Candidate Click Bishop blasts governor for budget vetoes, says nothing about legislature cutting PFD

By SUZANNE DOWNING

June 26, 2026 – Alaska gubernatorial candidate Click Bishop is criticizing Gov. Mike Dunleavy for vetoing roughly $90 million from the state’s $15.6 billion fiscal year 2027 budget  (a reduction of just 0.58%) arguing that the governor’s action sends the wrong message as Alaska seeks to attract investment for the proposed Alaska LNG project.

In a campaign statement released Thursday, Bishop called the governor’s vetoes “disappointing.”

“The budget vetoes by the Governor are disappointing because Alaska is at a moment when unity matters more than division.”

Bishop went on to ask:

“Whether you supported these vetoes or opposed them, the larger question is this: What message are we sending to the world?”

He argued that investors, labor organizations, and businesses are watching Alaska’s political leadership as they consider the multibillion-dollar gasline project.

“The world should see an Alaska that is confident, capable, and ready to build—not an Alaska divided by endless political conflict.”

It’s a polished campaign message that sidesteps one stubborn reality: governors are elected to make budget decisions, including unpopular ones.

Bishop’s criticism of Dunleavy’s vetoes also comes with some political history. In 2019, when the Alaska Senate considered restoring the full statutory Permanent Fund Dividend of about $3,000, Bishop opposed the effort, arguing the state could not responsibly afford to pay the full amount while running budget deficits.

During floor debate, he forcefully warned that drawing too heavily from Permanent Fund earnings would undermine the state’s long-term fiscal health, comparing it to depleting the Constitutional Budget Reserve. Bishop has consistently maintained that government should only pay a dividend the state can sustainably “afford,” even if that means a smaller PFD. That position put him on the side of reduced dividends for Alaskans, making his current criticism of Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s relatively modest spending vetoes a notable contrast.

Dunleavy’s vetoes amounted to just over one-half of one percent of total state spending. The governor left intact the Legislature’s one-time $300 million education package while trimming dozens of smaller appropriations in response to a weakening revenue outlook.

The timing is significant: Oil prices have retreated from the levels lawmakers enjoyed while writing the budget, reducing the state’s expected revenues. Alaska’s finances remain heavily dependent on petroleum income, meaning even relatively small declines in oil prices can translate into hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenue.

Yet Bishop’s statement contains no acknowledgment that lower revenues require harder spending choices. Instead, he suggests the vetoes themselves create uncertainty.

Missing entirely from Bishop’s criticism is any mention of the Legislature’s decision to continue reducing the Permanent Fund dividend.

For many Alaskans, especially seniors on fixed incomes, families with children, disabled residents, and lower-income households, the dividend reduction represents the single largest budget cut they actually feel in their personal finances. Unlike many state appropriations, the dividend goes directly into household budgets across Alaska.