House Bill 209 would be a game changer for our Permanent Fund dividends. The overarching impact of the bill, offered by Anchorage Rep. Zack Fields, would be to transform the PFD — your annual share of Alaska’s oil wealth — into a targeted entitlement program.
When the dividend program was envisioned by Gov. Jay Hammond, it was never intended to be any such thing. Gov. Hammond envisioned a mechanism through which all Alaskans would become enfranchised participants in the benefits of our state’s resource development.
This bill would restrict qualification for a PFD check only to individuals who don’t file federal taxes or who make $50,000 or less in annual income. Additionally, the bill would cap the PFD at $1,000 permanently, regardless of the performance of the Permanent Fund. Also, the PFD would not be inflation proofed.
The PFD is not a handout. It is a dividend paid to you for your share of Alaska’s resource wealth. If you own shares of stock in General Motors and your shares pay a dividend, does GM call you and say, “Sorry, but your income disqualifies you from receiving your money”? Obviously not. Yet, HB 209 would have this be the ‘new normal’ for Alaskans.
Achieving a fiscal balance while confronting declining state revenue continues to be paramount. However, disenfranchising tens of thousands of Alaskans from a program established for all Alaskans is not the way to do it.
Rep. DeLena Johnson represents District 25, including Palmer, Butte, Lazy Mountain, and the Walby Lake area.
Thank-you DeLena for the clarity in stating what the dividend is/was intended for, and what some want it to be. Sadly it’s what the dark side does best, they design processes to divide us into groups and usurp the power of the individual.
I know it’s not easy being amongst many of your colleagues, but you have my appreciation.
This is illegal. Zobel v. Williams. This sort of thing was already argued before the US Supreme Court. This is illegal.
BS. “this sort of thing .. ”
Go back to Jr. High. Then go back to wherever you came from.
If you think modern Democrat-appointed judges won’t find a way to justify discriminating against the White middle class – you simply haven’t been paying attention since the Obama era. Zobel might as well have been decided in the 1800’s for all it matters to modern leftists.
Does this mean the legislature and almost every public employee will not receive a PFD? Hmmm…..
Soon there will be no reserves and no reason to argue about $$$$ for a PFD.
How do we keep electing these A Holes?
Wouldn’t it be nice if legislators started telling the truth? Like, if we got a fair share for our oil a family of four would not have had $60,000 worth of dividends taken from them. Dividends are going away because we give away our resources. This is the beginning of the end.
Disenfranchisement of the PFD and our votes with RCV is what Alaska gets when it elects Democrats to office. 😡
Eliminate the dividend