Groh: The cockpit standoff and the need to land the plane
A good ol’ standoff.
the dividend
Dunleavy’s solution to a ‘defective’ budget and looming shutdown? Surprise! It’s a $2,300 PFD.
Money fixes all problems.
Amid pleas to ‘get a grip,’ Senate overcomes GOP revolt to barely pass a budget that leaves much unsettled
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.
In night of excuses, House Republicans vote against budget, the PFD, PCE, scholarships and oil credits
The dividend is set at $525 as dozens of other programs face an uncertain future.
Legislature’s proposed budget fix spreads the pain of failure broadly. That’s the point.
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.
Here’s one weird trick for Dunleavy to deliver the big PFD he promised. (Pay for it)
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.
Budget negotiators settle on $1,100 PFD with plenty of strings attached
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.
‘Pick. Click. Pay your taxes.’ Legislators hear alternative PFD proposals
While Dunleavy has pitched a big dividend without bothering to answer the question of “What’s next,” legislators are looking at other more modest dividend proposals that would bring finality to the budget process.
The ‘$100,000 dividend.’ The repeal of Alaska’s income tax benefitted some far more than others
Sure, the first dividend was $1,000 but the repeal of the income tax paid even bigger dividends to the wealthiest Alaskans.
Dunleavy’s PFD plan puts off tax talks for several years. Legislators ask, ‘Why wait?’
“Why not bite the bullet?”