"Proposing amendments to the Constitution of the State of Alaska relating to the Alaska permanent fund and to payments to certain state residents from the Alaska permanent fund; and providing for an effective date for the amendments."

There is a great deal of strife surrounding the permanent fund dividend. Therefore, I introduced HJR 31 to end the past rhetoric and look to the future of our state. It proposes a one-time dividend of $20,000. After that, no more dividends are paid out. To qualify, individuals must be eligible for the permanent fund dividend distributed in 2004, i.e. they were legal Alaskan residents for the year 2003. At current levels this leaves well over $15 billion in the Permanent Fund - and it will still be untouchable. Only the fund earnings will remain available to the Legislature.

We are spending $300-400 million more than we take in each year. We have programs within the state that cost more because of formulas and contracts that have been previously agreed to. Additionally, Medicare has become an enormous yearly expense. Our PERS and TERS retirement funds are short funded and will need a serious influx of dollars. When the price of oil goes up, we are ecstatic. It goes down and we scramble to come up with something to fill the gap.

I believe most Alaskans are not willing to suffer the massive cuts that would be required to fill the gap, nor can the money come from the Constitutional Budget Reserve for much longer. The solution is to use some of the earnings, not the principal, of the Permanent Fund to help run government, but not without giving Alaskans their equal share of the resources that were endowed to them.

After one final dividend of $20,000 we will end the dividend program and move on from this issue. The people of Alaska will be given their own stake in Alaska's future. No longer will they rely on a yearly check from investments in the New York Stock Exchange but will enjoy the fruits of investing in their own capital needs.

The benefits to the State of Alaska are monumental. We will be able to improve the quality of life throughout the state by adequately funding education, safety, public health, and our infrastructure. (In conjunction with the enactment of this plan I would suggest a well-crafted constitutional spending cap.)

The passage of HJR 31 gives Alaska a chance to create a stable, long-term fiscal policy for the first time in our State's history.

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