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Anchorage officials press for port funding as state budget negotiations continue
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Summary
City lobbyist Wendy Chamberlain and an administration representative told the Anchorage Assembly’s legislative committee that the Anchorage delegation is pressing for capital dollars for the Port of Anchorage and seeking housing aid, while the state budget heads to conference committee and a federal port grant announcement is expected.
At a legislative committee work session, Anchorage officials said the city is actively pressing for state and federal support for the Port of Anchorage and continuing to seek housing dollars even as the state operating and capital budgets are negotiated in Juneau.
"Appreciate it, and lots happening in Juneau," Wendy Chamberlain, the city's state lobbyist, said in the session, giving an overview of House and Senate activity on the operating and capital budgets and noting both additions for behavioral health and education in the House package and likely reductions coming from the Senate.
Chamberlain and Mr. Cloud, an administration official, said the Anchorage delegation has been working to secure capital funding for the port. Chamberlain urged members to add their voices to that effort. "We're hoping to get some port dollars," she said, citing in the meeting an estimate of about $2,025,000,000 for port-related funding (as stated in the session).
Mr. Cloud said administration and delegation outreach in Juneau has been focused and that port investment is being pitched on economic-return grounds. "One dollar invested in the port now ... ultimately saves $2.50 in surcharges," he said, summarizing an internal calculation offered during outreach.
Officials also said the city expects a forthcoming federal announcement tied to the Maritime Administration(MARAD) Port Infrastructure Development Program for a smaller request related to the petroleum/oil lubricant terminal. "We will be getting an announcement on the PIDP," Mr. Cloud said.
Officials cautioned that housing for Anchorage remains harder to secure under current capital rules that favor statewide projects, so while port funding is being positioned as a statewide benefit, securing Anchorage-specific housing dollars will be more challenging.
The work session concluded with Chair Zach Johnson saying the committee may take up the federal Basics Act at a later meeting and asking members whether a May committee meeting would be worthwhile. With no audience participation, the session was adjourned.
