Urgent action needed in support of Alaska Sea Grant and the University of Alaska
We need you to contact your legislators now and tell them the University of Alaska and Alaska Sea Grant are worth fighting for!
As someone who supports the work of Alaska Sea Grant and the university, you have likely heard by now that Alaska’s governor intends to slash the state’s funding to the university by 41 percent. If allowed to stand, the $130 million cut he announced last Friday, along with the $5 million budget reduction already approved by the legislature, would be devastating to the university and to our program. On Monday of this week, our employees, along with some 2,500 others, received furlough notices. Unless action is taken to reverse the governor’s plans for the University of Alaska, our program will be in jeopardy.
For nearly 50 years, Alaska Sea Grant has supported Alaska’s fishing and seafood industries, a pillar of our state’s economy providing nearly 57,000 jobs in Alaska. We are proud to provide technical assistance and applied research to this important and growing sector, a significant part of the state’s Blue Economy future.
We also bring federal dollars to the state to fund scientific research conducted here in Alaska to address the many information gaps that affect our state’s coastal residents and communities, and we support fellowships that provide career-enhancing, on-the-job training to promising, newly graduated students.
If the governor’s budget cut to the university is not overturned, it could significantly reduce, if not eliminate Alaska Sea Grant along with many other parts of the institution. Please take a few moments to write to Alaska lawmakers expressing your opposition to the governor’s cut and asking them to restore the budget they passed. Read more from Dan White, chancellor of the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Below is a list of emails of key legislators to contact. Also, please reach out to your own representatives if they are not on this list. Tell lawmakers a personal story about how this devastating cut would affect you and your community. Thank you!
Senator.John.Coghill@akleg.gov
Senator.Peter.Micchiche@akleg.gov
Senator.Bert.Stedman@akleg.gov
Senator.Mia.Costello@akleg.gov
Senator.Gary.Stevens@akleg.gov
Representative.Sarah.Vance@akleg.gov
Representative.Bart.LeBon@akleg.gov
Representative.Dave.Talerico@akleg.gov
Representative.Kelly.Merrick@akleg.gov
Representative.Sara.Rasmussen@akleg.gov
Representative.Chuck.Kopp@akleg.gov
Representative.Josh.Revak@akleg.gov
Representative.Laddie.Shaw@akleg.gov
Representative.Jennifer.Johnston@akleg.gov