Court Opinion

ID: 9618745
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 05:16:43.477455+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:03:49.574975
License: Public Domain

BURKE, Justice,
concurring.
I have serious reservations about certain aspects of the permanent fund dividend distribution plan, AS 43.23. Among these, it appears questionable to me whether the plan satisfies the “public purpose” requirement of article IX, section 6, of the state constitution.1 That section provides, in part: “No .. . appropriation of public money [shall be] made . . . except for a public purpose.” I think a strong argument can be made that the plan is one that amounts to “the giving away of public assets without any corresponding discernible benefit,”2 and that it, therefore, should be struck down. Compare Wright v. City of Palmer, 468 P.2d 326, 330-31 (Alaska 1970); Walker v. Alaska State Mortgage Assoc., 416 P.2d 245, 251-53 (Alaska 1966); Suber v. Alaska State Bond Committee, 414 P.2d 546, 551-52 (Alaska 1966); Lien v. City of Ketchikan, 383 P.2d 721, 722 (Alaska 1963); De Armond v. Alaska State Development Corp., 376 P.2d 717, 721-22 (Alaska 1962). This aspect of the plan has been largely ignored, both by the parties and my colleagues at the bench.
I am persuaded, nevertheless, to concur in the conclusion that the plan should be upheld.
The role of the courts in matters of this kind is relatively limited. Our function is not to determine whether, as prudent burghers, we might think this plan wise. [Citation omitted.] The test that we must apply is whether the plan is so unreasonable as to transgress the limitations of our constitution.
Wright v. City of Palmer, 468 P.2d at 331. We “will not set aside the finding of the *465legislature [that a public purpose will be served] unless it clearly appears that such finding is arbitrary and without any reasonable basis in fact.” De Armond v. Alaska State Development Corp., 376 P.2d at 721; Since I cannot say that such is the case here,3 I concur in the opinion of the Chief Justice.

. Iam troubled too by the plan’s treatment of residents under the age of eighteen years. It clearly recognizes that such persons have an equitable interest in the plan, since at age eighteen they are entitled to claim one dividend for each prior year of residency. The problem is that during those prior years, unlike persons eighteen and over, they will receive no direct financial benefit solely because of their age.
Traditionally, of course, we have treated children as a separate class. Under various rationales we have denied children many things that could not be denied their elders without violating the latter’s constitutional rights. One good example would be the right to vote. Whether one or more of these rationales would support the difference in treatment seen in Alaska’s permanent fund dividend distribution plan is at least open to serious question.
This issue, however, is not squarely before us. Thus, it need not be decided. I mention it only because I find it troublesome and, perhaps, worthy of consideration by the legislature or other interested parties.

. Wright v. City of Palmer, 468 P.2d 326, 331 (Alaska 1970).

. The legislature’s enactment of the permanent fund dividend distribution plan, AS 43.23, was preceded by the following statement:
Section 1. POLICY, PURPOSES AND FINDINGS, (a) It is the duty and policy of the state with respect to the natural resources belonging to it and the income derived from those natural resources to provide for their use, development, and conservation for the maximum benefit of the people of the state.
(b) The purposes of this Act are
(1) to provide a mechanism for equitable distribution to the people of Alaska of at least a portion of the state’s energy wealth derived from the development and production of the natural resources belonging to them as Alaskans;
(2) to encourage persons to maintain their residence in Alaska and to reduce population turnover in the state; and
(3) to encourage increased awareness and involvement by the residents of the state in the management and expenditure of the Alaska permanent fund (art. IX, sec. 15, state constitution).
(c) The legislature finds that the accrual of permanent fund dividends provided in AS 43.23 enacted in sec. 2 of this Act, based on full years of residency since January 1, 1959, fairly compensates each state resident for his equitable ownership of the state’s natural resources since the date of statehood. It is in the public interest to distribute a portion of Alaska’s energy wealth to the people of the state.
(d) The legislature also finds that state residents have been paying increasingly high prices for fossil fuels, while few have received direct monetary benefits from the production and development of fossil fuels belonging to them as Alaskans. It is in the public interest to return to state residents a portion of the state’s income from oil, gas, and other mineral production to help offset rising fuel costs.
(e) The legislature also finds that there exists in the state a serious problem of popula: tion turnover. A substantial portion of the state’s population is comprised of individuals who reside in Alaska for only a relatively short time. This constant turnover in population leads to political, economic, and social instability and is harmful to the state. It is in the public interest for the state to promote a stable resident population by providing an incentive to encourage Alaskans to maintain their residency in the state.
Ch. 21, § 1, SLA 1980.