Governor Mike Dunleavy signed into law the FY23 operating and capital budget. The spending plan focuses on protecting Alaskans through public safety and the Governor’s People First Initiative; public education; state infrastructure including ports, bridges, and airports; agriculture and mariculture; and the 2022 Permanent Fund Dividend. The FY23 budget also addresses infrastructure, public safety, and technology issues in rural Alaska.
Additionally, Gov. Dunleavy touted fiscal responsibility as he aimed to preserve the temporary surplus from higher oil revenues while making reductions that didn’t harm essential state services, which included 10% cuts to state agency budgets other than public safety and education, compared to 2019. Those reductions included line-item vetoes that totaled $400 million. The FY23 budget deposited $1.6 billion into the CBR. Dunleavy said that if oil prices collapse, the CBR account balance increase is enough to cover the state budget.
In a press conference on Tuesday, Gov. Dunleavy said:
“This is a budget that saves a tremendous amount of money, has a historic high PFD of $3,200. For a family of 5, that’s $16,000. That’s going to go a long way to help with a number of expenses that I’m sure people are incurring across the board. We do this with no new taxes. We do this also with historic investments in public safety, a considerable robust capital budget to take care of ports and bridges, work on the ferry system, harbors, roads, and this will put people to work as well. As mentioned, we invested in education. This budget, really what this budget does is it adds certainty to an otherwise uncertain world that we’re in right now.”
The 2022 Permanent Fund Dividend, based on Gov. Dunleavy’s 50/50 PFD plan, divides the annual draw from the Permanent Fund equally between state services and the dividend. The governor said that families need help with the rampant inflation, record-high fuel costs, and the economic damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. There is no word on when Alaskans can expect to receive their 2022 Permanent Fund Dividend as his office announced that a distribution plan will be announced sometime in the near future.
Click here for the Fiscal Year 2023 enacted budget.