Legislature’s regular session ends. Palmer gets a new judge and Alaska gets an official vegetable, the giant cabbage

Palmer will have a new Superior Court judge and the State of Alaska will have an official vegetable – the Giant Green Cabbage.

These were approved by state legislators on Wednesday, May 20, as lawmakers adjourned the 2026 legislative session. The state operating and capital budget was also passed along with a number of bills dealing with education, energy and other matters.

Although the regular 2026 legislative session ended Gov. Mike Dunleavy called lawmakers into special session to complete work on changes to state tax laws affecting the big Alaska LNG project, which is proposed bring North Slope gas south to Southcentral Alaska.

Mat-Su Sen. George Rauscher, R-Sutton, is playing a role in this as member of the Senate Resources Committee.

The new Palmer judge was approved in HB 262, which was proposed by the Alaska Supreme Court. An additional judge is needed because the Palmer superior court judges have the highest caseloads in the state, the Supreme Court said in a statement urging approval of the new judge in Palmer.

The four current Palmer judges and are handling a workload that is unsustainable: they are assigned an average of 683 cases per judge, compared to the statewide average of 458 cases per superior court judge. Adding a fifth judge to the Palmer Superior Court will mean that those judges would have 546 cases each, the court said.

This would still exceed the statewide average number of cases per judge, and Palmer judges would still have the highest caseload per judge of any court in the state, but it would be a welcome and needed improvement.

The population of the Mat-Su Borough increased by approximately 40% since 2006 when the last judge was added. The number of cases filed in the Palmer superior court has increased by 55% since 2007 when the fourth and newest judge took his seat.

The recognition of the giant cabbage, of interest because of the reputation of Mat-Su farmers in giant vegetables, became law as part of Senate Bill 208, which also streamlining procedures for farmers to lease unused state land for agriculture.

Rep. DeLena Johnson, R-Palmer sponsored a bill that passed the state House recognizing the cabbage but persuaded Sen. Jesse Bjorkman, R-Kenai, to attach it to his Senate bill on state land leasing to speed both through the Legislature to final passage.

Two bills by first term Mat-Su legislators made it over the hurdle to final passage before adjournment. One is HB 244 by Rep. Jubilee Underwood, R-Wasilla, that sets new standards for certified nurse aide training in Alzheimer’s disease, dementia and mental illness. The bill requires training programs to emphasize the ability of aides to form strong relationships and communicate effectively with clients.

Another bill by Rep. Elexie Moore, R-Wasilla, also passed. HB 249 would steamline the process of transferring titles of vehicles to insurers.

Sen. Cathy Tilton, R-Wasilla, another Mat-Su legislator, secured passage of SB 239 as the legislature adjourned. The bill cuts red tape regarding regulation of older collector vehicles brought into the state by Alaskans.

Overall, the 120-day legislative session was productive, with problems addressed in energy, education and health care, although lawmakers also spent a lot of time on the gas pipeline legislation. Not all bills passed and the governor may yet veto some bills that did pass.

Also, the Legislature showed it can respond quickly to respond to serious problems when they arise, such as the fuel crisis affecting rural communities. Fuel prices have doubled in some western Alaska communities due to the war in Iran. Fuel costs were high even before the war. There may also be problems in fuel supply. In response, HB 388 passed the Legislature to expand state bulk fuel loan limits. The bill was introduced late in the session and moved quickly through the House and Senate and to final approval. Bulk fuel loan limits were increased from $750,000 to $1.5 million to help communities to pay for oil/ The loans have to be paid back by next year, however.

Other energy relief measures were approved, such as grants to school districts to pay higher energy costs. The bump in oil revenue due to the war also allowed the Legislature to fund a backlog of deferred maintenance in schools around the state and at the University of Alaska. Years of tight budgets had put school administrators in the position of deciding between sustaining classroom teaching or tackling maintenance issues.

Maintenance typically took a back seat, leading to leaky roofs and malfunctioning boilers in many schools. These problems can now be addressed, although issues remain.