Space & Technology, A Budget Solution?

Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy talks to reporters during a news conference on Monday, May 19, 2025. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)

ProPublica referred to Alaska's economy as being in a budget crisis due to Governor Mike Dunleavy's vetoes. The results being a severe lack of funding for public education, low-interest commercial fishing loans, road maintenance, senior services, athletic programs and research facilities at the University of Alaska Anchorage and the University of Alaska Fairbanks, Alaska State Troopers, state museums and libraries, childhood nutrition, National Guard maintenance, the state's disaster relief and wildfire-fighting funds, and the state's mental health budget. (Ref: Alaska Beacon 1, Alaska Beacon 2)

These budget cuts are claimed, by numerous news outlets, to be a result of the price of oil on a downward trend. The Department of Revenue released a June 2025 update indicating a continuation of this downward spiral. The ANS oil average pricing for FY 2025 is $73.76 per barrel, FY 2026 is forecasted to be $63.23 per barrel. FY 2024, for comparison, was $85.24 per barrel.

This acutely focused dependency upon oil appears to be the major issue here. To use an investment phrase "we need to diversify".

A well thought out plan could increase the state budget while also increasing the state population, which was reported by the Alaska Beacon to be in decline for the last 12 years. Alaska Space doesn't propose to have all the answers, but we do have some suggestions for consideration.

• Space Industry - Alaska has a small space industry that continues to slowly grow. A focus on expansion into this particular industry could lead to an increase of revenue for the state, a space and technology boom, an increase of students to the University of Alaska, and an increase of residents. The space industry is more than just rocket ships and astronauts. There is a lot of manufacturing, technicians, software development, data processing, and research and development that goes into it. With the recent agreement between the UAF Geophysical Institute and Alaska Aerospace to turn Poker Flat into a second spaceport, Fairbanks could be set up as a "northern silicon valley" area.

Yarbo snow blower taking on an Alaskan driveway

• Technology - Alaska should be more open to new commercial technology such as game and app developers, robotics, medical technology development, eVTOLs (electronic vertical take-off and landing), various applications for satellite data, and 3D printing. This type of technology push would create a more modern, fast growing economy. A startup incentive could really help out the local economy.

• Medical Program & Research - Providence Health & Services has constantly been one of the largest employers in the state of Alaska. There are other hospitals and native healthcare programs that also rank high as employers. We need to fund a full medical program out of the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) to keep medical doctors (educated and trained) within the state. We are moving a little closer to this with the new UAA - University of Washington team up for the WWAMI program. Alongside this, the state should push for medical research and medical technology development.

• Film Tax Credit - Reinstate the state's film tax credit. Alaska has received a lot of interest for tv shows, documentaries, and films in the last 10 years. The film tax credit, which was once in place, was ended in 2015. This has been recently discussed by the state legislators, in 2025, as an item to revitalize. Did you know that for "True Detective: Night Country" (fourth season) it was found to be financially viable for Hollywood to build an entire Alaskan town in Iceland, than it was to film in Alaska? That's an issue.

• Increase Fishing Industry & Mariculture Funding - Alaska has a fantastic fishing industry and a growing mariculture industry.  This industry has been ongoing since the US purchased Alaska.  Mariculture, to clarify, is the farming of marine organisms in natural saltwater for food and other products, such as shellfish, seaweed, and fish.  This should be a major industry for Alaska, not something to be cut in a state budget.

• Reduce Fossil Fuel Subsidies - Subsidies going to fossil fuel companies (major players: ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell, TotalEnergies, BP, Conoco Philips) are tax incentives paid by the government.  Alaska has oil that they want to drill for, so why are we paying them so much?  In 2005, President Bush stated that we really didn't need to incentivize oil exploration and drilling any more; the price per barrel was $55 FY 2005. (Ref: Environmental and Energy Study Institute)

Alaska Space doesn't have all the answers, but we believe that what we do have are viable options for consideration.