Land of polar bears, Inuit peoples, the tallest

mountain in North America, and free money.

Wait, what?

Yep, it's true.

Last year, Alaskans received over 1000 bucks each

just for living there.

The money comes from a social wealth fund,

an investment portfolio that was seeded with oil revenues,

which then pays an annual dividend to everyone in the state.

The story of how this came to be is fascinating.

The Alaska Permanent Fund is the brainchild of former

governor Jay Hammond, in office from 1974 to 1982.

Hammond was practically a caricature

of the rugged Alaskan stereotype.

He was a Marine Corps pilot with the famous

Black Sheep Squadron in the second World War

and later, a bush pilot in Alaska.

In 1965, Hammond became Borough manager of a small

coastal town called Bristol Bay.

Upset by the fact that the poor residents of Bristol Bay

were getting only three percent of the revenues

from the local salmon catch, Hammond proposed a small tax

on the fish catch to seed a social wealth fund.

97 percent of the money would come from outsiders,

and the Bristol Bay Borough would get a permanent

dividend paying investment fund.

The idea fell flat on its face, Hammond later wrote.

All people could hear was the word tax.

So he tried again, this time with a local

Native American tribe.

They had received a 900 million dollar settlement

from the federal government and Hammond argued

they should use it to seed a social wealth fund.

That didn't work either.

Then, after being elected governor, Hammond tried

increasing the natural gas tax and using some

of the proceeds to give Alaska residents a tax credit.

That passed, but Hammond was disappointed that

only tax payers received the benefit

and that almost no one remembered the tax credit.

If people weren't aware of the program,

it would be easy to take away.

Next time, he decided, he wanted to put a check

in everyone's hand.

So when drillers hit another oil strike, Hammond argued

that the ensuing tax money should be used

for a real social wealth fund.

After vetoing one initial attempt for being too moderate,

he got it through in the form

of a constitutional amendment in 1976.

It started paying out annual dividend in 1982.

It has since accumulated about 65 billion dollars in assets

and paid out a $1000 dividend

to every Alaskan citizen in 2017.

In polls, the Alaska Fund is immensely popular.

78 percent rate it favorably and 59 percent, very favorably.

79 percent say the money is an important source of income

for people in my community.

The people who describe benefiting from it the most

are mothers with young children, unmarried women,

women without a college degree, and Native American women.

It's a hugely successful program that is both fair

and yet also helps people in need the most.

America should remember Jay Hammond

and set up a similar program for the whole country.