By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
Sen. Bert Stedman and Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins called attention today to a veto by Gov. Mike Dunleavy that has the potential “to affect future generations” because of its effect on the Alaska Permanent Fund.
“It’s not Democrats or Republicans,” Stedman said. “It’s an issue for all of us regardless of party.”
During the regular session this year the Legislature passed measures to transfer $9.4 billion from the earnings reserve account into the principal of the Permanent Fund, with the goal of constitutionally protecting those funds.
“Both Republicans and Democrats had the idea of taking ($9.4 billion) out of the earnings reserve,” Stedman said. The money would be placed in the principal of the Permanent Fund, putting it off limits for spending by the Legislature.
On June 28 Dunleavy vetoed $5.4 billion of the proposed $9.4 billion transfer, allowing $4 billion to be put into the Permanent Fund principal. Meeting in special session, the Legislature tried again, voting to put the vetoed $5.4 billion back into the Permanent Fund principal. On Monday the governor once again vetoed the transfer.
In a press release from the House Majority today, Kreiss-Tomkins was critical of the veto.
“Gov. Dunleavy’s decision to veto the Legislature’s $5.4 billion deposit into the principal of the Permanent Fund enables irresponsible budgeting and risks the integrity of the Permanent Fund for future generations of Alaskans,” he said.
The effort started in 2018 by the Legislature to “move aggressively” to protect the Permanent Fund assets for future generations, by transferring funds from the earnings reserve account into the principal, said a news release from the House Majority. Both Kreiss-Tomkins, a Democrat, and Stedman, a Republican, have been active supporters of efforts to keep the Legislature from spending the earnings reserve.
Stedman said the goal is to “lock it up” for future generations.
“Some of us are convinced that the Legislature will spend it, which is why we want to put it in and lock it up,” he said.
The governor’s veto means that some $10 billion is still in the earnings reserve, and available for appropriation by the Legislature, Stedman said.
But both Kreiss-Tomkins and Stedman said they plan to address the issue when the 2020 legislative session opens in January.
“This year’s proposed deposits into the principal of the Permanent Fund were just the beginning of the needed work to make the Permanent Fund truly permanent,” Kreiss-Tomkins said in today’s statement. “Ultimately, all and not just part of the Permanent Fund must be constitutionally protected from unsustainable spending proposals to ensure that generations of Alaskans well beyond my own can benefit from Alaska’s resource wealth just as our current generations have benefited.”
