Latest posts tagged with #NonRez on Bluesky
Middle & lower-income Alaskans are told that cuts to their PFDs are being used to pay for govt. What they are really being used for is to shield upper-income Alaskans, #OilCos & #NonRez from paying their share of the costs of govt thru taxes. #akleg buff.ly/3x7ksom
PFD cuts are about one thing only: protecting the Top20%, #NonRez & #OilCos from the costs of #akleg spending.
Rather than spreading the impact broadly, PFD cuts instead focus the burden almost entirely on middle- & lower-income #AKfams. buff.ly/Y8K07jZ
When PFD's are cut, the "free money" doesn't disappear. The benefit just transfers to the bank accounts of #NonRez, #OilCos & upper-income #AKfams.
Who pays for that? Middle- & lower-income #AKfams. #akleg
buff.ly/Y8K07jZ
Some argue that the #akleg should divert money designated for PFD distributions to other "important" uses. If those uses are important, then ALL #AKfams & #NonRez should contribute, rather than taking the money almost entirely from middle- & lower-income #AKfams through PFD cuts.
ALL of the #akleg POMV draw is "free money." The PFD largely benefits middle & lower-income #AKfams; the portion used to fund govt (substitute for taxes) largely benefits #NonRez, #OilCos & #UpperIncome. PFDcuts simply shift more "free money" to the latter.
Economically, the "free money" from PF earnings is used either to fund PFDs or to shield #NonRez, #OilCos & the Top20% from taxes to cover add'l govt spending. Those pushing PFD cuts just want to use more as a tax shield for the protected class. #akleg buff.ly/A7Az3TZ
By shifting a significant portion of the burden to #NonRez, replacing PFD cuts with a seasonal sales tax keeps A LOT more money in the pockets of #AKfams. Their reaction separates those #akleg concerned about #AKfams from those concerned about special interests.
The 2016 ISER study estimated #NonRez would pay ~10% of a year round sales taxes. A seasonal sales tax focused on the tourist season should raise that percentage somewhat. We have used 12.5% as a proxy. As we and others dive deeper into the numbers, it could be higher.
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Second question: There isn't a perfect overlap between the #NonRez share of wages and their share of sales. Among other things, #NonRez employees don't tend to purchase goods subject to sales tax at the same percent they represent of wages.
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Our first look at raising $775 million thru a 3% average sales tax v. using PFD cuts. Under a sales tax, 10-15% would be raised from #NonRez, significantly reducing the impact on #AKfams from PFD cuts. #akleg
Focus on this for a moment. Using PFDcuts takes money ONLY from #AKfams to fund govt. Using sales taxes would raise ~15% instead from #NonRez. By using PFDcuts, #AKfams are literally subsidizing #NonRez by enabling them to avoid taxes. #akleg
... 1) middle & lower-income #AKfams on one side, and 2) upper-income, #NonRez & #OilCos on the other. #AKleg PFDcuts just give more and more of the wealth to the second. buff.ly/vyGvbMW
Permanent Fund earnings are the return on Alaska's commonly owned wealth. Current law divides them 50/50 between 1) middle & lower income #AKfams, and 2) the Top20%, #NonRez & #OilCos. Ignoring that, the #akleg is tilting them more and more to the latter. buff.ly/vyGvbMW
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
The core of any Alaska fiscal proposal is how it deals with the "free money" from PF earnings. PFD shares below 50/50 disproportionately benefit the Top20%, #NonRez & #OilCos over MIDDLE & lower-income (80% of) #AKfams. #akleg #plutocratic buff.ly/ZGoc6eJ
There's no "ambiguity" around the PFD statute. It's clear and so is the fact that the #akleg has repeatedly violated it to shield the Top20%, #NonRez & the #OilCos to help pay for the costs of govt. buff.ly/PBCOBEO
The battle over the PFD isn't about "free money." It's over WHO gets the benefit of the "free money." Now that they are facing taxes, the Top20%, #OilCos & #NonRez want more of it for themselves by taking it from middle & lower income #AKfams. #akleg
🤦 The usual Top 20% pitch: I'm "ready" for taxes ... but only after we first tax middle and lower-income #AKfams to the max (by eliminating the PFD) before looking for any significant contributions from the Top20%, #NonRez & the #OilCos. #akleg
#AKleg Ds are an interesting bunch. They vote to divert money from middle & lower-income #AKfams so that the Top20%, #OilCos & #NonRez can keep the same amount in their bank accounts.
The biggest under-the-radar #akleg battle is the ongoing tug-of-war over who benefits from "free" #PermFund earnings. Hammond split them 50/50 b/w middle & lower-income #AKfams and the Top20%, #NonRez & #OilCos. Thru PFDcuts, the benefit is increasingly going to the Top20%, etc. buff.ly/uYlGA6B
🤔 Some #akleg are OUTRAGED at the potential cut in federal SNAP benefits. Yet, many of the same #akleg had no problem earlier this year withholding nearly $200mill in PFD income due those same beneficiaries and diverting it instead to benefit the state's Top20%, #OilCos & #NonRez.
🤦 Some think the Top20%, #NonRez & #OilCos are entitled to ALL of the "free" PF earnings by using them as a substitute for their taxes. This is how they respond when others mention the statutory provision distributing a portion to middle & lower-income #AKfams. #akleg
What's the real reason the #akleg is using PFD cuts to close the fiscal gap instead of less regressive, lower-impact taxes? Because it's easier to regressively dump costs on middle- and lower-income #AKfams, than include the Top20%, #NonRez & #OilCos. buff.ly/QpWmwGh
The PFD is a share of Alaska's commonly-owned wealth intended to be distributed equally to its owners. The #akleg is increasingly diverting more and more of it to the benefit of those in the Top20%, #NonRez, #OilCos & other special interests.
Those pushing PFD elimination largely fall into two camps. One is those who think they/the #akleg know better how to spend the money than #AKfams. The second is those in the Top20%, #NonRez & #OilCos who see using PFD cuts to fund govt as a way of avoiding taxes on them. buff.ly/YvR4kYR
🤷 The Top20%, #NonRez & #OilCos newest ploy. Try to convince everyone that the PFD is gone anyway, so why bother defending it? #akleg
🤔 Now over 21,500 signatures. Unlike Rep. Schrage, it seems that many recognize that middle & lower-income #AKfams are already paying a significant tax in the form of PFD cuts, while the Top20%, #NonRez & #OilCos dodge. #akleg
Some #akleg talk about "controlling spending," but don't create the one incentive that would do it: ensure the Top20%, #OilCos & #NonRez pay some of the costs. Instead, using PFDcuts, they dump the costs on mid & lower-income #AKfams, incentivizing them to leave. #IncentivesMatter
