
Matt Acuña Buxton
Matt is a longtime journalist and longtime nerd for Alaska politics and policy. Alaska became his home in 2011, and he's covered the Legislature and more in newspapers, live threads and blogs.
- Anchorage, Alaska
- 514 Posts
Dunleavy pledges shutdown, demands Legislature appease House Republican minority
He's apparently clueless about why the budget votes came up short but says while they're at it why not consider passing that big dividends after all.

In night of excuses, Republicans vote against budget, the PFD, PCE, scholarships and oil credits
The budget passed but without a successful revote on two key provisions, there's a lot that will go unfunded or underfunded.

As end nears, legislators look to spread the pain if compromise fails
The failure of the three-quarter vote has largely meant pain for rural Alaska. The compromise seeks to spread the pain of failure broadly.

A $1,100 PFD or consequences
A last-minute deal ties half of the PFD funding, nearly a dozen capital projects, several popular programs and oil tax credits to the all-important Constitutional Budget Reserve vote.

'I don’t believe it.' Legislators trash Dunleavy's dividend plan
Several weeks of hearings that have revealed glaring holes and unrealistic assumptions culminated Friday in a Senate Finance Committee hearing where senators took turns trashing the plan.

'Pick. Click. Pay your taxes.' Or don't.
Legislators kicked the tires on alternative PFD/budget proposals that wouldn't leave the hard questions for later. But the question remains, who pays?

The ‘$100,000 dividend’
The oil boom led to the creation of the dividend and the repeal of the income tax, which meant wealthy Alaskans reaped much of the benefit.

Who's the worst legislator?
You'll decide! (But it's probably Sen. Lora Reinbold.)

‘The governor’s plan works fiscally IF’
The governor's PFD plan adds up, but only if everything goes exactly, perfectly right.
Don’t call it an income tax, call it an income fee
Lessons from Colorado's time under the Taxpayer Bill of Rights.
