Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 - our look at the top 3 things on our mind here at Alaskans for Sustainable Budgets - for the week of February 16, 2026.

This week, our top 3 issues are these: 1) we discuss what the House Finance Committee is up to with its recent actions on the PFD (2:16), 2) we explain how recent data from the Permanent Fund Corporation itself demonstrates why the goal of the proposed one-account Permanent Fund Constitutional amendment is to open a back door into the Permanent Fund corpus (16:22), and 3) we discuss our comparison of the impact of PFD cuts and the Governor's proposed sales taxes by legislative district and how it shows that, in virtually all of them, using a sales tax leaves more money in the pockets of the median Alaska household (36:35).

The Weekly Top 3 is a regular weekly segment on The Michael Dukes Show. The Show broadcasts on Facebook and YouTubeLive as well as via streaming audio from the Show’s website weekdays from 6–8am. We join Michael weekly in the first hour of Tuesday’s show, from 6:25–7am, for a discussion between the two of us about our three issues.

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 — our look at the top 3 things on our mind here at Alaskans for Sustainable Budgets — for the week of February 9, 2026.

This week, our top 3 issues are these: 1) we explain how the response of the House Finance Committee to the Governor’s proposed fiscal plan badly fails working class Alaska families (2:08), 2) we discuss how their reaction to the Governor’s proposed fiscal plan proves even “progressives” really don’t care about the economic situation faced by working class Alaska families (19:18), and 3) we explain how the new data on non-resident workers acts as a report card on how the Legislature is treating working age Alaska families, giving them a failing grade (39:39).

The Weekly Top 3 is a regular weekly segment on The Michael Dukes Show. The Show broadcasts on Facebook and YouTubeLive as well as via streaming audio from the Show’s website weekdays from 6–8am. We join Michael weekly in the first hour of Tuesday’s show, from 6:25–7am, for a discussion between the two of us about our three issues.

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 — our look at the top 3 things on our mind here at Alaskans for Sustainable Budgets — for the week of February 2, 2026.

This week, our top 3 issues are these: 1) we explain how the new ISER study shows, by shifting a significant part of the responsibility for revenue to non-residents, the Governor’s seasonal sale tax proposal materially reduces the burden currently being borne by Alaska families through PFD cuts (2:23), 2) we explain how, by misrepresenting and ignoring the effect of the Governor’s seasonal sales tax proposal, the editorial boards of the Anchorage Daily News and Fairbanks News Miner are intentionally obfuscating its significant benefits to Alaska families (19:08), and 3) we discuss the parts of the Governor’s proposal that are problematic, such as its failure to close the state’s full deficits and its painfully inadequate adjustments to oil taxes. (36:22).

The Weekly Top 3 is a regular weekly segment on The Michael Dukes Show. The Show broadcasts on Facebook and YouTubeLive as well as via streaming audio from the Show’s website weekdays from 6–8am. We join Michael weekly in the first hour of Tuesday’s show, from 6:25–7am, for a discussion between the two of us about our three issues.

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 — our look at the top 3 things on our mind here at Alaskans for Sustainable Budgets — for the week of January 26, 2026.

This week, our top 3 issues are these: 1) now that all of the pieces have been filed, we explain and start to analyze Governor Dunleavy’s proposed fiscal plan (2:09), 2) stripped of the hype, we discuss how far along the Alaska LNG project is really (17:39), and 3) we explain why, rather than writing op-eds patting themselves on the back, the Permanent Fund Corporation Board members should be doubling down on working harder to achieve the earnings levels the Fund should be generating (38:34).

The Weekly Top 3 is a regular weekly segment on The Michael Dukes Show. The Show broadcasts on Facebook and YouTubeLive as well as via streaming audio from the Show’s website weekdays from 6–8am. We join Michael weekly in the first hour of Tuesday’s show, from 6:25–7am, for a discussion between the two of us about our three issues.

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 — our look at the top 3 things on our mind here at Alaskans for Sustainable Budgets — for the week of January 19, 2026.

This week, our top 3 issues are these: 1) we explain what we will be looking for in the Governor’s proposed fiscal plan he is preparing to roll out as part of his State of the State address Thursday (2:12), 2) we explain why this year’s version of Jansen & Schierhorn’s annual “don’t change SB21” op-ed is missing a paragraph, and discuss why the absence is hugely meaningful (18:20), and 3) we discuss our thoughts about how the Legislature should construct a government spending cap; it is a much different approach than how the current spending caps are constructed (37:00).

The Weekly Top 3 is a regular weekly segment on The Michael Dukes Show. The Show broadcasts on Facebook and YouTubeLive as well as via streaming audio from the Show’s website weekdays from 6–8am. We join Michael weekly in the first hour of Tuesday’s show, from 6:25–7am, for a discussion between the two of us about our three issues.

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 — our look at the top 3 things on our mind here at Alaskans for Sustainable Budgets — for the week of January 12, 2026.

This week, we are using the segment to discuss our Top 5 fiscal priorities for this coming legislative session:

In the first part of the segment (at 2:30), we discuss our first and second priorities:

• Opposing the consolidation of the current two-account Permanent Fund system into a single account, and 
• Reforming oil taxes,

In the second part (at 18:04), we discuss our third and fourth priorities, both of which are designed to reduce the current disproportionate burden imposed by state fiscal policy on middle and lower-income Alaska families and the overall Alaska economy: 

• Restructuring and constitutionalizing the PFD, and 
• Coupled with a spending cap, adopting a broad-based tax, and

And in the final part (at 40:05), we discuss our fifth priority: 

• Reforming the Permanent Fund Corporation Board to refocus its membership on those having substantial investment expertise and experience.

The Weekly Top 3 is a regular weekly segment on The Michael Dukes Show. The Show broadcasts on Facebook and YouTubeLive as well as via streaming audio from the Show’s website weekdays from 6–8am. We join Michael weekly in the first hour of Tuesday’s show, from 6:25–7am, for a discussion between the two of us about our three issues.

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 — our look at the top 3 things on our mind here at Alaskans for Sustainable Budgets — for the week of January 5, 2026.

This week, our top 3 issues are these: 1) we discuss what we view as the single most important fiscal issue facing the legislature this coming session (2:05), 2) we discuss what the impact of a potential new surge in Venezuelean oil development could have on Alaska (18:42), and 3) we explain how a recent report from the Permanent Fund Corporation itself demonstrates that its Board continues to overspend and underperform (36:13).

The Weekly Top 3 is a regular weekly segment on The Michael Dukes Show. The Show broadcasts on Facebook and YouTubeLive as well as via streaming audio from the Show’s website weekdays from 6–8am. We join Michael weekly in the first hour of Tuesday’s show, from 6:25–7am, for a discussion between the two of us about our three issues.

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 — our look at the top 3 things on our mind here at Alaskans for Sustainable Budgets — for the week of December 15, 2025.

For those who follow us, this is our last podcast for 2025. After taking a couple of weeks off for the holidays, we will return on January 6, 2026.

This week, our top 3 issues are these: 1) we explain what the Department of Revenue’s Fall Revenue Forecast tells us about state petroleum revenues (2:07), 2) we explain what OMB’s 10-year forecast tells us about the outlines of a potential solution to the state’s never-ending fiscal crises (17:08), and 3) in our wrap-up to this, ourlast show of 2025, we do our annual “Christmas Top 3” (35:43).

The Weekly Top 3 is a regular weekly segment on The Michael Dukes Show. The Show broadcasts on Facebook and YouTubeLive as well as via streaming audio from the Show’s website weekdays from 6–8am. We join Michael weekly in the first hour of Tuesday’s show, from 6:25–7am, for a discussion between the two of us about our three issues.

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 — our look at the top 3 things on our mind here at Alaskans for Sustainable Budgets — for the week of December 8, 2025.

This week, our top 3 issues are these: 1) we explain why neither the “fair share” nor “all we need is more development” sides of the oil tax debate is addressing the issue in the way the Constitution does and the Legislature should (2:15), 2) we discuss a recent op-ed by Larry Persily: while he explains that he understands that Alaska has developed a K-shaped economy, he doesn’t seem to get that he and others who advocate for deep PFD cuts are a big part of the reason for it (19:35), and 3) after reviewing recent news reports, we explain why the Bishop for Governor campaign seems to lack any appreciation of the most critical issue facing the state (39:22).

The Weekly Top 3 is a regular weekly segment on The Michael Dukes Show. The Show broadcasts on Facebook and YouTubeLive as well as via streaming audio from the Show’s website weekdays from 6–8am. We join Michael weekly in the first hour of Tuesday’s show, from 6:25–7am, for a discussion between the two of us about our three issues.

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 — our look at the top 3 things on our mind here at Alaskans for Sustainable Budgets — for the week of December 1, 2025.

This week, our top 3 issues are these: 1) we discuss the significant uncertainty regarding oil price, and with that oil revenues, that the Legislature will face this coming session (2:10), 2) we explain why we have asked whether Lt. Governor Dahlstrom is duplicitous or just dumb when it comes to the Permanent Fund (18:56), and 3) we explain why, while we like Ralph Samuels, we believe he is a horrible pick for the Board of the Permanent Fund Corporation (36:59).

The Weekly Top 3 is a regular weekly segment on The Michael Dukes Show. The Show broadcasts on Facebook and YouTubeLive as well as via streaming audio from the Show’s website weekdays from 6–8am. We join Michael weekly in the first hour of Tuesday’s show, from 6:25–7am, for a discussion between the two of us about our three issues.