Updated at 1:40 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 16

Sen. Bill Wielechowski, along with former legislators Rick Halford and Clem Tillion, filed a lawsuit Friday morning over Gov. Bill Walker’s cut to Alaska Permanent Fund dividend checks this year.

In June, Walker slashed funding from the state budget to artificially make the payout this year $1,000, when original estimates placed the amount closer to $2,000. Walker did so as part of a more than $1.29 billion veto package to save money in light of the state’s multi-billion dollar shortfall — now estimated at $3.2 billion, according to Katie Marquette, a spokesperson for Walker’s office.

But Wielechowski, Halford and Tillion argue the money shouldn’t have been in the budget to begin with, and that legally, the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. has an obligation to automatically transfer the full dividend amount to the dividend program.

“We’re filing this lawsuit today because Alaska needs an answer,” Wielechowski wrote in a letter accompanying the complaint. “We need to know who decides the amount of the dividend — the governor or a Legislature?”

Both Halford and Tillion served in the Alaska Legislature together in the 1979-1980 legislative session, around the time that permanent fund legislation was drafted and debated. Tillion served as Senate president, and Halford as a member of the Alaska House.

“He brings this litigation in part based on an obligation to defend the intent of the Legislature to create a PFD program linking Alaska residents’ dividends to ownership of the Permanent Fund,” the complaint filed Friday says of both Halford and Tillion.

In a Facebook post Tuesday evening, Walker defended his cut to the dividend program.

“I’ve heard concern from Alaskans about the size of this year’s PFD,” Walker wrote. ”My decision to veto half of the money for this year’s dividend was a difficult one, made with painstaking forethought and consideration. Without my veto, the money that funds PFDs would be gone in just four years. Ultimately, I want Alaskans to be able to receive a PFD for years into the future, and $1,000 this year means our kids and grandkids can look forward to a similar dividend in the years to come.”

Later Friday, Walker’s administration released a statement voicing disappointment in the decision to move forward with the lawsuit, adding that the legal action takes attention away from fixing the budget crisis.

In the release, Walker stated this year’s dividend check amount is close to the historical average paid since 1982. He said the cut was part of a larger fiscal solution—to ensure the permanent fund dividend program continues for generations to come.

“I therefore stand by my difficult but necessary decision—prompted by the legislature’s failure to pass a fiscal plan—to veto part of this year’s dividend appropriation to preserve our PFD program and other financial resources for this and all future generations of Alaskans,” Walker wrote.

Walker also pointed out Wielechowski’s suit comes just eight weeks before his bid for re-election. Walker said one reason he made the decision to cut the dividend was because lawmakers asked him t0 — they wouldn’t do the politically unpopular work, so he agreed. He said the cuts will protect dividends for Alaskans in the future, and that without them, the dividend program will go away in just a few years.

“I know how unpopular it is to do that, but to not do that when you know that if we don’t make a change in a few years that goes to zero, I am going to do that for the long term and not necessarily the immediate term,” he said.

This is a developing story; please check back for updates and watch continued coverage on KTVA at 10 p.m.

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