Klukwan residents are still bracing for hard times, despite the Alaska Legislature passing a bill this week that promised to reverse more than $400 million in Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s vetoes.
Since March, state budget talks have threatened a number of Klukwan’s institutions and resident services, including cutting $800,000 from Chatham School District, which oversees Klukwan School, eliminating Klukwan elders’ senior benefits and dental coverage, and multiplying residents’ electricity bills by defunding statewide Power Cost Equalization.