Stateline: As oil prices go, so goes the fate of Alaska. With prices averaging over $110 a barrel, Alaska is experiencing a revenue boom unlike any other state, allowing it to recover from the recession as “a rock of stability,” as Governor Sean Parnell puts it.

Alaska’s budget surplus and reserves are nearing $17 billion, enough to cover any emergency for 10 years. The state has such a fat nest egg that it prepays its future education bills, a practice other states can only dream about. Residents share directly in the oil riches; in October, the state deposited $1,174 into each resident’s bank account out of a $40 billion oil wealth fund. Alaskans pay no income or sales taxes.

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