Print article Shortly before his death in 2005, Jay Hammond concisely expressed his vision for the Alaska Permanent Fund. “I wanted to transform oil wells pumping oil for a finite period into money wells pumping money for infinity,” the former Alaska governor wrote. For the first time since the Permanent Fund was created in 1976, the state of Alaska is seriously considering a step away from that vision. Gov. Mike Dunleavy has proposed spending billions from the fund to pay for a $5,000 stimulus in 2021. Such a stimulus is badly needed, economists say: Unemployment is high, thousands of Alaskans aren’t caught up on their rent and many residents don’t have enough to eat.