Commonwealth North

07/06/2026

An event like none other. One room. Every candidate. No stump speeches.

On July 20th, Commonwealth North Inc is hosting Alaska's only Gubernatorial Meet & Greet, from 5 to 7pm at The Wildbirch Hotel in Anchorage.

This is your chance to sit across the table from the people who want to lead Alaska. Ask why they're running. Ask what they plan to do. Get real answers in real conversation, before the primary decides who moves forward. Every candidate in the race is invited, and every table is set the same way.

Confirmed so far, with more on the way:
Thomas Begich
Click Bishop
Dave Bronson
Edna DeVries
Meda DeWitt, MA., TH.
Matt Heilala, DPM, MBA⚕
Shelley Hughes
Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins
Lesil McGuire
Destry Payne
Bill Walker
Bernadette Wilson

06/22/2026

One-fifth of Alaska's economy runs on federal dollars. Several recent moves in Washington are already redrawing where those dollars go. Register for tomorrow's virtual forum.

A few items economists are tracking:

→ The Coast Guard. Received about $24.6 billion through the 2025 federal reconciliation law, the largest single investment in the service's history. A large share funds Arctic and maritime capability, including a new class of Arctic Security Cutters that will take thousands of people to crew.

→ Medicaid. Under the new federal law, work and reporting requirements take effect December 31. State-commissioned modeling projects 9,400 to 13,600 Alaskans could lose coverage, in a state where one in three residents is enrolled.

→ Rural health. The same law created a $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program. Alaska could draw up to $200 million a year for five years, with applications due by year's end.

→ Enacted Federal Cuts. The January 2026 package rejects more than $163 billion in proposed cuts to public services, and on fisheries specifically, lawmakers largely rejected U.S. President Donald Trump's proposed budget cuts to NOAA Fisheries, keeping funding roughly level and preserving the salmon recovery fund that the budget had sought to zero out. Alaska's delegation also steered specific wins into the Interior and Agriculture bills, including $1.715 billion for the Rental Assistance Program and full funding for Payment in Lieu of Taxes.

What do these changes mean for jobs, infrastructure, and the state budget?

This year we return to the question with fresh data and a sharper view of what is changing in Washington.

Please join us.

The Impact of Federal Dollars on Alaska's Economy Tuesday, June 23, 2026 | 12:00 to 1:15 PM Free virtual forum

Featured economists from ISER:
- Brett Watson, Ph.D.
- Brock Wilson, Ph.D.
- Bob Loeffler, M.C.R.P., M.S.

Moderated by Ross Johnston, Executive Director, Commonwealth North. After the presentations, the moderator will pose questions gathered from the audience during the program.

04/07/2026

Whether you think the dividend should be restored in full, restructured, or rethought entirely, this is a conversation you'll want to be part of.

Larry Persily opens with the history of the Fund and what voters expected when they approved it. Angela Rodell, former CEO of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation, looks at how other countries manage their sovereign wealth funds. Then three legislators with very different perspectives debate what the Fund's promise to Alaskans should look like going forward:
Rep. Carolyn Hall (House Majority), Rep. Will Stapp (House Minority), and Sen. Robert Myers (Senate Minority).

04/07/2026

What's happening in Arctic waters? and what does it mean for Alaska?

Vessel traffic through the Bering Strait, port readiness, the icebreaker buildup, home-porting decisions, and the jobs and infrastructure these developments are creating in communities from Ketchikan to Nome.

Stephen Carmel, Administrator of the U.S. Maritime Administration, and Tom Dans, the newly appointed Chair of the U.S. Arctic Research Commission, and Randy Ruaro of AIDEA will present.

After the program, stay for live music, appetizers, and conversation with our visiting speakers and the Commonwealth North community.

Gold Sponsors: Port of Alaska · JAG Alaska

Silver Sponsor: Maritime Partners of Alaska

03/26/2026

$3.8 billion.

That's how much money left Alaska last year in nonresident paychecks. Earned here. Spent somewhere else.

At our latest forum, five industry leaders laid out real career pathways to $100,000+ salaries in Alaska, none of which require a four-year degree. Seafood processing. Healthcare. Law enforcement. Construction. Maritime. The jobs are here. The training is here. Every one of those paychecks that stays in Alaska makes the whole economy stronger.

Watch the recap, then read the full summary with job listings, salary data, and training links at commonwealthnorth.org (click Briefs).

03/17/2026

$3.8 billion in wages leaves Alaska every year in the paychecks of non-resident workers. That is not a typo.

A lot of those jobs? They pay over $100K and don't require a four-year degree. So why are they going to workers from out of state instead of Alaskans?

That's what we're tackling at our next forum. Mike Jones, PhD will break down what the numbers really mean for Alaska's economy, and then you'll hear directly from industry leaders about where the opportunities are right now:

Transportation – Mari Selle, Alaska Workforce Alliance
Fisheries – Stefanie Moreland, Trident Seafoods
Healthcare – Florian Borowski, Providence Alaska
Construction – Heidi Olson, Alaska General Contractors
Public Safety – Capt. Scott Bartlett, Alaska State Troopers

If you're in workforce development, education, or the legislature — or you're a parent thinking about your kid's future — or you're weighing a career change yourself — this one's for you.

$100K Without a BA
Commonwealth North Economic Forum
Wednesday, March 18, 2026

Register here: commonwealthnorth.org/events

03/06/2026

500+ staff cut. Three schools closed. A $90 million deficit — with another $40 million already looming next year.

The Anchorage School Board just passed the most painful budget in a generation. But here's what most people don't know: Alaska's superintendents saw this coming.

Back in November, Commonwealth North brought five district leaders to the table — Anchorage, Kenai, Fairbanks, Mat-Su, and Juneau — for a candid, nonpartisan conversation about the state of Alaska's schools. What they shared was striking: record literacy gains, soaring AP scores, climbing graduation rates — all happening against a funding formula that hasn't kept pace in over a decade.

This wasn't spin. It was data. And it's more relevant today than when it was recorded.

Watch the full forum overview and read the breakdown here:
https://www.commonwealthnorth.org/district-dialogues-triumphs-trials-and-transformations/

02/19/2026

What if the reason Alaska can't attract major business investment isn't the level of its taxes — but the unpredictability of them?

That's the core argument in a new ISER study out of UAA. It's also the argument that got almost no attention when the Legislature cited the same research to justify its new tax bill this week.

Worth a read before this debate goes much further.

https://www.commonwealthnorth.org/fiscal-policy-the-tax-policies-on-the-table/

02/12/2026

If you were given all the variables, could you solve Alaska's fiscal situation?

https://www.commonwealthnorth.org/ #!event/2026/2/12/fiscal-policy-forum-the-tax-policies-on-the-table

Not only will Chief of Staff Tyson Gallagher and Deputy Chief of Staff Rachel Bylsma be joining us to answer questions about Dunleavy's fiscal proposal and the team at ISER, but participants will get to demo the Commonwealth North Inc interactive fiscal policy calculator that allows you to solve the state's fiscal situation.

Adjust different revenue options to see what the impact is to state revenue and the impact to the economy.

Pay a full statutory dividend and see how much revenue needs to be collected in new taxes to make up the difference.

Change the rate of the base student allocation BSA, to see how much revenue needs to be raised in order to support schools in a funding crisis. Drill down to see what the impact is by district.

Or cut all government spending & accelerate the outmigration of working age adults.

Once you have made your choices, your fiscal future can be submitted. We will be using the calculator to create a comprehensive report of what Alaskans want.

As a participant at tomorrow's forum, you'll be the first to see experience it.

Sign up for tomorrow's 4pm Fiscal Policy Forum: The Tax Policies on the Table

https://www.commonwealthnorth.org/ #!event/2026/2/12/fiscal-policy-forum-the-tax-policies-on-the-table.

01/23/2026

In the dim, wood-paneled glow of the Petroleum Club, a roomful of Alaskans gathered last week to confront an uncomfortable truth: our state, once a symbol of untamed abundance, has been idling in neutral. For a decade, from 2015 to 2025, Alaska’s gross domestic product has limped along at an anemic 0.4 percent annual growth, according to the state Department of Labor. Our population, that hardy mix of pioneers and transplants, has been shrinking — a slow bleed of outmigration driven by high costs, an underfunded education system, and the gnawing sense that opportunity lies elsewhere. Yet here, on January 15, 2026, amid the scent of leather chairs and the faint hum of natural-gas heaters, the “Positioning Alaska for Growth” forum convened by Commonwealth North offered a flicker of defiance: not grand manifestos, but pragmatic blueprints for reinvention.
Read the economic forum recap here:

Commonwealth North is Alaska's premier non-partisan public policy forum. Join us to learn more about critical policy issues facing Alaska.