Walker needs to be honest---the biggest reason he want's part of the PFD and taxes is because he wants the money for his gas line.   He is obsessed with this project and needs all the money he can get his hands on.  Walter Hickel before him wanted to get his hands on the PFD as well , because he wanted state money to pay for many pie in the sky projects . Both Walker and Hickel didn't need the yearly PFD check , so they didn't care that those checks mattered to so many others . The bottom line is that if legislators get they're hands on the PFD and create new taxes---they will never stop taking that money when oil prices go way back up.