Lincoln Introduces Resolution to Protect the Permanent Fund Dividend JUNEAU – Recognizing public support for the Permanent Fund dividend and anxiety about possible legislative raids to pay for government, Senator Georgianna Lincoln (D-Rampart) introduced a resolution on May 2 as one way to permanently protect the Permanent Fund dividend. “Right now, there is no constitutional protection for the Permanent Fund Dividend, and some legislators are looking to the PFD to bail us out of the state’s fiscal situation. We need to protect the PFD,” said Senator Lincoln. Senator Lincoln’s resolution comes one day after the Democratic caucus disclosed its intent to not allow a withdrawal from the Constitutional Budget Reserve unless the Legislature acts to permanently protect the PFD. Senator Lincoln’s resolution mirrors SSHJR 3 which Representative Eric Croft (D-Anchorage) and Representative Harry Crawford (D-Anchorage) introduced in the House, but Democrats insist that this specific piece of legislation is not the only method of protecting the dividend that they will accept. “We aren’t saying that they have to protect it one specific way or another, but in a constitutional democracy, giving the dividend constitutional protection is the most direct way to protect it,” said Representative Croft. The resolution, SJR 19 takes the exact language of the initiative sponsored by former Governor Jay Hammond and the group Alaskans for Efficient Government that would require a vote of the people in order for the legislature to spend any of the Permanent Fund earnings. “We won’t let them bully the citizens of Alaska out of their dividends. In 1999, 83 percent of Alaskans voted not to use the Permanent Fund earnings to pay for government. We will not let this Legislature ignore the will of the people,” said Senator Lincoln. ###
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