ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
Session:
Alaska State Capitol, Room 121
Juneau, Alaska 99801
(907) 465-2327

Interim:
1292 Sadler Way
Fairbanks, Alaska 99701
(907) 456-8161

Senator Click Bishop
Bishop introduces bill to re-establish education head tax
For Immediate Release
February 11, 2019

For more information, contact:
Darwin Peterson, (907) 465-2327

Juneau – With many in Juneau anticipating budget cuts Wednesday from the governor, a legislator has
introduced a bill to establish a $30 education head tax to help raise money for school construction and
maintenance.
Senator Click Bishop, a Fairbanks Republican, says the need for new revenues to fund Alaska’s schools is as
important today as it’s always been. “We need to talk about that,” he said.
Bishop last year helped establish a new Permanent Fund Dividend Education Raffle that Alaskans may
participate in when filling out applications for this year’s dividend. “The education raffle is designed to help put
additional money in the classroom,” Bishop said. “The education head tax is aimed at getting money for brickand-mortar schools that house our students. Currently, we need $112 million in deferred maintenance and $190
million for construction.”
From 1919 to 1980, Alaska had an annual employment head tax for the purpose of collecting revenues to fund
schools. The tax went through numerous transformations, but it always charged an equal amount to each
employed individual. When it was repealed in 1980, the tax was $10 per person which has the equivalent value
of $30 today.
Senate Bill 50 proposes to revive the repealed head tax on employed individuals, both residents and
nonresidents. It would collect $30 from each person employed in the state, including nonresidents. The tax
would be withheld from an employee’s first paycheck each year. The tax is deductible from an individual’s
federal income tax return.
According to the most recent statistics from the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development and
the U.S. Census Bureau, the state has approximately 441,596 employed individuals. More than 20 percent of
them were nonresidents, resulting in $2.5 billion leaving Alaska’s economy each year and, in most cases, being
taxed by a nonresident’s home state.
Bishop’s education head tax is estimated to bring in $13 million a year. The revenue collected would be
deposited into the state’s general fund and accounted for separately to pay for the growing maintenance and
construction needs of Alaska’s schools.
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E-Mail: Senator.Click.Bishop@akleg.org
Website: www.alaskasenate.org/bishop/