In a remarkable turn, two of the Senate’s Republican leaders—Sens. Shelley Hughes and Mia Costello—turned on the budget deal that their own caucus’ budget negotiators had reached.
The dividend is set at $525 as dozens of other programs face an uncertain future.
While rejecting the three-quarter vote in years past may have spared the far-right Republicans the pain of their actions, today’s plan seeks to make the consequences of the failed vote felt widely. Not only would the dividend be cut in half but tens of millions of dollars designed for projects in the Mat-Su—everything from road repaving and road access to repairs to the Houston Middle School and the roof of the Palmer Veterans’ and Pioneers Home—would be halted.
If he wants to finally deliver some fraction of his 2018 campaign promise, he needs to explain how he will pay for it. As long as the governor stands in the way of new revenue, clinging to the fantasy that it all can be done without pain, he will also stand in the way of larger dividends.
The plan scrapes together funding from the general fund, the statutory budget reserve and, critically, from the constitutional budget reserve to pay a $1,100 dividend, but comes with plenty of strings attached that are aimed at forcing on-the-fence legislators to support a bevy of actions on the budget.
If convicted, LeDoux could face five years in prison.
Eastman’s trip appears to be part of a growing trend of Big Lie-supporting Republicans making the pilgrimage to an “audit” that has become largely a laughing stock to anyone outside of the rabidly pro-Trump media world. Professional auditors who’ve weighed in on the process have likened it more to a “grift,” “clown show” or “fraudit”
Sure, the first dividend was $1,000 but the repeal of the income tax paid even bigger dividends to the wealthiest Alaskans.
“Why not bite the bullet?”
Who really believes oil and investment income will suddenly smooth out into a dependable upward climb? If so, I’ve got a pipeline, a bridge and a dam to sell you.