OPINION: A solution to Alaska’s PFD and budget struggle — less is more

We’ve been playing out this “Permanent Fund dividend v. adequate funding” battle for many, many years, and we have seen the consequences. There is the overall economy hit. According to the University of Alaska Center for Economic Development, “for the last seven years, the Alaska economy has performed at or near the bottom nationally in four key measures of economic health.”

There is the education hit. With seven years of either cutting or flat-funding education, we now have elementary school closures in Fairbanks and Anchorage, a high teacher turnover rate and lower student achievement scores. Cut 2,100 teachers in 10 years, and the ripple effect builds to where every school district in Alaska suffers.

Then there is the infrastructure hit. Just look at the Alaska Marine Highway System. It’s dysfunctional and barely afloat. Citing cuts for highway maintenance, the American Society of Civil Engineers in 2021 assigned a C-minus to Alaska’s overall infrastructure.

There is the hit to labor and wages. Bill Popp with the Anchorage Economic Development Corp. noted, “One issue is that our wages are not as strong as they used to be. There’s a lot of competition for the labor force nationally and it’s come full circle that we haven’t invested in ourselves.”

While I could go on with more of the hits list, it should be apparent that prioritizing a hefty PFD amount over essential government services comes with real, hard costs to all Alaskans, particularly when our overall economy plummets. It’s time to prioritize the collective good over short-term individual gain; that spending funds on the functions of government is more important than inflating the size of the PFD. In fact, our constitution recognizes that Alaska’s resource endowment is for the collective advancement of society, not necessarily for the gain of individuals.

Furthermore, there is only so much a PFD check can buy. As an individual, I cannot buy government goods like uncrowded classrooms, secure streets, or a functional ferry system. Sure, I can buy a trip to Hawaii but I’d rather be able to reliably drive on well-maintained roads. And yes, I know that there are families who count on a sizeable PFD. Hence, I do not advocate eliminating the PFD. But now, with Alaska’s economy performing so poorly, with school closures and with high rates of crime, etc., the individual good, along with the collective good, is now being diminished. We can’t keep spending $2.2 billion on dividends — more than on anything else — and have a healthy economy that benefits all Alaskans.

Even Sen. Lisa Murkowski in her February remarks before the Alaska Legislature knows that we’ve reached the time to prioritize the greater good of governing. “I’ll just say it,” said Sen. Murkowski, “if this Legislature spends the whole 33rd legislative agenda focusing on how much Alaskans are going to be getting for a Permanent Fund dividend (then) we miss everything. We cannot be a place where people spend part of their lives only to pack up and leave because they don’t see a future for themselves or for their family.”

Yes, a bigger check is nice, but it doesn’t buy a future as noted by a decade of outmigration. Clearly, it’s time for our elected leader to switch focus and prioritize adequate funding over fat PFD checks. By doing this, the 33rd Legislature will end up doing more with less.

Kate Troll, a longtime Alaskan, has more than 22 years experience in coastal management, fisheries and energy policy and is a former executive director for United Fishermen of Alaska and the Alaska Conservation Voters. She’s been elected to local office twice, written two books and resides in Douglas.

The views expressed here are the writer’s and are not necessarily endorsed by the Anchorage Daily News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, email commentary(at)adn.com. Send submissions shorter than 200 words to letters@adn.com or click here to submit via any web browser. Read our full guidelines for letters and commentaries here.