Five government functions accounted for 69 percent (more than 2/3) of the Alaska "Premium" for 1996 (the shares don't change much from year to year):

• Permanent Fund dividend
• Highways
• K-12 education
• Extra interest expense of state agencies
• Other unique programs (buried in the U.S. Department of Commerce data in the "Other and Unallocable" category)
  • longevity bonus
  • power cost equalization
  • etc.

Five additional functions accounted for 20 percent (2/3 of the rest) of the "premium":

• Natural resources
• Judicial and legal
• Financial administration
• Air transport
• Welfare

The remaining 10 percent, amounting to $490 per capita, was spread across all the other functional categories of government.

 

What Functional Categories Accounted for the Alaska Premium in 1996?
Function	Per Capita Premium at Alaska Price Level	Total Premium at Alaska Price Level (million $)	Percent of Premium
Total Premium	$4,803	$2,923	100%
PF Dividend	$1,059	$643	22%
Highways	$781	$474	16%
K-12 Education	$638	$387	13%
Interest on Debt	$488	$296	10%
Other Unique Programs	$374	$227	8%
Natural Resources	$368	$223	8%
Financial Administration	$168	$102	3%
Judicial and Legal	$160	$97	3%
Air Transportation	$152	$92	3%
Welfare	$124	$75	3%
All Other	$490	$305	10%
Source: US Department of Commerce, Governmental Finances.