The Alaska Republican Party has formally adopted its legislative priorities for the second session of the 34th Alaska Legislature, calling on Republican lawmakers to align their bills and votes with a platform focused on fiscal restraint, resource development, election reform, and education policy.
The priorities were approved earlier this month by the party’s State Central Committee following recommendations from the Alaska Republican Party Legislative Committee. Party leaders framed the document as an accountability measure, urging Republican legislators to support legislation consistent with party principles and oppose measures that conflict with them.
Taxes are front and center. The platform opens with a firm stance against new taxes, stating support for a “sustainable budget without new taxes burdening our working families.” The party also emphasized economic growth through private-sector development, particularly by expanding access to Alaska’s natural resources and lowering the cost of electricity and natural gas.
Election reform remains a top priority. The party reaffirmed its support for repealing ranked-choice voting in general elections and returning to a traditional party primary system, arguing that the current system dilutes voter clarity and weakens party accountability.
Education policy also features prominently. The party supports expanding charter school authorizers, including options that are friendly to homeschooling families. On retirement policy, Republicans endorsed allowing teachers to participate in the Supplemental Benefit System or Social Security while opposing any effort to reopen a defined-benefit pension system.
The platform also addresses the Permanent Fund, opposing any proposal to combine the Earnings Reserve Account with the Permanent Fund principal. Party leaders emphasized protecting the principal and maintaining a disciplined annual appropriations process that requires lawmakers to live within the state’s means.
While Republicans remain the largest registered political affiliation in Alaska, they currently hold minority status in both the House and Senate. That reality, party officials have repeatedly noted, stems not from election losses alone but from coalition agreements formed by some turncoat Republican lawmakers who aligned with Democrats to organize the Legislature.
Those bipartisan coalitions gave Democrats control of leadership positions, committee chairmanships, and the legislative agenda in both chambers, leaving Republicans without majority control despite their numerical advantage in party registration statewide.
The newly adopted priorities signal an effort by the Alaska Republican Party to reassert policy cohesion and apply pressure on Republican legislators to vote consistently with party positions during the upcoming session.
Party leaders indicated they intend to actively engage in legislative debates when necessary to keep lawmakers focused on the platform approved by the State Central Committee, particularly as budget negotiations, election policy, and education funding are expected to dominate the second session.
