Alaska Food, Resource, and Commodity Assurance Act, Ballot Language

Filed pursuant to Article XI of the Alaska Constitution and AS 15.45.010 through AS 15.45.245

Approximately 34,098 signatures required (10 percent of the total votes cast in the last general election, distributed across at least three-fourths of the 40 house districts, with signatures in each qualifying district equal to at least 7 percent of the votes cast in that district in the preceding general election. The 2024-cycle requirement was 34,098 valid signatures; the requirement for the current cycle pends the Alaska Division of Elections calculation on 2024 general-election turnout.)

BALLOT TITLE

AN ACT ESTABLISHING THE ALASKA FOOD, RESOURCE, AND COMMODITY ASSURANCE PROGRAM TO PROVIDE ALASKANS ACCESS TO FOOD AND ESSENTIAL GOODS AT PRODUCTION COST PLUS DISTRIBUTION, WITHOUT RETAIL MARKUP.

BALLOT TEXT

Shall there be enacted an Alaska law establishing a food, resource, and commodity assurance program modeled on the federal military commissary system, which has operated at-cost food distribution since 1867, to provide all Alaskans access to food and essential goods at production cost plus distribution cost, without retail markup; prioritizing Bush Alaska communities off the road system; coordinating with Alaska Native regional and village corporations as partners; honoring subsistence as a parallel food system; and funded through the General Fund, the Permanent Fund Earnings Reserve Account (an allocation not exceeding one percent of the fund's five-year average market value), and federal partnership programs, with no new state taxes required?

[ ] YES, I am in favor of this law.

[ ] NO, I am opposed to this law.

PROPONENT STATEMENT

This initiative establishes one program: food and essential goods at production cost.

A commissary-style distribution system provides food and essential goods at production cost plus distribution cost, without the 75.7 percent retail marketing markup documented by the USDA Food Dollar Series. The federal military commissary has operated this model for 159 years. Alaska's subsistence economy has operated at-cost food distribution for millennia. The Permanent Fund Dividend provides cash; this program provides the distribution infrastructure that cash alone cannot build. Aviation-based logistics serve Bush Alaska communities off the road system, drawing on military Arctic supply-chain expertise from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Eielson Air Force Base, Fort Wainwright, and Clear Space Force Station.

The program establishes at-cost food and commodity distribution centers, prioritizing Bush Alaska communities with the highest food insecurity, beginning with the Kusilvak, Bethel, Northwest Arctic, Yukon-Koyukuk, and Nome census areas. It coordinates with Alaska Native regional and village corporations as partners, requiring corporate consent for distribution infrastructure on Native corporation lands. It honors subsistence as a parallel food system with independent legal standing under ANILCA Title VIII and AS 16.05.258. It builds food-security infrastructure that persists regardless of oil prices.

THREE PRECEDENTS, ONE STATE. The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act proves communal ownership of productive assets works. The Permanent Fund Dividend proves universal distribution works. Subsistence proves at-cost food works. This program integrates the three into a single at-cost food and commodity distribution system.

FISCAL IMPACT SUMMARY

No new state taxes are required. The program is funded through:

(a) General Fund appropriation within annual operating budgets; (b) An allocation from the Alaska Permanent Fund Earnings Reserve Account

    not exceeding one percent of the fund's five-year average market
    value per fiscal year, dedicated to the food and commodity assurance
    program;

(c) Federal partnership funding through United States Department of

    Agriculture food distribution programs and Department of Defense
    commissary logistics expertise;

(d) An operational surcharge not exceeding five percent on distribution

    center sales, making centers self-sustaining after the initial
    infrastructure investment.

FOOD PROGRAM TARGET. The program serves Alaska's population of 738,737 residents (Alaska Department of Labor, July 1, 2025 estimate) and requires approximately $450 million per year at the full Table 1 baseline of $609 per person per year. Measured against the FY2026 enacted unrestricted general fund of approximately $5.0 billion, the target represents approximately 9.0 percent.

The Permanent Fund Earnings Reserve allocation is a redirection of existing Permanent Fund earnings, from cash distribution alone to cash distribution paired with infrastructure. The Permanent Fund Dividend is not reduced; the infrastructure investment comes from the Earnings Reserve Account, not from the Dividend calculation.

Phased implementation over ten years: Years 1 and 2: pilot programs in five communities; Years 3 through 5: regional hub expansion; Years 6 through 10: full statewide implementation.

The projected FY2027 budget deficit of approximately $1.53 billion demonstrates Alaska's dependence on oil revenue. This program builds infrastructure that persists regardless of oil prices, reducing long-term vulnerability to commodity cycles.

EVIDENTIARY BASIS

This initiative is supported by the following documented evidence:

- The United States military commissary system: 159 years of at-cost food distribution (Commissary Act of 1867; 10 U.S.C. 2484) - USDA Food Dollar Series: 24.3 cents farm share, 75.7 cents marketing share - The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act: 44 million acres, 12 regional corporations, more than 200 village corporations; communal ownership operating at scale since 1971 - Alaska Permanent Fund: more than $86 billion; universal dividend distribution since 1982 - Alaska Native subsistence: thousands of years of communal resource management - Marmot Whitehall Studies: 10,308 subjects, threefold mortality gradient by hierarchical rank - Bush Alaska food prices: $10 to $15 per gallon of milk; the highest food costs in the United States - Coresight Research: 7,325 United States retail store closures in 2024 - Trans-Alaska Pipeline: more than 18 billion barrels transported, single-resource dependency - Exxon Valdez oil spill, 1989: 11 million gallons, subsistence-economy devastation

THREE PRECEDENTS. ONE STATE. ONE BILL. The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act proves communal ownership works. The Permanent Fund Dividend proves universal distribution works. Subsistence proves at-cost food works. This bill integrates them.

SUBMISSION CLAUSE

This initiative is submitted to the people of the State of Alaska pursuant to Article XI of the Alaska Constitution. Petitioning the government for redress of grievances is protected by the First Amendment.

Filed _____________________ (date)

SIGNATURE LINES

Print Name: _________________________________ Signature: __________________________________ Address: ____________________________________ Date: ______________________________________

Print Name: _________________________________ Signature: __________________________________ Address: ____________________________________ Date: ______________________________________

Print Name: _________________________________ Signature: __________________________________ Address: ____________________________________ Date: ______________________________________

END OF BALLOT

Alaska Food, Resource, and Commodity Assurance Act Citizen Initiative Petition State of Alaska