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Gov Dunleavy budget cuts and how it'll filter down

1K views 5 replies 3 participants last post by  Winter Hawk 
#1 ·
#2 ·
Well a number of folks in the Wildlife division have retired and I'm seeing them have some communication problems right now. They reduced the caribou bag limit down here in parts of GMU 18, 17 and 9 on August 26 but didn't get public notices out until this week. Even then its very spotty. I got busy and did a huge email and some face book posting to help get the word out. Even the troopers had not heard. My fear was troopers would know but hunters wouldn't. I'd hate to have normal honest hunters come home happy w 2 caribou only to get busted.

The summer survey only found 13,500 Mulchatna caribou where we were expecting over 20,000. What a bummer. I loved it when we had 100,000 to 200,000.

So far it seems the wildlife enforcement guys are still busy with planes and all but I hear they were short for officers during the salmon season.
And thanks to the Obama years of gun and ammo buying, there has been a lot of research money available for studies.
 
#3 ·
I take exception with the idea that the Dividend was passed by the legislature, at least initially. The first pay out was done by Gov. Hammond, trying to buy popularity with the voters. The legislature may have thought this was a good idea and passed something later; they were trying their best to spend all the oil money as fast as they could (which was why the Permanent Fund was set up, by voter initiative to begin with).

~WH~
 
#5 · (Edited)
From my take on the CBR, and the PFD.
The PFD is share holder profits from oil revinue, to become a shareholder you must live in Alaska.
Since 1971
Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) and the 1980 Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act hit.
Most the land in Alaska is locked up tite, barring most normal Alaskans from the mineral wealth the State has to offer.
From how it is told the First oil revinue income hit state coffers the Legislature promptly squanderd $900 Million dollars.
At the time the Alaskan operating budget was $140 MIllion.
Gov Hammond was rightly alarmed at the appitite of government.
So the Constitutional Budget Reserve☆☆ was put into action as well as the Permanant Fund, which pays out a percentage of the oil revinue.
Off the top the State of Alaska already takes 99.3% of all the mineral revinues taken in by the state.
That Fraction of a percentage is what is payed into the PFD.
As Alaskans you get a share in that revinue.
There are better people than me that can explain it better.
But the PFD is Not some cash to buy votes.
Never has been and has only now been used as a political tool.

https://soundcloud.com/themichaeldu...20-weekly-top-3-brad-keithley-pma-chris-story

☆☆http://www.alaskabudget.com/savings/
 
#6 ·
The Permanent Fund came into being by voter initiative I believe. If not, it was because the legislators saw that voters were NOT happy with them and they would lose their cush jobs if they didn't set up a savings account for our kids when the oil ran out.

We got 900 million dollars from the Prudhoe Bay oil leases and the legislature couldn't spend it fast enough. People woke up when it was down by three quarters. Then Hammond in 1979 saw that nice pot of Permanent Fund money sitting there and, since he wasn't all that popular anymore, came up with paying everyone in the state (and now my brain has lost some data) $1000 from the fund, IIRC. Several years later, or maybe the following year, the legislature thought that was such a good idea they made it an annual institution via the Dividend. It required people to have a year residency to get the dividend. There was some confusion whether you had to be in the state a year or if the year's residency was by calendar year; the courts determined it was by calendar year so if you arrived December 31,2019 your residency is met once 2020 is competed. If you arrive January 1, 2020 the year for residency doesn't start until January 1, 2021 and you aren't eligible until 2022. Not fair, but that's how it is.

And DON'T get me started on the moving the capitol fiasco, another voter initiative!

~WH~
 
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