There were three basic arguments offered by supporters of this proposed constitutional amendment to establish the Permanent Fund:

• The fund would help to create an investment base from which to generate future income. Then, when oil revenues ran out, there would still be a major source of state revenues to pay the costs of basic government services.

• The fund would remove a significant portion of the oil revenues from the legislative spending stream, thus reducing the opportunities for excessive spending by the legislature.

• The fund would prudently take some of the non-renewable oil wealth and transform it into a renewable source of wealth for future generations of Alaskans.

The unique appeal of these three arguments helped to secure the needed plurality. By a margin of 75,588 to 38,518 the voters said "yes" to amending the Alaska constitution and creating the Alaska Permanent Fund. On Feb. 28, 1977, the Fund received its first deposit of dedicated oil revenues.

• From "An Alaskan's Guide To The Permanent Fund" (www.apfc.org)