While federal and state stimulus checks went out to Americans over the past three years on multiple occasions, the payments have mostly ended. However, some states continue to send out stimulus checks to residents even through 2023 and the payments are expected to continue in 2024.
Alaska is among the various American states that are sending out stimulus checks to residents as a form of supplementary financial aid. The state will be issuing payments adding up to over $1,300 on November 16 this year.
The Alaska relief checks fall under the Permanent Fund Dividend and are enabled through the profits that the state obtained from the sale of oil and gas in the state in 2023. In other words, the Alaska stimulus check is a form of reward for residents for a bumper sale of oil.
Alaska Stimulus Checks An Annual Affair For 42 Years
This year marks the 42nd one when the stimulus checks have been sent out to Alaskans. The share of the state’s natural resources has injected around a billion dollars into the economy of Alaska and has gone directly into the hands of ordinary citizens.
Adam Crum, the commissioner of the revenue department in Alaska, said that they have processed more than 8,000 extra applications when compared to the 2022 figures. He said that the permanent fund dividend in 2023 will send the billion dollars directly into the hands of ordinary Alaskans.
But some politicians have also cautioned against an ‘Alaska Disconnect’ of expecting the stimulus checks to continue in perpetuity. State Representative Cliff Groh, who helped draft the legislation that established the Alaska relief check, said that residents should now consider paying an income tax on the funds. Rep. Groh said that residents with an income above $200,000 should pay 2% as income tax while other residents were asked to add to the state service funds.
