$1.6 BILLION IS THE HIGH END OF THE TARGET
The talk of the town in Juneau is which state programs are being cut when Governor Bill Walker announces his vetoes on Wednesday at 9 am. Because vetoes are straight ahead as the fiscal year starts July 1.
Walker will hold a press conference on the First Floor Conference Room of the Atwood Building in Anchorage to announce his vetoes, and they are believed to be up to $1.6 billion.
The cuts may include $700 million to the Permanent Fund Earnings Reserve Fund, which cuts Alaskans’ Permanent Fund Dividends down by $1,000, or roughly in half.
Cuts also are said to include $300 million in oil and gas tax credits, which would be cashable credits to the smaller companies, possibly pushing off the liability that Walker began building last year when he refused to pay the owed credits.
Another $500 million would be from the budget itself. Not from employee contracts, not from education, and not from Medicaid. But the wheel is spinning and something will have to go.
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