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August 10, 2019
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Alaska budget woes prod debate over oil-wealth fund checks

By BECKY BOHRER
Associated Press
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) —
Daniel Bowen came to
Alaska in 2011, looking for
adventure and opportu-
nity.
He and his wife eventually
settled on the Kenai Pen-
insula south of Anchorage,
a salmon fishing haven
calling itself “Alaska’s Play-
ground.”
But the Bowens, both
teachers, recently returned
to their native Michigan.
After years of stress over
delayed state budgets,
their breaking point, he
said, was Gov. Mike Dun-
leavy’s proposed reduc-
tions to K-12 spending and
health and social service
programs.
The state has been roiled
by a budget dilemma
linked to its uneasy reliance
on oil, bringing a reckoning
that has scrambled tradi-
tional political alliances. For
decades, Alaska binged
on infrastructure and com-
munity projects when oil
prices were high and cut
spending and closed facili- In this Feb. 27, 2019 file photo, protesters attend a rally at the Capitol in Juneau, Alaska, to show opposition to budget cuts proposed
ties when they weren’t. by Gov. Mike Dunleavy. For decades, Alaska has had an uneasy reliance on oil, building budgets around its volatile boom-or-bust
This time, prices haven’t nature.
boomed and after years of Associated Press
drawing down savings and cians debating changes to as an entitlement, once spending, has politicians The anxiety is tied to persis-
cutting expenses, state the annual dividend paid were considered almost and residents choosing be- tent low-to-middling North
leaders face tough deci- to residents from Alaska’s untouchable. tween the size of the prized Slope oil prices.
sions. nest-egg oil-wealth fund. But the budget reality, and checks and public services
The situation has politi- The checks, seen by many differences over taxes and many expect. Continued on Page 3