tion” trigger a red flag but so far this means the approvals go to Washington for higher-level scrutiny. “We haven’t seen any delays yet,” Anderson said. Anderson also said DOTF has authority to advance up to $400 million in payments on contracts, and that this amount can be increased to $500 million to $600 million, if needed. Legislators are getting nervous, however, about the state making advance payments on contracts given current uncertainties in the Trump Administration. Sen. Bert Stedman, R-Sitka, a co-chair of the Senate Finance Committee, said the state could quickly find itself with tens of millions of dollars in sudden liabilities if advance payments are made and the new federal administration freezes funding and fails to repay the state. The latest amendment to the state’s four-year Strategic Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) has been approved, and this will fund $6.9 billion in Alaska projects over four years. Some good news is that Alaska is expected to receive $120 million in additional funds in August in an annual redistribution of unspent federal transportation funds among states. Last year the state was shorted in the redistribution due to problems in qualifying for certain federal programs. — Tim Bradner Serving all of Alaska since 1958 TEMSCO Helicopters, Inc PO Box 5057 Ketchikan, Alaska 99901 Phone 907-225-5141 • fax 907-225-2340 • www.TemscoAir.com HELICOPTERS, INC. TIMBER EXPLORATION MINING SURVEY CARGO OPERATIONS TEMSCO www.AlaskaAlliance.com 35
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