FIFTH OPENING – The Sitka seine boats Hukilau and Rose Lee pump herring aboard this afternoon at the end of Deep Inlet during the fifth opening in the Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery. The opening was being held in two locations beginning at 11 a.m. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson) 

New RFP Sought For Managing PAC
27 Mar 2024 14:48

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
    The future of management and operations at the Perform [ ... ]

Seiners Get Second Day with 2 Areas to Fish
27 Mar 2024 14:46

By Sentinel Staff
    The Sitka Sound commercial herring sac roe fishery continued today with open [ ... ]

Braves Take Second in Last Minute Upset
27 Mar 2024 12:41

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
    After storming into the state 3A boys basketball brac [ ... ]

Tuesday City League Volleyball
27 Mar 2024 12:39

By Sentinel Staff
    The Queen Bees’ spotless season record ended Tuesday night with a 2-1 loss [ ... ]

Kodiak Alutiiq Museum Getting New Attention
27 Mar 2024 12:37

By SHIRLEY SNEVE
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    A major renovation at an Alaska museum to attract tourist [ ... ]

House Hearing on Inmate Deaths Halted
27 Mar 2024 12:35

By CLAIRE STREMPLE
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    A presentation about a jump in the number of inmate deaths in  [ ... ]

Nominee to Bering Sea Council: Not a Trawler
27 Mar 2024 12:34

By NATHANIEL HERZ
Northern Journal
    Tribal and environmental advocates calling for a crackdown o [ ... ]

March 27, 2024, Police Blotter
27 Mar 2024 12:26

Police Blotter
Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today:
March 26
At 2:10 p.m. a man e [ ... ]

March 27, 2024, Community Happenings
27 Mar 2024 12:25

Big Rigs Sought
For April 13
The 3 to 5 Preschool’s spring fundraiser and Big Rig event is happening [ ... ]

Reassessments Raise Tax Bills for Sitkans
26 Mar 2024 15:22

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
    The city’s reassessment of taxable real estate, alo [ ... ]

Two Areas Opened in Herring Fishery Today
26 Mar 2024 15:21

By Sentinel Staff
The third opening in this year’s Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery was held Mon [ ... ]

Lady Wolves Rally to Take Fourth at State
26 Mar 2024 15:16

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
    Sitka High’s Lady Wolves bounced back from an openi [ ... ]

Edgecumbe Girls Close Out Season Up North
26 Mar 2024 14:58

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel ports Editor
    Competing in the state 3A basketball tournament in Anc [ ... ]

City League Monday
26 Mar 2024 14:55

By Sentinel Staff
    Playing in a competitive division City League volleyball game Monday evening [ ... ]

House Votes to Broaden Rules For Review Panel Memb...
26 Mar 2024 14:52

By JAMES BROOKS
Alaska Beacon
    A bill that passed the Alaska House of Representatives on Monday  [ ... ]

Alaskan Grilled in D.C. Over Climate Science
26 Mar 2024 14:51

By NATHANIEL HERZ
Northern Journal
    Gus Schumacher, the Anchorage Olympic cross-country skier, a [ ... ]

Faster Internet Speeds In Rural Schools OK'd
26 Mar 2024 13:53

By CLAIRE STREMPLE
Alaska Beacon
    Alaska’s rural schools are on track to access faster interne [ ... ]

Native Words Gathered In Environment Studies
26 Mar 2024 13:52

By YERETH ROSEN
Alaska Beacon
    In the language of the Gwich’in people of northeastern Alaska,  [ ... ]

March 26, 2024, Police Blotter
26 Mar 2024 13:49

Police Blotter
Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today:
March 25
At 7:48 a.m. a calle [ ... ]

March 26, 2024, Community Happenings
26 Mar 2024 13:48

Vietnam-Era Vets
Invited to Lunch,
Commemoration
American Legion Post 13 will host a luncheon 1-3 p.m.  [ ... ]

Sac Roe Herring Fishery Opens in Hayward
25 Mar 2024 15:30

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
    The 2024 Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery got under [ ... ]

Projects on the Table For Cruise Tax Funds
25 Mar 2024 15:28

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
    The Assembly will start the annual process of determi [ ... ]

Braves Take Second at State after Close Loss
25 Mar 2024 15:23

By Sentinel Staff
    Competing in the 3A state championship title basketball game Saturday, the M [ ... ]

City League Games Continue
25 Mar 2024 15:11

By Sentinel Staff
    Playing through the afternoon Sunday, City League volleyball teams faced off [ ... ]

Other Articles

Daily Sitka Sentinel

Legislators Cut $1K Checks from Budget

By BECKY BOHRER
The Associated Press

JUNEAU (AP) — Alaskans who found themselves suddenly out of work or working reduced hours because of shutdowns over the coronavirus were buoyed by news last week that lawmakers had proposed paying a $1,000 stimulus check to residents.

Checks would have gone to residents who received Alaska Permanent Fund dividends last year — most Alaskans — regardless of need. The proposed payment was included in the Senate version of the state budget and would have been on top of a roughly $1,000 proposed dividend later this year.

But the stimulus check was removed from the compromise version of the budget advanced by House and Senate negotiators, leaving some lawmakers upset. Rep. Cathy Tilton of Wasilla, in a floor speech before the package passed the House early Sunday, said people got their hopes up after the Senate inclusion of the payment. 

"I believe in expectation management, Mr. Speaker, and shame on us because we got their expectations up," said Tilton, a minority Republican.

Other lawmakers said they were trying to be careful stewards with the state's resources and target relief to Alaskans through legislation that includes provisions such as moratoria on evictions and foreclosures. They also noted Congress recently approved an aid package.

The stimulus checks, which would have been paid before July 1, would have required a draw from permanent fund earnings beyond a withdrawal limit many lawmakers have been loathe to violate.

Rep. Chuck Kopp, an Anchorage Republican, said an organizing principle for the bipartisan House majority, of which he's a part, was staying within the draw limit. He said it "should not be a surprise to anyone that we actually meant it." 

Gov. Mike Dunleavy said he was "puzzled" by the Legislature's decision. The Republican had proposed an immediate check of about $1,300, plus a dividend of about $3,100 that would have been paid in two installments, in June and October. That amount, $3,100, is roughly what the dividend would be this year if a longstanding calculation were followed. That formula was last followed in 2015 amid a years-long deficit.

Dividends the last two years have been about $1,600. They were $1,022 in 2016 and $1,100 in 2017. This year the dividend, traditionally paid in the fall with oil-wealth fund earnings, would be paid, in part, using the constitutional budget reserve.

Lisa Seifert, who is a photographer in Anchorage and has a vacation rental property, said she recently lost $2,000 of scheduled income and has had cancellations into June. She said the $1,000 stimulus would have helped with her bills and "peace of mind." She said she's worried.

The budget passed over the weekend would further draw down the constitutional budget reserve, which requires three-fourths support from each the House and Senate to tap. Some in the House minority had seen their vote as leverage. But language in the package made funding for certain items, including part of the dividend and provisions related to the coronavirus, contingent upon reaching the three-quarter threshold.

The budget also would move $1 billion from permanent fund earnings to the fund's constitutionally protected principal. Sen. Bert Stedman, a Sitka Republican, saw this as a way to help safeguard those funds but others worried it could remove some funding flexibility for emergencies.

Legislators have gone through billions of dollars in savings unable to agree on how to resolve the deficit. Lawmakers took a hiatus after passing the budget early Sunday, allowing them to return to their communities amid coronavirus concerns.

Dunleavy, who has veto powers, still must review the budget.

Alaska has seen its unemployment claims spike amid closures due to virus concerns, and major state industries, including tourism and fishing, are bracing for impacts.

Mouhcine Guettabi is an associate professor of economics at the Institute of Social and Economic Research at the University of Alaska Anchorage. 

He said the long-term consequences of overdrawing the permanent fund earnings reserve are important to consider and one can't overdraw on a regular basis. "I think the question right now is, given the depths of the economic decline, should unprecedented measures be taken or should the earnings reserve be used because it is indeed a rainy day fund and it is going to be raining really hard," he said.

Guettabi said he appreciates the concern about the fund's long-term viability and thinks the fund has been well managed. 

"I think that when you have reserves and you know that economic calamity potentially is coming, you're going to have to do things that you didn't think that you should do," he said.

 

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20 YEARS AGO

March 2004

Matthew C. Hunter of Sitka recently returned from Cuba as part of a St. Olaf College International and Off-Campus Studies program. Hunter, a junior physics major at St. Olaf College, is the son of Robert and Kim Hunter of Sitka.


50 YEARS AGO

March 1974

Eighth graders have returned from a visit to Juneau to see the Legislature. They had worked for it since Christmas vacation ... Clarice Johnson’s idea of a “White Elephant” sales was chosen as the best money-maker; Joe Roth won the political cartoon assignment; highest government test scorers were Ken Armstrong, Joanna Hearn, Linda Montgomery, Lisa Henry, Calvin Taylor and David Licari .....

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