It’s a royalty check. Read the AK Constitution. The people of Alaska OWN the oil, and the gold, and all the other valuable minerals in THEIR State.
And the payout is tied to production. No production, no payout. High production, high payout, low production, low payout. At least that’s my understanding of how it works.
About 25% of the oil Royalties goes to the Permanent Fund, about half the income of the fund plus their share of the oil royalties is then paid out to Alaskans. The rest is put back into the Fund to keep it growing.
None of that has anything to do with the ACES tax plan implemented under Governor Palin. That is a tax on the profits after royalties and other approved expenses are paid. That tax is not redistributed, only the portion of the royalties.