Governor Bill Walker’s administration is planning to use the Alaska Permanent Fund to increase revenues to the state treasury and insulate Alaska’s government from swings in oil prices.
The changes proposed in the announcement by Attorney General Craig Richards on Wednesday would likely reduce the Permanent Fund dividend to an average of $1,000, less than the averages of dividend checks over the past decade.
The plan still needs approval by the Alaskan Legislature.
The Revenue Department’s Economic Research Group, members of the Treasury Division, and members of the governor’s administration, including Richards, developed the idea over the past few months.
The governor’s proposal would funnel most of Alaska’s oil and gas revenue into the Permanent Fund, allowing $3.3 billion to be transferred into the state’s general fund annually.
The Permanent Fund’s earnings reserve would act as a buffer in case stock market prices drop.