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)
By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
The future of management and operations at the Perform [ ... ]
By Sentinel Staff
The Sitka Sound commercial herring sac roe fishery continued today with open [ ... ]
By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
After storming into the state 3A boys basketball brac [ ... ]
By Sentinel Staff
The Queen Bees’ spotless season record ended Tuesday night with a 2-1 loss [ ... ]
By SHIRLEY SNEVE
Indian Country Today
A major renovation at an Alaska museum to attract tourist [ ... ]
By CLAIRE STREMPLE
Alaska Beacon
A presentation about a jump in the number of inmate deaths in [ ... ]
By NATHANIEL HERZ
Northern Journal
Tribal and environmental advocates calling for a crackdown o [ ... ]
Police Blotter
Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today:
March 26
At 2:10 p.m. a man e [ ... ]
Big Rigs Sought
For April 13
The 3 to 5 Preschool’s spring fundraiser and Big Rig event is happening [ ... ]
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
The city’s reassessment of taxable real estate, alo [ ... ]
By Sentinel Staff
The third opening in this year’s Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery was held Mon [ ... ]
By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
Sitka High’s Lady Wolves bounced back from an openi [ ... ]
By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel ports Editor
Competing in the state 3A basketball tournament in Anc [ ... ]
By Sentinel Staff
Playing in a competitive division City League volleyball game Monday evening [ ... ]
By JAMES BROOKS
Alaska Beacon
A bill that passed the Alaska House of Representatives on Monday [ ... ]
By NATHANIEL HERZ
Northern Journal
Gus Schumacher, the Anchorage Olympic cross-country skier, a [ ... ]
By CLAIRE STREMPLE
Alaska Beacon
Alaska’s rural schools are on track to access faster interne [ ... ]
By YERETH ROSEN
Alaska Beacon
In the language of the Gwich’in people of northeastern Alaska, [ ... ]
Police Blotter
Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today:
March 25
At 7:48 a.m. a calle [ ... ]
Vietnam-Era Vets
Invited to Lunch,
Commemoration
American Legion Post 13 will host a luncheon 1-3 p.m. [ ... ]
By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
The 2024 Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery got under [ ... ]
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
The Assembly will start the annual process of determi [ ... ]
By Sentinel Staff
Competing in the 3A state championship title basketball game Saturday, the M [ ... ]
By Sentinel Staff
Playing through the afternoon Sunday, City League volleyball teams faced off [ ... ]
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 .....