Editorial

"Alaska Permanent Fund" by John Davis - KSRM, Radio Kenai - Think About It…. March 27, 2002

Why is it that our legislators and our governor are so set on getting their hands into our Alaska Permanent Fund before they do anything to trim the state budget to fit state income? Now… That is a real good question and many Alaskans are frustrated that no one has the answer.

Last week the House Finance Committee passed a bill that would use $900 million of the Permanent Fund for state spending next year. This week the committee is taking up sales taxes to raise another $200 million more. If the bill passes it will be the very first time the fund has been tapped since Alaska’s major oilfields opened back in 1977. The driving force is the so-called Republican moderates…. there’s eight of them…. Including Representative Ken Lancaster of Soldotna and Drew Scalzi of Homer. These eight Republicans, a tight insistent group, working between the 12 House Democrats and the Republican leadership, have managed to force action for new revenues; sales tax, income tax, user fees, product taxes, and a host of other new revenue ideas.

This group of Republicans are claiming a cut of some $300,000 in next years budget but only after they and the governor have requested increases of about that same amount. That means no real changes in state government expenditures from this year. This in spite of the fact that Alaska’s per capita cost of government is three to five times higher than any other state in the nation.

And… how do we know, for sure, that we will have a billion dollar shortfall in next years budget. Many doubt we will. Think about it. How many times in past years has the legislature eyed the fund and cried wolf? In 1987 Governor Steve Cowper and the legislature did their best to dip into the P.F. earnings and failed. They said they had to have it for education. What happened? The price of oil went up and the so-called crisis went away. Every time the price of oil goes down… its an excuse for these legislators to hit the panic button and try and convince Alaskans to let them start dipping.

In 1999 Republican House and Senate leaders finally got a plan together to start spending the P.F earnings on general government operations, which they said was in crisis, and put it before the voters. We the people turned that plan down by a whopping 83%.

Now… here we are with Republicans like Ken Lancaster, Drew Scalzi, and eight other Republicans saying they have no choice but to take $900 million out of our Permanent Fund and pass sales taxes to raise another $200 million. What is wrong with these legislators and the governor? Don’t they know what NO means?

So…what if??? What if they refuse to cut any government operations costs at all! So…they somehow stop themselves from dipping into the P.F. for $900 million. So… they somehow stop the move to initiate a sales tax and all other revenue enhancing ideas rampant in Juneau. What is the worst that can happen. A little deficit spending for the year. Its not like we will be broke. If it happens and many of us doubt that it will, believing that we are not in any crisis situation at all, then they will have real reason to raise the dollars needed to balance our budget. Then… they can start cutting government operations, (that’s very doubtful), initiating taxes (they would like that), or even dipping into the earning of the Permanent Fund, if they think they can get away with it. But doing it right now?? The price of oil is always going up and down and with war with Iraq on the horizon, its almost certain the price will go up… way up!

Somehow… this fall… when almost every legislator and senator and the governor are up for election… we need to make sure we vote for people who know what NO means when it comes to dipping into the Permanent Fund and tapping or capping our PFD. New legislators who have the fortitude to stand up and be counted for reducing, systematically each year, Alaska’s out of control government spending, before acting to initiate more streams of revenue through new taxation.

Think About It!
 

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