Fun fact. By restoring PFD income, replacing PFD cuts with a less-regressive sales tax would actually leave MORE income in the pockets of #WorkingAKfams, particularly those in the Bush. What's really behind the opposition? #akleg
Some self-proclaimed "fiscal conservatives" are, instead, fiscal plutocrats, more interested in using the "free money" from the Permanent Fund to shield the Top20%, #NonRez & #OilCos from govt costs than fairness for middle & lower-income #WorkingAKfams. #akleg #cronycapitalists
Using PFD cuts - the "most regressive tax ever proposed" - to fill deficits is not "fiscally conservative"; it's plutocratic. By targeting #WorkingAge and #WorkingAKfams, it contributes to #Outmigration compared to lower-impact revenue alts. #akleg
Tangeman with the typical Top20%, #NonRez & #OilCo mantra: Ohhhhh, it's a spending problem that can be cured by #akleg PFDcuts 🤫 so that we don't have to contribute anything ourselves. 🤦 The real surprise? Both D/I's & R's who claim to prioritize #WorkingAKfams fall for it.
We have grown accustomed to those in the Top20% #NonRez & #OilCos pitting K-12 v. the PFD. That way, they avoid being in the line of fire. But we are repeatedly stunned when we see #akleg who claim to prioritize #WorkingAKfams do the same. They are doing the #OilCos work for them.
🙄 #AKHouMaj claim: "We are prioritizing #WorkingAKfams!!"
Fact: Their Finance Co-Chair just endorsed yet another expansion of the "most regressive tax ever proposed." A $1000 PFD = about an 83%/17% POMV split.
https://buff.ly/3QqYff3
#akleg #RegressiveTax&Spend
#AKsenate: we need more equitable revenues to pay for all the add'l spending everyone wants. #AKhouse: Nah, we'll just keep cutting PFDs (regressive taxes on #WorkingAKfams) until they are gone so that the Top20%, #NonRez & #OilCos, are protected. #akleg
While the D/I's talk about prioritizing #WorkingAKfams, it seems some #akleg R's are the ones that propose doing something by pushing lower impact revs. Last year's HB 142 (broad-based sales tax) from Rep. Carpenter & this year's SB 92 (closing the Hilcorp loophole) from Sen. Yundt are from R's.
Some so-called #akleg "conservatives" blame PFDcuts on the failure to curb spending. But we have known since 2019 that wasn't realistic. The real problem has been the failure to support lower-impact substitutes. They have knowingly sacrificed #WorkingAKfams to protect the Top20%, #NonRez & #OilCos.
Those #akleg who claim to prioritize #WorkingAKfams but use PFDcuts to fund govt don't really prioritize #WorkingAKfams. They just prioritize govt programs THEY think #WorkingAKfams need. They are fine actually making #WorkingAKfams disproportionately worse off economically.
🤦 With the state facing continual $2bn annual deficits over the next decade, the panel recommends putting executive and legislator salaries on automatic pilot. #WhoPays? #WorkingAKfams living paycheck to paycheck with no such guarantees. #akleg #SelfPerpetuatingPlutocracy
ICYMI. This Wk's Top 3 P'cast| What LegFin's "Overview" tells us about the fiscal situation facing the #akleg this session; what the heck is Enstar doing now & the selective political mutism of some when it comes to #WorkingAKfams.
ICYMI. This Wk's Top 3 P'cast| What LegFin's "Overview" tells us about the fiscal situation facing the #akleg this session; what the heck is Enstar doing now & the selective political mutism of some when it comes to #WorkingAKfams.
ICYMI. This Wk's Top 3 P'cast| What LegFin's "Overview" tells us about the fiscal situation facing the #akleg this session; what the heck is Enstar doing now & the selective political mutism of some when it comes to #WorkingAKfams.
ICYMI. This Wk's Top 3 P'cast| What LegFin's "Overview" tells us about the fiscal situation facing the #akleg this session; what the heck is Enstar doing now & the selective political mutism of some when it comes to #WorkingAKfams.
This Wk's Top 3 P'cast| What LegFin's "Overview" tells us about the fiscal situation facing the #akleg this session; what the heck is Enstar doing now & the selective political mutism of some when it comes to #WorkingAKfams.
One of the things that intrigues is the significant diversion in the growth rates for Alaska PCE and CPI since 2015. It replicates what is happening nationally, so there should be some literature, but it means that CPI may not fully capture what #WorkingAKfams are experiencing. #akleg
As a whole, #akleg politicians are deeply hypocritical. Mods/Progs claim concern about #WorkingAKfams but push rev approaches that are "by far, the costliest" to middle & lower-income #AKfams. Rs claim to prioritize the "free market" but push energy solutions filled w/ govt subsidies. #OtherAgendas
🙄 Let's be honest with ourselves. The #akleg Majorities don't really care about #WorkingAKfams. If they did, they wouldn't be using the "most regressive tax ever proposed" to pay for govt. ... https://buff.ly/403x4fH
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Generally speaking, a Gini index is a statistical measure of income distribution among a population. Including the #akleg PFDcuts, Alaska has the 𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙫𝙚 fiscal system in the nation. No wonder we have net outmigration among #WorkingAKfams.
Despite the effort of some to spin them differently, at their core, #akleg PFD cuts economically are nothing more than increased tax credits for the Top20%, #NonRez & #OilCos. They take more from the pockets of #WorkingAKfams in Downtown FBKS/Weeks Field ... https://buff.ly/3ZnUFaA
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Not prioritized? #WorkingAKfams. #akleg
By failing to propose a more equitable revenue approach, Dunleavy continues the policy of using PFD cuts to fund growing govt spending from the pockets of middle & lower-income #AKfams ... https://buff.ly/3BwRi8o
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#AKleg hearings are becoming like an episode of Ophra. Only instead of "you get a car, and you get a car," it's becoming "you get a backstop (state subsidy), and you get a backstop." #WhoPays for all this? Even deeper PFD cuts (i.e., #WorkingAKfams).
The Alaska outmigration death spiral: Spend more, funded by #akleg PFDcuts, which reduces the income of the #WorkingAKfams you are trying to attract/retain, which increases outmigration, which leads some to push to spend even more, funded by even more PFDcuts, which leads to even more outmigration..
🙄 The "simple answer" is for govt to spend more ... funded by the #akleg disproportionately taking MUCH more out of the pockets (by using PFDcuts) of the very #WorkingAKfams that we are trying to retain/attract. So the theory is making them poorer will make them happier??
🤔 Here's the question: How much is the bonus for successfully retaining the "Hilcorp $100mil" loophole and continually thwarting other needed state tax reforms (i.e., continuing to push the revenue burden to #WorkingAKfams) #akleg
🤦 The new #AKHouse Majority apparently believes the best way to retain #WorkingAKfams is by disproportionately 𝙧𝙚𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙞𝙣𝙜 their income to subsidize the Top20%, #NonRez & #OilCos. #akleg #VoodooEconomics
The #akleg claim that closing deficits using PFD cuts produces a "balanced budget" is laughable. The Top20%, #NonRez & #OilCos - who contribute virtually nothing - may think so, but it sure as hell isn't looking at the hugely disproportionate impact on #WorkingAKfams.
𝙁𝙖𝙘𝙩: Cutting PFDs to fund govt takes 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 $$ from mid & lower-income #AKfams than would taxes. The 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 beneficiaries are the Top20%. https://buff.ly/3yYW6C4
Those claiming to rep #WorkingAKfams but who knee-jerk "no taxes?" Puppets of Top20% plutocrats. #akleg
Let's be clear. The #akleg House Majority 𝙨𝙖𝙮𝙨 it wants to help #WorkingAKfams, but using PFD cuts as its go-to revenue source just deepens the economic hole those families are in. They are just mouthing the words; there's no sincerity there.
