Gov. Mike Dunleavy told lawmakers on Thursday he’d vetoed six bills, including a ban on Styrofoam foodservice packaging. Meanwhile, dozens more have passed into law over the past few weeks, including a crime bill that raises Alaska’s age of consent to 18.
Here’s a look at a few vetoes and new laws.
House Bill 25, banning the use of disposable polystyrene foodservice containers
The sponsor of the Styrofoam-banning bill, Democratic Anchorage Rep. Andy Josephson, said he’s not surprised Dunleavy nixed it.
“The fact that he vetoed the polystyrene bill is just — it's not even a moment to take notice of, particularly, it's just so anticipated,” he said.
But it was worth the effort to pass what he said was a “historic” bill, Josephson said.
“It's important to file the bills that your heart and head tell you to file,” he said.
The bill would have banned restaurants and the state for using disposable polystyrene containers — think of the Styrofoam to-go boxes waiters hand out for leftovers or pack up for DoorDash.
It was a priority for environmental groups, and it passed by a combined total of 39-21 with some crossover support from minority Republicans. Josephson said Alaska’s contribution to global plastics pollution is small, but its long coastline means the state feels an outsize impact. Alaska’s Pacific Northwest neighbors, from Canada to Washington and Oregon, have implemented similar bans.
In his veto message delivered Thursday, Dunleavy said the bill’s 2027 effective date created an unrealistic implementation timeline for the switch. Josephson said lawmakers likely won’t seek an override since the bill passed with fewer than the 40 votes necessary for an override.
The Styrofoam ban is just one of 18 bills from the 2026 regular session Dunleavy has vetoed so far in his last year as governor. Josephson said the large number of vetoes is “absurd.”
“I think it reflects his belief that he couldn't move the state as governor. He couldn't advance the state in the way he wanted, and so this is sort of the outlet for that,” Josephson said.
Senate Bill 258, preventing software vendor lock-in on cloud services
Another vetoed bill, a week earlier, came from Juneau Democratic Sen. Jesse Kiehl — basically saying that software providers can’t lock the state into using their own proprietary cloud services.
“The software provider shouldn't decide what cloud we pay for,” Kiehl said. “Alaskans should decide that based on price and quality and speed and security and all the other things you want your IT department looking into, so that you and I don't have to.”
It passed by a wide margin, with 46 out of 60 lawmakers voting for it. Kiehl said he worked closely with the administration to tweak the bill as it moved through the Legislature.
“Every single word they asked for, I put in the bill, and then the governor vetoed it,” he said.
Dunleavy told lawmakers the restriction could “reduce flexibility, limit access to needed products and increase costs.” But Kiehl said that’s exactly the problem the bill was trying to solve.
Lawmakers elected earlier this month not to attempt an override.
Dunleavy also vetoed bills sponsored by minority Republicans often aligned with him, including one from Anchorage Rep. Mia Costello creating an Alaska-Ireland trade commission.
House Bill 239, a wide-ranging crime package
Meanwhile, dozens more bills have become law in recent weeks, including a sweeping crime bill raising the age of consent to 18. Dunleavy allowed the bill to become law without formally signing it in mid-June. Anchorage Democratic Rep. Andrew Gray has pushed to raise the age for years and calls it a “landmark achievement.”
“I am confident that we are going to take a bite out of that terrible, terrible, terrible number, which is the high rate of sexual assault in Alaska, by protecting 16 and 17 year olds,” Gray said.
House Bill 13, creating new optional housing-focused property tax exemptions
Dunleavy also allowed another bill Gray backed to become law in recent weeks. House Bill 13 offers municipalities the option to provide property tax incentives aimed at boosting the supply of housing. Those include possible exemptions for owner-occupied homes, short-term rentals converted to long-term rentals, first-time homebuyers, affordable housing and more.
It’s a longtime priority, Gray said.
“One time, when I was out door knocking, I had a gentleman tell me that he owned seven homes in Anchorage, and he was Airbnb-ing six of them,” Gray said. “Well, yeah, he can get a property tax exemption on his owner-occupied home, but not the other six.”
The bill doesn’t create the exemption statewide — it just gives local governments the option to do so.
House Bill 39, a deaf and hard of hearing children’s bill of rights
Another bill that passed into law, sponsored by Eagle River Republican Rep. Jamie Allard, provides what she calls a “Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children’s Bill of Rights.”
Allard said she’s has struggled with hearing issues since she was a child, and the bill gives parents a greater say in how schools deal with their deaf or hard of hearing children.
“One of the examples would be, like, ‘yeah, I know you say that my child learns better with maybe reading lips, and I'm going to tell you right now, they need an interpreter,’” Allard said. “So the parent can be the ultimate decision maker, saying, ‘No, they need an interpreter.’”
Allard said she’s been pursuing the concept since 2023. The bill passed the House and Senate unanimously.
