They're Talking About Another Big Proposed PFD: $3,800 In Draft Budget

 

Alaska House budget panel advances $3,800 PFD in draft budget

FROM THE ALASKA BEACON.   BY: SEAN MAGUIRE-APRIL 3, 2026 

 Rep. Andy Josephson, D-Anchorage, asks a question about Senate Bill 48, the carbon credits bill, on Tuesday in the House Finance Committee. Josephson said the bill can help conserve Alaska’s environment. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)

The Alaska House Finance Committee on Wednesday advanced a draft operating budget with a roughly $3,800 Permanent Fund dividend. 

For a decade, the annual PFD check has been part of the Legislature’s annual budget-making process. A $3,800 PFD would follow a formula from a 1982 statute.

Lawmakers on a budget panel adopted the full, statutory dividend in the evening after long debate. Anchorage Democratic Rep. Andy Josephson, co-chair of the House Finance Committee, cautioned legislators that the vote means Alaskans “will absolutely have the impression” that “a very liberal dividend” will be paid this year. 

Republican Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy proposed a full PFD as part of his budget proposal in December. A $3,800 dividend check is estimated to cost roughly $2.47 billion, the largest single spending item in the budget. 

Ketchikan independent Rep. Jeremy Bynum proposed that the PFD would come from two sources. Almost $1 billion would be drawn from the general fund of the state treasury. A simple majority of lawmakers is required to spend from that account.

However, close to $1.5 billion would come from the state’s main savings account, the $3 billion Constitutional Budget Reserve. Three-quarters of the House and Senate would need to support spending from that account. 

If the three-quarter vote fails, the dividend paid to Alaskans in 2026 would drop to around $1,500. Some lawmakers cautioned that would still leave the state roughly $100 million in deficit. 

Last year’s dividend paid to over 618,000 Alaskans was $1,000.

The roughly $3,800 PFD was approved 6-5 by the House Finance Committee. All five minority House Republicans supported a check of that size, alongside Nome Democratic Rep. Neal Foster, co-chair of the House Finance Committee. 

The remaining five members of the Democrat-dominated House majority voted no.

Supporters of a full PFD said that high oil prices justified a larger dividend this year. In 2022, Alaskans received a $3,284 dividend and energy relief check when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent oil prices skyrocketing. 

Rep. Frank Tomaszewski, R-Fairbanks, said that the “people of Alaska are hurting right now” and are facing difficult circumstances from high energy bills. 

The U.S.-Israel war in Iran has seen oil prices spike to well over $100 per barrel. The Alaska Department of Revenue projected last month that would see the state collect $1 billion more revenue than expected over the current fiscal year and the fiscal year that starts July 1. 

Lawmakers have already earmarked a substantial portion of that additional revenue to pay Alaska’s outstanding bills. 

The operating budget now advances to debate by the full Alaska House. Once approved in that chamber, it advances to the Alaska Senate for its consideration before heading to the governor’s desk.