All 5 members of Alaska salary commission removed or resign ahead of meeting

Mar. 15—JUNEAU — All five members of the Alaska state salary commission have resigned or been abruptly removed from their positions over the past week after the Legislature unanimously rejected its recommendations.

One commissioner, Lee Cruise, who was appointed by the governor, resigned by email last week after taking a job with the administration of Gov. Mike Dunleavy. Former Republican Rep. Kurt Olson, who was the commission's chair, submitted his resignation Monday. A further three commissioners were removed from their positions by the governor Tuesday afternoon.

The Alaska State Officers Compensation Commission is charged with making salary recommendations for the governor, senior executive branch officials and legislators.

Commissioners proposed in November that the governor's salary should be raised from $145,000 per year to $176,000, representing an inflation adjustment and a 2%-per-year increase since his last pay bump in 2011. The lieutenant governor's salary would increase following the same formula to around $140,000 per year, and commissioners' salaries would increase to $168,000. But there were no changes proposed for legislators' pay.

Lawmakers rejected the commission's recommendations both this year and last year, in 2022, citing the lack of a pay increase for those serving in the Legislature.

Alaska's independent commission was established in 2008 in part so lawmakers would not need to vote to increase their own salaries. Under state law, the commission's recommendations are released as a final report to the Legislature — it cannot be amended. The report becomes effective 60 days after it is introduced, unless lawmakers pass a bill to explicitly reject it.

The salary commission has a meeting scheduled for Wednesday afternoon at the Atwood Building in Anchorage "to discuss amendments to the final recommendations for the 2024 Alaska Legislature. And to provide for public testimony." The meeting was announced with 48 hours' notice.

Kate Sheehan, division director at the Department of Administration, said the meeting would go ahead and that at least three of five newly appointed members would attend — the minimum needed to amend the previous commission's recommendations. But the identity of the new members had not been publicly disclosed as of Wednesday morning.

In an email sent Monday to staff at the Department of Administration, former commission chair Olson said he had "mixed feelings" about stepping down.

Olson cited the recent vote by the Legislature to reject the commission's recommendations in his email. He said "several members" of Senate leadership had worked to block the proposed pay bump for the executive branch, despite the unanimous disapproval vote by the Legislature.

Olson also referenced separate recommendations the commission made last year to cut legislators' overall compensation packages, which had been swiftly rejected. He did not respond to multiple requests for comment about his resignation.

The governor has the authority to appoint all five members of the commission. He selects one each nominated by the Senate president and the House speaker.

Senate President Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak, said he had submitted four names to the governor, but he declined to say who they were.

"I did not talk to any of them so I don't know their position on legislative salaries or even if they were willing to serve," Stevens said by text. "They were responsible citizens from Homer and Kodiak."

House Speaker Cathy Tilton, R-Wasilla, forwarded two nominees to the governor's office. Tilton's office said both did not want to be identified publicly until the governor announced his choice.

Cruise, one of the now-former commissioners, had been consistently and vocally opposed to increasing legislators' salaries. He did not respond to a request for comment about his resignation from the commission or his new job.

Cruise was recently hired as a policy analyst in the commissioner's office at the Department of Revenue. As a state employee, Cruise is now ineligible to serve on the commission that recommends salary adjustments for the governor and the heads of state agencies.

Cruise, who was appointed to the commission by Dunleavy, was the field director for Dunleavy's re-election campaign in 2022.

"The Department of Revenue does not comment on personnel matters," a spokesperson said in response to questions about Cruise's start date, salary, qualifications and why he was hired. The spokesperson said that personnel records with specific information on a state employee's qualifications are confidential, and that questions about Cruise's salary would need to be answered by the Department of Administration, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

An online biography submitted by Cruise as part of an application to serve on the board of directors for MTA Solutions states that he recently worked as a financial analyst at Petro Star Inc.

Three other commissioners were told by the governor's office Tuesday afternoon that their services were no longer required.

"I'm glad to not be part of the news story anymore, even though I think legislators deserve a raise," said one of the removed commissioners, Larry Persily, a journalist and former deputy commissioner of the Alaska Department of Revenue. He had described recent meetings about legislators' pay as "unproductive" and "contentious" and not coming close to an agreement.

Another commissioner, Carrigan Grigsby, vice president of Avis Alaska, declined to comment about being abruptly removed from his position.

"I was happy to be of service and wish the new commissioners best of luck going forward," he said by text message.

A fifth commissioner, Aryne Randall was also removed from her position Tuesday. Randall was appointed by Dunleavy in 2022 and is the chief operations officer of C.E.F. Properties, a Wasilla-based commercial real estate development company. She did not respond to a request for comment.

Persily's term was set to end 2025. Grigsby's and Randall's were set to end in 2024. All three were told by email that they serve at the pleasure of the governor. They also received an emailed letter signed by Dunleavy, thanking them for volunteering on the commission.

The governor's office declined to say who will be named to replace the outgoing commissioners.

Alaska lawmakers currently earn $50,400, in addition to $307 in untaxed daily payments while the Legislature is in session, which amount to roughly $37,000 for a 121-day regular legislative term (per-diem payments are not currently allotted for the three lawmakers who reside in Juneau year round).

In 2022, Lawmakers rejected a recommendation from the commission to cut per-diem payments from $307 to $100 per day and increase their base salaries from $50,400 to $64,000 per year, reasoning that the result of the proposal would have been a gross cut of about $11,000 for all but Juneau lawmakers given a 121-day regular session.

Proponents of a pay increase for lawmakers have said that increasing lawmakers' compensation would boost the diversity of the Legislature by make it more financially viable for young parents to run for office.

According to data gathered by the National Conference of State Legislatures, at least 30 states offer lawmakers lower base pay than Alaska's, including several states that offer no base pay at all and guarantee only per-diem payments when lawmakers are in session.

Senate President Stevens said after last month's Senate vote to reject the commission's pay raises for the executive branch that the commission had failed in its duty to meaningfully debate salaries for legislators. After the House disapproval vote, Tilton said she wished the commission's recommendations were more "balanced." Sen. Bert Stedman, R-Sitka, said that the commission was "rotten with politics."

"I think we just need to give up on that commission," Stevens said last month. "They have never done their job or looked at things seriously."

Stevens said he believed legislators' salaries should be increased, noting that it can be particularly financially difficult for lawmakers with young families to serve in Juneau and maintain another home in their districts. He said he has heard concerns from Dunleavy about the competitiveness of current salaries for the heads of state agencies.

Heidi Drygas, executive director of the Alaska State Employees Association, a union representing about 8,000 state employees, said Wednesday she supports a pay increase both for the governor and lieutenant governor, and for lawmakers.

"We are doing our state a huge disservice by not properly compensating these public servants shaping policy for our entire state. We want and deserve the best of the best. Not just folks who are independently wealthy, retired, or left to struggle in order to serve," Drygas wrote in a social media post.

Alaskans who want to testify during Wednesday's salary commission meeting can call 1-800-315-6338, with access code 46544031.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Daily News reporter Iris Samuels contributed from Anchorage.