DMVA tells finance subcommittee it will seek no new state general fund for FY27, requests federally funded positions

Deputy Commissioner Craig Christensen and Administrative Services Director Bob Ernesi presented the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs' FY2027 budget overview to the finance subcommittee on March 24, saying the department will seek no new state general fund (UGF) money in its operating budget aside from statewide IT requests.

Christensen, speaking for DMVA, said the bulk of the department’s requests are federally funded. "Other than the statewide IT requests, we are requesting no additional UGF within our budget," Ernesi told the committee as he reviewed high‑level comparisons between FY23 actuals and the governor's FY27 request.

Ernesi outlined three principal requests the department is asking the subcommittee to note: two program manager positions for public protection and infrastructure support (one to be located in Fairbanks and one in Anchorage), two Army Guard Environmental Program Specialist 3 positions to manage complex federal environmental compliance requirements, and a housekeeping proposal to delete unutilized program receipts tied to army rentals that have not been used in several years. Ernesi said each of those position requests is expected to be 100% federally reimbursed.

Christensen said the public protection and infrastructure liaisons would coordinate with the Department of Defense and local communities to identify infrastructure projects that could qualify for federal reimbursement. The environmental specialists, he said, would work with the National Guard Bureau and state environmental regulators "to make sure we and the National Guard are in compliance with those" federal and state rules.

On personnel and staffing, Christensen told members most DMVA positions are fully or partially federally funded and that vacancies are largely transactional: retirements and promotions cause churn. "We only had about six positions that were vacant longer than six months," he said, and the department has reclassified some hard‑to‑fill positions and is bringing payroll functions back in‑house.

Senator Rauscher asked whether any PCNs are dedicated to administrative support for the Alaska Aerospace Corporation; Christensen said DMVA maintains one state PCN for the aerospace organization's CEO, while other employees at Aurora Launch Services and similar subsidiaries are not state employees and are funded through the corporation's receipts and federal contracts.

Ernesi also reminded the committee that DMVA manages the state's disaster relief fund (the fund itself is not housed in DMVA) and noted the department's FY26 supplemental and FY27 disaster relief requests.

The subcommittee did not take votes on any of the requests during the session; the presentation concluded and the subcommittee adjourned at 1:45 p.m.

Next steps: DMVA's requests will be considered as part of the broader budget process; the department signaled it will return with specific operating fund requests for new facilities (see separate note on the veterans cemetery).