A new round of $1,702 stimulus checks is expected to roll out in the coming weeks. However, unlike nationwide stimulus checks that AFROTECH™ has covered before, this one isn’t going to everyone.
The money, according to the Alaska Department of Revenue’s website, comes from Alaska’s Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD), an annual payment to eligible Alaska residents funded by investment earnings from the state’s mineral royalties. The program allows Alaskans to share in a portion of resource revenue for the benefit of current and future generations.
The department’s PFD Division determines eligibility each year, while the Alaska Legislature sets the rules through statute and regulation. The Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. manages the fund’s principal balance, investing it to generate returns.
The dividend amount, per the department’s website, is based on the number of eligible applicants. It is calculated using half of the statutory net income averaged over the past five fiscal years and will have reductions due to prior-year obligations, administrative costs, and certain state program appropriations.
For 2024 and 2025 applications marked as “eligible-not paid,” payments will be issued on the following dates:
- Aug. 21, 2025 — 2024 (and prior year) applications in “Eligible-Not Paid” status as of Aug. 13.
- Sept. 11, 2025 — 2024 (and prior year) applications in the same status as of Sept. 3.
- Oct. 2, 2025 — 2025 (and prior year) applications in the same status as of Sept. 18.
- Oct. 23, 2025 — 2025 (and prior year) applications in the same status as of Oct. 13.
To qualify for this year’s payment, the department clarifies that residents must have lived in Alaska for the entire 2024 calendar year; not claimed residency elsewhere since Dec. 31, 2023; intend to stay in Alaska indefinitely; if absent from Alaska for more than 180 days it was allowable; and been physically present in the state for at least 72 consecutive hours during 2023 or 2024. Individuals convicted of a felony in 2024, incarcerated for felony, or incarcerated for certain misdemeanor crimes following a prior felony since Jan. 1, 1997, are not eligible.
Since its launch in 1982, the PFD has paid Alaska residents an average of $1,229 per year, or roughly $4,916 annually for a family of four, according to Investopedia. That combined is a total of $31.3 billion. The fund currently holds $81.45 billion in assets, and more than 600,000 Alaskans are expected to receive the 2024 payment, per the outlet.
