Former Alaska lawmaker hired by state revenue department

JUNEAU - The Alaska Department of Revenue has hired a former Republican state senator to work with two state corporations.

Anna MacKinnon began working last week as a special assistant to department Commissioner Lucinda Mahoney, Alaska’s Energy Desk reported Tuesday.

MacKinnon did not seek reelection at the end of her term in the Alaska Senate in 2018. She was elected to the Senate in 2012 after serving three terms in the House beginning in 2006. She was previously an Anchorage Assembly member for seven years.

Her husband, John MacKinnon, is the commissioner of the state Department of Transportation and Public Facilities.

MacKinnon will join the board of the Alaska Energy Authority, which invests in projects that reduce the cost of energy in Alaska.

She will also become a board member of the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, which finances businesses and focuses on economic growth in the state.

"I've been fairly disconnected over the past year," MacKinnon said, explaining she will begin by working to understand how the organizations are investing in communities.

The Eagle River resident was in Anchorage for a development and export authority board meeting Wednesday.

Deputy Commissioner Mike Barnhill said the department is looking for special projects that fit MacKinnon's areas of expertise, likely in the treasury and tax divisions.

MacKinnon was a co-chair of the Senate Finance Committee and a member of the Senate leadership team.

MacKinnon will be paid $135,168 annually.