JUNEAU – Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins (D-Sitka) on Wednesday introduced a proposal for a constitutional amendment “to fully protect the Alaska Permanent Fund.”
House Joint Resolution 18 would “harden” the percent-of-market-value structure established by the Legislature in 2018’s Senate Bill 26. HJR 18 would limit draws from the Permanent Fund to no more than 5 percent of the fund’s market value as calculated over the first five of the preceding six fiscal years.
The resolution also consolidates the Permanent Fund into a single account, the House bipartisan majority coalition announced in a news release.
“This approach provides the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation certainty in managing assets, allowing APFC to earn a greater return on its investments and benefiting all Alaskans,” the majority coalition said in the release.
Ten representatives signed on as co-sponsors of HJR 18: Zack Fields (D-Anchorage), Jennifer Johnston (R-Anchorage), Andy Josephson (D-Anchorage), Bart LeBon (R-Fairbanks), John Lincoln (D-Kotzebue), Dan Ortiz (I-Ketchikan), Ivy Spohnholz (D-Anchorage), Andi Story (D-Juneau), Tammie Wilson (R-North Pole), and Adam Wool (D-Fairbanks).
“I can think of no issue more important than protecting the $64 billion Permanent Fund for future generations of Alaskans,” Kreiss-Tomkins said. “While I personally support enshrining the dividend in the constitution, this legislation sets aside the PFD question and focuses solely on constitutionally protecting the Permanent Fund itself. The proposal is simple but tremendously important.”
Because HJR 18 proposes an amendment to the Alaska Constitution, two-thirds of the House and Senate must approve it, and then the resolution would be placed on the next statewide general election ballot for consideration by voters.
The proposal was referred to the State Affairs, Judiciary, and Finance committees.
