Gov. Mike Dunleavy declared a public health disaster emergency in the state.

People are encouraged to practice social distancing and avoid large crowds if possible, especially if they are elderly or have underlying health conditions.

Access to the Capitol is limited to lawmakers, employees of the Legislature, members of the governor’s administration, and credentialed journalists.

Lawmakers voted to approve $4.1 million of funding to respond to the coronavirus.

The regular session will adjourn if five or more legislators contract the virus.

The Alaska Supreme Court issued an order allowing the campaign to recall Gov. Mike Dunleavy to begin collecting signatures.

The decision reverses a lower court ruling pausing signature gathering and putting the case on an extremely speedy schedule by the standards of the court.

Oral arguments over the legality of the recall will be held on March 25.

The Division of Elections will begin printing petition booklets for Recall Dunleavy to collect the required 71, 252 signatures.

If the Supreme Court rules the recall campaign legal, any election would take place 60 to 90 days after the Division of Elections confirms enough signatures have been gathered.

A superior court judge has delayed signature gathering for a campaign seeking to remove Gov. Mike Dunleavy from office.

Judge Eric Aarseth issued a stay halting Recall Dunleavy from advancing its efforts, pending a decision from the Alaska Supreme Court.

The judge previously overruled a state Division of Elections decision rejecting the recall application.

Last week, there was some confusion over a stay, when the stay was issued and revoked a day later due to an error in the court system.

Although the ruling halts the recall campaign from moving forward with collecting signatures, both parties agreed to an expedited appeal.

Anchorage Superior Court Judge Eric Aarseth reversed the Division of Election’s rejection of the Recall Dunleavy campaign application.

The Division of Elections rejected a bid to advance the recall effort based on an opinion from Attorney General Kevin Clarkson.

Clarkson found the reasons listed for the recall were factually and legally deficient.

The Recall Dunleavy group argued that Clarkson’s analysis was overreaching and the recall effort should be allowed to move to a second signature-gathering phase.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s administration stated it will appeal the decision to the Alaska Supreme Court.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy announced that Melvin Gillis has been selected to fill the vacant South Anchorage state House of Representatives District 25 seat.

The seat became vacant when Josh Revak was confirmed to the Senate seat that was held by Sen. Chris Birch, who passed away in August.

Gillis was one of three candidates picked by local party officials.

House Republicans will have to approve the appointment.

The Alaska Division of Elections declined to certify a petition to recall Gov. Mike Dunleavy from office, citing a legal opinion by the state attorney general.

The Alaska Attorney General Kevin Clarkson issued the opinion finding the petitioners gathered enough signatures, paid the appropriate fees and did the technical work correctly.

However, the four allegations against the governor fail to meet any of the listed grounds for recall that include neglect of duty, incompetence, and lack of fitness.

Over 49,000 signatures were gathered in little over a month because of discontent with the governor’s decision to veto more than $400 million from the state operating budget.

The petitioners intend to file an appeal in the Anchorage Superior Court.

If the recall petition is upheld in court, backers need to collect 71,252 verified signatures to trigger a special election.

The Alaska Senate Republicans voted to confirm Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s choice to fill a vacant seat in the chamber.

Rep. Josh Revak was appointed to the South Anchorage state Senate seat vacated by the passing of Chris Birch.

The appointment created a vacancy in the South Anchorage state House of Representatives seat.

District 25 Republicans are expected to create a list of nominees for Gov. Dunleavy to make a selection to fill the vacancy.

The Alaska Republican Party must select three nominees to forward to the governor to fill the vacant Senate District M seat.

The vacancy was created by the sudden passing of Senator Chris Birch.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy will make the final selection from the three nominees.

The Republicans in the Senate must agree with the governor’s choice before the nominee gets sworn in.

A self-imposed deadline for receiving applications has been set for August 18.

The second special session of the Alaska Legislature that began with controversy and division ended quietly on Tuesday with no further legislative action.

Tuesday marked the 30-day session limit.

The Legislature approved restoring much of the operating budget money Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed.

Additionally, the Legislature approved a $1,600 pay out of the permanent fund dividend.

Gov. Dunleavy did not give a clear indication of whether he may call a third special session, but he must give a 30-day notice before the legislators must appear again.

The state Senate kicked off the second special session in Juneau and promptly removed Sen. Mia Costello as the majority leader.

Costello was in Wasilla with nearly a third of her fellow lawmakers.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy called for the second special session to be held in Wasilla on July 8.

The session ended quickly because there was no majority to conduct business.

House minority leader Lance Pruitt stated the members would remain in Wasilla and wait for the legislators in Juneau to attend.

Lawmakers ended their special session on June 13.

The Legislature passed a capital budget bill but failed to reach the three-quarter threshold required to fund major provisions.

Failure to reach the threshold left millions of dollars in projects unfunded and federal match money at risk.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy called a second special session in order to address the permanent fund dividends the Legislature also could not agree on.

The second special session will convene on July 8, at 1 p.m. in Wasilla.

The 31st Alaska Legislature adjourned the first regular session at the constitutional deadline on May 15.

The legislature did not find resolution on some of the biggest issues including crime, the budget, and the dividend residents receive from the state’s oil-wealth fund.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy called a special session to begin on May 16.

The special session will be limited to discussing a crime reform package, an operating budget containing a full permanent fund dividend, a capital budget, funding for K-12 education, and a mental health trust budget.

State Republicans are celebrating a victory today following a successful gubernatorial election.

Mike Dunleavy, a former state senator from Wasilla, was elected governor, defeating Democratic candidate Mark Begich and current governor Bill Walker, whose name remained on the ballot despite a late withdrawal from the race.

With 98 percent of the precincts reporting, Dunleavy triumphed over opponent Begich with about 52 percent of the vote.

After four years of having an Independent in office, this is a win for the Alaska Republican Party. The last Republican governor of Alaska was Sean Parnell, who was elected in 2010.

Gov. Bill Walker dropped out of his race for re-election on October 19, just days after his lieutenant governor resigned for making “inappropriate” comments.

Public and private polling showed him trailing in third place, behind Republican Mike Dunleavy and Democrat Mark Begich.

While dropping out, Gov. Walker said, “Alaskans deserve a competitive race,” and then endorsed Begich to replace him.

Due to the timing of the announcement, Walker’s name will still appear on the ballot.