Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy has ended the executive branch restrictions on hiring, out-of-state travel and new regulatory packages that had been in place since May 2025. Administrative Order 364, signed and effective Sept. 21, revokes the earlier fiscal-restraint order across departments, boards, commissions and public corporations, regardless of funding source.
The repeal removes a layer of statewide preapproval, but it does not itself require agencies to fill vacancies, resume travel or advance a particular rule. Those decisions still depend on agency needs, appropriations and the ordinary legal process. Nor does the new order add money to agency budgets. The immediate change is that agencies no longer operate under the special freeze and waiver structure created by the governor's prior order.
Administrative Order 358 had directed agencies to freeze all out-of-state travel, hiring and new regulation packages in response to an oil-price forecast of $68 per barrel for fiscal 2026. It allowed exceptions and waivers, including for positions tied to life, health and public safety, but otherwise required additional scrutiny intended to reduce spending and focus government on core services.
The order's operational effects reached beyond payroll. Alaska Public Media reported that the Regulatory Commission of Alaska said the regulation freeze prevented it from completing a change that would have allowed electric utilities to purchase more power from home solar systems. The commission said it sought a waiver but did not receive one.
The hiring restriction also overlapped with a smaller state workforce, though the figures alone do not establish how much of the decline the order caused. State employment stood at 23,500 in August, down from 24,800 in April 2025, the month before the freeze began, according to Labor Department data cited by Alaska Public Media. A state employees union representative argued that freezes can make recruitment and retention harder; the administration did not make an official available to the outlet to discuss the repeal.
The fiscal setting has changed materially since the original order. Alaska Beacon reported Sept. 11 that North Slope oil averaged $84 per barrel during the first two months of fiscal 2027, above the state's $75 forecast. After supplemental appropriations, more than $341 million was available for the Statutory Budget Reserve, and the Legislative Finance Division projected a $106 million fiscal 2027 surplus.
Higher oil revenue helps explain why the fiscal pressure cited in 2025 has eased, but it does not guarantee a lasting surplus in a state whose unrestricted revenue remains sensitive to petroleum prices and production levels. For agencies and Alaskans waiting on vacancies or rules, the clearest near-term consequence is procedural: the statewide freeze is gone, and individual departments can again move through their normal budget, personnel and regulatory channels without seeking a freeze waiver.
