Watch live: Alaska Supreme Court hears Permanent Fund case

The Alaska Supreme Court is hearing oral arguments at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday in a case that could have a huge effect on the value of your Permanent Fund dividend, and the options our current and future elected state officials have to decide where Permanent Fund earnings go.

Live coverage will be available streaming here, on 360 North television and on Alaska Public Radio Network stations, including KTOO.

Sen. Bill Wielechowski and former lawmakers Clem Tillion and Rick Halford brought the case in 2016. Wielechowski is a lawyer himself, and a Democrat from Anchorage. He sued the state over Gov. Bill Walker’s partial veto of a budget appropriation destined for Permanent Fund dividends.

Wielechowski argues that veto was illegal, because Permanent Fund dividends are a constitutionally protected appropriation.

The state argues only the principal of the Permanent Fund is constitutionally protected; its earnings are subject to the same appropriation process by the Legislature and vetoes by the governor as any other spending from the state’s general fund.

Walker, an independent and also a lawyer, had cut the amount of money to be paid out in last fall’s oil wealth checks by about half. It was an austerity measure in light of the state’s multi-billion dollar deficit, dwindling savings and the Alaska Legislature’s failure to balance state spending and revenue.

Walker’s veto cost Alaskans about $1,000 each last year. It saved the state about $666 million.

In November, an Anchorage Superior Court judge sided with the state in Wielechowski’s case. Today, the Alaska Supreme Court is hearing Wielechowski’s appeal.

The Supreme Court has allotted 30 minutes to each side for the attorneys to make their cases and field questions from the justices. The court’s five justices deliberate privately, and typically put out a decision and opinion within a few months of hearing arguments.

Jeremy Hsieh

Local News Reporter, KTOO

I dig into questions about the forces and institutions that shape Juneau, big and small, delightful and outrageous. What stirs you up about how Juneau is built and how the city works?

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