Now, I understand our senate is proposing a cut to the dividend as a way to help balance the budget. With all due respect to Sens. Stedman and Von Imhoff, et al: Do you really want to take money away from children, school kids and college students, not to mention the lowest wage-earners in our society?
I have been advocating for a graduated income tax for the last three years. It is the easiest, most productive way to generate additional income for providing necessary services, with the least impact on the most needy. We all need to pitch in and help pay for the services we all want and need.
It is so simple; everyone has to file a federal income tax. Then we just take a flat percentage of that figure as a state tax, as we used to do, with the dividend exempted and a large standard deduction.
This should also generate a lot of revenue from the fisheries and oil industry, where nonresidents living on the West Coast and Texas come up here, utilize our state services, then take all their earnings back home with them. This is happening year-round, by thousands of nonresidents.
— Orin Seybert, Anchorage
