Alaska Senate Passes Bill to Pay Back Permanent Fund Dividends

0:00It's April 14th. This is Anchorage News today, AI-powered stories from your city. Alaska's Senate just unanimously passed the bill to pay back permanent fund dividends to folks whose felony convictions get vacated, reversed, or dismissed. Right now, if you're locked up for felony or certain misdemeanors, you lose your dividend that year and every year after until you're out. This fix aims to make things right for the wrongfully convicted. Under Scott Kawasaki from Fairbanks, sponsored Senate Bill 167, saying the state has a real duty to correct harm done to those. Exonerated. He tried something similar back in 2017 when he was in the house, and it passed there 38 to 1. Groups like the Tanana cheese conference and after innocence are backing it strong. Kawasaki notes it'll only hit a few people each year, but that cash is a key boost for them starting over. The bill lets qualifiers apply within one year of their case flipping, but not of charges dropped in a plea deal.

1:00No exact cost yet, since the dividend division doesn't track past claims, but funding pools from reserves. Word is, the Fairbanks 4, wrongfully locked up for a 1997 case, could pocket around $103,450. Dollars and back pay, if it all goes through. This pushes justice a step further up north.