Let me get this straight. Gov. Mike Dunleavy argues that a prior law set the formula for determining the amount of the Permanent Fund dividend, so the Legislature is bound by that formula. But the last Legislature determined the state’s general budget situation would not support the size of an individual PFD set by that formula, at least for the next two years. So they set the PFD at a different level for two years.
Gov. Dunleavy also argues that last year’s Legislature cannot pass a law that ties the hands of this year’s Legislature. Do I have this straight? Some laws bind the Legislature but others don’t?
And what about what we all learned in government class in high school — that the Legislature controls the purse strings? I must be missing something here.
— Tom Nelson
Anchorage
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