Advocating for Alaska’s future Message From CEO Rebecca Logan
A lliance Members and Friends: I hope you are all enjoying a fabulous Alaska summer. I know that you are enjoying all of the fabulous news coming from Washington DC that is focused on Alaska’s future! With a federal government that is doing all it can to ensure the economic viability of Alaska for years to come, it is critically important that our Alaska elected officials match their efforts. The Alaska Department of La - bor recently revealed some pretty dire news about Alaska’s Gross Domestic Product. “Long-term stagnation” was used to describe the scenario: Alaska’s gross domestic prod - uct grew more slowly over the past decade than that of all other states except for one, according to a Department of Labor and Workforce Development analysis. The state’s GDP — the value of all goods and services — rose by only 0.4% annually on av - erage from 2015 to 2025 when adjusted for inflation, according to the analysis in this month’s Alaska Economic Trends, the magazine published by the de - partment’s research and analysis section. Only North Dakota has slower growth during the period, averaging 0.2% a year. This is something that every - one in the private sector should be concerned about. What policy should the private sector advo - cate for, in our next legislative session, to ensure that Alaska is open for business, has a stable business climate and can grow it’s GDP? To that end, I would like to intro- duce you to Alaskans for Common Sense. The mission of Alaskans for Common Sense is to support re- sponsible and sustainable fiscal policies to: n Enhance investment in Alaska’s resource industries n Provide essential state ser - vices and sustain the Permanent
Fund for future Alaskans n Provide an affordable level of Permanent Fund Dividends without the need for excessive taxes Consider the following policy positions they are advocating for: n Avoid Unnecessary Taxes: Do not increase taxes on current resource industries, businesses, or individuals in a manner that threatens further investment, economic development and pros - perity for Alaskans. It is possible additional taxes could be needed to support essential services in the future, but it would make no sense to impose higher taxes simply to pay out an unsustain - able dividend. n Don’t Overdraw the Per- manent Fund: Do not violate the annual 5% POMV (Percent of Market Value) draw from the Permanent Fund. This 5% al - lowable draw is the law and is an effective spending limit on government services and the dividend. Overdrawing the fund is reckless. It reduces long-term
earnings and our ability to pay dividends, maintain low tax - es and support essential state services. This discipline would sustainably preserve the Perma - nent Fund for our children. n Don’t Annihilate Essential Services & Infrastructure: Do not destroy essential state services or capital investment. We must be responsible in our spending, and continue to cut unnecessary expenses, while still supporting the essential needs of Alaskans. Annual investment in infrastruc - ture, deferred maintenance and education is critical for future economic growth. You can learn more about the group at www.alaskansforcom- monsense.com. Enjoy the rest of your summer and I look forward to seeing you when our fall activities begin and discussing the issues that we will be facing in the next legislative session. Respectfully, Rebecca Logan CEO
THE LINK: SUMMER 2025
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