After the House Speaker said the work of the House was done, the Senate convened today and passed a $1,100 Permanent Fund dividend with House Bill 3003.
The vote was 12-7, with Senate President Peter Micciche among those voting in favor of the PFD that is one third of the statutory amount.
This year’s dividend will cost the treasury about $730, if it is not vetoed by the governor. Gov. Mike Dunleavy has said he may veto the dividend again and call the House and Senate back into a fourth special session to try again.
Although much smaller than the amount set by the governor ($2,350), the $1,100 PFD is larger than the $525 PFD passed by the House and Senate in June, an amount that was vetoed by the governor.
Mega PFD just shot down….
“”I strongly urge folks to get a vaccine. I strongly urge them to do that,” said Dunleavy, who is fully vaccinated.”
WOW!!!!
Bishop, Micciche, Revak, Stedman, Stevens, Von Imhof, Wilson…..all RINOs.
Where was that wimp Wielechowski during the vote this time? The last time he missed an important vote he said he was excused because he had a dental appointment. What’s his excuse this time? Is he having “family” trouble again?
So 12 to 7 would have become 12 to 8. Not a Wielechowski defender but kind of irrelevant.
Agree. Glad someone is still counting. lol
He should show up! Particularly when he is raking in thousands in Juneau per diem dough.
Also I am 100% against everything that is spewed here. I don’t know if that’s being a troll or a patriot.
I’m comfortable either way.
Own the libs!!!
Do we even have a Republican party anymore?
Not many. Most have morphed into Libertarians sadly. They don’t even know the meaning.
Libertarian when it comes to foreign policy, socialist when it comes to taxing and spending
Your obviously hollow minded. Libertarianism is literally the most low government, anti tax ideology that’s out there. Do some research,
Sounds like we struck a nerve, but yeah libertarianism can virtually mean all across the board straddling the fence and on both sides. You said it right.
Please read Murray Rothbard. So that you may know the meaning of the term “Libertarian”.
better send him a link to Anatomy of the State on audio book anything else would be far to advanced for somebody who thinks that AK rebubs are libertarian in any way
lulz, Greg, ever the comedian.
LoL. I try.
It’s still not the PFD Statutory amount. What the heck are they doing?
What? Is this some giant constitutional dispute of funding sources? Egads.
We have finally hit the wall.
Hopefully we will bounce and spin safely into the infield of the track.
The legislature has once again refused to legislate and now it it time to see if the Governor can or will govern and VETO this measure then get the legislature back to act within the law on the books. We did not just hit the wall Chris we fell off of it!!!
If he vetos this bill the RINOs will just refuse to give us peasants a PFD at all. Then Bill Walker will run ads saying “Dunleavy gave you the lowest PFDs in Alaska history, vote for me instead”
Stutes is an inept, over her head, joke. Nice try. Beyond her ability.
Dunleavy better veto, or he’s no better than the dysfunctional legislators.
What!? Didn’t Stutes run/own a dark environment dive bar in Kodiak – she definitely knows what she is doing! Lots of experience there.
Can you say “ statutory“
The governor’s 50/50 split WAS the compromise. VETO it, Big Mike. Otherwise, you will face the corrupt, disgraced Bill Walker next year without a leg to stand on. Walker is counting on you to fold and buckle to the Democrats and RINOs. Hold your position and don’t fire until fired upon.
And advocate again for the FULL dividend as statutorily mandated. Anything less and you will probably get defeated next year. Make THEM the dishonest and disrespectful cowards that they are.
Even if Dunleavy does not veto the package, the Dividend is not fully authorized for funding. Egads
Can we make things any worse? Woohoo! Rock on people….
The Governor should have VETOED the BUDGET…not the PFD….maybe that would have got the lobbyist’s attention but as it stands now he has no bargaining tools left. #RinoWorld
Looks like we’re looking at another veto, and another special session. Stutes and Edgmon need to stop wasting Alaskan time and money and just do their damn jobs.
The Governor really needs to not roll over on this. He needs to veto this, drag them back in session. And it must be somewhere on the road system.
So if the State of Alaska’s budget is now balanced after everything is said and done and half of this amount is cut again, how will next years budget going to be funded without extra money coming into the state coffers? Will next year pfd be cut again to pay the budget again? It’s not taxes but it’s taxes. Just saying.
How did the government get their grubby, greedy little hands on the PFD to begin with?
We are better off with Dunleavy vetoing.
If we don’t get a PFD this year, maybe the whole state will wake up and vote out those who oppose the 50-50 Dunleavy plan. (which is still considerably less than a full PFD)
If the House gets their way this year, they’d do the same every year and keep chiseling as much as they can, even while the Fund keeps growing.
If we combine $1,100 now, we won’t see more than $1,100 next year, which is still less than this year’s proposed $2350 or the annual 50-50 split going forward.
Lets throw in the towel and get all or nothing, because then the voters will decide to vote Edgmon and others out. When Edgmon and other are gone, we’ll at least get a 50-50 split and maybe more.
Louise Stutes, do you really enjoy being called a thief and a lawbreaker? I see, you don’t care whether you show some class and compassion for the people you’re stealing from – not even for your own constituents. FULL STATUTORY PFD NOW! Stop playing stupid games and do what is required by the law for the people of this State. Governor Mike, please veto and call them back again – but this time refuse to pay them until after they pass the full statutory PFD, past owed PFDs, and interest. Is there some way to prosecute these thieves? Maybe a class action lawsuit on behalf of the entire eligible populace? – That would have to be filed in federal court, as the AKSC will side with the thieves.
Thieves.
The Fund is at $80 Billion now. The Statutory Formula Dividend *SHOULD* be $3,500 (plus $7k back pay). Alaskas ‘best and brightest’ see fit to allow Alaskans to have 1/3 of their rightful dividend and spend 2/3 at their whim. “Move along peasants. Nothing to see here”
This.. in the highest living cost increase in decades. Thanks for nothing, legislators.
Voting them out of office is your only recourse…
And who is paying for these special sessions? How much are these non producers receiving? Ladies’ and gentlemen, I think we have found the problem. And the thieves are?
They can’t pay for the “PFD” out the twisted funding sources they tried to pay it out of. Had they used the statutory payment language there wouldn’t be a problem paying for it. The way is stands the “dividend” won’t be a dividend and will be paid out of accounts that the shell games have decided upon so the “dividend” will be less than $600.
.
Of course this nonsense should be vetoed. Yet another special session should be called, and it should be called in Adak, or Shishmaref, or Hyder, or Craig…anywhere but the Juneau swamp.
I think recalls should only happen when absolutely needed, but with our recent court rulings there should be recalls issued across the state to toss these folks out of office.
Are you hoping to grow old in Alaska with the birds you love and the trees? Average long-term care facilities costs approximately $800 per day. If you buy long-term care insurance ($$$) it just doubled.
And what if you can’t pay that, do they just roll you off in a ditch somewhere? No you might not have gold plated faucets in the bathroom and a piss boy to come with a bucket every time you have the need but arrangements are made. It’s all about bingo and gruel at that point anyway.
Well, Dunleavy has called a 4th special session and insisted on a fiscal plan and an added PFD. He did not fall into their trap by vetoing the $1,100. So we are literally back at the beginning. Stutes is part of the Bryce Edgmon group, as far as I can see, so that appears to be why she and Bryce are so together. There are two or three power centers that are really the problem in the legislature. The problem is that they seem to hate the governor. Way too much personal issues here and not enough Alaska in their hearts. I sincerely hope Big Mike gets reelected so they finally have to cave. Because he will keep coming at them until they finally give up. The governor knows that these issues have to be settled because there are much larger problems coming down the pike. And playing with the PFD year after year is not going to get the state ready for those problems.
By the way, Suzanne – we have something in common. You were born in Oregon and I was born in beautiful western Washington State. Nice to have a neighbor!
He caves. That’s what he does.
The problem in this state, at both the local and state levels, and in the nation is that those who swore to uphold the constitution and the laws, regulations, policies, etc. that we’re created under authority of the constitution have come to believe that they can pick and choose which laws they want to enforce and which they just ignore.
Calculation of the PFD is straightforward…just follow what the Alaska Statutes require.
If the majority don’t like how it’s done then go through the legal process to change the law…don’t just ignore the law.
Unfortunately our legislature and our government bureaucrats refuse to do that.
They violate the law routinely and since they are the people who are supposed to uphold the law and they control the courts and the police there appears to be nothing we, as citizens, can do about except complain.
.
Sec. 37.13.140. Income.
(a) Net income of the fund includes income of the earnings reserve account established under AS 37.13.145. Net income of the fund shall be computed annually as of the last day of the fiscal year in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, excluding any unrealized gains or losses. Income available for distribution equals 21 percent of the net income of the fund for the last five fiscal years, including the fiscal year just ended, but may not exceed net income of the fund for the fiscal year just ended plus the balance in the earnings reserve account described in AS 37.13.145.
(b) The corporation shall determine the amount available for appropriation each year. The amount available for appropriation is five percent of the average market value of the fund for the first five of the preceding six fiscal years, including the fiscal year just ended, computed annually for each fiscal year in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. In this subsection, “average market value of the fund” includes the balance of the earnings reserve account established under AS 37.13.145, but does not include that portion of the principal attributed to the settlement of State v. Amerada Hess, et al., 1JU-77-847 Civ. (Superior Court, First Judicial District).
.
Sec. 37.13.145. Disposition of income.
(a) The earnings reserve account is established as a separate account in the fund. Income from the fund shall be deposited by the corporation into the account as soon as it is received. Money in the account shall be invested in investments authorized under AS 37.13.120.
(b) At the end of each fiscal year, the corporation shall transfer from the earnings reserve account to the dividend fund established under AS 43.23.045, 50 percent of the income available for distribution under AS 37.13.140.
(c) After the transfer under (b) and an appropriation under (e) of this section, the corporation shall transfer from the earnings reserve account to the principal of the fund an amount sufficient to offset the effect of inflation on the principal of the fund during that fiscal year. However, none of the amount transferred shall be applied to increase the value of that portion of the principal attributed to the settlement of State v. Amerada Hess, et al., 1JU-77-847 Civ. (Superior Court, First Judicial District) on July 1, 2004. The corporation shall calculate the amount to transfer to the principal under this subsection by
(1) computing the average of the monthly United States Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers for each of the two previous calendar years;
(2) computing the percentage change between the first and second calendar year average; and
(3) applying that rate to the value of the principal of the fund on the last day of the fiscal year just ended, including that portion of the principal attributed to the settlement of State v. Amerada Hess, et al., 1JU-77-847 Civ. (Superior Court, First Judicial District).
(d) Notwithstanding (b) of this section, income earned on money awarded in or received as a result of State v. Amerada Hess, et al., 1JU-77-847 Civ. (Superior Court, First Judicial District), including settlement, summary judgment, or adjustment to a royalty-in-kind contract that is tied to the outcome of this case, or interest earned on the money, or on the earnings of the money shall be treated in the same manner as other income of the Alaska permanent fund, except that it is not available for distribution to the dividend fund, for transfers to the principal under (c) of this section, or for an appropriation under (e) of this section, and shall be annually deposited into the Alaska capital income fund (AS 37.05.565).
(e) The legislature may not appropriate from the earnings reserve account to the general fund a total amount that exceeds the amount available for appropriation under AS 37.13.140(b) in a fiscal year.
(f) The combined total of the transfer under (b) of this section and an appropriation under (e) of this section may not exceed the amount available for appropriation under AS 37.13.140(b).
.
Sec. 43.23.025. Amount of dividend.
(a) By October 1 of each year, the commissioner shall determine the value of each permanent fund dividend for that year by
(1) determining the total amount available for dividend payments, which equals
(A) the amount of income of the Alaska permanent fund transferred to the dividend fund under AS 37.13.145(b) during the current year;
(B) plus the unexpended and unobligated balances of prior fiscal year appropriations that lapse into the dividend fund under AS 43.23.045(d);
(C) less the amount necessary to pay prior year dividends from the dividend fund in the current year under AS 43.23.005(h), 43.23.021, and 43.23.055(3) and (7);
(D) less the amount necessary to pay dividends from the dividend fund due to eligible applicants who, as determined by the department, filed for a previous year’s dividend by the filing deadline but who were not included in a previous year’s dividend computation;
(E) less appropriations from the dividend fund during the current year, including amounts to pay costs of administering the dividend program and the hold harmless provisions of AS 43.23.240;
(2) determining the number of individuals eligible to receive a dividend payment for the current year and the number of estates and successors eligible to receive a dividend payment for the current year under AS 43.23.005(h); and
(3) dividing the amount determined under (1) of this subsection by the amount determined under (2) of this subsection.
(b) [Repealed, § 5 ch 68 SLA 1991.]
He might as well just sign it. He’s between a rock and a hard place and no matter how you slice this cake, Dunleavy will get the smallest slice. If he vetoes, a PFD may not even be considered next year.
Comments are closed.