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Petition to Restore and Protect the Permanent Fund Dividend

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leonardo franco and 19 others have signed recently.

Decision Makers: Mike Dunleavy +2

15 Supporter Voices

2 Media Mentions

The Issue

To the Alaska State Legislature and the Governor of Alaska:

 

We, the undersigned Alaskans, affirm that the Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD) was established to return to the people their fair share of our resource wealth. The statutory formula enacted in 1982 (AS 43.23.025) remains the law of Alaska, yet since 2016 it has been ignored and reduced against the will and best interests of the people.

 

Since 2016, billions of dollars that should have been distributed through the statutory dividend formula have been withheld. The law remains on the books, yet it is ignored in the annual budget process. This undermines the rule of law, erodes public trust, and denies Alaskans their rightful share of resource wealth.

 

Our Principles

 

The PFD is Ownership, Not Entitlement: Alaska’s Constitution (Art. VIII, Sec. 2) says resources are to be managed “for the maximum benefit of the people.” The Permanent Fund was created to ensure that benefit. The PFD is not welfare or a government handout — it is the citizens’ ownership share of the returns on Alaska’s natural resource wealth.

 

The Law Must Be Honored or Changed Honestly: The statutory formula enacted in 1982 is still the law. If leaders believe it should change, they must repeal or amend it openly through the legislative process or by constitutional amendment. Ignoring the law while passing budgets that underfund the PFD is dishonest governance.

 

Restore the Statutory Dividend: The Legislature must immediately return to paying the full statutory PFD as calculated by law. This is the fastest and most direct way to honor the commitment made to Alaskans.

 

Protect It in the Constitution: To ensure this never happens again, the Legislature must place before the people a constitutional amendment that secures the dividend against appropriation or veto. The amendment should simply state that Permanent Fund earnings dedicated to dividends shall be distributed annually to eligible Alaskans, as determined by statute, and shall not be reduced by appropriation.

 

Consider Restitution for Withheld Dividends: Alaskans have lost thousands of dollars each since 2016. We call on the Legislature and Governor to consider a restoration plan that pays back withheld amounts, whether through one-time appropriation or phased “catch-up” payments.

 

The Arguments

 

I. The Constitution Protects Both the Principal and Its Income-Producing Purpose

 

Article IX, Section 15 explicitly restricts the use of the Permanent Fund principal to “income-producing investments.” This establishes a dual protection: the corpus of the Fund and the income it generates. Without protection of the earnings, the constitutional command is rendered meaningless.

 

II. The Permanent Fund Functions as a Public Trust

 

Article VIII, Section 2 declares that Alaska’s natural resources are to be managed “for the maximum benefit of the people.” The Permanent Fund was designed as a trust to fulfill this duty. Under trust law, beneficiaries are entitled not only to the preservation of principal but to the income it yields, unless explicitly excluded. The people of Alaska are the beneficiaries; the Fund’s earnings are therefore constitutionally theirs.

 

III. “Unless Otherwise Provided by Law” Creates a Binding Carve-Out

 

Article IX, Section 15 states that Fund income shall be deposited into the general fund “unless otherwise provided by law.” In 1982, the Legislature did “otherwise provide” by enacting AS 43.23.025. Once this statutory carve-out was established, the specified earnings for dividends became constitutionally shielded. To treat them as annually optional undermines both text and intent.

 

IV. The Anti-Dedication Clause Does Not Apply

 

Article IX, Section 7 bars dedication of “taxes or licenses.” Permanent Fund earnings are not tax revenues; they are returns on a constitutionally created trust corpus. Extending the anti-dedication clause to PFD earnings conflates distinct categories and misapplies the Constitution.

 

The Wielechowski decision interpreted dividend payments as “subject to appropriation.” Respectfully, this interpretation hollows Section 15: the principal remains nominally intact, but its purpose is subverted. The framers did not amend the Constitution to protect only seed money while allowing unrestricted seizure of its harvest. The dividend statute gives legal force to the framers’ intent — direct benefit to the people — and remains binding unless lawfully repealed.

 

Conclusion:

 

The Alaska Constitution protects not only the corpus of the Permanent Fund but the earnings it exists to generate. Those earnings are not ordinary revenues; they are the fruits of a protected principal, held in trust for the people of Alaska. The statutory dividend formula enacted in 1982 represents the Legislature’s constitutionally valid allocation of those earnings. As such, Permanent Fund earnings dedicated to dividends are constitutionally protected and not subject to annual appropriation or veto.

 

Our Demand

 

We, the people of Alaska, demand that our leaders:

 

- Immediately pay the full statutory dividend,

- Place a constitutional amendment on the ballot to protect the PFD permanently, and

- Establish a plan to make whole the citizens whose dividends have been withheld.

 

Until these steps are taken, we consider the State to be breaking faith with its citizens and violating the intent of Alaska’s resource trust.