Alaska Politics Blog

This is the place to talk about Alaska politics, state, local, national. Public life in the Last Frontier has rarely been more interesting -- a full slate of federal and state elections, the influence of former Gov. Sarah Palin, the usual hardball Alaska politics. Come here for news, tidbits and information, and join the discussion. We encourage lively debate, but please keep it civil and stay on point. Don't use profanity, make crude comments or attack other posters. Posts that violate the Terms of Use will be deleted. Repeat offenders will lose their ability to post comments.

Sean Cockerham

Sean Cockerham writes about Alaska state politics. He's worked for the ADN in Anchorage and Juneau, covered the legislature for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, and covered Washington state politics for the Tacoma News Tribune. E-mail Sean at scockerham@adn.com

Kyle Hopkins

Kyle Hopkins covers rural affairs, general assignments and politics for the ADN. He covered the 2006 campaign for governor, has blogged extensively about Alaska politics, covered Anchorage city government and was a reporter based in the Mat-Su. He grew up in Southeast Alaska and previously wrote for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner and Anchorage Press. E-mail Kyle at khopkins@adn.com and also find him on our rural Alaska blog, The Village.

David Hulen

David Hulen, the ADN's state and local news editor, is responsible for political coverage. He has been an editor and reporter at the ADN for more than 20 years. E-mail David at dhulen@adn.com

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Alaska political corruption

When the FBI raided state legislature offices in Aug. 2006, it publicly launched an investigation that ultimately reached the highest levels of Alaska politics, and continues to this day.

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Lisa Murkowski wants investigation of why feds won't prosecute Bill Allen on sex charges - 11/28/2011 12:03 pm

Palin: I'm not running for president (Updated with video) - 10/5/2011 2:50 pm

Elections round-up: Taxes and bonds, plastic bags and politicians - 10/5/2011 10:49 am

Congressional office spending goes online

From Erika Bolstad in Washington D.C. --

Curious how members of the House of Representatives are spending your money in their offices? For the first time, the House has released that information online.

Rep. Don Young's office account information from the most recent quarter is on page 2771 in the third volume. These reports are quarterly, so if you want to get a sense for how much money individual employees earn, multiply times four. Same for rent and other expenses.

Congressional spending came under scrutiny this summer when the Wall Street Journal looked into office accounts after a scandal over spending abuses by British members of Parliament. The Journal report found nothing illegal in the House spending -- but did catch some unusual spending, including money spent on digital cameras and flat panel TVs for some offices.

At the time, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi pledged to put the hard-to-access spending reports online, and did so on Monday. Before they were available online, the reports were available only in a basement office in the Cannon House Office Building across the street from the Capitol. They're bound in books printed quarterly in type the size of classified advertising in a newspaper.

The Senate forms, which are less detailed, remain offline -- and are even more difficult to access than the House reports once were. Released only twice a year, they're stored in an office in the basement of the Hart Senate Office Building, across from the Senate drapery division.

Individual House members have a budget of $1.4 to $1.9 million a year to spend on staff salaries, franking, equipment and travel to and from their district. Some, such as members from Western states, are allotted slightly more money because they have higher travel costs. Individual members of Congress have broad discretion with spending as long as it's within the House rules.

© Copyright 2011, The Anchorage Daily News. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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