Gov. Walker criticizes Wielechowski on lawsuit to block PFD cut

The Alaska Permanent Fund Corp.'s exterior sign, March 14, 2016. (Photo by Skip Gray/360 North)
A lawsuit seeks to require the Permanent Fund Corp. to transfer the full amount for dividends. (Photo by Skip Gray/360 North)

A lawsuit seeking to maintain full Permanent Fund dividends this year was filed Friday – and Gov. Bill Walker blasted the arguments in the lawsuit.

Anchorage Democratic Sen. Bill Wielechowski and two retired lawmakers, Clem Tillion and Rick Halford, filed the lawsuit. They want to reverse Walker’s veto of roughly $670 million in dividend funds. The veto cut the dividends in half, from a projection of more than $2,000 to about $1,000.

Walker said Wielechowski failed to work toward a solution. He noted the lawsuit was filed with eight weeks ahead of an election Wielechowski’s hopes to win.

“I’m disappointed in the lawsuit, there’s no question about that,” Walker said. “At a time when we all need to sort of be working in the same direction to address the fiscal gap —  $4 billion gap – I would hope we were all working in that same” direction, Walker said.

Walker said the state can’t rely on rising oil prices to close the gap.

“Alaska’s not been here before,” he said. “In prior times when we had downturns in the price of oil, the throughput in the oil pipeline was over 2 billion barrels a day. We’re under 500,000 barrels a day right now.”

Wielechowski said the state should eliminate oil and gas tax credits first. And he said the legislature should pass other changes to close the fiscal gap.

“You know, (I’m) disappointed to see him taking the low road on this,” Wielechowski said. “But, you know, I understand he’s frustrated. We’re all frustrated. I can’t tell you how many times I advised him to take different courses of action.”

Walker said the lawsuit will stretch into next year, and it’s unlikely to be resolved before dividends are sent on Oct. 6.

Andrew Kitchenman

State Government Reporter, Alaska Public Media & KTOO

State government plays an outsized role in the life of Alaskans. As the state continues to go through the painful process of deciding what its priorities are, I bring Alaskans to the scene of a government in transition.

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