Hannan to co-chair House Finance Committee, Schrage to be House Speaker in new majority

3 hours ago

3 min read

Democratic-led coalition of at least 23 members retains Chuck Kopp, R-Anchorage, as majority leader; Rebecca Himschoot, I-Sitka, to serve as Rules Committee chair

By Mark Sabbatini

Juneau Independent

Rep. Sara Hannan, D-Juneau, will play a central role in crafting the state’s operating budget during the next two years as a co-chair of the House Finance Committee, according to an announcement Thursday by the Democratic-led majority caucus.

Other leadership positions announced are Rep. Calvin Schrage, I-Anchorage, as House Speaker; Rep. Chuck Kopp, R-Anchorage, as majority leader; and Rep. Rebecca Himschoot, I-Sitka, as rules committee chair. The other two finance committee co-chairs are Rep. Ashley Carrick, D-Fairbanks, who will oversee the capital budget, and Rep. Neal Foster, D-Nome, who will oversee legislation.

The incoming Democratic-led Senate majority announced its leadership on Wednesday, including Sen. Jesse Kiehl, D-Juenau, as one of two Senate Finance Committee co-chairs.

The House majority is expected to have at least 23 members — compared to the current 21-19 majority-minority split — due to Democratic gains in Tuesday’s elections, although results of races won’t be fully tallied until Nov. 18. The mostly Democratic coalition will also likely be working with Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins as governor rather than departing Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy, whose negotiations with legislators have been contentious during much of his two terms.

"I'm very excited," Hannan told the Juneau Independent in an interview Thursday. "This is actually going to be the largest caucus I've been in, and we're very excited to be working with what we believe to be a governor who we share a lot of vision and goals with."

Hannan, elected to a fifth two-year term as an unopposed candidate for the District 4 seat that represents downtown Juneau and Douglas, has been a member of the finance committee for the past four years and chair of the Legislative Council for the past two years.

Both the House and Senate have had Democratic-led bipartisan majority coalitions during the past two years. The party’s gains in Tuesday’s election meant they could have formed a majority for the upcoming session consisting only of Democrats and aligned independents, but during a leadership meeting in Anchorage on Wednesday opted to keep Kopp in the majority leader position he has served in for the past two years.

Hannan said that was a caucus decision based on his tenure during the past session.

"When you're working on building a team, relationships matter," she said.

Kopp, in a prepared statement, said "Alaskans have shown time and again that when we work together, we can accomplish big things. I am confident this coalition is ready to build on that tradition and deliver meaningful results for communities across our state.”

Schrage, first elected to the House in 2021, served as minority leader during the 2023 and 2024 sessions, and a co-chair of the finance committee during the past two years. In a prepared statement, he emphasized the diverse makeup of the incoming majority.

"The House Majority Coalition reflects the diversity, strength, and values of communities all across Alaska," he said. By working together, we are committed to delivering practical solutions and real results for hardworking Alaskans and their families.”

Hannan, in her role as finance committee co-chair, will oversee the House’s crafting of its proposed operating budget for the coming fiscal year based on the draft submitted by the incoming governor. The House typically passes its draft first, which is then considered and amended by the Senate, and then a six-member committee meets at the end of the session to craft a compromise budget to send to the governor.

Having two legislative majority caucuses and a governor that are largely aligned should help in terms of policy goals and process, but the state’s fiscal situation will remain a challenging one when crafting the budget, Hannan said

"It's our only constitutionally mandated job, and I understand the magnitude and the seriousness of that work, especially in a time where we've got some real economic issues to address," she said. "And although many people focus on, ‘Isn't there going to be extra revenue from the high price of oil?’ hasn't everything the state has done in the last year with the high price of oil also impacted our cost of functioning? So we are going to have that, but I am excited and honored to have been selected by my caucus to have that job."

• Contact Mark Sabbatini at editor@juneauindependent.com or (907) 957-2306.