It would also leave a whopping $1.1 billion gap in the state’s budget with no clear direction on how it would be closed. Would that be covered with deep cuts to state services? Steep hikes in taxes? A mix of both?
It’s likely that the early payout is the governor’s latest and perhaps best shot at securing a second round of dividends, but that comes with its own can of worms.
The payout now could put pressure on legislators for a second payout later.
Here’s what happened on the Legislature’s “final” day.
The dividend goes to recipients of the 2019 dividend.
Saving leverage for a fight that may never come.
The state’s budget picture is looking worse and worse every day.
The Dunleavy administration tried to make the case that breaking the spending limit on the permanent fund’s earnings to repay last year’s PFD isn’t the end of the world.
The Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation says it could have been far worse.
The motor fuel tax is one of the only significant pieces of new revenue on the table this year, the state’s response to the coronavirus, the dividend and Dunleavy weighs in on the recall.