Gov. Mike Dunleavy held a press conference Thursday afternoon setting his expectations for the regular session, which began on January 18th. Dunleavy said that he expects the legislature to wrap up business by the middle of May in addition to calling upon legislators to provide each eligible resident a PFD this year of at least $3,700 using the 50/50 formula. He said that the more money in the hands of Alaskans, the better it will be for everyone, saying that Alaskans are paying increased prices at the pump for gasoline and diesel.
Gov. Dunleavy also cited the projected $3.4 billion increase to the Spring 2022 Revenue Forecast over this year. According to the Alaska Department of Revenue, the forecast is consistent, and the state of Alaska is still projecting a multibillion-dollar surplus for 2022 and 2023.
The governor revealed:
“We’re optimistic that we have the funds right now to deal with Alaska’s budget, deal with the PFD. We’ve got a number of items that are important from the crime bills, the reading bill, to our land bill. There’s always other things going on. As just mentioned, there’s fentanyl. There’s the destruction because of the war in Europe, but we’ll get through these things. We’ll deal with these things, especially when we’re able to work together. It’s my expectation that we’ll end on time. That’s my expectation in terms of the session, that we’ll have a substantial PFD that’ll help the people of Alaska, and that we get some of the crime bills and some of these priorities passed.”
He was asked if he would veto a budget that doesn’t include a 50/50 PFD:
“We did veto the $500 PFD last year and so I don’t think that’s going to happen. In my discussions with legislators this year, they see the urgency and the need to make sure that we get a PFD that’s pretty substantial. I don’t envision that happening, but again, we’ll have to deal with whatever comes our way when it comes our way and make that decision then.”
In addition to the PFD, the administration’s priority is to rebuild savings with the surpluses in the range of $11 billion over 10 years, based on a conservative forecast of $70 plus per barrel to 2031.
The governor also asked the legislature to take action on the People First Initiative bills introduced earlier this session, which addresses domestic violence and sexual assault, missing and murdered indigenous persons, human/sex trafficking, foster care and homelessness.