ANCHORAGE — A former state senator is preparing to fight back against a bill that would restructure the Alaska Permanent Fund and reduce the dividends Alaskans receive from the oil-wealth fund each year.
Both houses of the Legislature have passed a version of Gov. Bill Walker’s plan to use some of the fund’s income to pay off the state’s multibillion-dollar deficit, The Alaska Journal of Commerce reports.
If Walker signs off on such a bill, former Republican Senate President Clem Tillion said he’ll work to repeal it.
Tillion said he’s already getting financial commitments to back the effort.
He’s confident he’ll get the 30,000 signatures needed to put the repeal question before voters on the August 2018 primary ballot should the bill pass.
Walker says restructuring the fund “is a cornerstone of any solution” to Alaska’s budget problems.
