No one knows what tomorrow’s oil price will be. And no one in Alaska can control the price. Yet because oil is the largest taxpayer to the state treasury, many Alaskans, particularly legislators, look upon the twice-yearly state revenue forecast as either a winning lottery ticket or a parking ticket.

It either makes your day or ruins it.

Last week, all 19 Republican members of the House minority caucus wanted to delay voting on a spending bill to cover a large shortfall in this year’s state budget in hopes that the spring revenue forecast would show so much more oil money that legislators would not have to dip into savings to pay this year’s uncovered expenses for highway projects, prison guards, firefighting and disaster response.

As expected, the forecast released on March 13 shows more money, a lot more money, coming to the state in taxes and royalties from high oil prices. The windfall comes from fears of a global oil supply shortage, driven by the president’s decision to attack Iran and Iran’s decision to take revenge by forcing the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the primary waterway for moving oil and natural gas out of the Middle East.

The Alaska Department of Revenue reports that escalating oil prices could add about $1 billion more to the treasury in fiscal years 2026 and 2027 than had been forecast just three months ago.

It’s like a winning lottery ticket with a whole bunch of zeros after the 1.

House Republicans believe they did the right thing, not spending from savings when higher oil revenues may cover the bills. The word is “may.”

But they are missing an important point: Their focus on what may happen puts at risk the money that is needed now to ensure that summer roadwork goes to bid on schedule, and that disaster response and all the other programs covered in the budget bill go on as needed.

If, as the revenue forecast foretells, the state ends this fiscal year on June 30 with more money in the bank than had been expected, that surplus would revert to the same savings account — the Constitutional Budget Reserve Fund — that would advance the cash to cover state spending until the oil checks come in.

Any draw from the 36-year-old savings account is essentially a loan, to be repaid when there are leftover funds at the end of a budget year.

All of which makes the legislative debate moot: Pay today’s bills today, provide the services today, make sure the roadwork stays on today’s schedule, and then repay the savings account loan with the extra cash that flows from higher oil prices in the days that follow.

That leads to the question, just how should legislators spend the extra oil money on behalf of Alaskans. More money for schools, child care, foster care, community projects, roads, the courts, addiction treatment and energy-efficiency upgrades are among the possibilities. Or save it all. Or save some.

Those are decisions for the next nine weeks of the legislative session, which ends mid-May. For now, answer today’s question and pay this year’s bills.

If not, legislators deserve a parking ticket for not moving.