Alaska Beacon state and legislative daybook for the week of Feb. 9, 2026

Here’s what’s happening in the Alaska Capitol and elsewhere across the state

By James Brooks

Alaska Beacon

At the Alaska Beacon, we’re constantly trying to figure out where we should put our attention. There’s always more news than there are people to report it.

Every Thursday, the Alaska Legislature publishes its committee schedule for the coming week. Public notices alert us to meetings and events. The governor’s office occasionally lets us know ahead of time that something’s coming down the pike, too.

Here’s what we know about for the coming week. If you know of something that’s coming up that you should think we should pay attention to, email us at info@alaskabeacon.com.

We can’t cover everything on this list, but we’re interested in them and we think you should know about them in case you’re interested in them, too.

This list is ripped from our notebooks, and it is likely to change over the course of the week. We’ll update it when we can.

Are you trying to keep track of when to testify on a bill? The Legislature has a website for that.

Monday, Feb. 9

Public comment period ends on winter roads in ANWR. 

• 9 a.m. – State pharmacy board meets to consider regulation cuts

• 9 a.m. – Senate Finance gets an overview of state pension funding levels

• 10 a.m. – Marijuana control board holds special meeting to talk about regulation cuts

• House/Senate floor sessions expected to begin around 10:30 a.m.

• 12 p.m. – Department of Law gives an update on its statehood defense program to the House Law budget subcommittee

• 1:30 p.m. – Will Alaska’s “Romeo and Juliet” law allowing a loophole in the age of consent go away? Senate Judiciary will talk about House Bill 101. 

• 3:30 p.m. – Senate Resources discusses LNG import facilities

• 5 p.m. – Dental examiners board meets to consider regulation cuts

  
  

Tuesday Feb. 10

North Pacific Fishery Management Council meets in Anchorage.

Southeast Conference mid-session summit and transportation symposium opens in Juneau

• 5:30 a.m. – U.S. Senate’s Indian Affairs committee holds a hearing on the 8(a) federal contracting program

• 8 a.m. – What do Alaska’s food supply chains look like in rural Alaska? House Tribal Affairs Committee takes a look.

• 8 a.m. – State forestry board meeting

• 9 a.m. – The state prison system overspent its budget last year. How does it look this year? The Department of Corrections budget subcommittee takes a look. 

• 10 a.m. – Big game commercial services board meets to consider regulation cuts

• 12 p.m. – AIDEA gives an update on its budget to the House commerce budget subcommittee

• 1:30 p.m. – When should Alaskans run away from a wildfire? A bill in Senate Community and Regional Affairs suggests a standardized disaster danger scale.

• 1:30 p.m. – Continued update on the state ferry system’s status in House Transportation

• 3:15 p.m. – Police mask ban bill gets first hearing in House State Affairs Committee

• 3:30 p.m. – State prison system gives an update on deaths in custody and lawsuits against the Department of Corrections, in Senate State Affairs 

• 5 p.m. – Dental examiners board meets to consider regulation cuts

  
  

Wednesday, Feb. 11

North Pacific Fishery Management Council meets in Anchorage.

• 8 a.m. – House Education Committee gets an update on Mount Edgecumbe High School, the state’s lone remaining boarding school

• 9 a.m. – State veterinarian board meets to discuss regulation cuts

• House/Senate floor sessions expected to begin around 10:30 a.m.

• 11 a.m. – State of the Judiciary address by Chief Justice Susan Carney

• 1 p.m. – Hilcorp gives an update on its North Slope work in House Resources, and the committee talks about a bill that would subsidize some Cook Inlet gas production

• 1:30 p.m. – Senate Finance talks about a constitutional amendment that would lower the veto override threshold

• 1:30 p.m. – What does Alaska’s agriculture industry look like? Senate Labor and Commerce takes up the topic.

• 3:30 p.m. – Senate Education Committee hears a status report on Mount Edgecumbe

• 3:30 p.m. – How’s the Alaska Railroad doing? Its CEO gives an update to the Senate Resources Committee

• 5:15 p.m. – The Legislative Council meets behind closed doors to discuss the costs of the Legislature’s lawsuit against the governor’s executive order that attempted to create a cabinet-level Department of Agriculture

• 5:30 p.m. – The Joint Armed Services Committee talks about the 11th Airborne’s “ready to deploy” orders to Minnesota

  
  

Thursday, Feb. 12

North Pacific Fishery Management Council meets in Anchorage.

• 9 a.m. – State pharmacy board meeting

• 11 a.m. – Alaska Supreme Court oral argument in Triem v Alaska Judicial Council

• 12 p.m. – State real estate appraisers board meeting about cutting regulations

• 1:30 p.m. – House Finance takes a look at the next section of the governor’s fiscal plan bill

• 1:30 p.m. – The Senate Transportation committee hears an update on the controversial Cascade Point ferry terminal

• 3:30 p.m. – What is this big federal health care transformation program? The House and Senate health committees meet together to learn more

  
  

Friday, Feb. 13

• 9 a.m. – State psychologist board meeting

• House/Senate floor sessions expected to begin around 10:30 a.m.

• 1 p.m. – Should there be a statewide spay and neuter program for animals? House Resources takes public testimony on the idea.

• 1:30 p.m. – House Finance does some work on the supplemental budget bill

  
  

Saturday, Feb. 14

Valentine’s Day!

• James Brooks is a longtime Alaska reporter, having previously worked at the Anchorage Daily News, Juneau Empire, Kodiak Mirror and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. Alaska Beacon is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.