PFD promises are a political pest that spoils summer

By Larry Persily

Just as mosquitos, outdoor barbecues and sometimes even sunshine and warm skies return every summer in Alaska, and just as king salmon used to return in abundance and many Lower 48 relatives visit in too much abundance, Alaska experiences a special summer event in election years: The return of the dividend-promising political candidate.

More persistent than swarms of malicious mosquitos and nasty no-see-ums, the PFD pledges are immune to citronella candles, aerosol sprays or mesh nets to cover your face. They spread on social media at a faster pace than any mosquito can fly, and are too big to catch in an electronic zapper. Maybe someone could develop a No-Pest Strip to catch and hold ‘em, but it would quickly fill up in election years.

The only thing that can stop the infectious spread of the unhealthy get-rich-quick dividend bug is smarter voters.

The political pledges of “full dividends,” which is political-speak for $3,000-plus payouts for every Alaskan every year — about double what the state spends on public schools — hatch in the summer from standing puddles left over by past campaigns and reach full maturity in time for the election.

Better get ready, they’re flying into social media posts and advertising campaigns around the state, particularly in areas long known to elect candidates who place the PFD at the top of the political altar.

Look no further for the strategy than former Matanuska Valley State Sen. Mike Dunleavy, who is finishing eight years as governor after winning twice on a deceivingly simple campaign: The PFD above all else, including schools, the state universities, seafood and tourism marketing, childcare and public health.

In the marketing world, stick with the winning strategy if that’s what your customers are buying — and many buy it in Costco-size helpings. Which is why the so-called “full dividend” is out on the free-sample tables as campaigns try to entice shoppers to put their candidates in the basket of ballot choices.

It’s at the top of the political main course again this year, with Bernadette Wilson, polling as a leading Republican candidate for governor, boldly proclaiming on her website: “Alaskans are owed thousands of dollars that has been unlawfully withheld from them.”

The Legislature in the past decade has paid out more than $10 billion in dividends, adhering to fiscal responsibility rather than a nearly half-century-old formula in state law that no longer adds up. But $10 billion is not enough for Wilson. She is among the wannabe state leaders who mimic Dunleavy’s strategy by promoting even more.

No matter that fatter checks would drain the state’s only accessible savings account; no matter that every other public service would suffer; no matter that handing out more money could lead to new taxes to cover the checks. Yes, the unaffordable formula in statute needs to change but setting mega checks as the benchmark is a deceitful bargaining position for political gain, not a path to a lasting solution to a real problem.

A similar trek down that same path — Dunleavy Drive — comes from Matanuska Valley candidate for the House, Republican Mike Alexander. “It’s our money,” he told the Anchorage Daily News. “If the government’s got your money, you can bet they’re wasting something.”

The only thing that’s being wasted is another summer with campaigns overselling a fat dividend to win votes. The political mosquitos will go away only if voters swat them down in the upcoming elections. 

• Larry Persily is the publisher of the Wrangell Sentinel, which first published this column.