Alaska Legislature

The Dillingham independent, currently the most senior member of the Alaska House of Representatives, has announced his bid to represent the sprawling Senate District S that includes Bethel. Edgmon said that there’s no substitute for experience, especially as other veteran legislators head into retirement.

Mt. Edgecumbe has been the focus of public concern and legislative hearings this year after more than 100 students disenrolled during the school year.

Lawmakers advanced $29 million to offset school districts’ rising energy costs next year, and a plan for the state to cover the bulk of districts' energy costs statewide starting in 2028.

Alaska has seen skyrocketing gas prices driven by the war in Iran. But communities in the western part of the state that have been burning last year’s fuel are bracing for their own crisis as they anticipate what could be an even more drastic spike with the arrival of the first barges of the spring.

Alaska school districts have increasingly relied on international hiring to fill an ongoing teacher shortage across the state, particularly in rural and remote districts. In the fall of 2025, the Trump administration issued an executive order increasing the H-1B visa fee from $5,000 per applicant to $100,000 per applicant.

Current law requires them to share financial information publicly if they have more than 500 shareholders.

Professional counselor and Bethel resident Rick Robb is one of four candidates vying to represent the vast Senate District S in the Alaska Legislature. For years the seat has been held by Lyman Hoffman, who announced his retirement from politics last year.

Brelsford — an independent running against a stacked, mostly-Republican field of candidates in the 2026 race — bills himself as the education candidate. He believes Gov. Mike Dunleavy has sold out Alaska's schoolchildren when it comes to education funding.

Alaska relies on J-1 visas to fill teacher positions, H-1B visas for highly skilled workers and the H-2B program for temporary nonagricultural workers in tourism, health care and seafood processing industries, and for teachers.

Lawmakers in support of a measure to strengthen the state’s corporate income tax on the oil and gas industry said it was essential for boosting state revenues.