Jim Duncan: former Speaker of the Alaska State House, former state Senator, & author of, "Making Sausage"

Send us Fan MailJim Duncan is a former Alaska state senator and Speaker of the House. He first moved to Alaska to attend Sheldon Jackson College where he earned his associates degree in 1962. After earning his Bachelor's degree from Illinois State University, he returned to Alaska as a school teacher and originally got involved in politics by serving on the Juneau Assembly. He then served in the legislature for 24 years (12 years in each body) and had over 70 bills pass into law. We talk about some of his most significant legislation today including his bills to grow the Permanent Fund, establish the Mental Health Trust, and to allow teachers and school employees to go on strike. We also talk about his unsuccessful but valiant effort to establish a single-payer healthcare plan. What Jim may be most remembered for by history is his losing of his speakership in a dramatic coup that occurred on the House floor in 1981. All of the stories today are covered vividly in Jim's 2024 book, Making Sausage, including the events that led to the coup and what motivated them. In large part, the Democratic majority that Jim was leading stood in the way of the removal of separate accounting, which was the way that the state was preventing oil companies from using expenses incurred outside of Alaska to reduce their tax burden inside Alaska. So a small group of Democrats broke away from the existing majority led by Duncan and joined the Republican minority establishing a new majority that gave oil companies what they wanted.  After leaving the legislature, Jim served as Commissioner of Administration for Governor Tony Knowles. He then led the Alaska State Employees Association as their director from 2003 - 2017.