Letter to the Editor
PFD idea
Published Saturday, July 5, 2008
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To the editor:
This article may open some eyes in some people, but everyone needs to hear it and give it some thought.
The state representatives and revenue watchers always tell us that the majority of state revenue is generated through petroleum production, 85 percent is the last figure. And a percentage of that is deposited into the Alaska Permanent Fund.
The past year the price of fuel has gone up, which should also mean that PFDs will also be larger.
I noticed over the years the PFD has provided for a larger portion of family needs, and it’s good, but as we live in Alaska there’s hardly any value-added products that exist in this state. So pretty much everything is brought into the state that we purchase.
This also means that PFDs are spent purchasing items like snowmachines, outboard motors, four-wheelers and cars. All these dealers have parent companies based outside of Alaska — this includes Wal-Mart and Fred Meyers. Once these purchase take place the money leaves the state and never returns.
This type of cash flow will not change in rural Alaska anytime soon, therefore the state of Alaska should change the way PFDs are distributed. Here’s a suggestion.
A child should only get a PFD until age 18 and payment would stop until the individual reached age 65. Then the PFD payment would go toward the community in form of capital improvement grants.
And these are the reasons:
1) Rural communities need infrastructure improvement and social programs for younger people.
2) At age 18, our youths will be employed every summer and will be able to pay into Social Security and other benefits.
3) This setup will focus on community improvement instead of our PFDs just leaving the state and us hardly noticing any real change in our livelihood year after year.
Community Discussion
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Hmmmm. Interesting assumption about how PFDs are spent. All sorts of interesting assumptions - chief among which is that the PFD is to "change our livelihood". While perhaps creative, this idea is silly and intrusive.
HUH? this makes no sense.. Let's just hand the kids the PFD's.. thats the answer. To what exactly. How this person assumes the money leaves the state is beyond me. There is a car salesman, a local bussiness that sells ATV's, a local bank, travel agent, fuel company. Yes, I agree some of the money leaves the state. But, some of the money will always leave the state. The real question here James is do insure that all revenue from you PFD states in state. Hmm...now there is food for thought!
HUH? this makes no sense.. Let's just hand the kids the PFD's.. thats the answer. To what exactly. How this person assumes the money leaves the state is beyond me. There is a car salesman, a local bussiness that sells ATV's, a local bank, travel agent, fuel company. Yes, I agree some of the money leaves the state. But, some of the money will always leave the state. The real question here James is do you insure that all revenue from you PFD stays in state. Hmm...now there is food for thought!
Do what you want with your PFD, I'll go ahead and be responsible for mine
What about college students? With the way oil prices are right now the next several years the PFD will be large enough to significantly help in state college students attending in state schools pay for tuition and other costs.
In light of the rising costs for things I think that a lot of peoples PFDs, including my own this year, will go towards heating oil and other energy costs.
The PFD check has nothing to do with the price of oil, it has to do with the investment returns over the prior 3 or 5 (I don't remember exactly) years. The market goes up, the PFD's go up. The market goes down, the PFD goes down. This year is going to crush the PFD when it starts to get included into the calculations. We just had the worst June in the stock market since 1930.
With that out of the way, you can feel free to give up your PFD till the age of 65 but you should let others decide for themselves. The state doesn't need the PFD money to pay for the improvements you suggest, that is why they have a capital budget.
Personally I want to see the state spend their oil money wisely, not by funding every pet project that comes through the legislature.
And before you think that PFD doesn't change peoples lives in a meaningful way, my parents invested mine and my brothers and put us through college. I am doing the same for my son.
Gideon,
Perhaps you can have your Tribal Council pass a resolution where the Arctic Village residents can pool their Permanent Fund dividends to provide employment for your tribal members. Me, I pay enough property taxes with no services provided and can decide how to spend my Permanent Fund perfectly fine.
Lame idea!!
Social security... what security... I'm 32 and know I will never seen a dime of my "security" which I have been contributing to since 13.... and the best youth summer jobs pay tops 10.00$/ hr... that will get you far in this economy!! Two gallons of gas an hour sweet!!!
gideon is right in that we need a better economic infrastructure. however that isn't something that you can force. not in a capitalist society. that is something that has to be developed through the market. forced centralized economies, ones like we saw being built in the old soviet union fail miserably. we are free to use those pfd's however we like. it sounds like you have some salesmanship abilities mr. james. start convincing others in your community to invest that money in business ventures and capital projects. as you meet with success broaden that push statewide. this is something the AIP have been talking about for years. we need our own self sufficient economy here inside the borders of alaska. that gives us more control over our own destiny.
It's based on five years. Since the major stock holdings accounting for over 50 per cent of the stock portion of the fund is Microsoft and Exxon Mobil, the hit may not be so bad on the stock side. You can go to the Alaska Permanent Fund website and see a complete breakdown on how the fund is invested. Remember that the fund was developed to be a trust fund. This makes all Alaskans in a sense "trust fund babies." Form what people are writing, for a lot of folks that trust fund payment this year will probably be what gets them through.
By the way, there are a bunch of Alaskans who over the years followed the fund investments in stock and did so on a smaller level and made out pretty well.
The author misses the whole point of the PFD, which was to give citizens an incentive to kep the principal intact and produce a renewable resource for Alaskans that lasts well past the day when our non-renewable resources run out.
What happens if you don't live to age 65 you??? You suffer all those years.
Rethink your lame idea.
Lets see, now my families PDF goes into the utilities, hopefully go to Costco and stock upon meat in the freezer and the rest goes into college funds. Why in the Sam Hell would it be otherwise best spent on capital projects? Many of us get taxed to Holy Hell and back and recieve no services for what we pay for. Why would you think that PFD should be treated this way? Grow the money in the college funds, utilities covered and food to consume, sounds like a nice bonus for the WORKING, STRUGGLING AVERAGE EVEYDAY FOLKS that pay thier way and scrap for everything they get.
If you are worried about everyone taking a vacation (whats that?), buying big screen TV or ATVs ( I wish so I could go run a Moose down) with the PFD, those folks are the exceptional group of Alaska. Most of use it to get food on the table and keep the lights on in the house for the winter. So keep your ideas in the village where they belong, let the rest manage the money and the choices on our own accord.
Interesting to see the greed come out in folks who "depend" on that $$ and also their children’s money. The PFD is a way of life and a welfare check, of which the Feds get a chunk.
The better idea is to hold the child’s PFD money in trust until they are 18 and then give it to them in a lump sum. This way their parents can't spend it for them ...lol.
Can you hear the screams now?
We'd all love to have better lives, especially if it wouldn't cost us anything. After all, the true nature of man is to "be LAZY"! I was taught early in life, that if we do't earn something, we don't respect it, and it doesn't last very long, mostly because we don't take care of it! I chose to live where I live, for the advantages it offers, and so did you! I don't have a lot, but I don't require a lot. If I want more, then it is time to get up and EARN it! If you are not happy with the services and advantages where you live, YOU should do something about it, not expect someone else to provide it for you! Your opportunities are infinite, but maybe your chair is too comfortable!
People are able to do what they want with their PFD now. Do you really think that the majority of people should lose their PFD to create a massive welfare system for rural communities. Community improvement must happen within the community. Not by others. I have heard that it is really cheap to live in the midwest, why don't you move there if you do not like it here and need free money in order to stay?
How many of you were here when Jay Hammond gave the speech during lunch time that set forth the APF idea? Probably the majority have never lived in Alaska without receiving a check each year, be it high or low.
Normally, when one submits an idea in a boardroom, I would hope that others would listen with an open mind and support their fellow peers positively. Gideon has thought about a topic that is concerning to all Alaskans. His idea was a suggestion. I am happy that he was courageous enough to submit it in the forum here. Instead of 'shooting down' his idea, I suggest you submit your own.
I'll start. My idea is to cut off those military who are stationed elsewhere. This will not fix anything, but it is a step in the right direction. I know that the military personel and dependants that do apply for the PFD and are approved for it follow whatever guidelines they are supposed to in order to obtain this money, but I feel once you leave, you're cut off. The money maybe here if you come back.
I also would like to see more done with PFD fraud. This may require some investigating, so please know this may have some cost initially.
joy_Fairbanks, what makes you think the tribal members of Arctic Village are unemployed?
eclaytonLewis-"So keep your ideas in the village where they belong, let the rest manage the money and the choices on our own accord."- I don't hear ideas pouring out of you. Don't sanction the ones who are throwing ideas out there. Gideon is an Alaskan. He has the right to share his ideas about issues that he is directly involved in. Being from a village sounds like he maybe more "Alaskan" than you, doesn't it?
polarmark-You are right on. Good comment.
James- You do know that the great politicians (and their dependants)of this AWESOME state receive this "welfare"? The way you percieve this money is the wrong type of thinking. I do not qualify for welfare. My family does apply for the PFD's and we use these to fill our tank up, buy wood, and cold weather gear. If my children's PFD were to be taken and put in an account for them to get it when they turned 18, my family would just buy less of the above each October.
Invest in village capital projects? Many of the Native Corporations have one if not several construction subsidiary companies. Many have profitable government contracts and other service contracts in Alaska and the lower 48. If you want a welfare handout for capital improvement then ask the Native Corporations to reinvest in the communities to maintain the traditional life and create jobs and job training.
I don't agree with holding a child's PFD in trust for them until they are 18 is a good idea at all, and I don't even have any children. Growing up my parents always used 1/2 of my PFD to invest in the University of Alaska's ACT program and they other 1/2 for expenses. I was perfectly happy with the deal once I understood what the ACT program was. By the time I went to college I had 6 semesters of credits paid for, which I think was a good trade off with my parents.
my child's PFD is hers and until she is 18 I am in charge of it. It is going directly into her college/school fund.
submitter, can I get some of what you're smoking?
Inupiaqdiva - Myself, my husband and my children are Alaska residents (my kids and I were all born here, even). That doesn't change just because his JOB serving our country sends us/him elsewhere. Would you like to demand PFDs stop for college students attending school out of state? Your idea, like Gideon's, is not a good one. Since you want ideas (for a system that isn't broken), I'll give you mine: leave the PFD alone. If rural Alaska is suffering, then we can find a way to ease that suffering without punishing others (e.g. residents who happen to be military).
How about only alaskans born in alaska receive pfd's. they are the true alaskans anyway...
InupiaqDiva, are you including the soldiers stationed in Iraq? obviously not by choice while their families sit here and wait for them? And what about the many "Alaskans" that are not military that live in the lower 48? It is not only military that take advantage of the system, and by no means am I suggesting that the system is not taken advantage of. But, I have only lived here 6 monthes and know many people that own property here, but do not live here. I do not agree with that either. While we are stationed in Alaska, I plan to enjoy anything I can get. We have struggled here getting used to the price changes, weather etc. The money at this point is needed not wanted, obviously we will not receive payment this year, and that will be tough. I agree that the fraud needs to be investigated, I also think the system could be revised. If you are going to be here a full year, you should qualify. It should be pretty simple to prove. Once we leave the great state we will no longer NEED the extra money. So I guess my point is we could use it this year, instead of receiving the following years PFD the next. Do keep in mind that some of these military that have moved you are referring to are getting checks for the previous year, not the current.
For those of us concerned about fraud, the State of Alaska has a fraud system set up. Here's the link: https://www.pfd.state.ak.us/fraud/index..... You think someone is committing PFD fraud? Turn 'em in.
as for myself , I pay bills and eat and live on that PFD check..... I notice that when people come up with 'idea's' where PFD and any other money is involved to go to 'other' places instead of into the lives and homes of THE PEOPLE, usually these "Idea Peoples" have some sort of income or financial boost where they don't really have to worry about where their next paycheck is coming from or their bills are all taken care of due to age related retirment checks.. its the people who are not hurting for money to survive..they are the first to suggest it go somewhere else. All of the Politicians and other so called 'important' people in our world..whether here or in the lower USA or abroad the world that is anyone can 'afford' to make suggestions like this.
just1buck, I've lived here for 25 years, but I was not born here. Does that make me not an Alaskan?