The credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s has awarded good marks to Gov. Bill Walker’s proposed changes to how the Alaska Permanent Fund is used.
The Juneau Empire reports that on Monday the agency called the changes a “favorable development” in as it is a more sustainable model for Alaska’s general fund.
Attorney General Craig Richards called the new Permanent Fund system a “sovereign wealth model” which would involve putting the state’s petroleum production taxes into the permanent fund along with half of the state’s resource royalties.
Spun-off earnings, potentially around $3.3 billion a year, would go to the state general fund to help pay for the costs of government.
S&P says the new model is a step in the right direction, but is not risk-free as it assumes a high rate of return for the fund.
