Senator proposes fix for the budget without taxes - but with big cuts
Sen. Mike Dunleavy, R-Wasilla, believes he’s found a way Alaska can erase its multibillion-dollar deficit and guarantee big Permanent Fund dividends — without tax increases.
On Tuesday, Dunleavy — a member of the powerful Senate Finance Committee — unveiled a budget plan calling for $1.1 billion in additional cuts to the state budget. Those cuts would be spread across four years and would address about 40 percent of the state’s $2.65 billion annual deficit.
The remaining 60 percent of the deficit would be covered by a portion of the Alaska Permanent Fund’s investment earnings.
“It does not require new taxes; it does not require the taking or manipulation of the dividend,” Dunleavy said by phone Wednesday.
There are now effectively four proposals for balancing the state’s deficit: one from Gov. Bill Walker, one from Dunleavy, one proposed (in outline) by the Republican-led Senate Majority, and one expected from the coalition House Majority.
Read more: http://juneauempire.com/state/2017-01-12/senator-proposes-fix-budget-without-taxes-big-cuts