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SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 302
IN THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA
THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE - THIRD SPECIAL SESSION
BY SENATORS BEGICH, Gray-Jackson
Introduced: 9/1/21
Referred: Judiciary, Finance
A RESOLUTION
1 Proposing amendments to the Constitution of the State of Alaska relating to the Alaska
2 permanent fund, creating the sustainable dividend account and power cost equalization
3 account in the permanent fund, and relating to a dividend for state residents.
4 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:
5 * Section 1. Article IX, sec. 15, Constitution of the State of Alaska, is amended to read:
6 Section 15. Alaska Permanent Fund. (a) At least twenty-five percent of all
7 mineral lease rentals, royalties, royalty sale proceeds, federal mineral revenue sharing
8 payments and bonuses received by the State shall be placed into the principal of [IN]
9 a permanent fund. The sustainable dividend account and the power cost
10 equalization account are created as accounts within the permanent fund. The
11 permanent fund and the accounts within the fund [, THE PRINCIPAL OF
12 WHICH] shall be used [ONLY] for [THOSE] income-producing investments
13 specifically designated by law as eligible for permanent fund investments. The
14 principal and income [ALL INCOME] from the permanent fund and each account
15 within the fund shall be retained [DEPOSITED] in the [GENERAL] fund or
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1 account [UNLESS OTHERWISE PROVIDED BY LAW]. The legislature may
2 appropriate from the fund and accounts only as provided in this section.
3 * Sec. 2. Article IX, sec. 15, Constitution of the State of Alaska, is amended by adding new
4 subsections to read:
5 (b) Each fiscal year, the legislature may appropriate up to 4.5 percent of the
6 average market value of the fund from the permanent fund to the general fund. Money
7 appropriated under this subsection may not be drawn from the sustainable dividend or
8 power cost equalization accounts in the permanent fund.
9 (c) Each fiscal year, the legislature shall appropriate five percent of the
10 average market value of the sustainable dividend account from the account for the
11 payment of dividends to eligible residents of the State.
12 (d) Each fiscal year, the legislature shall appropriate five percent of the
13 average market value of the power cost equalization account from the account for the
14 payment of energy subsidies and capital improvements to energy infrastructure to rural
15 communities in the State and for community assistance payments and renewable
16 energy projects in the State.
17 (e) The average market value of the fund, and each account in the fund, is the
18 average value of the fund or account for the preceding five fiscal years, excluding the
19 fiscal year just ended. The average market value of the fund includes the value of the
20 sustainable dividend account and the power cost equalization account. The value of
21 the fund and each account shall be calculated on the last day of the fiscal year.
22 * Sec. 3. Article IX, Constitution of the State of Alaska, is amended by adding a new
23 section to read:
24 Section 18. Dividends. If the amounts appropriated under 15(c) of this article
25 are insufficient to provide a $1,200 dividend for each state resident each year, the
26 legislature shall appropriate the amount necessary to provide a $1,200 dividend to
27 each state resident for the year.
28 * Sec. 4. Article XV, Constitution of the State of Alaska, is amended by adding a new
29 section to read:
30 Section 30. Permanent Fund, Sustainable Dividend Account, Power Cost
31 Equalization Account Amendments: Transition. (a) On June 30, 2023, an amount
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1 equal to the balance of the earnings reserve account established by law shall be
2 deposited in the Alaska permanent fund and become part of the principal of the fund.
3 The amount deposited under this subsection shall be the unencumbered balance of the
4 earnings reserve account on September 30, 2022, or on June 30, 2023, whichever is
5 greater.
6 (b) Notwithstanding the restriction on the use of the principal of the permanent
7 fund in art. IX, sec. 15, on June 30, 2023, the legislature shall appropriate from the
8 Alaska permanent fund to the sustainable dividend account in the Alaska permanent
9 fund the sum of the difference between the amount calculated for appropriation to the
10 dividend account under AS 37.13.145(b), for that fiscal year, as that section read on
11 January 1, 2020, and the amount actually appropriated for dividends in fiscal years
12 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023, and the earnings and interest accrued
13 on those amounts.
14 (c) On June 30, 2023, an amount equal to the balance of the power cost
15 equalization endowment fund established by law shall be deposited in the power cost
16 equalization account in the Alaska permanent fund. The amount deposited under this
17 subsection shall be the unencumbered balance of the power cost equalization
18 endowment fund on September 30, 2022, or on June 30, 2023, whichever is greater.
19 (d) The 2022 amendments relating to the Alaska permanent fund (art. IX, sec.
20 15) and the dividend to state residents (art. IX, sec. 18) apply to appropriations made
21 for fiscal year 2024 and thereafter.
22 (e) The method for determining the average market value of the sustainable
23 dividend account and the power cost equalization account for the first six fiscal years
24 shall be provided for by law.
25 * Sec. 5. The amendments proposed by this resolution shall be placed before the voters of
26 the state at the next general election in conformity with art. XIII, sec. 1, Constitution of the
27 State of Alaska, and the election laws of the state.
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