On July 17, 2025, thousands of Alaskan residents are set to receive stimulus payments of $1,702 each. This financial boost comes from Alaska's Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD), a program unique to the state that shares the revenue from its natural resources—like oil—with its residents.
While similar initiatives like Mississippi's "Magnolia Mother's Trust" and California's "Abundant Birth Project" experiment with guaranteed income, Alaska’s PFD stands out because it has been around for a longer time and caters to around 600,000 people each year.
The PFD originated in 1976 with the purpose of ensuring future generations of Alaskan residents could also benefit from the state's resource wealth.
A few years later, the state started the PFD program to distribute a portion of these earnings directly to residents who meet specific eligibility criteria.
Key Dates for the 2025 Payments:
- July 17, 2025: Payments will be sent to residents whose 2024 or prior year PFD applications were marked as "Eligible-Not Paid" as of July 9, 2025.
- August 21, 2025: This date is set for distributing payments to those with eligible, unpaid claims from 2024 and earlier that were not processed by August 13, 2025.
Important Eligibility Criteria:
- Continuous Residency: You must have lived in Alaska for the entire year of 2023.
- Exclusive Alaskan Residency: You can't have claimed residency in another state or country, nor received financial benefits from another place since the end of 2023.
- Legal Requirements: In the past year, you shouldn't have been convicted of a felony or been incarcerated for a felony or a serious misdemeanor.
- Physical Presence: You must not have been outside Alaska for more than 180 days in the last year.
The application period for the next round of PFD checks, for the year 2026, will open from January 1 through March 31.
This PFD payment not only serves as a significant financial help for eligible Alaskans but also stimulates local economies as these funds are typically spent within the state.
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