen. He's probably in the pool right now. He's not going to use sunscreen. Mike, he's going to have that baby oil and lotion like that on. He's going to cook. Anyway, the Winter Weather Advisory. Snow is expected with visibility dropping to below one-half mile during periods of moderate to heavy snow. I'm looking out the window, and I would say it is probably between moderate and heavy snow right now. At least it is up here. The total snow accumulation.
will be four to eight inches. Four to eight inches. It's April the 10th. This will be an anchorage. and Eagle River all elevations. The hazardous conditions could impact Thursday morning and evening commutes. And we've already gone through the morning one, so, Darrell, you know all about that. The evening one is probably going to be even more fun, I can tell you that. I agree.
Be prepared for reduced visibility in heavy snow periods. So this is going to be until tomorrow at 10 o'clock in the morning. Supposedly it will all be over. Wasn't that supposed to end today at 10 o'clock? Yeah, it was supposed to end at 10 o'clock this morning. They extended it at like 6 o'clock this morning. They looked at it and went, Yeah. I mean, honestly, it reminds me of Seward right now around Anchorage. With the slow-moving slush coming down the hills, I get Seward vibes.
Yeah, it's not fun. We've had more snow in April than we had pretty much all year. Oh, yeah, big time. What can I say? All right. It is 4.09. And we've got a bunch of stuff. Shelly Hughes is going to join us during the 5 o'clock hour. The Senate Finance Committee decided today to pass out a bill. or at least pass out the education bill. to the Senate to talk about
increasing the basic student allocation. Now, the only problem with any of this stuff is the way they did it and what's in it, which is not much. It says the Senate committee substitute for the committee substitute for House Bill 69. It says... Its sponsors were Representative Himshu Dilbert, Josephson Holland, Galvin, Mina, Fields, Kerik, Story, Hannan, Shragi, Eishide, Hall, Burke, Gray, Edgeman, Mears, Stutes, Foster, and Cop. Okay. A couple of Republicans in there.
Senators Tobin, Giesel, Gray Jackson... Kiel, Klayman, Kawasaki, Dunbar, and Wilkowski are the senators who did this. This is what it says. This is, you know, unusual for a legislative body. It says, a bill. for an act entitled an act relating to the base student allocation and providing for an effective date. be it enacted by the legislature of the state of alaska section one as fourteen seventeen four seventy is amended to read the base student allocation The base student allocation is $6,960.
which replaces the $5,960. Section 2, this act takes effect July 1, 2025. That's it. That's it. There's nothing else in there. There's no way in the world to pay for this. The governor, I believe, has said this thing is dead on arrival. Why are you even doing this? And this is going to bring up a very interesting discussion with Senator Hughes, who's very, very up on this issue. And that is, why are they passing this? This is going to fail.
And it's not Senator Hughes has nothing to do with it. She's looking at this from the standpoint of why are you doing this? And so we'll get her take on it, but my take on it is pretty simple. This was done strictly. to protect those senators and those House members whose names are on the bill, so that they can honestly say to their constituents, see, I sponsored the legislation, and I voted for it. This thing isn't going anywhere. And it's just basically virtue signaling.
You know, they're coming to a close here in this legislative session, and this is the best they can do. It's pretty sad. But as they say, don't order yet because we've got some more. I'm going to tell you about Bryce Edgeman and the mess that he and the Democratic coalition have made of the House.
The Mike Porcaro Show with Crash on News Radio 650 KENI. Looking at your Alaska total traffic cameras on a Thursday afternoon. It is a wet and sloppy one out there. Make sure you've got plenty of windshield wiper fluid. Watch out for those big puddles. They are going to drag you around. Back into the mid-40s through the weekend with rain showers next week. For Alaska's weather source, I'm meteorologist Aaron Morrison. The Mike for Carlos.
417, make it 418. We'll round it up a bit. Alright, so... The legislature is paralyzed. And in the Senate, they decided to just go ahead and pass out $1,000 addition to the basic student allocation. So that's not going anywhere. That's just not. There's no money to pay for it. There's no plan to pay for it. There's no fiscal note on the thing. There's nothing.
They just did it to basically say, look at what we did. And so when the governor vetoes it, if it does get through the legislature, they're going to blame him. And he's going to have a good story to tell because it's going to be like, well, what are you expecting to do with this money? And where is it coming from? They can't answer that. But over in the house, it's just as nuts.
The Speaker of the House is Bryce Edgeman. He was a Democrat for years. He's from Dillingham. He's now an Independent. Independent in the Alaska legislature means Democrat. It's just because they don't have... I guess either the confidence that they could win with a Democratic label, alongside their name, or they think they're going to fool somebody. I don't know what they're trying to do. Anyway, he's a Democrat.
There are Republicans down there, such as Ms. Stutes and Mr. Kopp, that have Republican along their name, but they're Democrats. So it would be nice if they either decided to become independents or just call themselves Democrats. But that's who they are. And they're part of this ruling coalition. Bipartisan coalition, bipartisan by ear. Okay, so here's what's going on. The House Finance Committee has yet to release the budget.
to the Rules Committee. Now, the Rules Committee schedules bills to the floor so that they can be voted on by the full House. Now, they're at a pretty critical juncture here because they're running out of time. The budget by this time should have been transferred. from the Finance Committee to the Rules Committee, but... You have such a tiny, tiny majority that anybody who just hiccups is going to have a problem.
And so what you're finding is the Democrats in the ruling coalition in the House have decided, well, we'll pay for... this student allocation business by cutting your PFD. And what they've done is they've set up the straw man. They've said the PFD is the problem. And if we only didn't give you the PFD, we could take care of education for our children. Nonsense. Nonsense.
They're using the PFD and putting it against education and saying, well, you can be selfish and take a PFD, or you can see your kids get educated. Are the kids getting educated? We're 51. We're 51 out of 50 almost. I mean, come on. We're not moving anywhere. We're not ahead anywhere. The money that we're spending... keeps getting spent, but the outcomes don't get any better. And so the governor and many of the Republicans are saying, hey, why don't we get better outcomes?
If we're going to spend money, and I'll tell you what, I'm big time for educating our kids. I want to see our kids get the best education possible. They're not. So why are we spending money on not educating our children? That's what we're doing. So we've got to change that. But there seems to be a problem in recognizing that. So we're in kind of an insanity loop.
All right, so what happened is there's a very interesting alliance now between Republicans and rural legislators. And it doesn't take very many. It takes a couple. The rural legislators are saying, no, we don't want to cut the PFD because our constituents depend on this money. It's important to them. And it certainly is. And the Republicans are saying, hey, this is money that's due the citizens of Alaska. Don't steal it from them. So this is the push-pull that's going on.
And this is why nothing's going on. But when you factor in what's actually happening with the prices of oil and the economy at this point, you have more fun. So this is what House Speaker Bryce Edgeman said today. He is blaming everybody. but himself. Roll it. Welcome you all to the House Majority Coalition's press availability. Really appreciate the opportunity. If we could have all conversations, please come to a stop.
We really appreciate the opportunity to talk to you about what we think is a critical juncture in this session. primarily built around the reality that the operating budget right now, which normally in years past would have been in the hands of the Senate, moved from the House over to the Senate. now seems to be stuck in no man's land. The budget has not been transferred from the Finance Committee to the Rules Committee, where we normally be positioned to be put on the floor.
We had fully expected that we would be debating the operating budget this week and then be in a position to hand it off to the Senate to give them apple time to do their work. But unfortunately, because of extenuating circumstances in a whole realm of things, you could say. Everything from possible federal budget impacts to global downturns and commodity prices, oil prices sort of slipping and sliding underneath us. And as crude going down almost.
14, 15% in the last several days, not to mention that the spring revenue forecast that came out in March, which seems like an eternity ago already. really undercut our position from a year ago when oil was forecast to be $78 a barrel. Now we're looking at $68 a barrel going forward. And guess what? That $68 a barrel may be optimistic going forward in FY26. Meanwhile, we have a budget that's built largely around the central services. protecting the basic needs that Alaskans have come to enjoy.
and also an increase for education funding that our schools are telling us they're desperate to have. And amongst all that is a permanent fund dividend that was proposed by the governor that resulted in a budget that came forth to the legislature with a $1.5 billion deficit in it. But a PFD now that is funded at the statutory amount. And we'd like to talk to you about that and be really honest with you and have the conversation that, ladies and gentlemen, we're all in a pickle. It's not.
Not just the House majority. It's the House minority. It's the governor. It's the Senate majority. It's the Senate minority. We all own the situation in front of us. We are doing our best in the House to put forward a budget that is balanced, that meets all those essential services, that provides a meaningful BSA, that accounts for the fact that our schools are under-resourced. And it's very difficult because in the majority caucus.
At this juncture, we've had a number of individual conversations with the House Minority, and I really appreciate working in the House Minority Leader. I've had a number of conversations with minority members. myself as well as others, you know, that have, you know, concepts sort of set the pathway for working together. But at this juncture in house, you know, day 78, which is technically two thirds of the way through the session. We have not had a cooperative relationship. We are stymied.
Because of the narrowness of the makeup of the House chamber, it's 21 in the majority, 19 in the minority, and the House Finance Committee, it's 6 in the majority, 5 in the minority. We have not, back to my memory, since the early 80s had such a sharply divided finance committee.
with such difficult circumstances in front of them. And it's been a long time since we've had a House chamber that's been closely divided, 21 to 19, where one member can essentially have veto power. We have a problem in front of us, folks. And that's the purpose we're here. to talk with you about and there are a number of pathways forward but the time is very limited and i'm going to close before i turn it over to the rules chair to once again implore the house minority we need to work together
We need to work together. That's Bryce Edgeman, the Speaker of the House. He pretty much shunned the Republican minority in the House. They wouldn't even let them propose amendments. They wouldn't let them do anything. And now, suddenly, the epiphany hits him. We've got to work together. Well, where in the heck were you for the first two-thirds of the session? You shunned them. You didn't even give them an opportunity to speak.
And now you want to spend the state into problems, too, because you don't have the money to do what you want to do. You're in a pickle, and it's yours. Now, I don't know what the Republican minority is going to do, but if I were in charge, I would be extracting my pound of flesh from you, and I would be getting what I want. And those Republicans who jumped ship, they would be getting what's coming to them too. You're in a pickle because you guys are incompetent. And you made this pickle.
If you started your commute already, you know it. And if you were going to be getting out at regular time, you're going to probably have to brush your car off. It's, you know, it's 33, but... It's that stuff that kind of sticks around for a while, so just be careful. What can I say? It's going to be an interesting commute home. All right, let's go to Tom. Hi, Tom.
I would like to encourage everyone within the sound of my voice to call Governor Dunleavy's office and let him know that you're not happy with it. Students being 50th in the nation in learning objectives and being first in the nation in cost per student. And that we have to get rid of it. The administrators are like the bottom of the iceberg. You can't see any results from them, but they're lurking beneath the waters, and the teachers are at the top of the iceberg. We've got to invert that.
We've got to put the iceberg on its head and get more teachers out there with merit pay and get less administrators, maybe only one-tenth of the administrators we have now. Well, that would certainly work. The problem is you've got such an educational industrial complex. Like the homeless complex. Yeah, they've had their way for so long, and they've gotten away with this. And at some point, you start running out of other people's money. And I think we're getting there.
Yes. And also, the Alaska Permanent Dividend Fund payouts are very important for people in the rural communities, especially in the retirees in this state. Yes. And we cannot... expect this state to be anything more than a park for the lower 48 if we don't have opportunities or financial resources for the people in those communities to stay there.
No, I agree with you. It's really sad, and I don't know if you heard Bryce Edgeman, but it sounded like a man who really wasn't taking responsibility for much. I didn't hear it, but I can imagine because they're all looking at that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, the permanent dividend fund corpus, and they want it. And they want to use it all completely. And so the geese of the world can have us have an income tax, too.
Yeah, well, they've never seen a dollar that wasn't theirs that they didn't want to spend, and that's pretty much what they want to do. That's exactly true. So let's all get up off our backsides and call the governor up. and call your representative up and let them know that we're not happy with the state of the budget situation, and oil may not go up again for a while, so we're going to have to cut spending in this state.
Yes, that's the one thing, Tom, I didn't hear. I didn't hear anybody say cut. Well, you know, you're either going to have to cut the side away or you're going to end up cutting off a limb. Yes, that's true. That's true. Tom, I appreciate your thoughts today. Thank you. Okay, well, thank you very much. You have a nice day. You bet. All right, 522-0650. It is 437. Make it 438 now. Darrell sent me a piece from Alaska News Source.
And this is the mayor, Suzanne LaFrance. It says, New ordinance seeks to address Anchorage mayor's plan to add 10,000 homes. in 10 years. That's a thousand homes a year. That's a lot of homes. I suppose what she's talking about are dwelling units, like four plexes, eight plexes, 32 plexes. You know, 198 places. I don't know what she's talking about. But when I first read this, I thought, okay, this is interesting. I know there are people that build stuff, and that's great.
But how come they haven't built anything yet? See, I always ask the question, if this is what you want and you've got people to do what you want, why haven't they done it already? And then that leads you to the answer, which is money. Always follow the money. So it says here, of the numerous strategies outlined to reach that goal, the incentivization of construction received considerable attention.
With the housing shortage and the high cost that we are seeing here, we have got to get creative. We've got to be bold. We have a bold 10,000 homes plan and we simply must try new things. Anchorage developers need government subsidies. This has been understood for over a decade. This is from Anna Brawley. That's what she said.
Whereas previous ordinances put forth by the Assembly have been focused on zoning surrounding duplexes and triplexes, the current proposal addresses the dollars and cents of a new developer. The very first thing I thought, how much is it going to cost me? How much is it going to cost you? How much is it going to cost all of us? And that, ladies and gentlemen, is really the answer to the question. All right. Let's go to Chuck. Hi, Chuck. Hey, Mike. How are you doing today? I'm good. I'm good.
You know, this is exactly what we're getting because we keep on voting the same people in over and over. I mean, look, there's another shooting up in Mountain View today at that Davis Park. We're voting the same people over and over again. And then everybody wants to complain, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. You're like, why are you both the same people?
You know, I mean, you know, you talk about follow the money. Look at Meg Zolotow. She's on a coalition for the homeless, and she's on the assembly. How's that not, you know? And we have more homelessness. You know, ever since the city took over the homeless from all the shelters...
We have more, you know, and I mean, and then you look at, like you said, with the state, we got some of the worst test scores in the nation and they just want to pour more and more money into it. And they're saying, oh, it's between our dividend and the kids.
I ain't got no kids in school. Give me my dividend. You know? I mean, I'm sorry. Well, you know, Chuck, I've told people before, you know, when they say it's the dividend or the kids, and I'll say, well, then, did you apply for the dividend? Well, yeah. Why? Give it back. How much did you click give? Yeah. How about that? I mean, if you're complaining about this, if you don't take the dividend, then that'll be more money that somebody could use for something else, right?
Exactly. But, you know, they're just, you know, everybody wants to sit there. And everybody's telling you, oh, I didn't vote. Then how the hell did they get in? You know, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. And like I said, we need better turnout. We need more people to come to the table and get fresh faces at, you know.
All right. What's it like on the roads today? Oh, it's been wet. Not bad. The roads are not slippery. They're just really, really wet. Some of the side streets in the morning were kind of a little treacherous. They were a little slushy. I've been in all the neighborhoods. I've done, like, I think almost 30 home deliveries today, and the roads are not that bad in the cities. All right.
That's good to know. It's snowing pretty good up here, and I think visibility is going to be a problem with all the stuff kicking up and everything else. Yeah, you know, and to actually tell you the truth, It's not that bad because it's like keeping all the crap that was blowing around the last couple days away. This is going to go away soon. It's not going to stick with us long at all. It's that wet stuff.
Well, let's just hope it stops. Yeah, let's hope that our summer doesn't turn into our winter. Exactly, exactly. Chuck, thanks so much. Have a good one. Bye. All right. Let's go to Don. Hi, Don. So I'm getting kind of sidetracked here, but yeah, anybody who voted for the PFD to not go to the people should have their name posted. check and see if they did collect the PFD and post it so we know who they are, and then they know we know who they are.
So anyway, I'm trying to get it well done in my place. Going through the headache, going through the permits. So they want to build, you know, a bunch of houses and stuff. You know, that's going to take a long, long, long time. It took me several months just for the well. So I think the people she's talking about are maybe the homeless shelters. They're going to build 1,000 new homeless shelters. Well, at the rate to taxes or anything, we're all going to be homeless. Yeah.
All right, 444. Let's take our quick break now, and we'll be right back. Call Mike. Call Crash. Call 907-522-0650. Report traffic problems to NewsRadio 650. Can you hear me now? I can hear you. Go ahead. Okay, Mr. Mike, thank you for taking my call. You know, we're kind of murmuring about a blessing here. Okay. Because, you know, we didn't really get a lot of snow this last week. And it's like it's pretty dry. And even if it's in the form of snow, it's moisture.
Yeah, no, this is going to help the fire problems, yes. Yeah, and also it's like people need to get out there and start, you know, moving, rushing stuff away from their houses. You know, these legislators, they get all the cannabis taxes. and all that taxes from the homeowners. And they're sitting here right now, and they're, you know, they're taking away, like y'all's been talking about, the stuff for the people. And that man that you had called in, and he said to call your legislators, why?
They don't care. And they got their own agenda. Well, some of them care. You're up in the valley, and yours care very much. You've got some good people up there. Oh, yeah, we've got the best here. Shelly Hughes and Showers and them, yeah. But it's kind of like playing a game of rummy, though, with this election. It's like you've got to have three cards to lay it down, have three of a kind, and we keep getting dealt two cards.
You know what I'm saying? Yes. And they still got that ballot box going where people sending it in by mail. And they've had the game. You and I, we've talked about this. And it's like, you know, I'll tell you another thing, too, Mr. Mike. I got an elder. She's never voted. She did go to vote when Nick Baggage was running. And you know, a while back, remember when we got hacked, our voter roll and everything got hacked? Yes. And they waited a while to let the people know about it.
Well, what's interesting is I don't do no computers or no cell phones or nothing like that. I do a landline. And I got an elder, and she's never voted, but she voted for Nick. And what's really interesting is I've been getting all these calls from people telling me they're from Medicare, and they want to update my file.
It's where I had to actually call Medicare, and everything's honky-dory, and they're not looking for me. But, you know, she didn't vote back then, and I did, and I'm going, you know, you know where I'm trying to go with this? Well, I think so, but go ahead and get us there. Yeah, it's like, I'm thinking maybe that's why I got all these calls, because we got hacked. You know, I'm an elder, it tells you all your personal stuff. It could be, but there's...
There's a group of people that prey on elderly people and prey on elderly people with landlines. I've got a landline, and I look at it. I don't use it very often, but I've got it. And most of the calls that I get, are from scammers. Yeah. And on occasion, I'll pick up the phone and essentially tell these guys to go away. But the best thing to do is just ignore them.
If you don't know a number, if you see something, do you have a way they could leave a message? You know, if they're serious about something, they'll leave a message. If they're from a government agency, they will send you a letter. Right. They're not going to call. Well, it's just really wrong, you know, and they ought to be handling that, you know. And Mr. Mike, one more thing before I go. Sure. You know.
These legislators and them folks, when they take their own sweet time to not get something done, they get those per diem. If we're hurting that bad, they need to take a cut and pay. But that's like them voting themselves. The foxes vote not to eat the hens, you know. Exactly. All right, lady, thank you so much. God bless. Bye-bye. You too. Let's go to Clint. Hi, Clint.
Hey, thanks, Mike, for taking the call. Sure. Lady, I've listened to you for years and years. I got my ear to the radio, and you're awesome. And I noticed no one's called in about this one, that I kind of are kind of upset at the governor. He could have fixed this probably a long time ago by doing an emergency order to put more oil into that pipeline. Okay. To run our government. At that time, way back then, you know, Lazy Mountain Jim used to call in with all these numbers for us.
Right. And, you know, God bless him. He's gone away. Anyways, so at that time, it was $1. It had to be $108 a barrel of oil, the Grunor government, at that time. And so I'm wondering why they ain't putting more oil down that pipeline. And he could have done an emergency order. If you hear me out there, you could have, I mean, I'm pretty upset at Dunlady. He could have done an emergency order and got some more oil in that pipeline. Well, it's also nice that we need to be pumping more oil, too.
Yeah, yes. To me, that's all right. Yeah, it's kind of a, you know, we've got to work both sides of this thing. Let's get some more oil down there, and let's pump some more oil. And I think with Trump... He's saying drill, baby, drill. So, you know, unfortunately, it does take a little time to get this stuff moving. But I think we're going to be in good shape. Maybe not this year, but we will. And let's just hope that everything stays solid for us.
Yeah, because if I was governor, I would have done an emergency order, and he knows he could have done it. He could have done an emergency order a long time ago, and he's no longer going to be our governor after six years they got. Well, after 2026. He can't run again. Right. He's done in 2026. Yes. November or December or whatever it is, December. So he better get his feet in the fire and get this darn oil down that pipeline is how I'd say it.
All right. Well, Clint, I appreciate your call. Thank you. All right. Thank you, too. You bet. All right. It is 4.55. Done with this segment. We'll come back. We'll take some more phone calls. Senator Shelley Hughes is going to call in on what happened in the Senate today. The Senate, of course, the Finance Committee. decided to pass out the bill that said we're going to raise the basic student allocation by $1,000.
That's all it said. I've been up here a long time and I've seen a lot of legislative stuff. Some of it good, some of it not so good. And that's all it said. There's no way what we're going to do, how we're going to pay for it, any sort of measurement to see if we're accomplishing anything. No accountability whatsoever. is headed for the graveyard because the governor has said this thing is going to get vetoed.
So she'll give us a scoop on what's going on. So stick around for that. We'll be right back, so stay with us. Weather Advisory here in Anchorage, 39 in Palmer. No snow. Soldotna, 35. Homer, 34. Talkeetna, 43. Fairbanks, 38. And Prudhoe Bay, 11. Joining us now from the Senate Minority Caucus, Republican Shelly Hughes. Hi, Shelly. How are you? Hey, Mike. Long time no talk. I'm overdue. How are you? I'm good. You guys had a press conference today.
And the Senate Finance Committee was doing what they do. And it had to do with this education bill. And I'm kind of dumbfounded. Because they passed something that absolutely is going to die. And I thought that they should be working to try to solve problems. I know that's what you guys are trying to do. Maybe you can kind of fill us in and tell us what is going on down there.
I would absolutely love to. I was kind of rocking back and forth to your country little thing there, and I'm going to bring some love. You know, we like to call ourselves a... Senate Republican caucus, we don't feel like we're minor, so we feel like we're major players here. But we actually do care about our students, and so we are looking for a solution. that will actually help our kids all across the board, no matter what type of school they are attending.
And we are 51st out of 53 states and territories as far as learning outcomes. And our future, our workforce, our prosperity and economy... if we want it to be strong, We need to have... Because moving through the K-12 system... and mastering objectives and being ready and equipped to be productive citizens, right? So when you have that kind of failure, and even there have been lawsuits, where it's not all about funding and policy reforms are often needed. So what the Senate finance did...
Well, first of all, there were some of us on an education negotiation team, two for each caucus, and I was one of those along with Senator Kronk from our caucus. And we came to a certain agreement. We still had areas that needed to be worked out. And then that process just stopped. The House passed a bill without input from the Republican, the minority Republicans, and it didn't even include the things that the team...
had found agreement on. It left things out and it went the other direction. And then over when it came to the Senate, We were getting word that the Senate education chair was actually wanting to get some things that would find agreement with the governor, and we thought... Maybe that was happening, but when her committee substitute came out, it was even worse. The mouse version. So... And it had a $1,000 BSA, base student allocation. Now, I just want to say very quickly...
that you're hearing a lot that, oh, education funding hasn't kept up with inflation. Well, first of all, over the last 30 years, Mike, it has exceeded... the inflation rate. So keep that in perspective. And think back 30, 40 years ago, our schools were among the top in the nation, okay? So yes, in recent years, yes, and especially when you mislead by pulling out the base student allocation part of the formula.
It can look skewed, but we have put lots of funding outside the formula, and we have not neglected our students at all. So, but because that's the version that came out of the education committee, had a $1,000 BSA. which is, according to Senator Lyman Hoffman and Senator Burt Steadman, our co-chairs in the finance, we don't really have that money, Mike. We just don't. How are you going to pay for it? You could drain our savings, which we don't have a lot, and you should have a cushion, and or...
We could chop down the PFD even more. And just to lay the groundwork here, the statutory PFD would be about 3,900. A PFD based on a 50-50. A split of the POV draw would be about $2,800. A 25-70 split would be $1,400. And so that is what the Senate finance table was trying to do, a 25-70 split.
uh 25 75 split but the thousand dollar pfd would be about a um i think it's a uh 86 14 split so the pfd keeps going down down down down right And if we left the BSA at $1,000 and then we put the policy pieces in that we need, and some of them do cost a little bit of money to implement, we would probably be at a $95.
to the government, 5% to the people PFD. So that's the direction it's going if you take it after the PFD or you drain the savings. So it's just not realistic. $1,000 is not realistic. So I just want your listeners to know that. And so what the Senate Finance did is they have put a bill that's going to be on the floor tomorrow that doesn't have any policy in it. It's only the $1,000. base student allocation increase, which the governor has already posted on X.
that if that's all, he's going to be vetoing it. So it's not even feasible that it's going to move through and be upheld. So why are we doing this? Well, you want my theory? Yes. Okay, my theory is... My theory is this is probably more about the 2026 election for some people. than a good policy to help our students. And that really disturbs me, Mike. It really does. We should be focused on helping our students so they're successful. That's our job here.
So I don't like what I think may be politics entering in that we're setting things up for a 2026 election. That is not appropriate. And I do want to poke a little bit at the Anchorage School District, if that's okay. Okay, so we looked at the numbers, and they seem to be such an outlier compared to the other districts about the gap and the hole they seem to have. And they've been saying they're going to have to fire 360 employees.
And so we noticed that in their fund balance, they had 18, they're allowed, by law, they can carry over 10% in a fund balance for the next year. And we noticed they had 18%. And we thought that was odd. And we made some comments about it. So they let us know today, oh, no, no, no, no. We know the law. We're going to cut it down to 10%. We're going to use that 8%, which is $55 million.
I guess that's good. We're glad you're following the law. Yeah, that's a lot of money. But what we also found, Mike, is that the $46 million that they received last year, the $680 million, 680 per student increase that we put outside the formula. We didn't bake it into the BSA, but we put the amount outside the formula. That's 46 million. that Anchorage received, they are not using it this year. And on top of that $46 million, there's another $41 million they have.
in their budget this year that they're not using. They overestimated what they needed for human resources. And so they actually have 87 million right now. And that's not part of their budget. That probably wouldn't be revealed except we've got smart people that know how to dig it and find it. So just so people know what $87 million would do. Well, $40 million would be enough. for 400 positions. They're crying and whining.
that they're going to have to cut $360 million. Well, you know, you got $87 million. You do not have to cut $360 million. So they've been an outlier in saying what their... gap is where the other districts didn't have such a big jump this year. So I just want to poke at Anchorage a little bit. We need genuine, honest information. so that we're not creating all this hype and scaring people that we're going to have to lay off all these employees and it's the skies falling and...
You know, everything's on fire here. And that is what they have stirred up by not being genuine and honest. And everybody and their brother is like past the thousand. You know, they're reaching out. You know, you got it. Our schools are going to close. It's going to be the end of the world. You've got to pass a $1,000 BSA. Well, if you had real information, you'd realize you don't really need that much money. Anchorage really does not need all that much money.
No, and when you add the 41, the 46, and the 55 million to take it down to 10%, you get $142 million. That takes care of their problems, doesn't it? Well, right now they have 87 because that 55, apparently they're spending that in the current year. Oh, okay. All right. So let's get rid of the 55. Yeah.
41 left over from their overestimate of HR and they're going to have 46 because, oh man, they were so desperate last year. They needed us to put that 680 outside the formula, right? But then they didn't use it. So they got 46 there. So they've got 87. And I'm sorry, but I just want to say. I don't know anybody in this building, including the Senate Republican caucus, that doesn't understand inflation has hit the district.
Health care costs, there are some districts paying 25%, 30% for health care. We get it. So we are wanting to help them pay their bills here. But we also want to help our students learn. And so policy reforms... that are proven, we need to pass them. The Read That, Mike, is working. We passed that in 2022. We're already seeing an uptick that children are learning. What about all the other grades?
What about all the other subjects? There are reforms we can make that will help all students across the board. It's not just money. The Alaska Reads Act is making a difference. If we would have just thrown money at K-3rd, we would not get an uptick in academic learning like we're getting. So reforms are needed.
And anybody that resists those forums, I just don't get it. And this should not be political. This should have nothing to do with 2026 elections. This should have everything to do with the students. Absolutely. Shelly, I appreciate that very much. The 87 million is enlightening, and I hope that somebody in the mainstream media picks up on that. and does something with it because...
They're just not shooting straight with us. Thank you for finding that. You guys have done a great public service, and we'll do our best to get it out. This is something that the Anchorage public needs to know. Yes, and you know, Anchorage is kind of the one leading the pack here, and I think all the other districts, they're confused how they have this big hole.
But, you know, it's kind of like the tail wagging the dog here with the Anchorage School District. So if we can get good information out about that, And we want to come to the table. We want to figure something out that will help our students and help the districts as far as the bills that they need to pay. But we're not going to get it if people are just wanting to.
be in good shape for the 2026 election. Can't you see where they would love to say, oh, the Republicans didn't support the students. Yes, they killed it. Oh, it's the Republicans' fault. They didn't help. Well, I'm putting on record on your show. What's the date today? Today's the 10th of April. April 10th at 520. I'm putting on the radio that the Republicans want to help. the school district. We want to pay their bills and we want to help the students by good policy.
There you go. Shelly, I appreciate it very much. Thanks for coming on, and thanks for giving us this good information. Okay, we'll try not to stay away too long next time. Thank you for everything you do, and Daryl's doing a good job with you this week. Yes, he is. Thanks, Shelly. Take care. Okay, bye-bye. All right. 520, we'll be back. Be a part of the show on NewsRadio 650 KENI.
Looking at your Alaska total traffic cameras on this Thursday. Slow warming trend to commence, bringing our temperatures back into the mid-40s through the weekend with rain showers next week. For Alaska's weather source, I'm meteorologist Aaron Morrison. Now, back to the mic for the car. Hey, you're on. Go ahead. Thank you. Hey, how you doing? I'm good. I'm good. I don't think any amount of money is going to solve the school problems we have in Alaska until they start teaching math.
science, English, writing again, kids are going to fail like they are in the rest of the country. Anyway, Mike, a previous caller called you, and he said we keep electing the same people on the assembly. Yes. One time, not too many years ago, I called to actually talk to you why they aren't building any homes. The contractors, one, they can't afford it because the rules and regulations keep you out of...
building, and then there's just too many rules and regulations they have to do. Then they said, oh, they fixed that. Well, who fixed it? Who made the decision to get rid of the rules and regulations that building safety has? The head of building safety over there before Berkowitz got in was there since the first mayor of...
Alaska. We had first mayor of Anchorage. So it was Jerry Weaver. He was there for almost 30 years. Oh yeah, Jerry was there a long time. When Berkowitz got in, he wanted to put his guy in. So when they got rid of... Weaver, they had to hire three people just to replace him because he was doing a pretty good job. And that's how it works. The other thing is the people at the Muni...
Most of them have never had a punch of time card or, you know, have a payroll to meet or anything like that. A lot of them are NGO people. that have worked in previous government things. And they don't have any idea how to build or make stuff because they've never done it. You know what I'm talking about? My house took 11 years to build.
Oh, my gosh. 11 years. 11 years. Oh. And the overruns were crazy. Nobody knew about how to build log homes up here when I gave them the plans. And they said, well, we probably can't give you a permit to build. So they gave me the permits, and it took 11 years to finish it. And a friend of mine was a contractor in town, and he built $300,000 condos. So he put in a bunch of them one year, and the permits were $15,000. The next year he did the same amount of condos, high-end condos.
just in a different area, and then the permits were $30,000. So they're sticking it to you. When you go to put in your porch in the back, or a deck or something. They used to charge you for the whole thing. Now they extrapolate it out to where they charge you for part of the deck and then they charge you for the pilings. and everything else underneath. The permits are so expensive. No, they've been raising the permits They're probably three or four times the cost than they used to be.
and stuff so that's what the problem is and then they have people that know nothing about they need the contractors to all help the muni decide what rules they need to get rid of. Not the muni people. What do they know about building? They've never built anything in their life. So they need all the contractors to help make the decision what rules to get rid of to make it easier and cost-effective for them to build homes.
And the mayor is saying, oh, they're going to have 10,000 homes. She has no clue what she's doing. You know, has no idea. And then the other fellow said, Meg Zelotel out there, the homeless problem is getting worse and worse and worse. There's no real answers in there. We need to have an investigation and an audit of the homeless money and what we're doing homeless. They're doing this in Los Angeles.
actually, and I can get into that. You know, it started with Trump and the government there. We need to go back and re-look at how the state especially the local municipality, is probably the biggest taxing entity in the country for our small little population we have up here. The taxes for the same population in other cities. The property taxes are half, you know, what they are up here. I feel like I'm paying, you know, rent to the local municipalities. You are.
Yeah, so I'm doing the same thing. I think I got that from listening to you one time. But, hey, the taxes are getting ridiculous. But they need to have input from real people. You know, the contractors, they're not like the community. The government just hands you a check whether you work or not. And I'm sure it's the same thing in the community. Not everybody. You call them and nobody answers the phone at all.
And so they need to get the contractors and people that know about how to build homes to come together to find out what they need to do to expedite the permits. permitting process and also to help The builders, they used to be that you helped the builders build. Nowadays, they have confrontation all the time. The builders had confrontation with the inspectors that know nothing about their own rules. And that's why it took me 11 years to build my house. It was great. I'm glad you finally got it.
Ken, we got to scoot. Yeah, well, so I just wanted to let you know, the mayor and the office, the people that are in there now know nothing about how to build anything. You know, so the contractors need to be involved. They're the guys that do the business. So thanks for your time and consideration. You bet. You bet. Thank you, Ken. All right, it's 531. Let's take a quick break. We'll be right back. Looking at your Alaska Total Traffic cameras on this Thursday evening.
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has filed an injunction to shut down the Eklutna Gaming Hall. And we had talked about this, Daryl, for quite a while. Attorney General Treg Taylor filed an injunction yesterday. against the Alaska native village of Iklutna and the U.S. Department of the Interior, aimed at shutting down the Iklutna Gaming Hall. The injunction...
according to court documents, is seeking to enforce an order issued in 2021 that the tribe did not have jurisdiction. Now, what happened was, In February of 2024, the Interior Department issued a new solicitor opinion that disagreed with a 2021 court ruling. Now, you would think if there's a court ruling, a solicitor opinion would be subservient to that court ruling. I'm not an attorney, but that's kind of how I think it works.
I think it probably works that way. I don't know. Alaska tribes are presumed to have territorial jurisdiction over native allotments owned by their members. Is that an Alaska tribe? Is it recognized? Is there Indian country? I mean, these are all things that I believe were settled by the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. Now, there is an Alaska tribe. It's in Metlakapla, as far as I know. Now, I'm not so sure that Eklutna is a recognized tribe.
So, Mike, I can jump in here just real quick here for you. Sure. I have in front of me the actual included decision letter from BIA. And as one of its subnotes, you know, you give your little notes and documentations in it. And this is the first time I noticed this because I'm reading through it again.
The tribe is identified as the Iklutna native village on the most recent list of federally recognized tribes. This was put into the Federal Register. This is from the Federal Register, December 11, 2024. So literally, they put it into the federal register saying, yeah, this is a tribe. And then the solicitor from the BIA says, oh, yeah, we've looked at this. And they fit all of this. And they've got the authority.
That just blew my mind that they've actually put in the federal register as a tribe. I am so upset right now. Well, Deputy Attorney General Corey Mills... said in a statement, this case is about jurisdiction over lands. We are asking the court to reaffirm what is already said. The state maintains primary jurisdiction over Alaska Native allotments, adding that once litigation is completed, everyone will know what lane they're in.
And, of course, the village president, Aaron Leggett, has his own take on that. And he said that they're extremely disheartened to learn that the governor has decided to escalate his continual attack. tribal sovereignty and local economic growth by requesting a preliminary injunction from the U.S. District Court in Washington against the native village of Aklutna that would close down the Chenan Gaming Hall our tribe opened earlier this year.
And then he goes on to talk about why and all of that. And he ends up by saying, it will undoubtedly discourage other tribes across our state from pursuing economic opportunities. not just to benefit tribes, but everyone in
in our two communities, rest assured we are doing everything in our power to ensure that Governor Mike Dunleavy and Attorney General Greg Taylor do not prevail. And I guess the real question here... for me, is if the court has already ruled I don't know how you can overrule the court's ruling. Whether you like the casino, don't like the casino, that's not to me, that's not the issue.
I like casinos. Again, if it's legal and proper to do, then do it. But this one is strange in that I'm wondering how a solicitor... opinion can overrule a court decision. And that's kind of, I think, what the state of Alaska is asking here, too. They're asking for the courts to reaffirm their decision. And if the courts don't wish to reaffirm their decision, that's up to the court. And then it will come up with something else. But as far as I can see... You need this request for an injunction.
simply to try to clarify what the heck's going on. Because if these folks are allowed to build a casino, then build a casino. If they're not, then they can't. And again, it has nothing to do with Anything other than that solicitor's opinion from the Biden administration, which completely threw everything into a cock hat. Call Mike. Call Crash. Call 907-522-0650. Looking at your Alaska total traffic cameras on this Thursday evening. Steady and heavy traffic now around the Anchorage Bowl.
Outbound leads to Glen Highway. Definitely busy and congested. Listening to Senator Hughes was very enlightening. Doesn't ASD already have a $110 billion shortfall? The $87 million that... Senator Hughes said they have, would go a long way to reduce that. And I guess my question is, why wasn't the school district telling us that they had $87 million that they could use to fill that big budget gap? Somebody needs to...
Come and tell us why, I think. Add into that question there, Mike, also that they spent $30 million that they had stored somewhere for building the school that wasn't needed over at Bootlegger's Cove? Of course. I mean, you know, before you start crying poverty, maybe we ought to figure out what exactly you're doing with the money, your spending habits, and audit the thing.
Have somebody, an outside... forensic auditor go through that thing with a fine-tooth comb and take a look at everything and if everything you know comes out right fine great that's something you can you know hang your hat on but if it doesn't I'm not suggesting there's anything nefarious or anything going on, but if it doesn't, we need to know why and why it happened that way and what are the corrective actions that need to be taken.
Because if you're telling me that there's $87 million in the couch cushions that you either don't know about or know about, pick one. So there's a bit of a problem here, and the problem becomes one of a lack of credibility. So you're asking for a lot of money. You're saying you're going to cut students. You're saying you're going to cut class sizes and sports and music and drama and teachers and everything else in the world, but you've got money. It doesn't work that way.
So if you're not telling us the true story, why not? And if you don't know what the true story is, why not? Either way, it doesn't particularly make the Anchorage School District. By the way, we're still 51 out of 53. That includes territories and stuff. That's just so bad. Anyway, have you ever taken a moment to consider just how crucial siding is to your house?
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Call them at 907-646-2228. That's 907-646-2228. That's ABC Seamless. And they say, hey, do it once. Do it for life. And do it with steel at ABC Seamless. It's a great company. They've done wonderful things at my home, and they're just great people. Vicki, you're on. Hi Vicki. Hi. I would love for you to officially invite the superintendent of schools to come on your show and answer questions from the public. We never hear from him, and he hides out going to groups, asking for money and stuff.
I really think he needs to come on your show and really be accountable for what's going on in the district that he's supposed to be in charge of running. Yeah. Well, you know, they have never reached out. that's actually come on with Andy Holloman. And I give Andy credit for doing that. But, yeah, I'll make a phone call and see if we can't get the superintendent on and have him, you know, I'll devote an hour to it.
And how do you answer questions? We don't want the school board president or any members. He's the one that should be accountable. He's the one that's asking for the money and has been non-existent. And, you know... I know she wasn't everybody's favorite, but Carol Como used to come on your show. Yes, all the time. All the time. She wasn't afraid to do that, and this superintendent is just non-existent.
Well, I'll tell you, the thing that got my attention when we had Senator Hughes on was when she said there's $87 million that they have. I mean, I'm thinking, whoa, wait a minute. That's actually real money. It is, and I'll bet you know. I'll bet you that there's even more than that, that they are just hiding and hoarding and spending on things that they shouldn't be spending it on. Or, you know, they always say, well, we need a rating day fund.
Well, guess what? This is a rainy day. You all need to get it together. Well, it's not a rainy day fun. That's a typhoon. Well, that too, but I just... Jared Barrett needs to come on the show and answer the questions of the people. The parents, you know, and that includes parents that are teachers that are afraid for their jobs if they seek out.
about things that are going on. You and I have talked about this before. Right. And I just really think he needs to be accountable and come on your show and speak to what's really truly going on. Well, it's an excellent idea, Vicki, and I will try to make it happen. Thank you very much, Mike. All right. Thank you, Vicki. Appreciate your call. All right, 522-0650. We've got a little bit of time left here. A lot of stuff I haven't gotten to.
There's a great story in Must Read Alaska about the government of China sending our governor a letter. They're not happy with it. They're condemning his recent visit to Taiwan as he was negotiating with the Taiwanese officials to sell them liquefied natural gas. And Beijing is not happy campers. The consulate in San Francisco sent him a letter making sure that the governor knew that there was a one China policy.
and that Taiwan really is a province of China. And what's he doing talking to them when he should be talking to mainland China? So, kind of interesting. Interesting here, says the Chinese Council General in San Francisco stands ready to enhance subnational people-to-people exchanges and pragmatic cooperation between China and the state of Alaska in all fields. We welcome more.
officials from Alaska to visit China and gain insight into the multifaceted and evolving China and further deepen their understanding and friendship with China. That's what they said. No. They're not happy. They're not happy at all. They don't want anybody to go to Taiwan. But they want all of our legislature and everybody else that they can get to come to China so they can access their information, of course. Remember, that's what happens when you go to China.
Right. Now, you know, I mean, Governor Walker went to China. Trump went to China, too. You know, everybody went to China. But, you know, this is our gas. Trump is behind this for sure. He's behind the big, beautiful Alaska gas line. That's what he called it. I think we should be able to, as a country, sell to whom we want to sell to. I mean, the Taiwanese are interested. They haven't signed on the bottom line to officially say, we're going to buy the gas, but they're interested.
See what happens. But I thought that was interesting that the Chinese are sending letters to Governor Gunley. Oh, absolutely. Who knows? All right. It is another day gone, but not forgotten. We'll see everybody tomorrow. Thank you, Darrell. See everybody tomorrow, same time, same place. Have a good evening. from a wildfire can travel over a mile. Ignite and destroy your home and community.
it does with simple things like clearing areas around buildings how to get started adapting your home and community to wildfires a public What's out there in the universe, in other dimensions? Do you believe in other dimensions that they might be out there? Yeah, I totally believe in other dimensions. It's a reality space-time difference. You know, we've talked in the past...
coming up called Coast to Coast AM. I don't want to say I told you so, but I told you so. Weeknight starting at 9 on NewsRadio 650 KENI. The O'Reilly Update with Bill O'Reilly at 245. on News Radio 650 KENI. Is credit card debt ruining your life? Did you know you have a right to settle that debt for much less than you owe? Debt Blue has helped people just like you.