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Alaska Budget Director Donna Arduin, who has been the point of the spear on budget reforms for Gov. Michael Dunleavy, will move into an advisory role at the end of the month. But as of this morning, she is no longer the budget director for the State of Alaska.
Arduin was brought in to do the heavy lifting to bring spending in line with revenues. She was told to identify $1.6 billion in budget cuts, and to do so within about six weeks of her boots hitting the ground in Alaska.
Arduin is a nationally respected budget hawk who has helped numerous governors during tough budget times, such as Jeb Bush of Florida and Arnold Schwarzenegger of California. She was championed by Alaska fiscal conservatives, and reviled by Democrats. Women Democrats were especially vile, criticizing her on social media for her attire (the fact that she wore sleeveless dresses, an animal skin collar etc. She is the sharpest dresser in Juneau.)