The Alaska Senate Finance Committee voted 5-4 on Saturday to pay out the full permanent fund dividend amount of roughly $3,000 this year. The full Senate could vote on the bill as soon as Monday.
The committee combined the dividend amount language with a bill to reverse most of Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s line-item vetoes.
If the Legislature passes a full PFD, it would cost $875 million more than is supposed to be drawn from the permanent fund’s earnings reserve under a law passed last year.
Supporters of a full dividend have said the state should follow the formula in a 1982 law. Opponents have said the full amount would put the future of the earnings reserve and dividends at risk.
The House of Representatives is scheduled to vote for the third time Monday on a bill to fund the capital budget.
Andrew Kitchenman is the state government and politics reporter for Alaska Public Media and KTOO in Juneau. Reach him at akitchenman@alaskapublic.org.
