On the 121st day of the legislative session, the Alaska Senate approved operating and capital budgets that fund constitutionally mandated services, protect billions in the Permanent Fund’s corpus, and provide critical relief to local communities and small businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Senators also approved approximately a $2,300 Permanent Fund Dividend – among the largest in state history. House Bill 69 authorizes $4.43 billion in state unrestricted general funds for the upcoming fiscal year 2022 operating expenses and $274.6 million for next year’s capital budget, which leverages nearly $1.9 billion in federal funds for roads, bridges and other infrastructure.
Senate Majority Leader Shelley Hughes in deliberation on an amendment last night, “So when we talk about what using the earnings reserve, that is what is supposed to come out so if more is needed, any overdraw is not for the PFD, Mr. President, it’s to pay for government. The first draw is to pay for the PFD. That is the way the statute is written and that was the way that it was formed. I also want to mention back in the early 80s, I had the opportunity to work on the PFD working group and got to work with a lot of people who knew about the history and did a lot of reading about those beginning conversations. One of the interesting things is that they reached out to a top economist. He was the one that actually advised that we go this route, than putting it all into government because there were a lot of debates on what are we going to do with this. His reasoning was, a dollar in the private sector multiplies at a higher rate than a dollar invested in the government sector.”
House Bill 69 passed the Senate by a vote of 17-3. The budget now moves on to the House. The first of two special legislative sessions starts today.
Transcribed audio courtesy of KTOO 360TV.
