Alaska’s Permanent Fund is certainly the most popular aspect of the state’s government, and it seems every year brings a new plan to muck with it. Perhaps legislators tire of beating their traditional whipping boys: social services, arts funding, public radio, and the dream of leveling the Denali of Alaskan politics. At least two governors and many legislators have tried to raid it, but, at the end of the day, the Permanent Fund has always managed to come out mostly unscathed. Now that is going to change if state Senate President Ben Stevens gets his way and SB 155 is signed into law.

     This year looked brighter for the beleaguered fund when high oil prices and reelection hopes led Governor Murkowski to abandon his dreams of a massive fund raid, and he even vetoed an attempt to use the Permanent Fund to pay for the prospective natural gas pipeline.  Enter Ben Stevens. 

     After jeopardizing his fast track to higher office last summer by deriding as “Valley trash” the Mat-Su voters that are essential for any Republican wanting to win statewide, Ben needed to pull a play from his daddy’s playbook. Well, there’s only one play in this Stevens’ playbook, and that is to spend millions on construction projects.  Spending $37 million on three new Valley schools is a perfectly Stevens way to make amends and SB 155 probably would not have invited any scrutiny if the money was not going to come out of the Permanent Fund. 

     To be fair, SB 155 is more than just a giveaway to the Mat-Su school district, but they would be the only district to get totally new schools out of it. SB 155 would use $300 million worth of Permanent Fund earnings to pay for mostly education related capital projects, including $24 million to replace the state virology lab in Fairbanks, $94 million for University of Alaska construction projects across the state, and $5 million for the Anchorage museum expansion. The reason that Stevens’ proposal has a fighting chance is a non-itemized $142 million appropriation for major school maintenance programs across the state, because the state for years has failed to adequately maintain rural schools and rural Democrats who might otherwise oppose a permanent fund raid are willing to play along. 

     The Permanent Fund was established for a “rainy day” when the state would be desperately short of cash, but it is sure not raining today. In fact, state coffers are overflowing due to the record high oil prices. The state certainly has a responsibility to provide ample funding for education and school maintenance, but the money should come out of the state’s regular operating budget, not the Permanent Fund.

     The Alaska Constitution requires the legislature to ensure that public education is available to all children in the state. Therefore, education and school maintenance funding should be addressed by the legislature every single year. Responsible education spending should include enough money to ensure local school districts can provide all necessary annual maintenance on their schools. Since these costs are recurring on an annual basis, they should be included in the annual operating budget. Education is a basic constitutional requirement, and if the legislature cannot find room for it in the budget, then it is their own budgeting procedures that need messing with, not the Permanent Fund. 

     Furthermore, SB 155 could do more harm than good to rural Alaska. In rural Alaska, paying jobs are few and far between. Many rely on the annual Permanent Fund Dividend to support their families and taking money out of the fund earnings will result in smaller dividends. It is not just rural Alaskans who rely on their PFD, many use the annual checks to build college funds for their children and for those who fall on hard times, it can keep a roof over their heads or food on their plates. The time may come when dire fiscal crisis necessitates raiding the Permanent Fund, and when that day comes it will hurt a lot of people.

     SB 155 deserves to fail, but the legislature should look for room in the operating budget to pay the $142 million for school maintenance. The other projects listed in SB 155 should be considered individually, but the three new schools in the Mat-Su district are particularly troubling. Rather than paying for school construction on a case by case basis, the legislature should resume its practice of paying a given percentage for every borough’s school construction costs, using regular budget funds.

     SB 155 has already passed the state Senate, but it can still be killed in the House. Please call your representative and say that SB 155 deserves to die because education is vitally important and the legislature should regularize its education funding in the normal budget process, keeping OUR fund for that future rainy day.

David Dunsmore ran for mayor of Anchorage in 2003 and currently serves on the Anchorage Health and Human Services Commission.  He can be reached at davidkdunsmore@aol.com.