Public was lukewarm on dividends; many legislators were opposed By Mike and Tim Bradner In the early 1980s, when the Permanent Fund Dividend was created, the idea of giving away money seemed outlandish to many Alaskans. It was a quirky idea – government giving away money. The public was cool to the idea and there was strong opposition in the Legislature. How things change. Now the dividend has become an entitlement for many Alaskans and the size of it –…
How the Permanent Fund came to be Political vision in 1976, but voices of caution, too Editor’s note: Given the importance of the Permanent Fund in making an annual payment to support the state budget and the Permanent Fund Dividend, we present this historical perspective, part one of a series, on the Permanent Fund and the dividend. We first published this in 2017. Mike Bradner was a participant in the Fund creation as Speaker of the House in 1976. By…
Water concern at Graphite mine Tribal groups on the Seward Peninsula are registering concern over permits for water rights issued to Graphite One, a company planning a project to mine graphite in the area. The state has issued an authorization for the company to take 129,600 gallons a day from six creeks in the project area, which is near Kigluaik Mountains about 50 miles northwest of Nome. The Native villages of Teller, Mary’s Igloo and Brevig Mission have formed the…
Surge in salmon in 2019 season State biologists expect a big increase in salmon harvests in 2019 to 213 million fish, up from about 116 million in 2018. The big bump will be driven by higher pink salmon catches, which has a two- year cycle (last year was low) and a higher chum salmon harvest. About 138 million pink salmon are expected this year up from 41 million last year. That variation is not unusual for pinks in their cycle,…
New oil project in Cook Inlet Hilcorp Energy is planning to develop an oil deposit below the gas reservoir in its North Cook Inlet field, where the company now operates the Tyonek platform. The first development well is planned for 2020. Hilcorp has also built a new oil pipeline to connect with Cook Inlet’s west side. Presence of the oil has long been known. ARCO Alaska made the original discovery in the early 1990s. Although test wells were drilled the…
Adak argues it can be freight container hub for Arctic shipping Adak is making a push to become a container-shipping hub for future ice-breaking cargo vessels using Russia’s northern sea route. There will be increased interest by vessel operators to switch cargoes to conventional vessels at a strategic point, in this case the former Naval base in the Aleutian Islands that is now owned by the Aleut Corp. While the Northern Sea Route has been proven to save time for…
The state’s recession appears to be leveling out with even a small growth in employment (see page 1) but the uncertainties over the state budget are causing anxieties in local government and are un- settling to business leaders who would otherwise be pleased at the firming of job numbers. Basically, here is what is happening: Oil revenues are rising modestly and shrinking a deficit that had been projected. A state budget with modest reductions could fit within existing revenues and…
State backs out of Wellpath deal The state Department of Health and Social Services cancelled a long-term contract with Wellpath, a Tennessee-based firm, to manage the Alaska Psychiatric Institute, the state-owned acute care mental health hospital. Wellpath has been working under a short-term emergency contract but was given a long-term contract to manage the facility without going through a competitive bid process, which is required by law. Also, the state failed to conduct an analysis, required under its bargaining agreement…
The U.S. Navy is planning to return to Adak, the remote Aleutians Island, to establish a cold weather training and logistics facilities. The first exercises are planned for next September, we’re told. This won’t be the substantial presence the Navy had during the cold war years, before the Adak Naval Air Station was closed, but it could develop further as the U.S. projects more force into the northern Pacific and Arctic regions to counter Russia and China. Adak is now…
Uptick is slow but appears to gather momentum It’s gradual, but an increase in statewide wage and salary employment that started in February is continuing. Jobs were up 0.3 percent in preliminary data from the Department of Labor and Workforce Development reported for March. The comparison is of March employment with the same month of 2018. Construction led the increase with a gain of 8.1 percent, or 1,100 jobs, followed by oil and gas, which was 2.1 percent up, or…