2021-06-23                     Senate Journal                      Page 1302
SB 2001                                                                                                                       
SENATE BILL NO. 2001 BY THE SENATE RULES COMMITTEE                                                                              
BY REQUEST OF THE GOVERNOR, entitled:                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
          "An Act making appropriations for the operating and                                                                   
          loan program expenses of state government and for                                                                     
          certain programs; capitalizing funds; amending                                                                        
          appropriations; making capital appropriations,                                                                        
          supplemental appropriations, and reappropriations;                                                                    
          making appropriations under art. IX, sec. 17(c),                                                                      
          Constitution of the State of Alaska, from the                                                                         
          constitutional budget reserve fund; and providing for                                                                 
          an effective date."                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
was read the first time and referred to the Finance Committee.                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
Governor's transmittal letter dated June 22:                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
Dear President Micciche:                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
Under the authority of Article III, Section 18, of the Alaska                                                                   
Constitution, I am transmitting a bill relating to State operating and                                                          
capital appropriations for Fiscal Year 2022, making an appropriation                                                            
from the Permanent Fund Earnings Reserve Account for the payment                                                                
of Permanent Fund dividends for Fiscal Year 2022, making                                                                        
supplemental appropriations for Fiscal Year 2021, and providing for                                                             
effective dates.                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
Absent a valid appropriation bill to fund operating expenses by July 1,                                                         
2021, most state government programs will be forced either to cease                                                             
operations or make unauthorized expenditures under Article IX,                                                                  
Section 13, of the Alaska Constitution. This appropriation bill funds                                                           
government operations, including strategic investments in public                                                                
safety and emergency management, and funds K-12 education per the                                                               
statutory formula, and does so starting July 1, if passed with the                                                              
appropriate effective date.                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                

2021-06-23                     Senate Journal                      Page 1303
This appropriation bill contains budget measures that passed the                                                                
legislative bodies during the first regular legislative session of the                                                          
Thirty-Second Legislature. Exceptions in this bill include changes to                                                           
the fund source for items that were funded from the Constitutional                                                              
Budget Reserve and Statutory Budget Reserve accounts, and changes                                                               
to the Fiscal Year 2022 Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD). The PFD                                                                  
amount has been adjusted to reflect 50 percent of the five percent                                                              
Permanent Fund percent of market value (POMV), and has been                                                                     
appropriated from the Earnings Reserve account. This dividend                                                                   
amount is an attempt to reconcile the existing tension between the                                                              
PFD statute and the POMV statute while the legislature and my                                                                   
administration continue to work on a long-term structural solution this                                                         
year.                                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
While this appropriation bill does not use the Constitutional Budget                                                            
Reserve as a funding source, it does contain “reverse sweep” language                                                           
for Fiscal Year 2021 should the legislature achieve the three-quarter                                                           
vote necessary to pass that provision.                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
Finally, once the legislature has passed and transmitted the Fiscal Year                                                        
2022 operating and capital appropriations bills, I will conduct a                                                               
thorough analysis and veto review.                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
Sincerely,                                                                                                                      
/s/                                                                                                                             
Mike Dunleavy                                                                                                                   
Governor