When saving for higher education, a little can truly go a long way

Energy costs are up. Inflation is at 40-year highs. Interest rates are on the rise. And yet, there has never been a better time for Alaskans to start saving for higher education, because there is never a better time to start than now. That’s right — despite all the grim economic news, Alaskans can and should take steps now to set aside money for college, trade school, vocational training, or whatever postsecondary education is desired.

Research shows that even relatively modest investments in a young person’s education savings can increase their chances of pursuing higher education and graduating. In fact, children with $500 or more saved for college are three times more likely to enroll, and four times more likely to graduate. That trend is proved out in the data for low- to moderate-income children, too. Every dollar counts, and even a small amount saved creates expectations that can help launch someone into a college career.

Despite those encouraging statistics, far too many families are delaying and not saving, or not saving nearly enough. A “2019 College Savings: Lessons Learned” study showed that 42% of parents wished they had started saving for college earlier, and 22% wished they had researched more options.

Here in Alaska, where every resident receives a Permanent Fund dividend, only about 2% of applicants choose to automatically invest part or all the annual windfall for future education expenses. This is a huge, missed opportunity.

In Anchorage, more than 70% of business owners surveyed reported that availability of a skilled workforce was a top barrier to business growth, according to Anchorage Economic Development Corp.’s 2021 Business Confidence Index. Alaska employers need to cultivate the next generation of leaders, and they are actively looking for recent graduates of applicable programs who fit those roles.

Education has always been a smart investment in a child’s future, but right now, thanks to Alaska 529, the return on investment, as it relates to future employment, is a particularly good bet. I invite employers to participate in a solution to workforce shortages by offering Alaska 529′s payroll direct deposit program as an employee benefit.

Alaska 529 offers two of the most generous education savings incentive programs in the country. Launched just recently, the Dash to Save and Dash to Save More programs offer unique benefits not found elsewhere in the U.S. Specifically, the first 5,000 qualifying new Alaska 529 accounts opened this year with a minimum investment of $25 will be gifted an additional $250. Alaska 529 will also pitch in up to $100 annually to accounts with automatic monthly contributions and/or payroll direct deposits. This adds up to $350 in possible benefits, which quickly gets Alaskans close to that magical $500 threshold that research shows make a measurable difference in encouraging students to attend and graduate from college.

Program Director Alaska 529 and UA ScholarsAlaska 529 accounts grow in a tax-advantaged environment, and offer convenient, age-based investment options, where portfolios become more conservative as a child approaches post-secondary education. Static investment options (that keep the same allocation over time), are also available, including the UA Portfolio that offers a tuition value guarantee if used at the University of Alaska.

When is the right time to start saving? Whether your student is an infant or a teen, the best time to start saving for future education is right now. Alaska 529 offers unique and generous benefits that can help families build their accounts and inspire young people to pursue education after high school, earn a higher standard of living, and build Alaska’s future.

The bottom line is, it’s always better late than never, a little goes a long way, and something is better than nothing. We owe it to the next generation to get started now.

Lael Oldmixon, Program Director Alaska 529 and UA Scholars

University of Alaska

Federal overreach

Alaskans are fundamentally aware of how the heavy hand of Washington bureaucrats negatively impacts the economy, our individual liberties and the sovereignty afforded to states under the 10th Amendment.

Decades ago, Gov. Wally Hickel directed the Department of Law to dedicate attorneys and resources specifically for the purpose of Statehood Defense. In 2013, the Alaska Legislature enacted a law to require an annual report about the State’s legal disputes with the federal government. Last November, Governor Mike Dunleavy signed Executive Order 325, authorizing my office to fight back against any unconstitutional encroachment of our rights and liberties.

While federal interference has been a consistent burden, the number of legal conflicts and lawsuits with the federal government have significantly increased in the months since President Biden took office. It seems like every day we learn of a new mandate from the Biden Administration that undermines personal freedoms or jeopardizes the livelihood of Alaska’s core industries.

The Biden Administration can’t seem to stay within the lines established by Congress and the Constitution, forcing states with limited resources to continually push back through court actions.

If left unchecked in court, the federal government would block safe, oil exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. It would prevent infrastructure to support our mining industry. It would dictate medical decisions that should be made by patients and their physicians. And it would even wrest land away from Alaska Native veterans.

Fortunately, the Department of Law has challenged the Biden Administration’s vast overreach on multiple fronts. Lawsuits against five different, unconstitutional COVID-19 vaccine mandates are pending in federal court. Likewise, we are defending the State’s actions as it relates to the proper and effective management of our abundant natural resources, lands and navigable waterways.

In 2021, the Legislature authorized an additional $4 million for the Department to keep up the fight against the onslaught of federal actions that adversely impact the State. We are seeking more funding again this year for the purpose of Statehood Defense. It’s a small price to pay to protect our economic interests, management authority, and individual liberties.

This additional funding will equip the Department of Law with the resources needed to push back on federal government actions improper under the law and inconsistent with the priorities that position Alaska for the future. Here are just some of the ways we are working to oppose the Biden Administration’s obstructionist policies:

•The State opposes a federal ban on offshore oil leases for portions of the Chukchi and Beaufort seas. President Trump’s administration lifted the ban, only for it to be reinstated by the Biden Administration.

•A federal judge allowed Alaska to intervene in a lawsuit over a Biden-implemented moratorium on oil exploration on ANWR’s Coastal Plain. The moratorium directly violates a 2017 Congressional mandate opening the area for development.

•The State sued last March to stop a delay in federal oil and gas lease sales, which directly impacts a Cook Inlet sale. This delay to “review” the federal leasing program effectively establishes a moratorium.

•Multiple lawsuits are now pending related to the Submerged Lands Act, which states that Alaska owns and may regulate the waters and submerged areas of the state. There are currently disputes over state regulation of the Kuskokwim, Fortymile, Koyukuk, Bettles and Dietrich rivers.

•Despite previous federal authorization of the Ambler Industrial Access Road in the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA), the Biden Administration has put a hold on construction of a road that would provide access to mineral deposits and provide direct benefit to Alaskans in that region.

•The State continues to try to prevent the Federal government from imposing a roadless rule in the Tongass National Forest which would upset the balance struck in ANILCA and the Tongass Timber Reform Act.

•The federal government has consistently delayed a program that would provide land to Native Alaskan veterans of the Vietnam War. A federal program was created in 1998 for Native Alaskans serving in the war who were unable to meet the 1971 deadline under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. Delays have kept the land just out of reach for deserving, aging veterans.

•Alaska has more wetlands than all other states combined, but a federal interpretation of the Clean Water Act would greatly expand federal authority over wetlands to even include marshy areas on private property. That case is currently pending in the U.S. Supreme Court.

•The federal government would block states from reducing the tax burden on its residents if the state accepted federal pandemic relief money. A U.S. District Court judge found that federal mandate unconstitutional and the federal government has appealed.

•Most recently, the Department of Law has joined with attorneys general in other states to push back against the Biden Administration’s vaccine mandates. Those unconstitutional actions affect millions of Americans, specifically those who work for federal contractors, healthcare workers, Head Start employees, National Guard soldiers and workers at private businesses with more than 100 employees. Fortunately, the U.S. Supreme Court put a halt to the mandate for private businesses, but the other litigation is ongoing.

The effort to protect Alaska’s interests against an overzealous and overreaching federal government is a priority for my office. For more details about the federal legal issues involving Alaska, and to see the annual report required by law, visit https://law.alaska.gov/pdf/admin/FederalIssues.pdf

Attorney General Treg Taylor

Juneau, AK

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