Permanent Fund & PFD: Myth vs. Fact

Understanding the difference between myth and fact is essential to an honest conversation about Alaska’s future.

Myth: The Permanent Fund Dividend is a constitutional right.

Fact: The Alaska Constitution creates the Permanent Fund, not the dividend. The dividend was established later by statute and can be changed by policymakers.

Myth: Every Alaskan is personally owed oil money.

Fact: Oil revenues belong to the State of Alaska. Voters chose to save a portion collectively for long-term benefit, not distribute it as individual compensation.

Myth: The Permanent Fund was created to pay dividends.

Fact: The Fund was created in 1977 to convert a finite, nonrenewable resource into lasting wealth for future generations. The dividend, created in 1982, was a policy tool to help protect that goal.

Myth: Reducing or changing the dividend violates voters’ intent.

Fact: Voters’ intent was to protect the Fund’s principal and ensure long-term stewardship. How earnings are used has always been a matter of public policy, not constitutional mandate.

Myth: The dividend comes from “free money.”

Fact: The dividend comes from investment earnings made possible by decades of disciplined saving — and from the billions of dollars invested in oil development on Alaska’s North Slope.