NEWS: Near Zero Value Nuna Oilfield Deal Challenged by Rep. Gara
November 20, 2014
Anchorage – Thursday, Representative Les Gara (D-Anchorage) asked the Parnell Administration to hold off on a controversial proposal for tens of millions of dollars in additional tax reductions on a North Slope oilfield. Last week Governor Parnell’s Commissioner of Natural Resources announced his proposal to reduce the 12.5% royalty on the Nuna oilfield by over 50%.
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NEWS: House Minority Praises the Signing of a Bill Designating 20 Alaska Native Languages as Official State Languages
October 23, 2014
Anchorage - The Native languages of Alaska’s indigenous people became official languages of the State of Alaska on Thursday during a bill signing ceremony held in conjunction with the 2014 Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN) Convention in Anchorage. Passage of the bill was a priority of the members Alaska House Minority Caucus and Alaska Native people from across the state. The prime sponsor of the bill was District 34 State Representative Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins (D-Sitka). The Sitka Democrat spoke during Thursday’s signing ceremony.
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NEWS: Alaska Consumers Pay for Governor’s Failure to Accept Medicaid Expansion
October 7, 2014
ANCHORAGE - Nationwide 7.3 million people have signed up for Marketplace plans, paid their premiums, and accessed quality, affordable coverage. States that accepted the Medicaid expansion have seen lower premiums. In 2015 there will be a 25% increase in the total number of issuers selling health insurance plans in the Marketplace in 44 states.
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NEWS: GARA: Parnell, GOP “Education Year”: 3 Years of Anchorage Educator Cuts; Property Tax Hike
September 30, 2014
ANCHORAGE - Today Rep. Les Gara (D-Anchorage) said legislators could have avoided the major staff cuts the Anchorage School District is facing according to their recently released tentative “3 year” forecast. That forecast shows a loss of over 500 teachers and staff over the next three years.
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NEWS: Parnell “Chooses Silence” On Zero Worth Oil Provision
August 13, 2014
Governor Parnell has had three weeks to defend a special interest provision in SB 21 that gets Alaskans either a near zero, or even negative long term Production Tax Worth under his controversial oil revenue rollback, SB 21. Rep. Les Gara wrote Governor Parnell on July 24 to ask for his defense of a zero or negative value oil tax provision. Parnell has refused to defend a provision that gets Alaskans little, or possibly a negative worth for fields that went into production under ACES, fields committed to go into production during ACES, and all post-2003 and future oil fields.
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