Dunleavy issues orders to ‘DOGE’ Alaska and automatically OK delayed natural resource permits
- Mark Sabbatini
- 2 days ago
- 5 min read
Orders issued two days after governor suffers series of defeats on education, other issues during special session
By Mark Sabbatini
Editor
A "government efficiency" mandate that starts by targeting grants and "accounts payable," plus automatic approval of natural resource permit applications if the state misses a deadline are contained in two administrative orders issued by Gov. Mike Dunleavy on Monday.
Both orders were issued two days after Dunleavy suffered a series of political defeats during the opening day of a special legislative session he called, including lawmakers overturning his veto of an education funding increase and spurning his executive order forming a state Department of Agriculture.
The orders also largely mirror the governing-by-decree tactics of President Donald Trump, who Dunleavy strongly supports, now being replicated by Republican governors in many states. Unlike executive orders, the Alaska Legislature cannot overturn administrative orders.
Dunleavy, in a press release Monday, offered the following summaries of the two administrative orders:
• Administrative Order No. 359: "Establishes a Government Efficiency Review, requiring the Office of Management and Budget to lead an annual review of all executive branch agencies. The review will identify cost savings, streamline operations, modernize processes, and ensure every public dollar is spent wisely. Initial areas of focus will include grants to non-state entities and accounts payable. Agencies will also be required to use technology and artificial intelligence to improve transparency and accountability in how public money is spent."
The order itself states "Initial areas of focus of the Government Efficiency Review will include: 1) Grants to non-State of Alaska entities (and) 2) Accounts Payable."
• Administrative Order No. 360: "Launches a comprehensive Regulatory Reform Initiative, replacing previous regulatory directives with a new framework to reduce unnecessary burdens on Alaskans and businesses. The order requires state agencies to review and streamline existing regulations, guidance documents, and materials incorporated by reference. Agencies must reduce regulatory requirements by 15% by the end of 2026 and 25% by the end of 2027."
A governor’s administrative orders cannot change state law, which the order affecting approval of permits and projects appears to do, said state Sen. Jesse Kiehl, D-Juneau, in an interview Tuesday.
"I don't know that the governor has that power," he said. "We set standards in the law and departments have regulations setting up the way to meet those standards, and we absolutely owe private businesses a speedy turnaround, but a time clock doesn't have anything to do with whether a project meets the standards or not."
The governor’s order for projects and permits mandates reducing and simplifying the steps in the approval process, plus "clear timelines and deadlines…including provisions for automatic approval if deadlines are not met." That means oil and other development projects would get approval with full environmental review if agencies — whether willfully or inadvertently — fail to meet the deadlines.
Kiehl said such a provision isn’t legal or logical.
"We need to make the agencies as efficient as possible," he said. "But if a bridge proposal or a mine proposal or clear-cut proposal is going to kill a bunch of salmon fry in the stream, it doesn’t meet the standards. I don't care how long it takes."
A Dunleavy spokesperson, in response to questions from the Independent about the legality of the administrative order, defended it as proper.
"While regulations cannot alter statute, (the order) will ensure that state agencies are effectively serving Alaskans, not creating regulatory roadblocks," Deputy Press Secretary Grant Robinson wrote. "(The) Department of Law and the Governor’s office will be providing implementation guidance to agencies on how to reduce discretionary requirements soon."
AO 359 is similar to "Department of Government Efficiency" (DOGE) mandates issued in at least 26 states including Florida, Iowa, Louisiana and Oklahoma. But while many of those governors say their efforts are inspired by the Trump administration’s DOGE cuts, there are key differences in implementation.
"The state initiatives have a markedly different character than Trump’s slash-and-burn approach, symbolized by Musk’s chainsaw-brandishing appearance at a Conservative Political Action Committee appearance in February," the Associated Press reported in a story published July 12. "Governors are tending to entrust their DOGE bureaus to loyalists, rather than independent auditors, and are often employing what could be yearslong processes to consolidate procurement, modernize information technology systems, introduce AI tools, repeal regulations or reduce car fleets, office leases or worker headcounts through attrition."
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, for instance, in July announced state audits of Broward County and the city of Gainesville as the latest of a series of local government probes, The Center Square reported July 22. The news site states examples of spending targeted by DeSantis "are an $800,000 Broward County float in this year's Parade of Roses in Pasadena, Calif., and ‘Green New Deal’ projects in both areas."
Robinson, responding to a question about what specific grants and "accounts payable" the governor has in mind by targeting them initially in his administrative order, stated as of now the scrutiny is for spending by state agencies.
"In some areas of the budget, this may result in eliminating grants to non-State of Alaska entities," Robinson wrote. "In other areas, it may result in contracting with a specialist who can provide a service at a superior value. The ultimate goal is to ensure that tax dollars are spent in the most responsible manner."
Kiehl said such efforts are already core duties of the state Office of Management and Budget, and "I have been working with state agencies to find efficiencies every year that I've been in the Legislature."
Rescinding of federal grant funds previously approved has been achieved by the Trump administration through executive orders and pressuring Congress, including clawing back $9 billion recently for foreign aid and public broadcasting. Kiehl said the Alaska Supreme Court has ruled that while governors have line-item veto authority, that doesn’t extend to rescissions such as those occurring at the federal level (some of which are being challenged in court).
Contracting out state services to private entities has been successful in some instances, especially for specialized purposes such as naval architects for the Alaska Marine Highway System since the state has struggled to hire certain personnel, Kiehl said.
"On the other hand, if it means taking eligibility workers for public assistance and trying to cover seven years of failure by sending it to a call center in India with untrained workers for less than the American minimum wage, that's a terrible idea and would be a disaster," he said.
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at editor@juneauindependent.com or (907) 957-2306.
