Wed, 06/09/2021 - 9:22am
Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy speaks during a press conference May 12 in the Alaska State Capitol at Juneau. With deadlines looming before the start of the next fiscal year on July 1, Dunleavy is urging legislators to approve his plan to evenly split Permanent Fund earnings between the budget and the PFD as a step toward a long-term budget solution. (Photo/James Brooks/Anchorage Daily News)
Gov. Mike Dunleavy insists he will do what it takes this year to solve the state’s fiscal dilemma that has led to a nearly decade-long run of budget deficits.
That starts with legislators agreeing to start splitting the roughly $3 billion in annual Permanent Fund revenue evenly between the dividend and other government expenses now, which would result in roughly $2,300 PFDs, before his compromise plan to put such a “50-50” fund earnings split into the Alaska Constitution is acted on, the governor said during a June 7 phone conversation with the Journal.
Wed, 06/09/2021 - 9:22am
Interior Secretary Debra Haaland’s department announced on June 1 that it is suspending leases sold in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve coastal plain. The lease sale was required under a provision in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that was authored by Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who is urging the state to sue the federal government over the decision. (Photo/Leigh Vogel/Pool/Getty Images/TNS)
It took nearly four decades to get a bill opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge coastal plain for oil exploration to the desk of a president who would sign it, but several months after the first lease sale the state’s congressional leaders are mostly relegated to the sidelines as the Biden administration has suspended the highly contentious program.
This year’s Copper River sockeye run is starting out a lot like last year’s, which is bad news for most everyone, except for maybe the fish that are showing up.
Gov. Mike Dunleavy wants legislators to be settling the future of the Permanent Fund dividend for decades to come but first they have to decide what it will be this year.