Bills aim to protect Alaska PFDs from state spending, while mandating statutory payouts
Rep. Ben Carpenter (R- Nikiski) has introduced two constitutional amendment bills to guarantee that Alaskans are paid a Permanent Fund Dividend in accord with state statute rather than leaving the amount to lawmakers to debate each year. HJR 7 would return
OPINION: How Carbon Credits would work
The state has little involvement in Carbon Credits except to sell a storage area, known as Carbon Sequestration, or sell a CO2 filter, known as Carbon Offsets. These bills are merely a framework to allow us to get started investigating the
AK lawmaker demands more educational funds, while deriding calls for greater accountability
State Sen. Loki Tobin (D-Anchorage) blasted her fellow lawmakers who are wary of pumping hundreds of millions in additional funding into Alaska’s failing public education system without added accountability measures. Tobin’s Feb. 13 speech on the Senate
Alaska’s Senate majority considers slashing PFD to add $250M to public education
Alaska’s Democratic-controlled Senate majority caucus is attempting to justify deep cuts to this year’s Permanent Fund Dividend checks in order to pump an extra $250 million dollars into public education, along with paying down massive amounts of
OPINION: Gov. Dunleavy aims to entangle Alaska in a ‘socialist liberal’ carbon tax scheme
At the blink of an eye, a governor who was elected to office promoting libertarian conservative ideals, begins his second term in office supporting an extreme socialist liberal agenda which would lock up massive chunks of Alaska to the “Green
Alaska Assoc. of School Boards wants hundreds of millions more for failing public schools
The Alaska Association of School Boards (AASB) is lobbying state lawmakers to pump hundreds of millions of more dollars into Alaska’s failing public school system next year. In particular, the AASB wants the State Legislature to approve a massive expansion
Do Alaskans get paid to live there? The who, what, when, where & why of the PFD
By ED KING – KING ECONOMICS GROUP Editor’s note: This article first appeared at King Economics Group. It is republished here with permission. Whenever I travel to the Lower 48, I usually get asked this question: “Do you really get paid just for
Alaska in 2023: Trends, predictions and prescriptions
Editor’s note: This article is adapted from a talk given for the Valley Republican Women of Alaska’s Jan. 19 meeting in Wasilla. I want to address a few major trends and developments in Alaska as they relate to our population, education and political
‘Bidenflation’ is costing Alaskan families $811 a month, $9,729 annually
The Foundation for Government Accountability released a new report showing that Alaska’s inflation is now at 12.8%. In the real world, that translates to an additional cost of $811 per month for Alaska families, or $9,729 annually. Areas in Alaska most
OPINION: Why Alaska should never pass a budget exceeding $7.7 billion in state funds
By Vance Ginn and Quinn Townsend – Alaska Policy Forum Introduction While revenue estimates for the state of Alaska hit a record high last fiscal year, this upcoming fiscal year 2024 (July 2023 – June 2024) is another story. The Fall 2022 revenue