Alaska Gov. Dunleavy unveils new-look dividend plan with guaranteed payments

[SouthBayDem]

Source: Anchorage Daily News

JUNEAU — Gov. Mike Dunleavy and leading Alaska lawmakers unveiled a new proposal Wednesday to constitutionally guarantee an annual Permanent Fund dividend and permanently cap annual transfers from the Alaska Permanent Fund to the state treasury.

Their proposal, a new constitutional amendment, would not take effect until 2023 but is intended to decisively address fiscal problem that have plagued the state since oil prices plunged in 2015.

Supporters acknowledged that it is not a complete fix. Some estimates indicate that if implemented, the plan would still leave the state with a deficit that exceeds $1 billion and approaches a quarter of the state’s general-purpose revenue.

But Dunleavy said that if the state wants to fix its long-term fiscal problems, it needs to start somewhere.

Read more: https://www.adn.com/politics/2021/05/12/alaska-gov-dunleavy-unveils-new-look-dividend-plan-with-guaranteed-payments-but-a-substantial-deficit-remains/

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Full article title (didn't fit): Alaska Gov. Dunleavy unveils new-look dividend plan with guaranteed payments but a substantial deficit remains

[bucolic_frolic]

1. Amazing how politicians juggle the numbers but not the economic reality behind them

Efficiency. Use of taxpayer funds. I see things I believe are questionable, and hear about a few in the press.

State use of vehicles. Limousines for legislators. I have seen state cars in Big Box retail stores, and state heavy equipment on private property. Whether these are just using a long lunch hour to visit relatives or friends, or something a little more like actual waste of state-paid hours, I have no idea. I dismiss it as 'employees are gonna be employees' and make their jobs tolerable. I dunno.

If any governor actually approached fiscal problems and said let's find inefficiencies, let's root out wasted taxpayer resources and try to produce more with a little less, he'd be out of office fast.

[abqtommy]

2. +100 Very well said!

[modrepub]

4. The More Obscure The Government Budget

the more power the politicians have.

I'm pretty convinced most states develop Byzantine spending and taxing structures just so you can't figure out what they are up to. Any real business tracks where its dollars come in and go out to the penny. I don't think you can say the same for government spending. Maybe it's buried in some report or more likely some old computer system that only spits out certain numbers. You have to comb through a mountain of data to make any sense of it.

[moose65]

3. Isn't this is very definition of Socialism??

The State of Alaska owns the rights to the oil within its borders. It sells that oil to companies or entities. The money is then divided among the population. Isn't that what Republicans usually condemn?