For many, the New Year signals a fresh start. But for Alaskans, it also means it\u2019s time to apply for the Permanent Fund dividend.<\/p>\n
Applications for the 2026 PFD opened Thursday, with online filing<\/a> starting at 9 a.m. Over<\/a> 600,000 Alaskans receive the PFD each year, which is usually paid out in October.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not yet clear how much the 2026 dividend will be.<\/p>\n In 2025, Alaskans received $1,000 \u2014 the smallest PFD in state history<\/a> when adjusted for inflation.<\/p>\n The Legislature and Gov. Mike Dunleavy will determine the 2026 PFD amount during the upcoming legislative session, which starts Jan. 20.<\/p>\n Dunleavy\u2019s budget proposal<\/a> would pay roughly $3,600 per eligible resident, but passing it through the Legislature is a long shot<\/a>. It would require using about half of the state\u2019s savings \u2014 more than $1.5 billion from the Constitutional Budget Reserve, which is the state\u2019s main rainy-day fund.<\/p>\n Already, some<\/a> lawmakers have raised concern about withdrawing that much from savings, arguing that a large PFD is unwise given low oil prices. Others say the money would be better spent on priorities such as public school funding.<\/p>\n To be eligible for a PFD, you must be an Alaska resident for the entire calendar year, and intend to stay in the state.<\/p>\n Alaskans have until March 31 to apply. You can file online at mypfd.alaska.gov<\/a> or pick up an application at any Permanent Fund Division office<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For many, the New Year signals a fresh start. But for Alaskans, it also means it\u2019s time to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":383568,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[88,92],"class_list":{"0":"post-383567","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-tv"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383567","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=383567"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383567\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/383568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=383567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=383567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=383567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}