JKT’s Platform

Alaska needs change. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, born and raised in Sitka, represented Southeast Alaska for a decade in the legislature, bringing new energy to Juneau and working across the aisle to protect public schools and lower the cost of energy and housing.

JKT is running for governor to bring a new generation of leadership to the governor’s office. Let’s support our schools, lower the cost of energy, build new homes, and balance the budget — so that the next generation will also call Alaska home.

    • Fully fund our schools and reverse the decline of public education in Alaska.

    • Pass a constitutional amendment to “forward fund” education and put an end to the awful annual budget guessing game. School districts and families shouldn’t have to wonder how many teachers are going to be laid off (only to be rehired a month later) on an annual basis.

    • Ensure enough funding for Alaska schools to offer sports, electives (shop, music, art, etc.), and extracurriculars that enrich students’ lives.

    • Get cell phones out of classrooms.

    • Pay teachers fairly. Alaska should attract and retain the best educators in the country. 

    • Create a defined benefit retirement system that ensures we don’t lose our best teachers to the Lower 48.

    • Support development of all energy sources — renewables, hydro, and natural gas — to lower utility bills for Alaskans.

    • Require the four Railbelt utilities to cooperate with each other in order to provide cheaper electricity for Alaskans.

    • Protect ratepayers from paying for a second unnecessary and costly LNG import terminal in Cook Inlet.

    • Partner with industry and support the development of an economically-viable Alaskan natural gas pipeline.

    • Bring down the cost of housing by cutting red tape so we can build affordable homes where Alaskans need them most.

    • Unlock state land parcels within and adjacent to Alaska cities and towns for housing development to create more housing supply.

    • Eliminate regulatory barriers to low-cost manufactured and modular housing (trailers, tiny homes, etc.) to provide safe and affordable homes across the state.

    • Deploy state corporations (AHFC and also AIDEA) as financing partners for new housing development.

    • Stop leaving federal housing dollars on the table. Funding from HUD, USDA Rural Development, and tribal housing programs can supercharge homebuilding.

    • Support Medicaid expansion.

    • Partner with tribal health organizations to secure maximum federal funding for Alaskans’ healthcare.

    • Reduce healthcare costs by promoting telehealth.

    • Support appropriate scopes of practice for healthcare practitioners such as nurse practitioners, physician assistants, optometrists, and dental health aides.

    • Make the Permanent Fund permanent: ensure that the entirety of the Permanent Fund is constitutionally protected from overspending so that the fund will grow and benefit future generations of Alaskans.

    • Ensure that Alaskans get a fair share from our state’s oil wealth. All Alaska oil and gas producers should contribute to the Alaska budget by paying corporate income tax. Hilcorp should pay its fair share just the way ConocoPhillips does.

    • Get corporate money out of politics: remove political spending power from the list of powers the State of Alaska grants its corporations.

    • Appoint only qualified Alaskans to state boards and commissions — not political allies with no qualifications for the positions.

    • No foreign junkets. State officials should not accept lavish vacations from foreign governments or deep-pocketed individuals when there is little to no benefit to the State of Alaska.

    • Reign in bottom trawl bycatch and conserve Alaska’s fisheries resources.

    • Prevent permits from leaving Alaska for the Lower 48. Alaska’s commercial fishing permits should be fished by Alaskans.

    • Fully empower the Division of Investments (Commercial Fishing Revolving Loan Fund) and CFAB to finance the entry of new and young fishermen into the fleet.

    • Fully fund ADF&G.

    • Prioritize restoring the crashed Chinook runs in the Yukon, Kuskokwim, and Southcentral Alaska rivers.

    • Support balance on the Board of Fish. The BOF should not be dominated by any one user group. 

    • Support the independence of CFEC.

    • Nominate Alaskans to the North Pacific Council who support the interests of Alaska-based fishermen and Alaska coastal communities.

    • Prioritize capital investment in port and harbor infrastructure.

    • Protect the rural preference and put an end to litigation that undermines Title VIII of ANILCA.

    • Adequately fund the Division of Subsistence at ADF&G.

    • Prevent tax dollars from going to glitzy megaprojects that don’t serve our critical needs and rarely materialize.

    • Build and maintain roads, airports and airstrips, bridges, power plants, and ports. Infrastructure supports small businesses and lowers costs.

    • Support our first responders by funding and equipping our police, fire, and emergency medical personnel. 

    • Adequately fund the Village Public Safety Officer program to provide law enforcement in rural Alaska.