The Alaska Legislature is set to meet in a joint session on Tuesday to decide the fate of a dozen executive orders issued by Gov. Mike Dunleavy at the start of the session, and even some Dunleavy-friendly Republicans are pointing out the flaws.
The executive orders seek to eliminate several state boards and consolidate power in the governor’s office by granting department heads new powers or by eliminating legislative input on board composition. The slate accounts for one of the most expansive uses of executive order powers in state history, according to a report by the Alaska Beacon, accounting for about 10% of all executive orders issued since statehood and equal to all executive orders issued in the past 20 years.
The orders will go into effect later this month unless the Legislature disapproves them via a vote at Tuesday’s floor session, a growing possibility for several of the executive orders that face stiff public and industry opposition as well as serious legal questions.
The Legislature has already requested that the governor withdraw three executive orders, eliminating the Board of Direct Entry Midwives, eliminating the Board of Massage Therapists, and dividing the board governing the Alaska Energy Authority and the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority.
If the governor doesn’t relent on those issues, they’ll be put up for votes on Tuesday, along with six executive orders that are already planned for a vote. The final three measures are not currently slated for a vote but could be brought up by any member.
A majority of all 60 legislators is required to disapprove of an initiative, which means the typically aligned 16-member bipartisan House Minority and 17-member bipartisan Senate Majority could have significant sway.
One of the proposals garnering the most attention is one that would reorganize the Alaska Marine Highway Operations Board, an advisory group that was created in 2021 to assist the state with its ferry system. Under state law, two of its members are appointed by the heads of the House and Senate, but Dunleavy’s executive order would cut them out of the process and put all appointments at his discretion.
The governor’s administration has offered varying explanations for the move. On the legal end, the Department of Law has argued that it’s a violation of the separation of powers for the Legislature to appoint members to an executive board even though its primary purpose is advisory. On the policy end, officials have also complained that they’ve been unable to control the members appointed by the Legislature and that the board would work more effectively if everyone had to answer to the governor.
However, as far-right Rep. Sarah Vance, R-Homer pointed out at a House Transportation Committee hearing last week, much of the explanation rings hollow when Dunleavy signed the bill creating the board in 2021.
“I’d like to note for the record that this same governor signed the bill, thus agreeing with the creation of this board as written in statute,” she said. “So, I find there to be a conflict with now wanting to say, ‘No, you can’t have the legislative appointees on there, and they should only be appointed by me’ … The bigger question here, if this is such a pressing concern, is why this was not brought up when the bill was originally before the governor?”
She called the explanations “disingenuous.”
The Legislature’s lawyers have also questioned the state’s legal argument, noting that the board solely has advisory powers and doesn’t have a direct hand in running the ferries.
Department of Transportation legislative liaison Andy Mills claimed that the apparent constitutional issues were known back in 2021 but that the governor allowed it to become law anyway. He said it didn’t become a problem until a few years later when the legislative members who “have no ability for us to have some say over” didn’t meet the governor’s expectations.
Several legislators who worked closely on that bill say that having differing and sometimes conflicting views on the board is exactly the point. Rep. Louise Stutes, a Kodiak Republican who caucuses with the bipartisan House Minority and sponsored the bill creating the board, said she was troubled by the governor’s justification.
“It alarms me to hear you say, ‘We have no control over these board members.’ My opinion is you don’t want a board where everybody thinks the same,” Stutes said. “You need a board that has different ideas.”
The executive orders
Here’s a rundown of all 12 executive orders issued by the governor and the Legislature’s current plan for them.
Requested to be withdrawn:
- No. 128 – Creates two separate boards to oversee the Alaska Energy Authority and the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority. The Legislature has generally supported this idea, but don’t believe this is a legal way of making this change. Legislators have drafted a bill that would make this change via law.
- No. 127 – Eliminates the Board Massage Therapists, granting its authority to the Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development
- No. 130 – Eliminates the Board of Direct-Entry Midwives, granting its authority to the Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development
Planned for a vote:
- No. 125 – Eliminate the Alaska Council on Emergency Medical Services, granting its authority to the Department of Health
- No. 126 – Eliminate the Wood-Tikchik State Park Management Council and transfer its duties to the Department of Natural Resources
- No. 129 – Eliminate the Board of Barbers and Hairdressers and transfer its duties to the Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development
- No. 131 – Eliminate legislative input on the Alaska Marine Highway Operations Board, putting all members under the governor’s approval
- No. 132 – Eliminate the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve Advisory Council and transfer its duties to the Department of Natural Resources
- No. 133 – Eliminate the Criminal Justice Information Advisory Board and transfer its duties to the Department of Public Safety
Not currently planned for a vote, but could be taken up:
- No. 124 -The commissioner of fish and game has the authority to prohibit by regulation the live capture, possession, transport or release of native or exotic game or their eggs.
- No. 134 – The Recreation Rivers Advisory Board is dissolved, and its duties will be taken over by the Department of Natural Resources.
- No. 135 – The Alaska Safety Advisory Council is dissolved, and its duties will be taken over by the Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
Matt Acuña Buxton is a long-time political reporter who has written for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner and The Midnight Sun political blog. He also authors the daily politics newsletter, The Alaska Memo, and can frequently be found live-tweeting public meetings on Twitter.