The opinions expressed on this show are those of the host and not of iHeartMedia or its employees. Thank you for listening to NewsRadio 650 KPNR. Amy Demboski. The show starts now. Our lines are open at 907-522-0650. This is The Morning Drive on NewsRadio 650, KENI. Good morning. Current time, 6.06 a.m. on this Thursday morning. Daryl, how was your drive to work today?
Fluffy. Fluffy is the best word I could describe that. Also, no visibility. That was probably my biggest thing. We got about four inches of snow on the west side and south side of town. East side probably only got three inches for all of you driving. The snow starts right about Peter's Creek from there forward. So if you're coming across them flats and it's just like grand and everything.
Get ready for low visibility, lots of blowing snow, and no demarcation in lanes. We're back to pick a lane game. So please be patient with the people around you and slow down. Leave early. I've already seen two accidents out on the Glen, and it's slowing traffic as you come in. to Anchorage. But yeah, fluffy is my word. You know, I keep saying, okay, I'm a little annoyed that this amount of snow stuck in Anchorage.
I mean, we have a little bit out here in Palmer. It's, you know, it's not that bad. It'll go away. It will go away. It will go away. I keep telling myself that. They say it's going to be 30-somethings today, so, I mean, it might melt, but it's going to be sloppy. Yeah, there's a winter weather advisory in effect right now for the Anchorage area.
It says additional snow accumulations of one to three inches. Storm total accumulations are expected to be between three and six inches. We've already passed to three. I know. So they're going to be right, Daryl. That's why they do that. six inches today um plan on slippery road conditions snowfall could impact the morning commute heavy snow showers could significantly reduce visibility at time c daryl already had it covered they were looking out the window
Yeah, exactly. It says, bands of occasionally moderate to heavy snow showers will continue across the Anchorage Bowl through mid-morning before tapering off. Two to four inches of snow have already fallen as of 4 a.m. An additional one to three inches of snow is possible. Snowfall rates of up to an inch per hour are possible in the heaviest snow bands. So there you have it. That's the weather advisory. I have a thing about them calling them bands.
I'm not liking them, calling them bands, because it's like, that's music to me. No, no, no, no, no, no. Yeah, I'm not thrilled about it. Not thrilled about it. But it reduces fire danger a little bit. I mean, find the price. I'm trying to be an optimist like you, Amy. It reduces fire danger a little bit. Well, and resistance is futile. Like, I remember, you know, I say penny days, no doubt. Oh, yeah. This is in two feet, so.
I'm not sad. It's not two feet. But I'm ready for spring. So I'm glad they gave us a little bit of moisture. You know, it's a little frozen. But the good thing, the good thing is at least... Sorry, I'm getting distracted. At least it'll bring down the dust, right?
It'll be the dust. It's funny you mention the dust because with spur acting up over there, it's like at least it'll also give something to tamp down. If the big dust goes off, we'll at least have something so it's not just in our face. Yeah, right, exactly. So, you know, temperatures are relatively cool this morning around town. I'm looking Palmer's 25.
It looks like Kenai is 28. Big Lake is checking in at 26. Fairbanks is warmed up. It's 9 degrees in Fairbanks. So not all that terrible. I'm looking at my temperature. It says that Anchorage is 24 right now. So all in all. It does not look terrible. It looks like it's a pretty mild day, but, yes, we did get snowfall overnight. So do prepare for that. But all in all, you know, it's not.
a current road conditions report they are coming in so i mean you couldn't get better it's bill let's do it who is it bill who is it bill bill okay all right good morning bill Good morning. I'm heading in from South Birchwood, and it's black ice on the road, very thin layer. I broke traction coming up the Eagle River Bridge Hill.
and met a whiteout of big flakes and snow until the S-curve. And now it's pretty clear here by Fort Rich, but the roads are very slick. Oh, good to know. Thank you for that update. I appreciate that. We appreciate you. Have a great day. Drive safe, sir. Thank you so much for the call. All right, so we are getting reports of black ice in areas, so please do be very careful as you're driving today. Remember, give yourself lots of braking distance, lots of room between the cars in front of you.
And, you know, that's the one thing, Daryl. Like, I'll take two feet of snow. I do not like the ice. Oh, and I agree with you. The ice is the tricky stuff. I mean, so it's funny when I said how my drive was that it was fluffy. When I'm driving in that snow like that, I feel like I've got better traction because I can feel myself gripped in and everything. Yeah, you get it just the black ice or the black ice underneath that. That's when the little pucker factors come in.
Yeah, no doubt about it. So do be very, very careful. Well, I only have to drive between here and Birchwood, so it's not that bad. But yeah, and I kind of think I know where Bill's kind of coming from because he said he's living down by the casino.
I think – I'm not going to go down that way. I go – when I hit the – Wait, you're not going to gamble on the roads over there? You're not going to chance it? No. Those are all casino jokes, just in case. I see that. I see that. Yeah. Yeah. Nice try. Nice try.
But Eagle River Hill, there's a lot of people that are commuting in from the valley on Eagle River Hill. And if you're finding a lost attraction as you go up the hill, you've got to be careful going there. So I appreciate Bill calling in and giving us an update. So yes, yes.
We have some very slippery conditions around town today, especially in some, I would assume some of these side roads are going to be that way too, so just be careful. All right, let's get into some of our community announcements. There's not that many this morning, but there are a few.
We'll start with the Matu Borough. There's a Fish and Wildlife Commission meeting today at 4 p.m. That will be, let me just click on it here, that will be in the Assembly Chambers located over there in the Palmer Borough Building. Supervisors has a meeting tonight as well. It's going to be at 6.30 tonight, and it looks like it's going to be via Zoom. So if you need the link, go to matsugov.us and go down to their public meetings. You'll find it there.
Point McKenzie Community Council has a board meeting tonight at 7 p.m. That will be at the Point McKenzie Community Center. Of course, and the last thing is the Butte Community Council has, oh, no, sorry, Greater Butte Road Service Area Board of Supervisors has their meeting tonight at 7 p.m. at the Butte Community Building as well.
you that live in District 26 for the Republican Party, there is an ARP District 26 meeting tonight at 6.30 at Jody's Great Room, which is off the Fairview Loop. That does it for the Mat-Su. The City of Wessel and City of Palmer. I didn't see anything on the calendar, so we'll skip on over to the Municipality of Anchorage. For today, there's a Budget Advisory Commission meeting at 1130. They meet at City Hall in the Mayor's Conference Room, which is on the 8th floor.
There's also a public transit advisory board meeting at 530 tonight. That will be at City Hall in room 155. And then there's a Zoning Board of Examiners and Appeals meeting. So Ziba has their meeting tonight at the LUSAC Library and the Assembly Chambers at 630. So, again, if you need more information on the meetings in Anchorage, just go to muni.org.
Click on the Mayor's tab, and then click on the Events tab, and you'll be able to find boards and commissions. I didn't see anything on the calendar today for the Anchorage Assembly, and just an FYI, they're meeting with Planning and Zoning.
a work session scheduled tomorrow with planning and zoning, that's been canceled. So no meetings for the Anchorage Assembly for the remainder of the week. Down on the Kenai Peninsula Borough, the only thing I see on their calendar for tonight is a South Kenai Peninsula Hospital Service Area Board Meeting. That's from 6.30 to 8.30 tonight at the South Penn Hospital Conference Room. And if you need more information, you can go to kpb.us.
As far as the city of Kenai goes, they have a few meetings tonight. They have a Council on Aging work session at 3, followed by the regular commission meeting at 3.30, and then an airport commission regular meeting tonight at 6 p.m. If you need more information on each of these meetings, just go to Kenai.city and then click on their calendar. And as you see your meeting of interest, just click through and it will bring you to their agenda and all their information.
And last but not least, for the City of Homer, the ADA Advisory Board meeting that was scheduled for today has been canceled. So that is not happening. If you want to check their calendar, though, just go to cityofhomer-ak. That does it for all of our community announcements for this morning. We're going to go ahead and take our first break of the morning. If you'd like to call in, 522-0650.
Snow is the word for the morning. Looking at your Alaska total travel now, 907-522-0650. Welcome back, current time, 619 on this beautiful Thursday morning. It feels a little like November. I will admit, you walk out the door, there's a little bit more white than I would like to see. I mean, yesterday I had green grass in my front yard, so I'm not thrilled about it, but here we are. We have snow galore, especially if you're in Anchorage.
Well, I got to say, you came in dry because I was trying to really fast, and I mean like really fast. That's all right. We're good. I was literally hunting and trying to get a little bit of a walking in the winter wonderland for you because that's what it is. An update on the road conditions. We got an update from another caller in there. There is an accident on the Glen Highway inbound.
right about where the power station is and you want to get over to the left two lanes that they are backed up over on the right hand side if you can figure out where the left lanes are just kind of get yourself over the left don't go in the ditch it is extremely slippery from what i've been hearing from these people out there under that the ice or the snow is packing down into some serious ice out there so be very careful this morning all right there you have it um it yeah we
It's just one of those days, you know, we kind of got used to driving on the dry roads. And now, especially when we have reports of black ice in certain areas, you'll definitely want to be careful with that. You know, I have to laugh a little bit because yesterday... We ended this show. We were talking about Representative Sarah McBride, who's a transgender...
represented the first transgender person elected to Congress from Delaware. And as we had that conversation, we played the audio clip yesterday, and we're talking about it because another... representative from massachusetts had a complete meltdown because um The chair of the House committee introduced Representative McBride as Representative McBride and said, Mr. And the Democrat from Massachusetts had a complete meltdown.
and freaking out and oh my gosh this is just inappropriate and da da da da da and anyways The House chair ended up just gabbling out and getting done. And Daryl played for us, like, because the audio went through, and I didn't catch it the first time. And then the second time, Daryl said, no, listen to Representative McBride. how he addresses the chair. And I was like, oh, wait a second. I mean, good ears, Daryl, because it almost...
Not a lot of people caught this yesterday. We have to revisit this because I got so many text messages after I left the end. I mean, literally, this is like in the last two minutes of the show. Oh, yeah, like last minute almost. Yeah, but I wanted to get the story.
you out there so this is again this is Democrat Rep Bill Keating of Massachusetts erupted at a House hearing Tuesday after Republican Keith South of Texas properly identified transgender Rep Sarah McBride as a male pretending to be a female and called him mister here's the audio of that exchange recognize the representative from delaware mr mcbride
Thank you, Madam Chair. Ranking Member Keating, also wonderful. Mr. Chairman. Could you repeat your introduction again, please? Yes. We have set the standard on the floor of the House. And I'm simply. What is that standard, Mr. Chairman? Would you repeat what you just said when you introduced a duly elected representative from the United States of America, please? I will.
The representative from Delaware, Mr. McBride. Mr. Chairman, you are out of order. Mr. Chairman, have you no decency? I mean, I've come to know you a little bit, but this is not... Decent. We will continue this. You will not continue it with me unless you introduce a duly elected representative the right way. This hearing is adjourned. Okay, so right in the very beginning, when the chair introduces Representative McBride and then says Mr. McBride,
McBride turns around and says, thank you, Madam Chair, or, you know, whatever. He uses a female. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Madam Chair. So, you know, they both, in their eyes, would say they misgendered each other. Right? Each other. Not just one. But Sarah McBride turns around to give a little poke to the chairman and calls the chairman Madam. Right? Here's the difference between Democrats and Republicans. I don't care what you call me.
I don't care. Call me whatever you want. Somebody called me, sir. Yeah, whatever. I just, that's the difference. Democrats have a complete meltdown because we're calling a dude in a dress. Mr. Right. And so they're like, I'm going to get to you. I'm going to call you like Mrs. or Madam.
Yeah, whatever. Whatever. What's crazy about it is, is when you watch the video of it, McBride is sitting down on the end of this powder blue pantsuit, or I don't know, maybe there's a skirt under there, I don't know. Literally, when they responded, I'm going to try and do this right, when they responded with, thank you, Madam Chair, she literally was not, or they were literally not angry, upset. They were...
Totally cool, calm, and collective. The only one who showed any outrage was this old white guy who all of a sudden decided, wait a second. Democrat from Massachusetts. I am going to call this out. And what's really funny about it is, though, is. Donald Trump has said there are only two genders. We're going with that. Okay. So that is the rules. And he is getting upset when the chairman literally called it out. You're a man, so I'm calling you Mr. Okay.
The other representative, McBride, misgendered the chairman. So the only person who actually said anything incorrectly would be McBride, who then should be censured for that. Well, you know, I get to the point where at this point with these people, they're like, you have to get to a point. Like, look, you know, you have to go back to what your grandma taught you, right? Sticks and stones.
Right can break my bones, but names will never hurt me at the end of the day. I don't care You can literally call me whatever You're not going to deter me from my focus. You're not going to get me off my game. You think by calling me a dude that you're going to turn around and get me all offended and get me worked up and get me off? No. I'm there to represent my people. I'm going to do my job.
job, whatever, and I'm still going to stay mission focused. And that's, I think, the difference is Democrats get all worked out because in their views, the chairman misgendered Sarah McBride. right and their view now is what what the chairman didn't do is he didn't bend a knee and pretend that a dude is a girl
Absolutely. So he's refusing to participate in the delusion. And again, he's going back to the House Speaker set the standard because when the Speaker Johnson introduced McBride on the floor, it said Representative McBride. or Mr. from whatever Delaware, so whatever he says. So, again,
When he says that's the standard on the floor, he's following the lead of Mike Johnson. That's really what he's doing, right? That's really what he's doing. But at the end of the day, you know, this is just a lot of fanfare. But, you know, you get a little passive-aggressive from Sarah McBride. I look at it and I just kind of chuckle because, again, do we care? I mean, at the end of the day, as long as I'm effective, call me whatever you want to call me. Whatever. Exactly. That was nice.
That was my position. But that was a good catch, Daryl, because I laugh because a lot of people missed that because I was so focused on the outburst. I didn't really pay attention to that initial thing, the first go-round. You had to play it. for me twice yesterday. Yeah, it's one of those where my brain just triggers on certain things. I don't think it just kind of says, hey, what was that? And I had a thought just now. I don't know. Have you ever had cats that you had to, you know,
take away bad behavior from. I'm not a big cat person. I've never had cats. Okay, well, very good. Very good. I'm not a big, actually, I've not really had cats. I've had cat dogs. You know, they're cats that act like dogs. But I had learned from some cat people when your cats have bad behaviors. If you get a spray bottle of cold water and just give it a psst, it usually will after a couple of those. No, you can't do that with dogs. But I'm wondering, can you do it with Congress people?
I don't know. I think it could be construed as a salt, actually. Only if you used a salt water. Oh, so bad. Oh, so bad, Daryl. So bad. I don't know. You know, I get to the point where, you know, look, I mean, we can get ourselves all wrapped around the axle that, like, I...
I think it's kind of funny, actually, that Sarah McBride called the chairman Madam. I mean, I'm like, pithy, quick response. I'm sure this isn't the first time he's dealt with it. Exactly. Where somebody's called him Mr. instead of Miss, you know, because, again, you know. I don't know. You know, look, here's the thing I realize. Like, I see Caitlyn Jenner on Fox News a lot.
Caitlyn Jenner obviously used to be the name Bruce Jenner, had his name legally changed, is clearly transgender. And look... I don't see Caitlyn Jenner getting all worked up because somebody misgenders him. And I don't see somebody getting him all worked up. But here, too, he talks about, like, the issue of sports. And, right, Bruce Jenner, an Olympic athlete. athlete.
clearly competed as a man, was an Olympic athlete. He has come out very strongly saying that no, you know, transgender men should not be competing in female sports. Like, it shouldn't happen. I guess it would be a transgender woman. I always get it backwards, but a dude who presents as a female should not be...
participating in female sports. Biologically, it's not fair. Men are bigger usually. They're faster. They're usually stronger. And yes, there's always women that are the exception that maybe are bigger. than some men, but the reality is there's a reason when you look at like sports records, for example, the men's record is always different than the women's record. I just sent you one.
Men can lift higher weights. Men can run faster. Men are typically stronger than women. So there are real physiological differences between men and women. It isn't just in your mind and what you feel like. There's actual physiological differences. And many women have been actually injured. have actually been injured by men in these sports. So what did you send me, Daryl? I'm trying to look. I can't. It was just that in Ontario, California, at a high school track and field meet, a transgender.
woman or girl won the triple jump, the long jump and several of the others. Now in the triple jump specifically though, this person, A.B. Hernandez, won with a jump of They're a junior. A jump of 12.2 meters. The next follow-up, the second place, which was a real girl. 9.83 meters. That's my point. In fact, the next five are in nines. And it comes to find out this was a new state record for the triple jump.
For the women's competition. Of course there was. And there is no way a woman is going to come up with, what is that, three meters above, over the fourth one. Yeah, three meters above, two and a half meters above. That's six and a half feet. Like a girl is going to get an extra six and a half feet? This is my point. So that's my...
My point in the whole thing is you have people like Caitlyn Jenner, who is transgender, who, you know, but is transgender with some reality base, right? And says, you know, look. Men who are biologically men should not compete in female sports. And he has a reality about it that, yes, even though he's transgender and he presents as a female, he still fundamentally understands biologically he's a man.
Right. He's not forcing everybody to submit to his will. You know, and I think there's a lot of people out there, whatever, for whatever reason, even though we don't agree with them or they have a different view or whatever, they're still respectful about it. I think Caitlyn Jenner is an example of somebody who has rationality about the life situation that he's in, right?
But, you know, this whole little passive-aggressive dig, I think it's a little funny, frankly, from Sarah McBride to call the chairman madam. I thought it was – I was just like, yeah, whatever. And she said it was a smile. She did. She looked over. If you watched the video, she did not take umbrage. She didn't get all – She literally just smiled and said, Madam.
Yeah, but I was just like, oh, you got me. You got me good. Again, I wouldn't have cared if I was the chairman. I would have just moved on with life. But the response from the Democrats from Massachusetts was a complete meltdown, right? complete meltdown.
But he only melted down at the chairman. He didn't melt down at Sarah McBride's comment, which, you know, I laugh because I'm like, did he even hear it? Or was he just so filled with rage at the chairman's comment? It's just, this has gotten to the point of ridiculousness. Again, sticks and stones. Y'all just move on. Just move on. All right, we're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back.
This is News Radio 650, KENI, Anchorage. Officials are monitoring volcanic activity at Mount Spur as the chances of an eruption continue to rise. The Alaska Volcano Observatory says flyovers during the last week have shown an increase in gas emissions from Mount Spur.
The observatory says an eruption is likely to happen within the next few weeks or possibly months. Anchorage Police Department recruits are undergoing a week-long emergency vehicle operations course. The course is in collaboration with Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson Security Forces. High-speed responses are simulated within a...
closed circuit giving recruits the ability to practice emergency driving skills in a controlled environment and jesse holmes is holding on to his lead in the 2025 iditarod trail sled dog race the 2018 rookie of the year pulled out of the checkpoint in first place at 222 this morning with 11 dogs last year's second
place finisher Matt Hall follows in second place after departing at 416 yesterday afternoon. Veteran musher Paige Drobny remains in third place after leaving at 950 last night. Michelle Phillips and Millie Porcel round out the top five. That's the latest. I'm John Fink. This is News Radio 650 KENI Anchorage. Snow. 522-0650. That's 907-522-0650. It's Amy Demboski on NewsRadio 650 KENI.
Welcome back, Current Time 637. Okay, Daryl and I have carried on this conversation throughout the entire commercial, talking about this high schooler in California who is a transgender, so it's a guy that's competing against... in track and field right so the triple jump you know he breaks the he breaks the girls record by over three feet right jumps 12 feet
Record was like nine feet something. No, no, meters. These are meters. Oh, sorry, sorry, meters. That's what it is. Drums 12 meters. Record was nine point something meters for the girls. Breaks the record. Totally wipes the field. And I said to Daryl during the break, I said, yeah, but here's the thing. I said, there's no way he's going to compete on the male side. So what's the male's record? And what did you come up with, Daryl? What's the male's record for triple jump in this California area?
15.72 is the high school record for the triple jump. Now, would you like to know what the women's Olympic... For boys. For boys. Yes, for boys. Women's Olympic world record triple jump. 15.7. That is the world record women's triple jump. 15.7. And when we're talking about, like, high school kids, like, here he's competing and breaks the 12-foot.
He doesn't break the 16 foot for the boys, right? So this is, again, the point. You have a mediocre male athlete that can't compete on the male athlete field. So he goes into the women's arena. dominates the field physiologically there's differences that's my point in this whole thing so you know
Just kind of made the point there, Daryl. Ridiculousness. Ridiculousness. All right. Well, let's get back to some Alaska news, shall we? Yesterday, the state house passed a huge boost to education with no funds. funding source. Shocker, right? $1,000 BSA increase, no funding source. Suzanne has the article up in Must Read, Alaska. On a vote of 24 to 16, the Alaska House passed House Bill 69, boosting the per-student funding for education.
establishment by $1,000, the largest increase to the base dune allocation in Alaska history. There's no funding source, but the low-hanging fruit of the People's Permanent Fund dividends or possible taxes are the being proposed by Democrats. According to this article, who voted in favor of it? Well, let's just go through the list. 24 to 16, which tells me some Republicans jumped in. It says voting in favor of the bill were all Democrats and those who joined the Democrat-led majority.
Burke, Ashley Carrick, Maxine Divert, Bryce Edgman, Ted Eichmann, Zach Fields, Neil Foster, Lise Galvin, Andrew Gray, Carolyn Hall, Sarah Hannon, Kai Holland, Nellie Jimmy, and Joseph, Andy Josephson, Chuck Kopp, Donna Mears, Genevieve Mina, Calvin Shrogi, Andy Story, and Louise Stutes. Three members of the Republican minority also voted for it. Justin Ruffridge, Julie Cologne, and Jeremy Bynum. Julie Cologne? You people.
You know, I'm just, I've got to be honest with you. Today is not the day. Like, you know, here's the thing. I know Julie Colon's kind of in this mixed little purple district in Midtown kind of area. But I want to know how you're going to pay for it. And I want to know, I've got to be honest with you, it kind of pisses me off. I want to know what educational reforms are attached to this bill. So you're going to take...
You're going to take and pass a BSA increase to the tune this high. You're going to take Alaskan's money, and you're not going to have any increased outcomes? Like, what do you... Where's the metrics to ensure that we're actually going to get what we pay for? I got to be honest. I'm going to lose my mind on this one. I'm going to help you more. I'm going to lose my mind, Daryl, because you know what?
It really ticks me off that they spend this amount. It's completely financially egregious. I'm actually pretty ticked right now. Now, look, Amy's getting worked up. Mostly because I'm very disappointed in Julie Cologne. Yeah. I'm very disappointed. When I see somebody who I know knows better and they're just basically bending the political knee, I have a lot of respect for Julie Cologne. I'm pretty irritated right now. So I get the political game that's being played.
Again, if you're actually going to improve education in Alaska, we need policy change. We need accountability. We need things that are going to make a difference. Just throwing $1,000 at the BSA is not going to do it. I see our best friend Bob Griffin is on the phone with us. Why don't we do this? Why don't we take a quick break and then come back? How about that, Gerald? Works for me.
All right, we're going to take a quick break, and then we'll come right back. Stay with us. Snow. Light snow throughout the morning with those temperatures warming back into the mid-30s. Later today, some flurry activity could linger into the afternoon. For Alaska's weather source, I'm meteorologist. Now back to the boss, Amy Demboski. Call 907-522-0650 and be a part of the show on NewsRadio 650, KENI.
Welcome back. Current time, 647. I've composed myself slightly. And I will tell you, look, the reality is there's no chance, in my opinion, a $1,000 BSA increase even survives the Senate because the Senate is more focused on they recognize they actually have to pass a budget that they can actually fund, right? So they can't have something without a funding source, number one. So I think that, but there's no way this survives the governor's veto pen. I'm just irritated.
But somebody who can maybe talk me off the ledge, maybe talk me off the ledge is Mr. Bob Griffin. Good morning, sir. Yeah, no, I'm a little bit disappointed there, and Julie Colombe as well. She's my representative here locally. She got a lot of pushback last time when she supported the governor's veto, but she still won the district by eight points, and that was the main criticism her opponent had.
that she supported the governor's veto last time. So there's really no excuse. You look at Anchorage School District. She said, well, I vote... Posted briefly, I think she pulled a post down from Facebook that I voted for just because I've talked to our local school board members and they've promised to make sure the extra money goes.
into the classroom. You go to the latest audit, the latest, what they used to call the CAFR for the Anchorage School District, and the last school year they spent... $20,363 per student. That's excluding the capital fund in K-12. And when you factor in... 2,000 of those students were in correspondence programs. The brick-and-mortar kids ended up being a little bit over $21,000 per student or about $530,000 for every group of 25 kids.
And they need more money than that. You know, the governor's proposal was going to be more money. I think she's being buffaloed by the local school board members there. Well, I appreciate that perspective because, you know, like I looked at this and I just, you know.
I'm somebody from the outside looking in, and I looked at this as somebody who was caving to political pressure and was trying to make it easier. Oh, just trying to neutralize the argument maybe in a next political campaign. But, you know, look, it is fiscal. irresponsible to pass something, some appropriation measure, without a funding source.
fiscally irresponsible. In my view, it's fiscally, it's completely from a political and a policy perspective, it's inappropriate and irresponsible to pass a massive funding increase to education. without some sort of reforms that are actually going to make the educational outcomes better. It makes no sense to me. It makes no sense to me. The governor's got to veto it.
It's a massive increase, 30% increase in K-12 spending. When we look back at the Rutgers study, we were the second most adequately funded system in the United States, and the Rutgers... Those people in New Jersey have no agenda to make Alaska look better or worse than anywhere else. And so just calling balls and strikes, we... second in the nation in the percentage of our state GDP that we contribute to K-12 education before this increase. And now it'll definitely put us...
number one in the country. There are a few states that spend a little bit more per student on K-12 education, but they're much wealthier states, New York and New Jersey on a per capita basis. Alaska, compared to the size of our economy, contributes a ton of money to K-12 education, and we're still near the bottom in outcomes, which is clearly unacceptable.
You know, Bob, as we're talking about this House bill over the next three years, originally when they were talking about the fiscal note, it was about $1.4 billion over the next three years. But it doesn't stop there. I mean, this goes on in perpetuity, and then they have CPI increases built in for it. So my concern is they're structurally building something that is going to be so expensive, there's no way we're going to be able to afford it.
what I'm concerned about and and I look at the long term here and I think okay when it comes to education spending as you pointed out per capita we're towards the top here and we have such a small states population I still want to make sure when our kids graduate that they're ready for work. They're ready to go to college if they want to go to college. They're ready to go into the trades if they want to go into the trades. As I look at all the money we're spending, I just don't think...
I don't think there's enough teeth in it in order to actually make the changes that need to be made and invest in the areas that really we should be investing in. Instead, they're going back to their old NEA playbook, and I just... I think it's frankly a waste of money. Yeah, no, well, it's worse than that, that we're not educating our kids and we're saddling them to the next future generation. with this high cost of education that they're going to be ending up when they join the workforce.
If they do stay around, you know, they're going to end up having to pay for it. So it is a huge double whammy. Yeah, no doubt. Go ahead. I did want to circle back just a second on the... When I was on the State Board of Education, one of the things I was proudest of was we kind of led the nation in one of the first places that limited transgender athletes.
competing in women's sports in Alaska. And one of the things we pointed out, very similar to your triple jump anecdote there, was that Lydia Jacoby, everybody's intensely proud of her winning the gold medal in the Olympics in the breaststroke, but the fact that her fastest time in the breaststroke... is four seconds slower than the high school boys' record in the state of Alaska. Wow. It kind of drives home the point.
It's definitely, it always has been a fairness issue. Yeah, well, and that's what it goes down to. I mean, and the reality is, you know, There is a physiological difference between men and women. There's no doubt. I mean, take any sport, practically, and I would bet you that the men's record is either they lift more weight.
They're faster. They jump further, whatever, than the comparable female athlete in the same sport. I mean, that's the reason why we have men and women's sports. We have men's records and we have women's records, right? Because obviously somebody... along the way recognized there was a difference and in the example in the triple jump and like you just said in the breaststroke and swimming i mean the reality is we have two different records because clearly women otherwise
would probably hold very few of those records. That's my guess. No, no, and people who are standing up for our women and girls seem to all be on one side of the fence right now. Yeah, exactly, exactly. Well, you know, I'm hoping that the era of common sense has returned. I'm waiting for it to come to the Alaska legislature. I'm hoping cooler mines prevail in the Alaska state.
Senate. I do think the Senate's probably going to, when they bring up the education bill, I don't think the Senate's going to pass a $1,000 BSA. I just don't see the Senate doing that. But I think it's probably still going to be higher than I even like. Governor will have probably the last say here. That's my guess. Absolutely, yeah. Bert Stedman, I think, will decrease the amount, and I have faith in that.
But I still think the governor needs to demand more reforms. This is very, very light on reforms and very, very large on spending increases. Well, Bob Griffin, thank you so much for calling in and talking me down a little bit. I appreciate you calming me down this morning. Have a good one. All right. You too, sir. All right. We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back.
Hey, it's News Radio 650 KENI. Welcome back to live, local, and insightful Morning Drive Radio on News Radio 650 KENI. Welcome back. Current Time 7.05 on this beautiful snowy Thursday morning. If you're in the Anchorage area, we've already gotten calls. Bill calls us. Let us know that he saw black ice.
In Birchwood, and as you go up the Eagle River Hill on the highway, people's cars were breaking loose. So do be careful. There's an accident and a cross from the power plant as you come in near Muldoon. So do be careful. It is very, very slippery in different areas of town. Visibility is lower in Anchorage, and it's very difficult to figure out where the lanes are. So do take your time, and just know that your morning commute is going to be...
You know, a little slower than it has been in the last couple of weeks, but don't worry, we will get through this. All right, I want to finish up the conversation on education. Marie's been holding for quite a while. Good morning, Marie. Hi, Amy. I'm so happy to talk to you. Oh, it's so great to have you. Now, you've been hearing our conversation. What are your thoughts? Well, my thoughts on education is a problem in the area of education.
Do you know why they're closing down the schools? Yeah, go ahead. Give us your thoughts. My thoughts are everybody's taking their kids out of school. and putting them into homeschools. Yeah, I think to a large degree you're right. And we've also seen an influx. of students in the Mat-Su borough, so I think you're seeing a bit of a demographic switch in Anchorage specifically for people that are moving out to the Mat-Su borough too. Yes, ma'am, you're right.
And my other thought is why are the governments shutting down, and do you think they're going to shut down? You know, I do think the Democrats are going to shut down the government. The question is going to be for how long. So on a federal level, the Democrats, you need 60 votes in the Senate. Even those are just 100 senators. It's a procedural thing. You need 60 votes.
votes in order to get it passed. And I think the Democrats are going to do a shutdown. You have people like Fetterman who has come out and said he's going to vote to keep it open. He's going to vote along with Republicans. But you need eight Democrats that are going to switch over and actually get it over the line. So I think Democrats are going to try to shut down the government. They're doing anything they can to slow down Donald Trump. It's ironic, though, because for years...
The Democrats have been lamenting about government shutdowns and how the Republicans are evil for wanting to shut down the government, but now they're the ones doing it. So, I mean, look, this is a political game, and what they're trying to do is create leverage. and get something in order to get their votes. I mean, that's what they're doing. So do I think a federal government shutdown is going to happen?
I do think it's going to happen. I don't think the Democrats are going to budge. We'll see. I mean, maybe there's eight of them that will say, no, we don't want to have a government shutdown. But it's not looking good at this moment. And I think if it shuts down, I don't think it'll be for very long. That's just how I'm reading it, but we'll see, because I think the pushback against the Democrats from the federal workers will be large. So we'll see. We'll see. Good question, though.
Go ahead, Marie. I'll let you close out. What else? Did you have another thought? Yeah. Murkowski. I've been here since 1983, and I guarantee you, she didn't get butted in. Her father put her in office. Yeah, I was going to say, I've been a little bitter at Frank Murkowski ever since he put his daughter in his seat. It was disgusting. I mean, that's nepotism at its finest, and it was wrong. And, you know, I'm looking forward to the day she retires.
Marie, thank you so much for your call this morning. I really appreciate it. Well, this morning I have a friend of mine from the Fairbanks North Star Borough who's calling in. Her name is Barbara Haney. She represents the fine people. up there in Fairbanks. And Fairbanks North Suburban has been making some headlines recently. So I'm very excited to talk to her this morning. Good morning, Barbara. How are you? Good morning. I'm fine.
I'm so excited to talk to you. I'm so excited to talk to you. I've got to tell you, Fairbanks has been making some headlines recently, and you're about to make some more, because I was reading in the paper the other day that Fairbanks is... adding another paid holiday to your schedule. That's right, and that's going to be heard tonight. And so with all this education funding, we have really got to pare down everything down to the wire.
we are already dipping in the fund balance to pay last year's stuff. So what I want to make sure is that we compare this down to bare bones. Now, what this particular ordinance tonight is, is an effort to add an additional pay holiday. And what's interesting is that the union could have had this, but they rejected it back in contract negotiations, and they decided they wanted to keep it.
Another holiday. And that's fine. I'm actually neutral with respect to what holiday they want to take. But this will be like, I think, the 14th paid day off added to the calendar. And we just can't afford it. It's over $200,000 just in the operating budget this year alone. And then, of course, that will go up as government grows because that's what government does.
That's people's property tax dollars. And I think people need to get a value for their property tax dollars. Now, they understand Christmas. They understand New Year's. And I'm not against Juneteenth. I think it's a very fine holiday. But that doesn't mean it has to be a paid day off.
Well, exactly. Let me ask you a question. I know here in Anchorage we've been dealing with consolidation of schools and school closures and the school board saying, oh, how broke they are and woe is me. Are you guys struggling? with the same stuff up in fairbanks how is you know when you look at the totality of things and you look at the costs and you look at you know inflation during the last four years of biden and what it's costing people to live in fairbanks energy costs i mean
Can you guys afford it? Can you afford to add another paid holiday right now? No, we cannot. When it comes to the schools, we've got a similar situation last year when they had the special election. They funded the $32 million animal shelter rather than fund the schools and then tried to have a special election for schools. And so during that process, I was able to get the capacity utilization data.
And it turned out that many of our schools were operating in the 50% to 60% capacity. We had empty rooms. And it's like, okay, I'm happy to fund teachers and students. But I don't feel like I should be funding empty rooms and utilities and overhead. And so why don't you guys consolidate, figure it out. I mean, I've got my opinion on it. And as a private citizen, we all have those opinions.
But, you know, it just seemed to me that we should be paying teachers and students, for teaching students, not paying empty buildings. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. That makes a lot of sense. Yeah, and so the consolidation process has been ongoing. They haven't quite consolidated as much as I would like to see consolidated, but we're on a good start.
The other challenge we have is we now have a new mayor. And, you know, new mayors don't always understand the ramifications of everything they've proposed or want to do. And he went ahead and assured the school district of $60 million as minimum funding. Well, we're already dipping in the fund balance to pay last year.
And so I've got, if I'm going to do my due diligence as an assembly member, and I'm speaking, by the way, not as the whole assembly, just as myself, but each of the residents and assembly members, whoever. We need to look at that budget. If we've promised $60 million to the school district, that's got to come from somewhere. And you can't raise property taxes because we have a tax cap. So that means we're going to have to make cuts. We're going to have to forego some things.
And one of the things I think that we may have to forego is the Dominion voting machine contract. I'm sure they're very fine machines, but that's $200,000. And we can be paying local people to hand count ballots. rather than an outfit, a multinational outfit. I mean, it's not that big of a deal to hand count ballots.
Well, you know, we do it that way out here in the Mat-2. We hand-cat the ballots here in the Mat-2, and it works out just fine. And guess what? We usually have the election results right away, too. Just throwing it out there. I mean, we don't have to wait for it.
People are pretty efficient. They can count. And, you know, this is refreshing because as we talk about these different communities across the state, you know, I talk to a lot of people, you know, that serve on the Matsuburo Assembly and the school board.
you know, the Anchorage School Board or the Anchorage Assembly, and we talk about, you know, what is going on in their communities. And I love it when a local official say, okay, well, we have to actually, you know, rank our priorities here, and we actually have to have a funding source. actually have to pay for it you know you would think that's common sense but it seems like sometimes when people get into elected office they forget the basics well yeah you know you got this stuff
And it's always nice to have your name attached to a building or to an event like that. But the reality is we've got to figure out how to go from $58 million to $60 million out of the current budget. in the operating budget. And to do that, we're going to have to forego some things. A new holiday added to the calendar is one. A, you know, perhaps. I mean, I hope I have the votes. I hope people write, email in.
Because otherwise, you know, we're just stuck with some expenses. The other thing, you know, maybe the Dominion contract is too expensive. I mean, we're hauling these machines out the precincts. where there's 127, 150 people voting. Why are we paying $200,000 for this contract again? Yeah, I think I could probably count 150 ballots for you. My guess is probably in about three minutes. I mean, it's not going to take that long. It's not going to take that long is my point.
It's not. And we've got some bigger precincts, you know, but we also have some smaller ones. And so, you know, there's a point where you just got to say, okay, we've got this many machines. Why are we paying for all of this? Is this really necessary? And I get, you know, I'm sure the machines are very fine machines. You know, whatever. Whatever, yeah, exactly. With Dominion. But the contract is really a Cadillac plan. or, you know...
I totally get it. Well, you guys are bringing this up at your assembly meeting tonight up in the Fairbanks North Star Borough. If people want to comment or if they want to be part of this discussion, how do they do that? Okay, so they can email assembly at fnsb.gov, assembly at fnsb.gov, or if they want to testify by telephone, that's 907. 459-1401. And you call ahead of time and schedule, sign up. Or you can just show up at the assembly. And if you want to go under Citizens Commons A.
Now, if you just want to comment on general budgetary things, you can go with Citizens Comments B. But Citizens Comments A is where you want to be if you're going to talk about the Juneteenth ordinance. Yeah, perfect. That is great information. I appreciate you calling in and letting us know what's going on. We have a number of callers and listeners from Fairbanks, so I know this is a topic. And again, as you pointed out with the Dominion contract for an example,
You know, dollars add up. It could be $200,000 here for something and $60,000 here, and by the time you're done, you could be adding up to millions of dollars. So at the end of the day, I love the fact that you're looking at the big. picture and you're finding all the pennies in the couch and there are lots of them so it's going to be a big issue what time does your assembly meeting start tonight they start at six o'clock on the dock
The citizens' comments start usually around, oh, 602, 603, something like that. We don't say a prayer anymore, although sometimes there's an expression of a sentiment. Happy Purim, by the way, to those who are listening. the expression of a sentiment, but usually we just go right to the pledge and head directly into the agenda. Perfect. Well, I appreciate it.
Yeah, I appreciate you calling in this morning. Good topic. We'll try to check in with you a little more frequently on what's going on in Fairbanks. Thank you so much for your call this morning. Thank you. Bye-bye. All right. Bye-bye. That's Barbara Haney. She is an assembly member from the Fairbanks North Star Bureau. Again, tonight, public testimony. Do you think that Fairbanks should pay for another paid holiday for their city workers?
It's a good topic, and it's one that, again, you propose an idea. The question is how you're going to pay for it. We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back. Looking at your Alaska total traffic cameras on this Thursday morning. Roads are slippery. And always insightful morning drive radio with Amy Demboski on NewsRadio 650 KENI. Get on the show now by calling 907-522-0650.
Welcome back. Current time, 724. I want to thank Barbara Haney for calling in from the Fairbanks, North Star Borough area. She's an assembly member that serves up there, of course, as always with these elected officials. They're representing themselves and not their bodies. So I want to thank her for calling in.
Those that live in Fairbanks tonight, you do have the opportunity to have public testimony on the question, should the Fairbanks North Star Borough add another paid holiday to their list of holidays? The first question is always... is how you're going to pay for it. But if you want to give your public testimony tonight, the meeting starts at 6. You can be there in person. Always ask to testify on comments A, she said. You can also email your testimony to assembly.
at FNSB.gov, or you can call in at 459-1401, and you'll be able to get in queue, get a spot reserved. All right, we're going to go to the phones, and Tim is with us. Good morning, sir. Good morning, Amy. How are you? I am well. What's on your mind today?
Well, I was getting concerned for you here a couple segments ago, man. I thought he was going to blow your day. I was going to call up and give you a good joke, but I don't know if that would have helped. It may have. You know, this is what irritates me. not the democrats that make me lose my mind it is it is the republicans that are weak need and you know your run is one thing be it like let me like let's just let's just stick with it like if you're going to spend money i want to know first
What do you think you're going to spend your money on, but how are you going to pay for it? How are you going to pay for it? That's like a basic question. It drives me crazy. And then, you know, I don't know. We can get into the policy nuance of it, but the reality is they're trying to disassociate the BSA increase with your permanent fund dividend, and we all know that's the first pot of money they're going to go to.
We know it. We know it. Yeah. So I guess the reason I called was I've been through two government shutdowns. And for the federal employees. It's basically a paid holiday. Like, the last one I went to was like 17 days. Well, we got our back pay. They cannot kick you out of government housing if you're permanent. I mean, you know. And so they might try to paint it as a, you know.
Horrible. I don't want to see the government shut down, but for all the government employees who are freaking out, they'll get their back pay. I mean, it happened to me twice. It's a paid vacation, basically. Yeah. Well, you know, I have a friend of mine who works in federal law enforcement, and, you know, I heard him talk on this, and I think...
You know I think while all you're saying is absolutely true is they eventually you know get paid But I think for those workers that live paycheck to paycheck when their paycheck is withhold or delayed It can have some it can have some you know impact on them for sure and I think that's that's
that's where the people will have the biggest issue. Now, will they be made whole? Yes, like you said. You get furloughed. You do get your back pay. I mean, that does happen. But, you know, the ironic part of all this is we have all these Democrats. Okay.
I'm going to do something a little different than I typically do, Tim. I don't want you to go anywhere. I'm going to put you on hold because I want you to listen to this montage we're going to play of all these Democrats bellyaching about government shutdowns and how bad Republicans are. in the past when we've had government shutdowns go ahead and play it daryl we believe in governance
We want to keep government open. A shutdown is very serious. There are real consequences when the government shuts down. It harms our national security. It harms our economy. And it harms service members better. We all know a shutdown is unnecessary and completely avoidable. The tragedy here is all the civilian employees. It is the American people who are going to suffer. Border Patrol. agents will not be paid. TSA agents will not be paid. Small businesses.
will be hurt. Not only is it irresponsible and purposely misleading, it is dangerous precedent to be threatening a shutdown. I'm worried about our air controllers. Those in the military, we have over 20,000. Okay, I think we get the flavor. We get the flavor. So, Tim, I think we get the flavor of all that. You hear everybody on the Democrat side when the Republicans actually went forward and showed.
down the government in order to leverage the democrats said how dangerous it was do you see a double standard here now oh yeah i mean that's it that's the democrats man they that's just the way they roll uh And as far as living paycheck to paycheck, I mean, I've done that in the private sector, you know. Me too.
There's no excuse, as far as I'm concerned. A federal employee, probably when they get in, is anywhere from $22, $23 an hour. You can go all the way up to, Lord knows, $50, $60, I don't know. The point is you're making good enough money that if you cannot manage the money that you're making, you know, and you can't get through a 17-day shutdown, there's something wrong, you know.
And I don't think this will last 17 days. I just don't. I see this as, look, there's a couple Democrats already that have come out and said that they're not going to vote for a shutdown. But you're going to have to hit that 60 threshold in the Senate. And I think a shutdown is like it.
But I don't think it's going to last for very long. And frankly, I actually think it could assist Doge. I mean, because at the end of the day, I mean, I think they're trying to get at Elon Musk and they're trying to this and that. And I'm thinking, you know, I got to be. honest with you there's a lot of Republicans out there that are like you know
This will kind of show us what government agencies are really that needed. I mean, at the end of the day, I mean, you're kind of helping us highlight the ones we can do without, I think is what you're going to see. But there are a lot of federal workers.
you said that still have to show up and do their job and it'll all work out and at the end they'll all get paid back hey Tim thank you for weighing in I appreciate your your your institutional knowledge on this one I've never been a federal employee who
who's gone through a shutdown, so I appreciate you weighing in, sir. You're welcome, and you guys have a great day. All right, you too, sir. We're going to go ahead and take a quick break. When we come back, one of my dear friends, Mr. Dave Donnelly, is on hold, so we're going to go to him next. Stay with us. Turn up your radio. Here's the Sean Hannity Morning Minute. Donald Trump, in many ways, he has the upper hand, I would argue, over Vladimir Putin because of the state of Putin's economy.
And I'll tell you, if Putin keeps ratcheting up the pressure... I think what Donald Trump needs to do is is really follow through on his push for energy dominance and making America the most energy rich country on the face of the earth. And then as soon as we do that, we can sell all of that extra natural gas. oil, coal to our European allies and become the main source of their energy, which would be safer for them if for national security reasons, number one.
And it would be a financial boom for the American people and would create, you know, untold numbers and hundreds of thousands of high paying career jobs for Americans. Check out the Sean Hannity radio show later today. Right here. look this country was founded on freedom freedom from a country that forced us to buy overpriced tea and then trying to blockade us when we dumped their tea into the ocean how'd that work out well it's time to throw
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This is News Radio 650, KENI, Anchorage. State lawmakers are considering a pair of bills that would allow for baby drop boxes in Alaska where people could anonymously surrender newborns. Senate Bill 9 and House Bill 64 would allow the state to install climate-controlled...
drop boxes outside state-approved buildings. The box would then send a silent alarm to emergency responders to go retrieve the child. Current state law requires parents to surrender their children in person and leaves no room for anonymous drop-offs.
The Alaska Volcano Observatory says it's likely that Mount Spur will erupt in the coming weeks or months. The observatory issued a code yellow for Mount Spur after significantly elevated volcanic gas emissions were observed during flyovers. And residents of an Anchorage neighborhood are looking for answers after a tree housing
an eagle's nest was mysteriously cut down. Alaska's news source reports residents near Kincaid Elementary School noticed the tree and its nest were gone this week. Residents say it's the only tree in the area that was cut down. Eagles and their nests are federally protected. That's the latest. I'm John Fink. News Radio 650 KENI, your pipeline to the world.
Looking at your Alaska total traffic cameras on this Thursday morning. Roads are slippery. There is black ice basically starting right about Eklutna. Welcome back. Current time, 739 on this Thursday morning. Joining us now is Mr. Dave Donley. He knows the thing about education. Good morning, sir. Good morning, Amy. Hey, I'm speaking only for myself and not for the Anchorage School District or the Anchorage School Board. You know, the state school funding is determined by a statutory formula.
It starts with the BSA. We're always talking about the BSA, the BSA, the basic student allocation. But then it's modified by a series of other factors. And one of those really important factors is the district cost differential. And that modifies how much districts get per student based on the actual cost of delivering education in that region of the state.
The current district cost differential really unfairly and objectively discriminates against kids in Anchorage. And yet no Anchorage legislature tried to a floor amendment to correct. and over $30 million discrimination against Anchorage kids. And I'm really concerned about that. You know, the school board, the assembly, and you don't usually do things unanimously.
But one thing we did do unanimously in this town is say to our elected state legislators that we need that district cost differential to be restudied and to be accurate. And it was unanimously passed by all the elected officials, local elected officials, and yet nothing was done. No attempts were made to change it with floor amendments. And I understand that it's not going to be popular in other parts of the state where they're getting the advantage.
of an out-of-date cost differential. But this isn't rocket science. When I was co-chair of the Senate Finance Committee and I had to deal with regional discrepancies like that, I would use hold harmless clause to phase things in so they would actually be accurate. So we need some just basic common sense and to correct this really unfair discrimination against kids in Anchorage.
You know, as we talk about the funding formula for education on a state level, you know, it is a bit complicated. And I think a lot of people, you know, they hear about education and they think, yeah, we want to support kids. We want to support teachers. We want to make sure our kids are getting a good education.
And, you know, the question then becomes, how are school districts going to spend the money? So as we increase the base student allocation, and if the House gets their way, right, they would increase it by $1,000. per student. I don't think that's going to pass the Senate, nor do I think it will pass the governor's muster. But what assurances do parents have in Anchorage that that money would
get to the classroom. I mean, we all know that the state can't dictate to the school district how the money's going to be spent. And I think this is part of the conversation. I think you're right. I think when we look at the...
The actual formula, I think there's a lot of things that need to be looked at, right? I personally don't think we should be paying 100% for some of these rural districts. I think they should have some skin in the game, personally. But I think also when we start talking about...
You know, take some of our charter schools, Ricochula, or any of these other schools. I don't like the fact that the Anchorage School District doesn't pass along the transportation dollars to those schools. You know, it's kind of like, hmm. So I feel like there's a lot of aspects of funding education that aren't quite perfect. And to your point, maybe it's time to look at the whole thing. I think it is, but we know for a fact that the district cost differential is broken.
It hasn't been updated in over 15 years. The statutes were never intended, when we drafted those, to have a district cost differential that discriminated unfairly against one region of the state, and that's what it does against Anchorage students right now. Is it doing it because it's the biggest population base in the state? I mean, what is driving that discrimination in your view?
It's very clear. Fifteen years ago, Anchorage was the least expensive place to deliver educational services in the state. So they became the one, the base for the differential. Since that time, we are no longer the least expensive place to deliver, mostly because of housing costs. And so it's unfairly discriminating. And one recent business expert analysis of it confirmed my own estimates. from years ago saying it's over $30 million difference. Now, I understand.
Now, I'm starting to catch on. I'm starting to catch on. So I want you to walk me through this. So the cost differential, the concept of it is Anchorage is used as the benchmark for all the other communities in the state. And based on that, you know different uh maybe cost of living or whatever cost to deliver services then other other districts get a benefit is that what i'm understanding exactly
Okay. Okay, see, you taught us all something. I know you've talked to me about this before, but it's been a long time, so I just had to wrap my mind around it again. Well, so again, so what should the standard be? You have to have a base that you're comparing something. Should it be an average of all the costs around the stage? What would your ideal solution be?
Well, the solution is what was done when we initially passed the law and subsequently to that, and that was to have ICER, the university's experts in economics, do a statewide study to actually assess what the actual cost differences are among the various districts in the state, and then have a ratio developed on that as one of the factors in the formula.
That was the original intent. That's what it originally did. It was originally accurate, and it was fine-tuned a second time, and then it's been ignored ever since then. And because of that, it's way out of whack right now. Fascinating. See, that's what I'm saying. This is a complicated topic from a lot of different areas. And, you know, my biggest frustration with the legislature is rather than really getting to the meat of a lot of different issues,
They kind of glance upon the surface. And a lot of times they're just throwing monies on an issue without getting to the root of the issue and fixing it. And this could be one of those issues. And, Dave, I appreciate you bringing it up to us. As always, interesting aspect to the whole education discussion. Did I just say something about Thursday night at the Fights tonight?
Absolutely. I've been judging boxing at Thursday night for over 20 years, and we've got a great card tonight. We did weigh-ins last night, and I'm just excited about what's going to be going on. It's like the 36th year. of having this great club boxing in Anchorage. And if people want to see a really quality, boxers are going to be there tonight. Oh, fantastic. Is that at the Egan Center? Yeah, it's at the Egan Center at 730.
Oh, fantastic. Well, I always love a plug for a good event. So thank you so much for calling in and letting us know. If you're there, come over and say hi to me. I'll be judging. Oh, fantastic. All right. Well, everybody knows Dave Donnelly will be there. And I didn't know that you were a judge on Thursday night at the fight. See, look, you're a man of many talents. I will just say that. He started out as a ringman. I've now judged over 2,000 boxing matches in Anchorage.
I had no idea you have this secret superpower. That's impressive, I've got to tell you. Dave, thank you for the call this morning. I appreciate the conversation. You bet, Amy. Thank you. All right. Bye-bye. All right, we're going to go ahead and take a quick break. We have one final segment left. Today's show is just flying by. If you'd like to call in, be part of the conversation, 522-0650.
Looking at your Alaska total. Mid-30s later today, some flurry activity could linger into the afternoon. For Alaska's weather source, I'm meteorologist. Welcome back to live, local, and insightful Morning Drive Radio on NewsRadio 650 KENI. Welcome back. Current time, 7.50 on this Thursday morning.
Well, you know, the conversations in Juneau are going to continue, and one of the best things you can do if you have the opportunity is talk to your legislator. They will be back in home districts. They will call in to your district meetings, community council meetings, et cetera.
et cetera, you'll have the opportunity to do that. I always think going to the source is always a great thing. And I will tell you, I've had a fair bit of legislators blowing up my phone this morning. One person that did zip me a note this morning that I said I would share along. call in because she's in a meeting and it doesn't get over until 8. But Senator Shelley Hughes, who is my senator, she is going to be here in Palmer this weekend, Saturday, March 15th.
From 10 to 11.30 a.m., conversations with Shelly will be happening. It was coffee and conversation. She always has a lot of these little coffee clutches where you can pop in, talk to her, ask her questions. March 15th from 10 to 1130 she will be at affordable catering which is of course at 6177 East Mountain Heather Way and Palmer. So affordable catering. A lot of people out here knows where that is. So again, that'll be Saturday, March 15th.
from 10 to 11.30 a.m. That is with Senator Shelley Hughes. So that will be a good opportunity to catch up with her should you so want to do that. All right, well, the spring revenue forecast is out. So every year, the Department of Revenue puts out, like, a spring revenue forecast saying, hey, you know, the budget gets released in December. And then as we hit spring, they're kind of up.
updating and fine-tuning their numbers and saying this is what the market's doing, this is what our investment's doing, this is how our money's coming in. I haven't had a chance to read the revenue forecast because it just came out. I thought it was going to come out today, but it must have came out yesterday. But Suzanne Downey has an article up on it right now, and she says the Alaska Department of Revenue released their spring 2025 revenue forecast.
Unrestricted general fund revenue prior to the transfer of revenue from the permanent fund earnings reserve account is forecasted at $2.6 billion for fiscal year 25 and $2.3 billion for fiscal year 26. The figures indicate a relatively stable financial outlook despite fluctuations in oil prices. This is always the big concern, right? What are oil prices doing? She goes on to say the Alaska Permit Fund is expected to transfer at 3.6%.
$7 billion, with a B, to the general fund for FY25 and $3.8 billion in 2016. So see, that's going up. These transfers remain the largest source of funding for government operations and the annual dividends paid to Alaskans. Permanent fund revenue makes up 59% of the unrestricted general fund. So when you hear legislation... say UGF, that's what they're talking about, unrestricted general funds. So they can spend it on anything they want to. It's not dedicated to anything. That's the point.
Over the next decade, the permanent funds contribution is anticipated to range from 62% to 65% of the total UGF revenues. The oil prices, what's the impact going to be? Oil prices averaged $85.24 per barrel. The spring forecast projection drops that to $74.48 per barrel for FY25.
and down to $68 per barrel and $26. So that will have a significant impact potentially on the budget. But long-term projections indicate... that we're probably going to be peaking at 600, it says long-term projections indicate a production peak of 63,500 barrels per day. in FY2034. So that's good because that would mean production is going up because right now average production per oil barrel per day is about $461,000. So they're projecting an up.
tick in production which is good which ultimately means the bottom line of all this our actual revenue projection is pretty stable. It looks like it's a pretty good trajectory right now. We're not going to see any massive swings. That's what I'm getting from this article. But if you want more information, Suzanne, just go to mustreadalaska.com, and at the very bottom of her article, she has a link to the Department of Revenue's website, and you can find the full report there.
I know. What a way to end the show is getting really nuanced with dollars. But I have to tell you, there's been some good stuff in these revenue projections. I'm actually looking at the report right now, and it's opening my eyeballs. They're very good. I've got to tell you, almost every year I...
read. I read the spring revenue forecast because there's all kinds of good stuff in there, generally speaking. I remember when Bill Walker came in front of the Anchorage Assembly because he was making this tour of assemblies. And he went on this tour, and he was telling everybody that, you know, we just need more money. And this is when he was cut in the PFD, right? He needed more money. We needed this. We needed that. And I just read from his revenue forecast, and I read of all the bonuses.
and all the raises that they were giving employees. And I just started saying, you know, as I'm looking and I'm just reading off the list of additional expenditures that they were making, And I was like, we don't have a revenue problem. We have a leadership problem. Because really what it comes down to is where you're choosing to spend the money.
It's a lot like what we're dealing with with the legislature right now, right? So when you read these spring revenue forecasts, this is where the devil's in the details, and this is where you get to see the good nuggets. I mean, there's usually really good nuggets in there. I think Suzanne did a good job of recapping. highlight but really what you're looking for is has the Department of Revenue identified any major big bombs that are about to go off
Typically, we always look at the price of oil per barrel. Why do we do that? Because a large part of the state's budget is dependent on that revenue coming from taxes, basically, and royalties, right, coming off of that oil. So that's why they focus. heavily on the price per barrel and how many barrels are expected to be generated and yes what we're seeing is we're expecting the price per barrel in 26 to come down to about 60 bucks 68 bucks a barrel
But at the same time, they're also projecting over the next few years a significant increase in number of barrels being produced. I mean, going up from 461,000 barrels per day to 663,000 barrels per day. That's a huge increase. So, again, if we're producing more but we're taking a little less because the price is down a little bit, it basically is going to balance out. So that's why I say, let not your heart be troubled. It will all work out just fine.
All right, well, that does it for Daryl and I today. Hopefully everybody has a good and safe Thursday. Roads are a little sketchy this morning, but just drive safe. You'll be fine. Daryl and I will be back with you tomorrow morning. I'm Dak Clay, Travis, and Buck Sexton. followed by Sean Hannity at 11 and, of course, the great Mike Piccaro from 4 to 6 p.m. every weekday afternoon. We will see you tomorrow morning, 6 a.m. Be there, be square. Until then, stay safe. God bless.
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