"maximum benefit of the people" doesn't just mean individual dividends. Collective dividends are needed to fund a good standard of living. When the state of Alaska was being formed the federal government knew that with it's size and population base Alaskan's would not be able fund a workable level of government, and they(the feds) didn't want to be on the hook for it. The common ownership of resources was absolutely meant to fund government, that was key to the statehood pact. The PF came later as one of those resources paid off big time. Again, the PF was absolutely created to fund government down the road since the resource is non-renewable. The PFD was added to protect the PF from over jealous politicians. The PFD is not a "free-money giveaway", it's a shareholder (Alaska resident) dividend. Like any company in financial trouble Alaska must look to various ways to get out of trouble. Cuts to dividends, cuts to spending, other sources of revenue, and ....? Damn, out of characters!!