No Mention of Kodiak in Preliminary Capital Budget

Jay Barrett/KMXT

As  you’ve heard, Governor Walker’s preliminary capital budget – that’s the one that includes money for projects around the state – is currently a stripped down work in progress. In fact, if you go the state Office of Management and Budget page, it says that, with big bold letters saying “This budget is not endorsed by Governor Walker.”

But, he had to submit something by Monday’s deadline.

And while the operating budget that former Governor Parnell compiled before he left office was left largely unchanged for the early submission deadline – just two weeks after Walker took office – the capital budget did get some editing. Some heavy editing.

In fact, the word “Kodiak” does not even appear in the capital budget.

That doesn’t mean there aren’t any projects for House District 32, which includes Kodiak, as well as Seldovia and Cordova. There is $15.5-million of federal pass-through transportation funds marked for two projects. $10-million for the Yakutat airport and $5.5-million for erosion control on the Chiniak Highway.

Walker’s office emphasizes this is a very preliminary, work-in-progress, and of course the State House and Senate will both have their say on what projects the precious few available state funds might be budgeted.