In two weeks, voters in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta will get to choose between two candidates to represent them in House District 38. Incumbent Tiffany Zulkosky, a Democrat from Bethel, laid out her priorities on public safety, the Donlin mine, climate change, and a controversial salmon habitat ballot initiative.
Zulkosky says that she left her mark on the Alaska Legislature this past year, even though she was only there for 60 days.
"Most legislators go to Juneau and never sponsor a bill, so to be able to walk away from my first 60 days of legislature and to have a bill that I sponsored is as a co-chair of a committee is pretty exciting," Zulkosky said. "Another thing that I’ve done in my first week in Juneau, I stood on the floor and carried out an amendment to the operating budget that was carried out in the FY 2019 operating budget."
Zulkosky has also held onto her other job. She's in charge of communications at the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation, one of Bethel’s biggest employer. She took on legislative duties this year when she replaced former Rep. Zach Fansler, who resigned after being accused of assault.
She was raised by her single mother, with a Yup'ik and Polish heritage. Zulkosky says that her upbringing gave her a very intimate view into the needs of House District 38. She says that her experience in the last legislative session was her most intense professional development to date.
"It’s one thing to say you’ll fight for something," she said. "It’s another thing to be in the room and help steer the conversation in a way that reflects the value of your district, and reflects the needs and priorities of the communities you represent."
Zulkosky’s biggest priority, if elected, is making sure that any potential budget cuts next year do not impact the Y-K Delta’s most vital programs: health services like Medicaid, public safety, and public education, which make up the lion’s share of the budget.
"I know having had experience growing up in the region and working for the region, just working in politics, that rural Alaska is often disproportionately impacted first," Zulkosky said.
Protecting the Permanent Fund Dividend is another priority. Zulkosky says that the decision to dip into the fund's earnings reserve to help fund the state’s budget this year was already on the table when she arrived.
"So I absolutely support having some sort of structure around if we’re going to be spending out of the Permanent Fund," Zulkosky said. "I also believe that we have to pay the highest dividend that the state can afford."
Recruiting and retaining village public safety officers and other law enforcement is a huge challenge in rural Alaska. Zulkosky says that the state needs to work more closely with tribal officials to understand their needs and increase local authority.
"We need to make sure that at the state level we’re providing authority through state appropriations that allow support services," Zulkosky said.
That could include better housing for tribal law enforcement, and making who can serve as an officer flexible without lowering standards.
Like many people in the Y-K Delta, Zulkosky has family members who worked for Donlin Gold, the developer of a massive proposed gold mine in the region. But she's not sold on the project.
"I feel skeptical about the project," Zulkosky said. "The Kuskokwim River is the largest subsistence fishery in Alaska, so anything that could potentially damage the health of our salmon is something that’s really concerning."
She says that if elected she would aim to toughen environmental safeguards and increase public participation for community members. And while she signed her name to the petition to put a controversial salmon habitat ballot measure on the ballot for November, she doesn’t know how she’ll ultimately vote on it. She says that she needs more time for research.
As for climate change, Zulkosky says that she’ll continue the dialogue to make sure state officials take it seriously. And she would make sure that one state agency is in overall charge of responding to climate change in Alaska.