Each Alaska resident will receive a $1,606 Permanent Fund dividend this year, Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s administration announced Friday.
The payment will be split between 631,000 recipients, and it’s each person’s share of the $1.013 billion that the state Legislature budgeted for dividends. Lawmakers set aside that amount after using a larger share of the revenues of the $63.5 billion investment fund — originally seeded with oil revenue — to pay for government services.
Dunleavy had pushed lawmakers to set dividends using a 1982 formula passed by the Legislature; it would have allowed for payments of $2,910 to each resident, while leaving a major budget deficit. Lawmakers rejected that proposal.
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Nat Herz covers government, politics, environment and COVID-19 for Alaska Public Media. Reach him at nherz@alaskapublic.org.
