May 8, 2018

Juneau – Today, the Alaska Legislature made significant progress to address the ongoing fiscal crisis that has left the State of Alaska with a $2.3 billion budget gap. The House and Senate both passed the new compromise version of Senate Bill 26 that was referred from the conference committee this morning. The new version of the bill includes a spending cap on the use of earnings from the $65 billion Alaska Permanent Fund. SB 26 sets rules for a structured and predictable draw from the Earnings Reserve Account (ERA) to pay for Permanent Fund Dividends and to help pay for essential public services.