Alaska Gov. Bill Walker signed the state operating budget Friday without vetoing any of it.
The portion of the budget directly controlled by the Legislature includes $4.9 billion.
The budget includes $760 million for Permanent Fund dividends, which will be $1,100. The budget decreases funding for government agencies by $145.7 million. It increases funding for state retirement payments and debt service.
Walker thanked the Legislature for avoiding a government shutdown. But he said the job is not complete.
The budget closed a $2.5Â billion gap between what the government spends and what it gets in taxes, fees and oil royalties. It used state savings from the Constitutional Budget Reserve to close the gap.
There isn’t enough money in this reserve to cover a similar gap in next year’s budget.
Andrew Kitchenman is the state government and politics reporter for Alaska Public Media and KTOO in Juneau. Reach him at akitchenman@alaskapublic.org.
