Senate finance subcommittee reviews Department of Revenue budget, governor seeks three tax-division economists
March 05, 2026 | 2026 Legislature Alaska, Alaska
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Senator Kiel, chair of the Senate Finance Subcommittee, convened the March 5 evening meeting and turned the floor to Janelle Earls, acting commissioner and administrative services director for the Department of Revenue, to present the governor's amended budget.
Earls summarized the department's mission to collect, distribute and invest funds for public purposes and said DOR's operating budget is largely funded from other state funds such as retirement system funds and receipts from the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority, Alaska Housing Finance Corporation and the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation.
The governor's FY27 amendments include three new positions for the tax division's economic research group to expand forecasting and fiscal analysis capacity. "They do all of our forecast and economic modeling," Brandon Spanos, the acting tax director, said of the group, noting it produces fiscal notes for roughly 45 tax bills, monitors hearings and handles frequent requests for analysis. Spanos said the group is overworked, faces frequent turnover and that higher pay and additional positions are intended to improve retention.
Earls also outlined across-the-board adjustments to salary, benefits and retirement and implementation of an IT job-class study. She said several budget components have no major changes beyond those adjustments, but are available for questions in the subcommittee book.
On the Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD) division, Earls said an ongoing operating increase of $611,600 would support hosting a new dividend application information system and absorb federal postage rate increases. She told the subcommittee the division has reverted closer to normal vacancy levels after an earlier period of higher retention and that recruitment is ongoing.
The department flagged modest increases or adjustments across administratively housed corporations and authorities but emphasized transparency and routine adjustments rather than new programmatic expansions. Earls offered to provide further detail on the size and classification of the economic research team and the committee agreed it would be useful to schedule a follow-up discussion on the group's staffing and work products.
The subcommittee set a follow-up budget meeting for March 12 at 5:15 p.m. and adjourned.
Earls summarized the department's mission to collect, distribute and invest funds for public purposes and said DOR's operating budget is largely funded from other state funds such as retirement system funds and receipts from the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority, Alaska Housing Finance Corporation and the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation.
The governor's FY27 amendments include three new positions for the tax division's economic research group to expand forecasting and fiscal analysis capacity. "They do all of our forecast and economic modeling," Brandon Spanos, the acting tax director, said of the group, noting it produces fiscal notes for roughly 45 tax bills, monitors hearings and handles frequent requests for analysis. Spanos said the group is overworked, faces frequent turnover and that higher pay and additional positions are intended to improve retention.
Earls also outlined across-the-board adjustments to salary, benefits and retirement and implementation of an IT job-class study. She said several budget components have no major changes beyond those adjustments, but are available for questions in the subcommittee book.
On the Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD) division, Earls said an ongoing operating increase of $611,600 would support hosting a new dividend application information system and absorb federal postage rate increases. She told the subcommittee the division has reverted closer to normal vacancy levels after an earlier period of higher retention and that recruitment is ongoing.
The department flagged modest increases or adjustments across administratively housed corporations and authorities but emphasized transparency and routine adjustments rather than new programmatic expansions. Earls offered to provide further detail on the size and classification of the economic research team and the committee agreed it would be useful to schedule a follow-up discussion on the group's staffing and work products.
The subcommittee set a follow-up budget meeting for March 12 at 5:15 p.m. and adjourned.
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