That bonus amounts to about $130 a month....pretty awesome!  It's a direct result of having to bargain against Washington state, Oregon, California, etc.....just like we do for diesel fuel and big screen tv's. The  "bonus" and increases have a lot more to with labor prices from out of state than if the positions could be filled from qualified people in state.
If you look at what educators make in Anchorage over about 30 years, adjusted for inflation, it's basically flat or down slightly.
And this Leg is not "dipping into reserves."  They're depleting them, and I don't think anybody sees repaying the CBR in the near future, if ever.  The deal is, doing it smartly would make the CBR last longer and prevent us from being in a position where we eventually are into the Fund itself.  
At that point we're dissipating the wealth accumulated over 30 years because of a lack of long term thinking while there were still resources.

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