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Rep. Jay Ramras, R-Fairbanks, says the sales and the lure of alcohol and other vices can be too tempting to resist for some with a pocket full of cash.

Ramras has introduced a bill to allow dividend recipients to receive their checks in quarterly payments rather than annually.

He said Tuesday that the dividend "ought to be a dynamic vehicle instead of a Christmas tree we pull a piece of fruit off once a year."

The quarterly dividend would be an option for those who receive their checks through direct deposit into their bank accounts. The payments would be made in October, January, April and July, according to Paul Dick, chief of operations for the state's Permanent Fund Dividend Division.

Dick said the program would cost $300,000 to establish and just over $60,000 a year to implement.

Ramras said if that 2 percent of dividend recipients - about 5,000 people - used the program, the interest earned from holding their payments longer would earn enough to pay for the program.

According to the dividend division the program would earn about $67,500 in interest the first year and gradually increase as the fund grows larger.

Rep. Vic Kohring, R-Wasilla, said Tuesday in the House Health, Education and Social Services Committee that he was "a little nervous about the government acting as a nanny" to protect citizens from their own spending habits. He said that those who misspend their dividends should be allowed to "wallow in their irresponsibility."

Kohring, however, said he supports the bill because the program would be optional.

Ramras said the bill also could help those in rural areas resist the urge to spend their entire dividends on alcohol.

Rep. Peggy Wilson, R-Wrangell, noted that alcoholism is a problem in urban areas too. But Ramras said those in rural areas are not targeted with advertisements to purchase cars and other things like in the urban areas.