Gov. Mike Dunleavy proposed revisions to his Permanent Fund constitutional amendment that proposes a sustainable fiscal future for all Alaskans and guarantees an annual dividend to all Alaskans. If passed by the Legislature, Alaskans would have the final word. The action would create a fair and sustainable 50/50 split of Permanent Fund earnings between PFDs and core state services. It also would shield the $1 billion power cost equalization endowment from politicians by depositing in the fund’s corpus. It also proposes to protect future state budgets from significant deficits by transferring $3 billion from the Permanent Fund Earning Reserve Account to the Constitutional Budget Reserve.
Dunleavy was asked if there was a plan to backpay the PFD’s that were promised but not paid out, “In the end, what package we put together, it’s our goal to make sure that it’s a package that the people of Alaska are going to vote for in the affirmative. These are discussions that are going to have to take place over the next several days. We’ll see where that leads. There’s going to be a lot of input put into this concept. I can’t tell you what the end result is going to be. I can tell you that there will be certain things we’ll be advocating for. We’ll see if that goes into the packaging. Keep in mind, it’s going to be in the hands of the legislature. When it comes to a constitutional amendment, a joint resolution, the governor doesn’t have veto power over it. This is really between the representatives of the people and the people themselves.”
Senate President Peter Micciche responded to the governor’s constitutional amendment, “I think this is a good start. Permanent fund constitutional amendments, constitutional amendments on there are difficult. It takes 14 senate votes and 27 house votes. What gets us there is working together. This isn’t a partisan issue. It’s not a ‘which body you’re in’ issue whether or not you’re in the executive branch. We need to come together as Alaskans because until we solve the fiscal plan beginning with a Permanent Fund Dividend solution, we are stuck in neutral. This is the clutch that will allow us to put the vehicle in gear and move to the next step. The governor and I came into the legislature at the same time. We’ve been watching this problem for 9 years now without any forward motion. I appreciate the fact that this is the beginning of the conversation that will solve these solutions for the long-term and get Alaska moving again.”
Dunleavy also introduced two other constitutional amendments to solve the state’s budget deficit. One (HJR 6/SJR 5) sets an appropriation limit for state spending, the other (HJR 8/SJR 7) would prohibit establishing a state tax without voter approval. Additional information can be found here.