Viewpoints
Energy assistance: Yes or
No?
By Joey J. Tillson
August 17, 2008
Sunday
On behalf of all Alaskans incurring the negative affects of the
rise of rates for gas, oil, and everything else in our state
except our wages, I wish to bring to light a major concern regarding
Governor Palin's band-aid for this problem with a $1200.00 stipend
to cover the impeding costs.
My major concern is the energy money being added to our PFD checks.
Many people in our state do not qualify for the PFD. Discriminating
against people who do not qualify for the PFD is absurd. Any
Alaskan who has felt the negative affects of high gas prices,
high oil prices, high grocery prices, high water prices, high
electricity prices...you get my point, should qualify. Understandably,
people who just came to our state last month haven't felt the
affects as much as we who have lived here longer, have. But
a person who has been here at least six months to a year has
felt the negative affects of our crisis. Anyone who lived here
for at least six months or more, has a job, children, a home,
a pet, is breathing has felt our crisis.
Many people do not qualify for the PFD for a few different reasons.
One reason could be they have committed a felony. One reason
could be they spent a night in jail from breaking the law after
committing two misdeamnor offenses since 1997. One reason could
be non-crime related such as a person moving here in June 2007
(notice it's over a year) but do not qualify for the filing of
a PFD. Maybe another reason is a person filed bankruptcy and
part of the agreement is to give up their PFD. Yet, another
reason could be child support or collectors take the PFD. There
are a number of different reasons for not receiving a PFD. But
we are all human beings suffering the negative affects of rising
costs in our state.
My suggestion is to have an application for all Alaskans to fill
out. It might delay the pay out but it would benefit everyone
in our state. If people are eligible for a PFD, then add the
money on to it providing it is not taken by collectors, child
support, etc. We all have a right to this if we are all suffering
from this. We can put the money back into our state too. We
can pay our electricity without having to take out a bank loan
like some Juneauites have had to do from last April's avalache.
How do we take care our state? We do this by taking care of
all of our people in our state regardless of their status in
life.
Sincerely
Ms. Joey J. Tillson
Ketchikan, AK
About: "Fellow Alaskan
feeling the affects of high-cost energy usage"
Received August 17, 2008 -
Published August 17, 2008
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