The office of Alaska Gov. Bill Walker will formally unveil the amount of this year's reduced Permanent Fund dividend in an online announcement Friday, a spokesperson for the governor said.
The announcement will appear on the governor's website Friday morning, said Katie Marquette, the spokesperson. Walker attended a press event announcing last year's dividend of $2,072, but with the governor traveling in Asia this week and this year's dividend reduced to about $1,000 thanks to a veto issued by Walker in June, Friday's announcement will be met with less fanfare.
The dividend is expected to be close to that $1,000 figure, though the exact amount remains unknown. Walker's office on Friday will also unveil precisely what this year's dividend would have been without the veto, Marquette said.
State Sen. Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage, has filed a lawsuit along with two former state senators challenging Walker's veto, saying the governor lacked the authority to override a law requiring the Permanent Fund to transfer half of its available income to the state's dividend account every year.
It's unlikely that lawsuit will be resolved before the lower payout begins to be issued. The first direct deposits of this year's PFD go out Oct. 6.