Dear Neighbors,
This is the first in a series of newsletters about Senate Bill 21, the major re-write of Alaska’s oil tax system that is being hurried through the legislature in the last days of session. As it stands now, the proposal is a massive and ill-conceived giveaway of Alaska’s oil wealth with no clear connection to increasing oil production.
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Thank you to everyone that has called, written, or sent an e-mail to my office. It is very important to hear from you.
As we rapidly reach the end of session, we often receive lots of communication about budget items, bills, and other issues – sometimes orchestrated by one interest group or another. As I’ve said in the past, I don’t work for corporations. I don’t work for a political party. I work for YOU. I want to hear from constituents, not put-up campaigns. If you’re a District 38 resident, I want to hear from you!
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Dear Neighbors,
I’m sorry for not bugging you with one of these newsletters in a while – work has been crazy, and I’ve been battling to fix what I think is the worst piece of legislation this state has seen in a long time – an oil tax bill that will create fiscal cliff, cause $2 billion per year in annual deficits, and result in a loss of jobs through ripple effects across the state. The bill, at $120 a barrel, gives away roughly $1.5 - $2 billion in state revenue per year.
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Over the years I’ve watched the end of session rush of bills from afar on Gavel to Gavel, so I thought I had a pretty good idea of what I was in for when I came down to Juneau.
Now that we are down to the wire and I am in the thick of it, I can tell you it’s even more hectic on this end!
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Dear Neighbors,
In the middle of the night, shortly after 2 am in the morning yesterday, the House Resources Committee prematurely rushed out a bill intended to give away a massive share of Alaska’s wealth to the oil industry.
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