I don’t see it getting any better for us Alaskans. Luckily my family is not dependent on it, but many in the state are.
https://mustreadalaska.com/the-math-the-legislatures-525-dividend-is-worth-only-195-in-1984-dollars/
I just loved her flopping around in the video Must Read Alaska has of her on YouTube. If they want to pull this, all landowners should demand their mineral rights back.
All the while, giving themselves an $8700 reward for accomplishing nothing.
The capitol needs to be moved posthaste. They need to be under public scrutiny at all times, or they will continue to do this schat.
It's a shame Alaska's heading in the Direction of Oregon and California.
It's a shame Alaska's heading in the Direction of Oregon and California.
It's mostly Anchorage and Juneau with some Fairbanks thrown into the mix. The Valley and the Peninsula are still pretty red. The bush is somewhat socially conservative, but fiscally liberal, since they are on the teat. The bush is going to be plenty pissed by this decision to dole out a pittance.
Talked about this plenty of times with a buddy. We came to the following conclusion.
End the PFD. Take whatever amount is in the fund (minus applicable moving expenses) on the day it ends and divide it by the number of people willing to take the offer. Make the following offer to legal residents of the state on the day it ends...
You can have your portion of the entire PFD, paid in a lump sum, for each member of your family, along with moving expenses for the family, if you leave the state permanently. If you ever return (no limitation), you have to pay it all back. Call it the permanent family departure.
Those who decline the offer and remain in the state get nothing except the satisfaction of 90% of the people leaving, never to come back. Perhaps a bit of a restart.
Obviously I can’t speak for everyone, but I’d gladly give up all future PFD’s for me and my family if it meant having a substantial portion of the folks in Anchorage moving to the lower 48, never to return.
Hammond's idea is still sound, when people no longer have skin in the game they lose interest. Walker doubled the budget in 4 years. We have run the budget up a ridiculous amount. From a reasonable expansion rate of 2.5% per year from Sister Sarah's kickstart of flagrant spending to the actual it is staggering how much the State wasted. Using that 2.5% growth rate and comparing it to Dunleavey's first budget proposal there was still $1.6 BILLION in room! We need to cut way back on the spending. We have no income problem, we do have a huge spending problem.
Gotta agree with Art!
As I look back through the list of Governors, there's not much to be proud of. Jay Hammond was probably one of the better and had the foresight to see what Juneau would do to Alaska's oil wealth.
Gotta agree with Art!
As I look back through the list of Governors, there's not much to be proud of. Jay Hammond was probably one of the better and had the foresight to see what Juneau would do to Alaska's oil wealth.
Agreed. He was a reluctant governor who understood work-a-day people. He wasn't a lawyer either and that makes a huge difference in how people act when they are involved in politics. Shefield was approachable, but lackluster, as was Parnell. I liked Hickel because he bucked the system. The rest... meh