Introduction · Proposal · Constitution
Present System · Proposed System (Endowment) · Proposed System (Transition)
Present System Notes · Proposed System (Endowment) Notes · Proposed System (Transition) Notes
Introduction
An
early bargain, struck by Seward and
A
Russian king, bestowed on us this land
Where
we can live with whale and bear and tide,
And
sleep beneath a sun that cannot hide.
Unsatisfied,
we griped until the day
That
statehood’s passage ended fed’ral sway.
Before
that boon, things never had been right,
'Cause
distant rule's as bad as rule by might.
Foundation
laid, we turned to work and play.
But
now we know there's one more stone to lay:
Without
a full and steady flow of cash,
It's
certain that our government will crash.
O
there's the wealth that Prudhoe’s wells provide,
But
how to end this roller coaster ride?
Look
not too far — the answer's here and plain:
Just
spend of the wealth what it will sustain.
And
what if there's a need for more?
Some
vital charge we can't ignore.
Well then it's time for us to pay
The dreaded tax, or face decay.
A great gift came along with the
grant of statehood to Alaska. Knowing that its government, unlike that of other states, could not raise enough money through taxation to fund
operations and capital improvements,
Congress made Alaska wealthy by providing it with land that contains oil and gas. |
"Money is with propriety
considered as the vital principle of the body politic; as that which sustains
its life and motion, and enables it to perform its most essential
functions." Those are the words of Alexander Hamilton in that classic
treatise on government, "The Federalist". He went on to warn us that
unless a government’s supply of money is both "regular and adequate
" [emphasis added] it will “sink into a fatal atrophy, and in a short
course of time perish". |
Our government’s supply of money is
anything but regular and adequate. A major component of it, the money that
derives from the sale of oil and gas to oil companies and from taxes on
production of that oil and gas, is received in
installments that fluctuate uncontrollably and in some years are
inadequate. What's more, they eventually will end. |
Alaska’s greatest need is
substantial and sustained spending by government on its essential functions. Therefore, it is absolutely necessary that revenue
be adequate and sustainable. |
If all of that oil and gas money were invested, systematic withdrawals from the growing investment fund would be reasonably sustainable in all but the worst of market conditions. And to the extent, if any, that such investment revenue were not adequate, it would be supplemented by conventional revenue. No longer would the state's foundation lack that indispensable stone, |
Introduction · Proposal · Constitution
Present System · Proposed System (Endowment) · Proposed System (Transition)
Present System Notes · Proposed System (Endowment) Notes · Proposed System (Transition) Notes