Alaska Permanent Fund dividend payouts worth $2,550 to $5,500 are under consideration by state leaders, according to multiple Alaska lawmakers and aides contacted on Wednesday in Juneau.
The amount of the 2022 PFD could be the largest since the first checks went out 40 years ago.
The Alaska Senate this week approved a $5,500 dividend. Gov. Mike Dunleavy is pushing to provide Alaskans at least $3,700. The House of Representatives is looking to provide a $1,250 dividend plus a $1,300 energy relief check for a total payout this year of $2,550.
“I think it’s fair to say it’s between $2,550 and $3,700,” said Sen. Tom Begich, D-Anchorage, the Senate Minority Leader. “Those are the only realistic numbers that are being talked about.”
In 2008, Alaskans received a total of $3,269 in the form of a $2,069 dividend plus a $1,200 resource rebate. That was the most paid to each eligible state resident from the Alaska Permanent Fund in a single year.
Begich said a lot of negotiating still needs to happen before the final dividend amount is known.
The PFD is being decided in connection with the state operating budget, and lawmakers are in the final stretch of that process. The Senate approved a plan on Tuesday.
If events unfold as they have in the past, three House leaders and three Senate leaders will head negotiations for a final budget plan. That proposal would then go to each body for final approval before heading to the governor’s office for his review.
The state is anticipating a $3.5 billion surplus for fiscal 2022 and 2023, largely due to higher oil prices.
Rep. Adam Wool, D-Fairbanks, and a member of the House Finance Committee, said he supports the House dividend. He doesn’t want to enlarge the payout to an “unsustainable” level, stating in a text message that “an energy relief check is appropriate right now.”
Rep. Mike Cronk, R-Tok, favors a “full statutory PFD, $4,200,” he said in a text message.
