Opinion: Helping Alaskans Today while Planning for Tomorrow
Originally published March 11th, 2022 in the Anchorage Daily News. Please click here to see the original publication.
Alaska House Speaker Louise Stutes, second from left, speaks to colleagues during a break in the House floor session on the opening day of the second special session on Wednesday, June 23, 2021, in Juneau, Alaska. Pictured are, from left, Reps. Bryce Edgmon, Stutes, Neal Foster and Zack Fields. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer)
During the past two years, Alaskans have faced a perfect storm of challenges: the COVID-19 pandemic, the subsequent business shutdown, record unemployment, costly weather disasters and devastating declines in salmon runs and other fisheries stocks. Now, as we move past the pandemic, inflation and housing prices have skyrocketed and the price of fuel has already hit $5 a gallon in our state.
Alaskans need relief. That’s why the House Majority Coalition included a $1,300 Energy Relief Check in its budget, paid in addition to the annual Permanent Fund Dividend.
The price of Alaska North Slope crude hit $116.60 per barrel on Monday, a level not seen since 2013. The state expects to receive more than $1.8 billion more in oil tax revenue than what was originally projected in December, part of which will fund the Energy Relief Checks.
These checks provide relief to individuals suffering from high fuel prices, especially those in rural Alaska, where home heating fuel prices are expected to double or triple. They give a boost to our workforce, whose wages have remained stagnant as inflation rose to 7.9%, the highest rate since 1982. They offer much-needed financial support to Alaskans who didn’t qualify for federal assistance during the pandemic but still saw reduced hours or closures at work.
This energy relief is part of a comprehensive budget package that will be introduced later this week. It holds true to the House Coalition’s commitment to fiscal responsibility by providing support to Alaskans now while keeping an eye on the future.
Our proposal strikes that careful balance by introducing Energy Relief Checks while still putting hundreds of millions into rebuilding our savings for those years when oil prices drop again. It funds essential services that Alaskans rely on, including our public safety, Pioneer Homes, the marine highway and road maintenance. It heavily invests for the first time in years in the next generation of Alaskans by increasing education funding, replenishing the Higher Education Account, and forward funding K-12 education. It prioritizes infrastructure investment through a robust capital budget funded with a smart mixture of federal money and matching state dollars.
It achieves all of this while protecting the Permanent Fund from an overdraw.
Alaskans know the boom-and-bust nature of oil prices. The money available now through this current boom and the influx of federal cash won’t remain forever. However, if we do it right, we can ensure Alaskans have the resources we need to weather this current storm, continue to grow the Permanent Fund, invest in Alaska’s future and rebuild our savings.
Rep. Louise Stutes, R-Kodiak; Rep. Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham; Rep. Neal Foster, D-Nome; Rep. Kelly Merrick, R-Eagle River; Rep. Chris Tuck, D-Anchorage; and Rep. Matt Claman, D-Anchorage, are the leadership members of the Alaska House Coalition in the Alaska State Legislature.
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