The number of people applying for an Alaska Permanent Fund dividend this year dropped by 2,118 from last year.
668,588 Alaskans applied in 2018 by the deadline, March 31, according to Sara Race, director of the Permanent Fund Division.
That is down from the 670,706 who applied in 2017, although only 615,590 of those were found qualified to receive it.
The state’s population is thought to be about 737,000, according to the Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
The number of people applying for the dividend has dropped for several years after reaching a high in 2012 of 679,633.
This year’s dividend will be $1,600, as set by the House and Senate and agreed to by the governor during the session.
Since its inception in 1982, more than 22.1 million applications have been received by the Permanent Fund Division, and 21 million of those Alaskans have been paid a total of $21.9 billion.
This year, if it’s like recent years, about 6 percent applications are likely to be rejected for various reasons, usually due to residency requirements. Last year, 8 percent of applications were not paid, a more than 20 percent increase in rejected applications over the average.
If 40,000 applications are rejected (6 percent), more than $1 billion will be sent to the qualified Alaskans in October. The first Permanent Fund dividend check, in 1982, was for $1,000 and was sent to 487,841 Alaskans.
Now that Walker has tossed out the PFD formula that had been used right from the beginning a lower number of applicants does not increase the dollar amount paid to each qualified applicant. So I guess we cannot thank Walker for causing this entirely unnecessary state recession so that our PFD checks would incrementally increase. In any event, handing out money sure is a good way to learn how many state residents we really have. I will only add that the population loss Walker has brought us is worse than it might first appear in that the people leaving are those in early or mid-career, and those with independent retirement incomes. Therefore the economic weight of those leaving is greater than the numbers alone indicate. The economic recovery will begin the day Dunleavy is elected; it won’t wait until he is sworn into office as business investment decisions and the relocation decisions of workers hinge on the election outcome rather than when the official change occurs. We sure need to make sure Walker is un-elected!
Lets move forward on our LNG and Knik Arm Bridge Mat-Su needs this bridge
its only going to run the cost much hire the longer we keep putting it off, I would
like to hear from anyone that might have a better idea. this also would be great
for our economy, Point Mc’k would be opened up for Development what is it that
you don’t see.
Comments are closed.