Alaska Senate adds $5,500 PFD, energy relief check to the budget

JUNEAU, Alaska (KTUU) - The Alaska Senate has amended its budget to include a full statutory Permanent Fund dividend at roughly $4,200, and a separate one-time energy relief check at $1,300.

The full PFD amendment, at a cost of roughly $2.7 billion, was adopted on a 10-9 vote.

It’s not certain that a dividend of that size would be approved by the Alaska House of Representatives. House Speaker Louise Stutes, R-Kodiak, has signaled that the bipartisan House majority coalition wants the ceiling for this year’s dividend to be around $2,500.

Typically, if the House and Senate pass different versions of the budget, a conference committee is called to reconcile those differences, so a single bill can pass through both chambers and onto the governor’s desk.

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