PROPONENTS OF FULL DIVIDENDS DIDN’T SHOW
The teachers were organized and they dominated public comment Thursday night during the first public hearing for SB 23 and SB 24.
SB 23 and 24 are the bills proposed by Gov. Michael Dunleavy that would fund full Permanent Fund dividends, and also pay back the amounts that State government kept over the past three years.
The Senate State Affairs Committee heard from 65 Alaskans opposed to the governor’s bills.
The other 33 callers said they support SB 23 and 24. A handful of people were on the fence about it.
Must Read Alaska researched the voter registrations of those testifying. (Not all were found on voter rolls. Some likely are registered to vote under other names than given to the committee, or the names were spelled wrong).
The breakdown was clear: Democrats want to keep the current configuration where the State of Alaska keeps about half of everyone’s dividend and uses it to run state programs and fund education. Most of the Democrats who testified also urged income taxes.
Must Read Alaska counted 25 Democrats among those testifying, all opposed to the legislation.
16 Republicans testified. Just two of them opposed SB 23 and 24, and the rest supported.
The two registered members of the Alaskan Independence Party also supported the PFD bills.
The 22 undeclared voters testifying split between supporting and opposing the legislation.
Of the nine nonpartisan voters, only one of them supported the legislation, with the other eight opposed.
There were at least two students who testified from Sitka and both opposed the bills, saying they preferred to spend the money on education.
Sitka was the community most represented, with 25 testifiers, all of them opposed to the legislation.
Next Tuesday and Thursday the public hearing process will continue at 6 pm. Due to the volume of people calling in, the committee will limit testimony to one minute.
Anchorage callers: 907-563-9085
Juneau Callers: 907-586-9085
All other communities: 1-844-586-9085
Written testimony can be sent to [email protected].
