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9/24/14 - Alaska U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski appears in ad supporting Republican candidate Dan Sullivan

Murkowski throws support behind Republican candidate Dan Sullivan for U.S. Senate 

Sen. Murkowski says she's disappointed by what she called the "dishonest attacks" on Sullivan, and defended his record as Alaska's attorney general and Natural Resources Commissioner.

Congress passes bill to exempt tribes from IRS

As KTOO's Jennifer Canfield reports, a bill awaiting the president's signature started with IRS audits of tribes operating casinos. The IRS audits continued on to smaller tribes. The National Congress of American Indians stepped up its opposition after an audit that told Oglala Sioux tribal members the $200 donations they'd received to buy their children's school clothes were to be counted as taxable income. NCAI launched a national initiative to give tribes the same tax status as state and local governments.

The legislation is expected to have little effect on tribes in Alaska,  where most developable resources are owned by for-profit corporations. It does clarify, however, that when questions over taxes arise, they are to be decided in the favor of tribes. NCAI had also proposed a law that would allow tribes to issue bonds for capital development. That's not expected to move forward.