Sign Banking PDF Alaska Later

Industry sign banking alaska pdf later

good afternoon Alaska thank you for tuning in today I come to you from my office in Anchorage to speak about our state's budget the decision making process who went through and the status on the Permanent Fund dividend distribution let me begin by saying the budget presented in February it was a very real transparent approach to our state's billion dollar plus deficit it forced Alaskans to begin the very difficult but necessary conversation about our state's finances and the fiscal situation we face today there is no doubt lessons got engaged and a much needed and at times difficult conversation took place in the media at the dinner table and amongst friends and family I believed and still believe that in order for this discussion to be successful and to be taken seriously we have to show existence exactly what our fiscal picture looks like and what it will take to solve it Alaskans need to understand that we can no longer afford to spend at our current rates we can no longer afford to deplete our savings and hope for hope for higher revenues we must begin making the long-term changes to put ourselves on a path through more sustainable future and we can no longer pretend the problem will fix itself it will take difficult decisions to get us to a sustainable budget and I'm prepared to make those difficult decisions as a candidate under a far more favorable revenue picture I believe we could make significant changes to our budget through a series of cost savings efficiencies and targeted reforms in October of 2018 the price of oil was trending at nearly $85 per barrel but when we took office in the summer boil prices had plummeted to near $55 per barrel cutting over 1.7 billion dollars in potential revenue in less than three months this forced my administration to take a drastically different approach to the budget in which deeper reductions had to be made previous legislators and governors tried to address the fiscal imbalance by proposing taxes and cutting the PFD my approach was going to be different one that would try to balance spending with existing revenues after months of discussion and deliberation with Alaskans and the legislature the legislature instituted a 2.9 percent or 270 million dollar reduction to the state's overall budget a good start at reductions but still leaving a gap of well over 1 billion dollars based upon the size of the deficit and our revenue picture it became clear that more needed to be done through the use of the veto reductions that are reflected in today's budget as a result I could say that important steps are being made to address our deficit to right-size our government and to put Alaska on a more sustainable path effective today through the enactment of HB 2001 we have eliminated over one-third of the state's deficit through a reduction of approximately 650 million dollars in state spending reforms have been initiated to make services and programs such as Medicaid the University of Alaska and the Alaska Marine Highway system more efficient and more sustainable the driver for these reductions continues to be Alaska's current fiscal outlook requiring all of us to rethink the way we provide services the way we prior top prioritized limited state resources and the way we spent State dollars moving forward while state savings will continue to be exhausted as we move into a multi-year step down reducing our rate of spend must be a priority for all Alaskans more must be done in the coming months but we as Alaskans are resilient and I honestly believe our future remains bright and the weeks since receiving the state's operating budget from the legislature we have taken a serious look at restoring a number of programs and services Alaskans deem too important not to fund as a result you will see those restorations reflected in this budget I understand that this budget approach and timing being so late in the legislative year cause significant angst among Alaskans I really do this is certainly not our intention how are certain programs programs we value got caught in a budget discussion that went on way too long the seriousness of the deficit the need to begin making reforms and the length of our legislative session all contributed to the level of uncertainty we experienced the past several months we have listened and we have learned from this past year's budget process moving forward starting this fall we'll be working diligently with Alaskans our state agencies service providers legislators and stakeholders on a budget for the coming year that attempts to meets the needs of Alaskans within the prescribed 90-day session so all Alaska will know what the budget is while in advance of the start of the new fiscal year my hope is to in vail a budget in December and reflects the values of Alaskans and that the legislature acts upon this budget within the 90-day legislative session outline is statute not the drawn-out process that we experienced this year overall this year's budget limited one-third of the deficit reduce state spending by eight percent and began a difficult process of changing the way we deployed limited state resources discussion that occurred ultimately helped Alaskans understand the seriousness of our challenges force the conversation about priorities and in the end helped shape this year's budget lastly on the very serious issue of the Permanent Fund distribution something that has weighed on me and Alaskans greatly unfortunately this process was thrown into chaos the past several years when oil prices fell to many and the legislature now treat the PFD as a political football arbitrarily setting its amount rather than following the statutory formula Alaskans know and trust for 35 plus years Alaskans can rely on the system we had in place a process outlined in law and immune from politicians who wanted more for government spending now some politicians in Juneau are attempting a complete takeover the PFD converting it into revenue for government and denying Alaskans their full statutory PFD while there are some of the legislature that support the full statutory formula unfortunately majorities in both houses do not in this year's budget the legislature sent me a $1600 appropriation for the PFD again not following existing statutes that calculated a dividend for Alaskans of approximately $3,000 if I had the authority to add more money to the budget for a full PFD I would however only the legislature by Constitution can appropriate these funds the legislature has once again denied the people of Alaska the full statutory PFD many have asked me to veto this incomplete $1,600 dividend passed by the legislature this year other others have asked me to accept this partial dividend and they to continue our fight for a full PFD and while this decision was not easy it's not easy at all I decided that I will not veto this incomplete dividend I and many others view this as a partial payment not a full PFD and we will continue to fight for a complete statutory dividend going into this fall this decision was based on three parts first a veto today would have resulted in a zero dividend in October leaving approximately six hundred and sixty thousand eligible Alaskans who expect a PFD with absolutely nothing zero not a dime over nine hundred million dollars would have been taken out of the economy if I veto the PFD hurting Alaskan businesses and exacerbating our recession a veto would have been a win for those wanting to eliminate the PFD in its entirety I'm not about to give them that win quite the contrary I'll continue to fight and I will not let up for Alaskans until they receive what they are due second by funding an incomplete dividend the legislature understands that their job is not finished amending the legislature No this incomplete dividend must be fixed as soon as possible I have begun the conversations with legislators to map out a path to the appropriate to to appropriate the funds remaining for the full PFD I anticipate a special session this fall to complete this process I'll introduce legislation to provide for a full statutory PFD through a payment from the earnings reserve account finally now that the budget has been addressed the full PFD will be the focus in this next special session the sole focus I will not let up until the remaining funds are appropriated for the full statutory PFD I know Alaskans understand this decision and I appreciate all of your input well most of Alaska has been focused on the PFD and budget and rightfully so we've been moving ahead on other fronts as well since taking office in December we have repealed SB 91 and put in place stronger laws to protect Alaskans not the criminals we continue to make Alaska open for business by highlighting our resources and location on the globe and making Alaska a better place to invest and develop we continue to work with our federal partners on regulatory reform access to public lands fulfilling our statehood selection and resource development such as timber and mining we've seen a record year for tourism new jobs being created unemployment on the decline and several billion dollars in new investment on the North Slope being deployed we also saw record-setting number numbers for fish caught in Bristol Bay and elsewhere in Alaska and federal investment remains high including for military construction and transportation projects while significant work remains my commitment to you is to continue fighting on your behalf and to put our state on a path to a brighter future I want to thank all of you for your patience throughout this process and thank you for listening today have a great day