On April 11, 2025, the Alaska House Democrats passed a budget amendment that slashed the Permanent Fund Dividend to $1,400 per Alaskan, a 75/25 split that reduced the state’s $1.6 billion deficit but shattered trust, equity, and still failed to balance the budget. This stripping of the PFD will negatively affect the well-being of many Alaskans, and discriminate against small villages and rural families. Introduced by the House Finance Co-chair on the floor, immediately after the committee passed his budget, this was not merely a fiscal move; it was a deliberate act of deception that undermined the House Minority and disproportionately hurt Alaska’s most vulnerable.

The clown show began on April 10 in the House Finance Committee. Democrat Co-chairs Andy Josephson and Calvin Schrage proposed a Committee Substitute budget that not only cut the PFD but also attempted to draw 9.5 percent from the Public School Trust Fund, a $500 million endowment generating about $25 million annually for education. This overdraw risked the fund’s principal and future school budgets, immediately alienating all five Republican Minority members on the 11-seat committee. A 2025 X post correctly called it “a raid on our kids’ future.”

I just have to ask here, do Democrats care so little for our children that they are willing to raid the Public School Trust Fund just one day after passing a $1,000 BSA increase bill?

The Republicans’ immediate and vocal opposition meant the Democrats needed near-unanimous support from their own ranks on the Finance Committee, including from Representatives Neal Foster of Nome and Nellie Jimmie of Toksook Bay, to pass a budget with an arguably illegal draw and a midget PFD. Representative Stapp put it plainly: “If you want to be clowns, pass this out, it’s on you.” At the end of the meeting, the co-chairs relented, and the Committee Substitute with the full PFD quickly passed out of Finance because some members just had to go to folkfest…. and Alaskans lose again.

The Democrats’ next move was pure deceit. On the evening of April 10, with the previous Finance Committee Substitute – the budget with a full PFD – scheduled to come to the floor the next day, the Speaker’s office assured the Republican Minority that no amendments would be heard until Monday, April 14; I have this in writing.

Trusting that promise, three minority members were excused for travel. Yet on April 11, the Speaker and Rules Chair allowed the Finance Co-chair to introduce an amendment that stripped over half the PFD from every Alaskan, despite the budget having been “laid on our desks” for only 14 hours.

The Democrats knew that the absent minority votes could have blocked this; with Republicans down to 16 members, it took just 17 of the 21 Democrats present to pass the amendment. This move provided political cover to Foster and Jimmie, who could then vote against the cut without consequence from voters. Had the Democrats kept their word, our presence might have forced a compromise and potentially saved a higher PFD for the conference committee. Instead, their deception dishonored the House and deepened the distrust and divide between Republicans and Democrats.

This PFD Mega-cut hits rural, poor, non-Natives hardest, as they lack many of the safety nets available to Alaska Natives. Alaska Natives can benefit from support such as the Indian Health Service; Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act corporation dividends; subsistence rights; Power Cost Equalization; as well as programs such as Village Safe Water funding. Rural non-Natives, however, pay around $5,000 for health insurance and $2,500 for utilities with little or no support. For a rural family without access to Native-specific benefits, the $6,400 reduction in the PFD is a huge and devastating blow. They literally have no backstop. No support. A 2024 poll showed that 70 percent of Alaskans supported a higher PFD, echoing Governor Jay Hammond’s vision of the dividend as a “militant ring” protecting our resource wealth. By slashing the PFD, the Democrats chose expediency over fairness and imposed what one 2025 X post called “a regressive tax on the poorest,” with rural non-Natives suffering the most.

Alternatives existed but were ignored. The Constitutional Budget Reserve held more than $2 billion in 2024 and was accessible with a three-quarter vote. Or how about cutting the $41 million in adds passed by Democrats on Finance. Instead, the Democrats’ failure to find consensus in committee and losing support from not only the Republicans but also from Foster and Jimmie; coupled with the deception on the floor, forced a cut to the dividends that undermines the PFD’s universal promise and disproportionately harms rural non-Natives.

In conclusion, the House Democrats’ deceit and mismanagement in the Finance Committee, coupled with their deceptive tactics on the floor, betrayed the House Minority and harmed Alaska’s rural, poor non-Natives. By risking the Public School Trust Fund, failing to secure consensus, and falsehood about the amendment timeline, they pushed a PFD cut that unfairly discriminates against those without Native benefits. We must prioritize equitable solutions, restore the full PFD, and rebuild trust in the legislature to ensure no Alaskan, whether Native or non-Native, is left behind.

The Democrats’ actions on April 11, 2025, harmed vulnerable Alaskans and eroded the integrity of our legislative process, setting a dangerous precedent for future governance.

Originally published on Substack: https://kevinjmccabe.substack.com/p/the-pfd-circus-house-democrats-betrayed