Sen. Cathy Giessel’s latest newsletter to her district talks about the need for more state revenue, and how that will have to come from Alaskans’ paychecks.
“Our traditional dependence on oil taxes to pay our bills doesn’t work anymore. Most of our funds come from the Permanent Fund earnings. Alaskans knew this would happen when they created the Permanent Fund in 1976. ‘New Revenue’ usually makes Alaskans think of personal income taxes. And that is in our future, without question,” she wrote.
Giessel, although once a fiscal conservative, joined the Democrat-led caucus in the Senate and has now flipped on every single conservative principle, including abortion.
Now, as she serves as chairwoman of the Senate Natural Resources Committee, she is normalizing the concept that Alaskans will end up paying an income tax to the state. The income tax was eliminated in 1980, when royalties from oil started paying for state services, and the oil boom flow of money led to a growth in government.
