Latest news with #AlaskaLegislature
Time of India
05-08-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Thousands to receive $1,702 in August — how to check your payment status instantly
Thousands of Americans are going to get $1,702 cash payments starting in August 2025 as part of a big payout through Alaska's Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD) program. These payments are not from the federal government. Instead, they are from state programs that still give out money similar to the stimulus checks from the pandemic. Alaska's PFD program is the main one behind these $1,702 payments. It was created back in 1980 by the Alaska Legislature to share profits from the state's oil and natural resources with its residents. The first payments under this program started in 1982 and have been happening every year since, as per the report by The U.S. Sun. Productivity Tool Zero to Hero in Microsoft Excel: Complete Excel guide By Metla Sudha Sekhar View Program Finance Introduction to Technical Analysis & Candlestick Theory By Dinesh Nagpal View Program Finance Financial Literacy i e Lets Crack the Billionaire Code By CA Rahul Gupta View Program Digital Marketing Digital Marketing Masterclass by Neil Patel By Neil Patel View Program Finance Technical Analysis Demystified- A Complete Guide to Trading By Kunal Patel View Program Productivity Tool Excel Essentials to Expert: Your Complete Guide By Study at home View Program Artificial Intelligence AI For Business Professionals Batch 2 By Ansh Mehra View Program The amount changes every year based on how much money the oil fund makes. For 2024, the total payment is $1,702, which includes $1,440 from the oil fund and a $262 energy relief bonus due to high oil prices. The first round of payments will go out on August 21, 2025, for people whose 2024 or older applications are marked as 'Eligible-Not Paid' by August 13. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Substance Found in Pink Salt has Bariatric Effects on Women Over 50 Health & Family Click Here Undo ALSO READ: Bill and Hillary Clinton subpoenaed in Epstein case bombshell — what could they be forced to reveal? If your application is still in 'Eligible-Not Paid' status by September 3, 2025, you'll get paid on September 11, 2025. If your 2025 application is in 'Eligible-Not Paid' status by September 18, 2025, the payment will come on October 2, 2025. This includes people who applied online with valid direct deposit info, according to the report by The U.S. Sun. Live Events When will you get your Alaska PFD check? Another payment batch will go out on October 23, 2025, for applications marked 'Eligible-Not Paid' as of October 13, 2025. This will include both direct deposit and paper checks. Around 600,000 Alaskans get this PFD money every year. But to qualify, you must meet strict eligibility rules. You must have lived in Alaska for the entire year of 2024 to get the 2024 payment. You must not have claimed to live in another state or country since December 31, 2023. You cannot have been convicted of a felony or jailed for a felony or misdemeanor in the last 12 months. You also cannot have been outside Alaska for more than 180 days in 2024, as stated by The U.S. Sun. Who else is giving out free monthly payments? You must have spent at least 72 hours in a row in Alaska during either 2023 or 2024. To check your status and see if your payment is on the way, go to the official website and log in. Other states also have similar programs. For example, Mississippi gives $1,000 every month through a program called Magnolia Mother's Trust. ALSO READ: Germany stunned as two-thirds say they wouldn't fight to defend homeland in case of invasion In California, new moms can also get $1,000 per month through a program called the Abundant Birth Project. Apart from this, some Americans are getting two $967 payments due to how the calendar works this year. There's also a chance to get a one-time payment from a $19 million texting lawsuit settlement — you don't even need to show proof or fill any forms to claim it, as mentioned by The U.S. Sun. FAQs Q1. When will Alaskans get the $1,702 PFD payment in 2025? Eligible Alaskans will start getting the $1,702 payment from August 21, 2025, with more batches through October. Q2. How can I check my Alaska PFD payment status online? You can check your PFD payment status instantly by logging in at
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Alaska state budget and other bills head to Gov. Mike Dunleavy
The Alaska State Capitol is seen on the last week of the 2025 session on May 19, 2025 (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon) The three pieces of legislation that make up Alaska's annual state budget are on Gov. Mike Dunleavy's desk. According to legislative records, the state's operating, capital and mental health budgets were transmitted to the governor on Tuesday, giving the governor until June 19 to veto the bills or sign them into law. The governor has the ability to use a line item veto to reduce or eliminate specific items within the budget, and Dunleavy has previously indicated that he may reduce funding for public schools below the amount prescribed by a formula in state law. State legislators voted to raise that formula in the session's last days, overriding Dunleavy's decision to veto the bill containing a $700 increase to the base student allocation, the core of the state's school funding formula. If Dunleavy reduces education funding below what's called for by the formula, it would be unprecedented and akin to former Gov. Bill Walker's decision in 2016 to veto part of the Permanent Fund dividend: Since the education funding formula was created, every governor has followed the law. Two policy bills also were transmitted to the governor on Tuesday. The first, House Bill 75, cleans up some state laws pertaining to the Permanent Fund dividend and was uncontroversial in the House and Senate. The second, Senate Bill 183, would require the executive branch to deliver reports in the form requested by the Alaska Legislature's auditor. Under the Alaska Constitution, the Alaska Legislature has audit authority over the executive branch, but since 2019, lawmakers have been unable to analyze the performance of the section of the Alaska Department of Revenue that audits tax settlements with large oil companies. Lawmakers say the Department of Revenue has switched policies and no longer provides a report that once allowed them to examine the section's work. Members of the department testified that they have turned over raw data, but the legislative auditor testified that her department lacks the information and capability to turn that data into actionable information on the state's oil revenue. The bill was transmitted to the governor's office with a letter from the Speaker of the House Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham and Senate President Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak, asking Dunleavy not to veto it. 'This letter accompanies the bill not as a routine legislative communication, but as a reflection of the extraordinary nature of the circumstances we face,' it read. 'The ongoing obstructions by the DOR must not be allowed to become a precedent for future administrations. We must reinforce, not erode, the norms of oversight and accountability that are vital to Alaska's republican form of government.' If Dunleavy does veto a bill, the Alaska Legislature is not expected to consider an override until January, when lawmakers reconvene in regular session.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Alaska House votes to raise age of sexual consent — but with a caveat
Rep. Andrew Gray, D-Anchorage, speaks in favor of House Bill 62 on Friday, May 16, 2025. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon) The Alaska Legislature is on pace to raise the state's age of sexual consent to 18 next year, after the state House voted 39-0 to approve House Bill 101 on Monday. The bill now goes to the state Senate, which is expected to take it up in January, when lawmakers convene for the second year of the 34th Alaska State Legislature. The bill comes from Rep. Andrew Gray, D-Anchorage, who said on Monday that it represents a way to fight rape and child sexual assault. Under current law, it is legal for an adult to have sex in Alaska with a 16-year-old or 17-year-old who consents. If that child is assaulted, Gray said, they must prove that they did not consent. 'This makes prosecutions of these cases of sexual assault and sex trafficking more difficult, especially if the young person had seen the perpetrator on multiple occasions, or if alcohol and drugs were involved,' Gray said. The bill has a significant exception: 'For teens 13 to 15 years old, they can consent to sex with someone up to four years older than them. Sixteen- and 17-year-olds can consent to sex with someone up to six years older than them,' he said. That exemption came at the suggestion of domestic violence shelters, sexual assault experts and homeless shelters, who were concerned that without the close-in-age exemption, they would deter teens from seeking help. Additional clauses in the bill criminalize the sending of explicit images of 16-year-olds and 17-year-olds. 'It is my hope that this bill will prevent the strategic targeting of 16- and 17-year-olds by predators,' Gray said. Rep. Sarah Vance, R-Homer, also spoke in support of the bill. 'This bill reminds us that those who are under 18 are still children,' she said. 'They're vulnerable youth. They are figuring out who they are in the world. … Raising the age of consent to 18 makes it easier for law enforcement to say, 'We're going to help you.' It puts the onus on the offender instead of on the victim. That child victim no longer would have to prove that what happened to them was not consensual.' Vance and Gray unsuccessfully attempted last year to change the age of consent, but the proposal ran into technical problems and the session ended before those could be resolved. HB 101's passage came three years after the Legislature voted to limit child marriage by banning marriages involving Alaskans younger than 16. Because sex is permitted between married partners of any age, that effectively raised the state's age of consent to 16. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
New bill would prohibit hard-rock metals mining in Alaska's Bristol Bay watershed
Braided wetlands and tundra in the Bristol Bay watershed are seen from the air on July 26, 2010. Seen here is Upper Talarik Creek, which flows into Lake Iliamna and then the Kvichak River before emptying into Bristol Bay. A new bill introduced on the last day of the Alaska Legislature's 2025 session would bar hard-rock metals mining in the Bristol Bay watershed. (Photo provided by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) Mere hours before he banged his gavel to adjourn this year's session of the Alaska House of Representatives, Speaker Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham, introduced a bill to bar metals mining from the Bristol Bay watershed. The measure, House Bill 233, would expand on the Environmental Protection Agency's 2023 decision prohibiting permitting of the controversial Pebble Project in the region. The Biden administration action, which followed up on a process started in the Obama administration, invoked a rarely used provision on the Clean Water Act to prevent development of the huge open-pit copper and gold mine planned for the region upstream from salmon-rich Bristol Bay. Edgmon's bill would ban all metallic sulfide mining in the area designated as the Bristol Bay Fisheries Reserve, which encompasses state land in the Bristol Bay watershed. Metallic sulfide mining, also known as hard-rock mining, is the type of mining that extracts elements like gold and copper from acid-generating rocks classified as sulfides. When these sulfides are processed, they commonly cause acid to drain out. It is a method distinct from placer mining, which sifts out metals from loose sediments. The copper and gold that would be produced at the Pebble project is held in sulfide ore and would be extracted through hard-rock mining. The Bristol Bay Fisheries Reserve was established by the Legislature in 1972 to prevent oil and gas development in the region. The effort was led by Jay Hammond, who was president of the state Senate at the time. He later became governor. Under House Bill 223, the Hammond-championed prohibitions on petroleum development would be expanded to mining. The justifications for the 1972 action 'also warrant new protections to prevent hardrock mining activities that would risk polluting the region's river systems, ground water, aquifer systems,' as well as any drainages that connect to Bristol Bay's surface water, the bill's text says. Edgmon is from the Bristol Bay region. The bill will be considered next year, along with other measures still pending in the 34th Legislature. Alannah Hurley, executive director of a consortium of Native tribal governments in the Bristol Bay region, said the bill would provide extra protection for EPA's action. That protection is needed because of 'the uncertainty that we're continuing to face' from litigation pressed by Pebble's sponsors, Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. and the Pebble Limited Partnership it owns, said Hurley, who is with United Tribes of Bristol Bay, an organization that has long opposed the Pebble project. Northern Dynasty and the Pebble Limited Partnership have sued to overturn the 2023 EPA determination, and the case remains active. The state of Alaska, at the direction of Gov. Mike Dunleavy, has also sued the federal government over the action. Hurley said that beyond upholding the EPA determination, the bill would prevent the development of other metals mines in the region, Hurley said. There are about 20 active claims that could be developed into large metals mines, though not as large as the proposed Pebble project, she said. If the bill passes, 'we wouldn't have to face 20 other mining claims piecemeal over who knows how many decades,' she said. While the bill is new, the effort behind it goes back a long time, Hurley said. 'This is something the tribes have been talking about for years. We need the EPA protection, but we also need legislation to really protect the watershed,' she said. A legislative effort similar to House Bill 233 was mounted on the federal level by former U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola, D-Alaska. She introduced the Bristol Bay Protection Act a year ago to codify the EPA's Clean Water Act determination barring a Pebble-type mine from being permitted in the Bristol Bay watershed. The act died in committee, and Peltola lost her seat in November to current Rep. Nick Begich, R-Alaska. The tribes and other Pebble opponents have thus turned their attention to the Legislature now that Peltola is no longer in the U.S. House, Hurley said. 'The fact that she wasn't reelected has frustrated expectations that we can make any progress with Congress,' Hurley said. There have been previous efforts in the Alaska Legislature, as well. In 2015, Rep. Andy Josephson, D-Anchorage, introduced a measure, House Bill 119, that would require legislative approval for any large-scale metallic sulfide mine in the Bristol Bay Fisheries Reserve. It failed to reach the House floor. Josephson introduced a similar bill, House Bill 14, in 2017. It also died in committee. Josephson is a co-sponsor of Edgmon's new bill. Representatives of Northern Dynasty and the Pebble Limited Partnership were not available to comment on the new bill. Dunleavy, who has been supportive of the Pebble project, has not taken a position, said his spokesperson, Jeff Turner. The bill was just introduced, so the governor has not had time to review it, Turner said. 'As a general rule, the Governor's office does not comment on legislation until it has passed and been transmitted to his office,' he said by email. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Republican opposition kills bill intended to fix Alaska's absentee voting problems
The Alaska House of Representatives is seen in action on Monday, May 5, 2025. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon) A major elections reform bill, a priority of House and Senate leaders, is dead in the Alaska Legislature. Wednesday is the last day of the regular legislative session, and members of the House's multipartisan majority said on Saturday that they lack the support needed to overcome the opposition of the House's Republican minority in the time they have left. Bills don't expire at the end of the first year of the two-year legislative session, but Senate Bill 64 needed to become law this year in order to be implemented in time for the 2026 election. Among the changes in the bill: Speedier ballot counting, better tracking of absentee ballots, ballot dropboxes across the state, free return postage for absentee ballots, a liaison to help fix voting issues in rural Alaska, permanent absentee ballot registration, a method to fix paperwork problems after an absentee ballot is cast, the elimination of the requirement that a 'witness' sign a voter's absentee ballot, and additional security audits. Many of the House's Republicans objected to the bill, saying that they believe it did not do enough to address their concerns about election security. The Senate passed SB 64 on Monday, but Rep. Neal Foster, D-Nome and co-chair of the House Finance Committee said that House Republicans were prepared to offer so many amendments to the bill that it would have required members of the House to abandon all other work in order to push the bill across the finish line. Even then, it could have been vetoed by Gov. Mike Dunleavy, a Republican. With those possibilities in play, the House majority's 14 Democrats, five independents and two Republicans met behind closed doors and decided to abandon the effort. 'The caucus just said, 'We're either gonna have to set everything else aside and focus on that, and probably still won't get it through, or we just say we're going to have to set it aside,'' Foster said. 'We all decided as a group that … to try to do it in four days, it was not good public process. If we had two weeks, that would have been fast tracking it, and maybe we could have gotten it through,' he said. A disproportionately large number of absentee ballots are rejected from rural Alaska in each election cycle, and Foster — in charge of scheduling bills for the House Finance Committee — said he really wanted to see SB 64 advance, but it was clear that it wasn't possible, barring an unlikely special session. Late Friday, as the bill's fate became clear, the Republican minority issued a triumphant news release. 'This bill greases the skids for all mail-in elections like Anchorage has. SB 64 is the biggest hoax that the Democrats have promulgated so far this year — and that is saying a lot since there are some other bills that are contenders,' said Rep. Jamie Allard, R-Eagle River, in the message. 'Alaskans should be appalled. Talk about a bill that will bring out more fraud! SB 64 is the Election Fraud bill!' Other Republican opponents were more measured. 'Rushing a nonpartisan bill through at the last minute isn't how the legislative process is meant to work. I'm glad we'll have the chance to take a closer look at SB 64 next year,' said Rep. Frank Tomaszewski, R-Fairbanks, in the news release. Sen. Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage and the lead person pushing SB 64, noted that this is the third time in the past three legislative sessions that the Legislature has failed to pass a significant elections bill. 'I know there's groups out there that are looking at ballot initiatives. Very frankly, at this point, they're just so frustrated with the Legislature because it's been a decade working on this bill,' he said. 'So I think if we don't get something done this year, you're going to start seeing some people talk about just doing an initiative for the sections that they want.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
