"Why is our state government so gosh darn dysfunctional?" I'll tell you why:
We have this thing called the Dividend which is known as the "third rail of Alaska politics". The People have been lied to for many many years about their entitlement to it. The Left has adopted it as part of their political strategy to force an income tax to pay for it. Their over-riding goal is maintain a fat government and re-distribute income (core Socialism principle) from hard-working Alaskans on top of it. This strategy has failed, and will continue to fail. The Dividend is a highly inefficient and ineffective way to help lower income Alaskans to boot. The IRS skims off at least 10% of the dividend funding right off the bat (at your highest marginal tax rate). In the meantime we are not fully funding core State services like Troopers, Pioneer Home, etc. If we end the Dividend, we can fund these essential services, balance the budget, and inflation-proof the Permanent Fund.
DividEND IT!