JUNE – In a recent radio interview, Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy said he would not approve new taxes without a statewide vote on one of his proposed constitutional amendments.
With the exception of sharp rises in oil prices, the elimination of the permanent fund dividend or unprecedented cuts in public services, Dunleavy’s position still means at least two years of government spending.
‘I’m not going to support new income. “I will not support the taking of money from Alaskans unless they are given the opportunity to vote on their constitutional amendment,” Dunleavy said in a radio interview on Thursday.
“If no tax changes are implemented before the constitutional amendment, then a deficit will take several years,” said Corey Allen Young, a spokeswoman for the governor.
“We know and recognize that the time frame for implementing the necessary structural change will be needed,” Young said. “There is no way to completely eliminate the deficit within one year.”
The Alaska Senate State Committee on Tuesday approved three constitutional amendments by the governor, but Mike Shower, committee chairman R-Wasilla, said all three have a long way to go. To be effective, each must be considered by various committees in the House and Senate and must receive majority votes in both halves of the Legislature before standing in the next general election of the state.
Dunleavy’s statement Thursday was in violation of a 10-year fiscal plan published late last year by the governor’s own office of management and budget. The plan requires $ 1.2 billion from ‘other sources of revenue’ to balance the budget from next year.
Since Alaska’s available savings accounts are almost completely depleted, the state’s deficits can be covered with additional money from Alaska’s permanent fund. Its earnings are already more than 70% of the state’s annual revenue.
By increasing the increase in the permanent fund, the amount of money available for services and dividends will be reduced in the future, and Angela Rodell, director of Alaska Permanent Fund Corp., told the Home Finance Committee on Tuesday that the corporation does not recommend to exceed a sustainable spending limit. in 2018.
Three floors below that meeting, the Senate Committee on Public Affairs heard evidence of the governor’s constitutional amendments and proceeded without making any changes.
• The first amendment would require a statewide vote before tax increases become law.
• The second will limit the existing spending limit.
• The third will change the traditional formula for the payment of the permanent fund dividend and entrench the dividend in the Constitution.
This year, the traditional formula will result in a payout of about $ 3,170 per person. The new formula will pay about $ 2,380, based on 630,000 applicants and the next scheduled transfer from the Permanent Fund.
Shower said changes are possible in the Senate Judiciary Committee, the next panel is scheduled to examine the ideas.
Two years ago, when Dunleavy proposed similar amendments, Shower’s committee received a tsunami of public evidence. This time, there were fewer than ten callers for each proposal, despite announcements by the governor and legislators in the committee.
“I think it all disappeared in the shuffle,” Shower said during an interruption in the committee.
“Seven people thought it was important to testify – it’s crazy,” said Senator Scott Kawasaki, D-Fairbanks and the committee’s minority member.