Alaska lawmakers struggle with dividend debate
Alaska lawmakers are running out of time this session to pass legislation aimed at resolving the annual debate over what size dividend should be paid to residents from the state’s oil wealth fund.
Legislative leaders have said they see resolving the divisive debate as critical. But lawmakers have yet to agree on what a new formula should look like or on what other elements should accompany it, such as taxes. A dividend bill in the Senate was bumped from the floor for further work Wednesday when it lacked the votes to pass, Senate President Peter Micciche said.
Recent high oil prices have prompted rosy revenue forecasts after years of deficits, complicating any talk of taxes as part of a long-range fiscal plan. A working group tasked with making fiscal policy recommendations last year included such things as a new dividend formula, constitutional certainty around a dividend, new revenues and revised spending limits as necessary parts of a comprehensive plan.
Senate Minority Leader Tom Begich, an Anchorage Democrat, said Thursday that he’s a “little less optimistic that we’ll get a plan or even an element of a plan this year … but I have not given up.”
Read more: https://www.alaskapublic.org/2022/05/06/alaska-lawmakers-struggle-with-dividend-debate/
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