Gov. Mike Dunleavy is proposing an economic stabilization dividend, which would be the rest of the 2020 Permanent Fund dividend of approximately $1,900, a full statutory PFD for 2021, for a total of a $5 billion recovery package delivering nearly $5,000 to each eligible Alaskan.
Today, Dunleavy said that 40,000 Alaskans are now on unemployment, businesses are in trouble and many are closing their doors, and Alaska is in the middle of a 100-year crisis, with oil prices, tourism, fisheries, and a pandemic creating a perfect storm.
He said the Permanent Fund has grown by more than $1 billion per month during the pandemic, (and is now at over $72 billion.) Dunleavy is proposing to use half of the growth on recovery.
“This year has presented Alaskans with challenges unlike any we’ve experienced in this lifetime. The widespread global pandemic led to economic devastation for every sector of Alaska’s economy. In the face of this, Alaskans adapted and overcame many hurdles, successfully completing a construction season and a safe fishing season. The state and federal government partnered to distribute $2.3 billion of Federal CARES Act funds to Alaska businesses, $1.3 billion to Alaskan workers, and $568.6 million in community assistance,” he said in a statement.
More details of his budget are at this link.
Dunleavy is proposing the first bond proposal in 10 years of $300-$350 million for roads to resources, renewable energy, infrastructure. It would leverage $54 million in state funding for a $1.4 billion capital budget.
The savings accounts are all gone, he said, calling once again for the three constitutional amendments he wanted for the past two years, which got no traction in the Legislature:
- A cap on government spending
- Require a vote of the people to pass new taxes
- Constitutionally protect the Permanent Fund and the Dividend
I was a huge believer in Mike but sadly he buckled in his core beliefs shortly after the recall issue. Im aware that much blame can be laid squarely at the feet of many Republican legislators but there were several issues he could have acted boldly on but didn’t.
There comes a point in a person’s life that is in a leadership position when they must make a right call on an issue and consequences be damn. Sadly as I said before Mike didn’t act when he should have and it has cost him his credibility and the people of Alaska will suffer. Very sad indeed.
I was a huge believer in Mike but sadly he buckled in his core beliefs shortly after the recall issue. Im aware that much blame can be laid squarely at the feet of many Republican legislators but there were several issues he could have acted boldly on but didn’t. There comes a point in a person’s life that is in a leadership position when they must make a right call on an issue and consequences be damn. Sadly as I said before Mike didn’t act when he should have and it has cost him his credibility and the people of Alaska will suffer. Very sad indeed.
Giessel and Coghill were undermining Dunleavy on the budget and in many other issues. Both of those worthless senators got primaried-out by conservative Republican voters.
When will people quit making excuses for this man?
Giessel and Coghill didn’t force him to cave on the Wasilla call, give back money to UA, or hide behind Ben Stevens desk. Nor did they force him to abandon the bullt pulpit. Or not furlough state workers. Or any of 1000 other things he caved on.
The difference between Dunleavy and Walker is Walker was more effective.
Doesn’t matter Roger Holland defeated Giessel. The Democrats run the state. Just ask “Republican” Louise Stutes.
Walker was effective at:
enabling child molesters (think Byron Mallott) and the Communist Chinese (think Alaska gasline majority ownership); stripping Alaskans of their ownership dividend (think 1/2 PFD); trying to sabotage Dunleavy’s governorship (think Recall); and trying to get voters to pass a high oil tax (think Ballot Measure 1).
Bill Walker was the most disgraced and unsuccessful governor in Alaska’s history.
Avenger should go back to junior high and try learning something. Obviously, we are dealing with a low IQ reader.
BW, instead of all this cryptic talk, just tell us……for all the world to see what you have on Dunleavy …….other than 40,000 signatures short of an actual recall. Yes, Walker’ s failed recall on his successor.
This is the game Democrats play.
YES!! With all of the corruption and fraud committed by Democrats during this election cycle based on COVID fears, now is the time to release the rest of the PFD. NOW!
Money won’t save us now. Probably won’t be worth the paper it’s printed on at this rate. Hard tack is where it’s at. Could I have my PFD in beans, flower, rice, and ammo?
Mostly ……….ammo.
Oh shut-up ! to the Governor the local leaders for putting people unemployed and closed businesses. It didn’t have to be this way, you all chose it to be this way. So shut up with your empty hearts.
It’s called a “choker ” I think. Went out in the 70’s. But we have always been a little behind up here. But back then, only girls wore them.
$1900 PFD will buy one AR-15 with $400 left for .223 ammo. Or, two 9mm Sig’s with $500 left for ammo. Hurry up guv. You’re burning daylight.
We need “Like” buttons on here.
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BW… pay attention… it’s his Covid scarf for whenever he deems it appropriate.
The PFD will not solve Alaska’s financial problems, but the people need the money.
The state government has to cut spending or none of this will matter. Zack Fields et al want an income tax badly, however more revenue for the government will not reduce state government spending. Our unelected mayor continues to shutter local small businesses because she doesn’t understand that small businesses are the engine of our economy. Our government can’t shut down business and expect a stable economy.
PHI,small business is not the engine of our economy.Lest you like grubbing for $15/hr,ask me how I know.
BIG business is the lifeblood of our Econ.
REAL work,REAL wages make this state go around, and have since 1977,ask me how I know
Teve, you are obviously not very well economically well-informed.
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Big business is were job creation goes to die.
Big Business will leave just as quick as they come in i.e. SAMS Club. The Small business is what drives an economy without them the Big Business will just charge what they want.
It’s time to eliminate the PFD. Yes, I realize that’s the world’s most unpopular opinion. Here’s why. The budget shortfall has to be made up somewhere. An income tax? So wait, you’re going to take my money in April and give it back in October? Manifest stupidity. Oh, you’re going to cut the budget? Good luck. Every proposed cut is met with a flood of people testifying against it. And the jellyspined legislature folds every time.
A full dividend ($5000) for every man, woman, and child in this state with a bloated budget AND a progressive income tax on the working folks to fund the deficit? No way. What planet are we on? It looks like a split legislature in the next session, so watch the show if you can stomach it. The Paul Seaton/Bill Walker spectre (sphincter) from 2017 reappears in 2021 with this way of thinking.
Makes sense to trim profits in a big year like 2020…problem is the AKLEG will not be willing to give Alaskans their fair share since civil servant salaries & pensions trump the common man’s PFD in AK.
There are almost no real civil servants in Alaska, they are mostly self-servants that rely on communist unions to rob their neighbors. Civil service jobs were never meant to be a retirement job or a job that will make you wealthy. Most of the civil servants are making more than Soldiers on active duty. People willing to go die work for less money than city and state workers that do paperwork. Fairbanks Mayors office has multiple people making over 100k a year, when you add in benefits. They seem to have a lack of dispatchers because other agencies pay better, but they need those extra employees to do paperwork instead of police or dispatchers.
He goes back to singing the PFD song he got elected on whenever he feels he’s losing the support of the people who voted for him. Dont believe it. He sold out. But the thing you don’t understand dunleavy, It Isn’t About The Money. It’s About Our Rights.
It’s most likely a neck gaitor to appease the mask nazis when necessary.
Yep, that’s what I figured too.
It’s his mask, silly!
My wife and five kids were planning to move back to Wyoming next month. But if we can get $30,000 next year it’s smart to stay here until the checks are sent. I sure wish I owned one of those shops that sell weed, cause they’re gonna make millions.
Please leave! Please leave Alaska to Alaskans who really love the state and not its PFD, or its nonexistent state-wide taxes. We do not need your kind.
Like your wit! With the Marxist tools running the state, that “dream” may materialize. (Sarcasm).
There are still statutes on the books that require the Permanent Fund to calculate the full value of Alaskans’ PFDs and then other statutes order that they “shall transfer” those funds to a special dividend fund, where the Commissioner of Revenue “shall” pay those funds to Alaskans in the form of a dividend.
But the [AK] Supreme Court has ruled that “shall” really means “may” here, and these statutes don’t have to be followed. We settle for the crumbs and they continue to spend like drunken sailors. No more Constitutional Budge Reserve to balance the budget? No problem, the legislators still have the earnings from the Permanent Fund to use as they see fit since “SHALL” means “MAY” or “MAY NOT”. How convenient.
Hey AK FISH: The Alaska Supreme Court determined that all the formula spending set out in statute are aspirational in the context of appropriating money. That applies to the PFD formula and the school foundation formula and any other formula. Our constitution doesn’t allow for dedicated funds. So unless the PFD formula is embedded in the Alaska Constitution it is not a “shall” deal. To the degree you got shorted, blame the political folks who built the budget but stop nattering on about what you think should happen based on an unenforceable statutory provision.
Joe, I don’t believe it was designed to be a dedicated fund. That was the court’s weasly interpretation. The dividend was not a “fund.” It was a “dividend” payable based on a statutory formula, much like a corporation pays out a dividend depending on earnings over a yearly period. The SCt. politicized the matter by calling it a dedicated fund. Where in the legislative history, or where in the statute, do you see the words “dedicated fund?”
If that language doesn’t appear, then it was not intended for that purpose. That’s the Left-wing court inserting their brand of politicized interpretation so that the bureaucracy (including the state’s court system) gets full funding, while regular Alaskans who don’t have government jobs get stiffed……..again.
Plus the stolen dividend refund and interest calculated in accordance to IRS interest scales!
I’ll bet it’s his mask pulled down.
PFD, 2 acres for me cabin, stove, axe, flour, budder and 1k rounds for an instrument of subsistence. Unplugging the mayhem.
BW….Obviously you aren’t from Alaska, and you’re petty.
I can agree with the need for stimulus, and I generally agree with the governor’s positions, but this one sets a terrible precedent: to withdraw any portion of the PF’s “gains” means a withdrawal from the corpus of the fund. The legislature will see that and spend the entire fund overnight. CUT THE BUDGET, lobbyists be damned. Of course cuts hurt, but borrowing our way to bankruptcy is not sustainable and should never have occurred to start with. Pass Mike’s Constitutional amendments, and I demand another one: “Thou shalt not pass a budget that does not balance.” – or more eloquent words to that effect… I have some proposals for cuts, but they won’t get past the Legs because they involve layoffs…
Wrong on withdrawal from the corpus. Governor Dunleavy’s proposed amendments to the Constitution have zero chance of being adopted. The one about having to vote on tax increases would actually take away powers already held by the citizens. None of these proposals are really serious. We already have a spending cap, in a de facto fashion — low oil revenues. What’s going on is not just whether to spend the last bits of saved money but how to save that diminishing balance.
Save it for what, Joe? It’raining!
That’s why you have reserves. That’s why you have savings. You use it in a time of need. Hello……COVID…….
Joe, the problem with your thinking, is your abstraction to the arcane. Alaskans are imperiled by this virus and need financial assistance. Not everyone has a government job that they are relying on to get themselves through the pandemic. NOW is the the time to help those Alaskans by issuing the FULL PFD……….yes, retroacvtively. The state has the money. There are many dormant accounts that can be utilized. These are hard times for Alaskans. Let’s get the money out to them when they really need it.
Agree. Hope we don’t experience another serious market crash like 2008-2009 after paying out a $5000 dividend to every man, woman, and child in this state by raiding the corpus. The earnings are high right now, and people are indeed hurting. Cut unnecessary spending and help them out, but protect the corpus from fluctuations that could decimate a large portion of it. The corpus must be preserved and the earnings on it allowed to refill the accounts the State has blown since oil prices and production have tanked.
That’s just the noose that the Democrats put on him this past summer.
Exactly!
Hey AK Fish, how about laying off the “Drunken Sailors” we may have had a “Tot or Two o’the grog” but those of us old enough to remember and have served in “Uncle Sams Bluejackets” also know the truthfulness of some of the wise quotes and actions from the past, ” If you find yourself in a hole, quit digging” “You can’t spend yourself out of poverty” are a couple. We damn sure don’t need any more bicycle paths, and if you want to be “homeless or a drunk” don’t come to me for your tent or a tot!
Wrong on withdrawal from the corpus. Governor Dunleavy’s proposed amendments to the Constitution have zero chance of being adopted. The one about having to vote on tax increases would actually take away powers already held by the citizens. None of these proposals are really serious. We already have a spending cap, in a de facto fashion — low oil revenues. What’s going on is not just whether to spend the last bits of saved money but how to save that diminishing balance.
You have a government job, Joe.
Once again we have to look at who is in the AK State Legislature (ASL) and more importantly, how they got there! If your Senator or State Rep campaigned on full PFD restoration, then by God, hold their damn feet to the fire! Every time this crap comes up, everyone cries about the ASL not doing their job or someone caved or whatever lame-brain excuse they come up with. Didn’t we as Alaskans vote out some of the RINOs or just plain liars? If we as a whole want change, then we got to change how we vote! We get the government we deserve … just sayin’
We can make things worse by perpetuating a dividend and excessive spending with sales and income taxes. Or we could make things less bad by eliminating the dividend, cutting excessive spending and getting better value for our spending
Can we please cut the spending? Does no one have the spine to do this anymore? Sure I’d rather have a full PFD than fund these lame and unnecessary government services. But I’d much rather not have this spending at all! If we keep spending like this, then there soon won’t be any money left for anything. What then?
Jeff, you might download the Alaska Lobbyist Directory, save it as an Excel spreadsheet, and add up what special interests paid each lobbyist to buy or lease a legislator.
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Then it should be clear why spending won’t be cut.
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To answer What then? Our best guess (and hope) is Alaska will see an epic 1980’s-style recession and exodus which could give remaining productive Alaskans a chance to flush much of the rot and corruption out of state government and maybe, just maybe, reset their economy and get their government under control.
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Could happen…
Pseudo-Conservative’s cognitive dissonance =
Reject any broad-based tax + Massive Cuts to infrastructure, core social services, and education
+
Massive Increase to Entitlements (i.e. $6k Dividend) + Drain the Constitutionally enshrined savings account (i.e. Permanent Fund) + Increase Dependence on the Feds
Gov. Mike Dunleavy is a Lame Duck and has no support for anything. He will cave on anything he says he’s going to do. However Gov. Dunleavy is in support of a NEW Bond. Who is going to pay for that Bond. All Alaskans will pay for that Bond.
Gov. Mike Dunleavy is retired on Active Duty!!
Marla, we are not imperiled by the virus, we are imperiled by the ridiculous government lockdowns due to the virus. (Has anybody heard anything about the “normal” seasonal flu lately?) Apparently our politicians think you won’t get covid at Costco, Walmart, pot shops, etc., but you will at restaurants and other small businesses, mask or no mask. Just ask the hyphenated acting mayor of Anchorage, who now has covid, in spite of religiously sporting a mask. Every business is essential to someone.
We’re nearing the end of the oil age and not because we’re running out of it but because of worldwide political pressure. It will be increasingly difficult from an environmental approval standpoint to extract black gold out of the ground. Joe Biden backs the Great Reset and Agenda 2030. Oil is a dirty word. These dramatic changes will come at lightning speed over the next ten years. Alaska population will steadily decrease. It was a great party for the last 50 years, but its over. You have one of two choices. Either embrace how to live like it was back in the 1960’s (very modest homes, little money, and have no debt) or sell out and head to the lower 48 while you can still unload your overpriced energy thirsty home.
Who is the Gov going to sell this bond to? The Gov with the help of the Democrats will sell this bond to Alaskans.
A new Bond is the same as a Tax increase!!
I voted for Mike, but when he caved on the budget cuts I lost all hope, I will not vote for him again.
We have reached a point where real leadership and vision is required. Competence is the key requirement for all positions of power now; we cannot afford to keep these legacy hacks in high office anymore. Things are moving quickly now, the crises cycle is accelerating, and politicians like the governor are from a different era. Last month seems like a decade ago.
For the first time in US history we have had a truly failed election, and now the revelations about China have given this crises a face. Our politicians, our entire system, is deployed against us. We find ourselves in grave danger and our country may fall soon with these continued economic attacks disguised as a health emergency. We have no more time to play these games with the feckless political class.
Its time for a 1 time payout of the PFD and do away with it. Then remove the division of the PFD from state govt, reducing the size of these government employees. Then freeze all legislators pay increases for 5 years. Also do an audit on bloated govt agencies like DHS&EM, DMVA, and DHSS. Reduce the staff and restructure them. Also, any plans for taxes or large state projects go to the voters. And don’t use a stupid computer algorithm to decide-Vote in person with ID!
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