First Constituent Poll

I need your guidance with questions on roads, ferries, the Kensington Mine, oil and gas taxes, and other issues. Please help by taking a minute and filling out the questionnaire. Thank you.

HERE'S THE LINK TO THE POLL

Special Session Coming

I commend Governor Palin for wanting to do it right! I have just received her bill that will address the inadequacies of the Petroleum Production Tax. All of us are painfully aware that the PPT was written under questionable influences. Here is a little information on her bill.

What's important for all of us to understand is that the Governor's bill isn't really a tax increase. When the legislature voted for PPT in 2006, most didn't have any strong sense on the meaning of 22.5% versus 23%. What the legislators voted for was an administration's estimate of how much money would be raised. But after 18 months the revenue is coming up short by hundreds of millions of dollars. So, the governor's bill is designed to get tax revenues closer to what the legislature thought they were approving in 2006.

I've already met with several of the Governor's people as well as representatives from the oil companies. Everyone has a strong opinion, and consider this topic to be of urgent importance because most of the revenues that support the state infrastructure comes from our oil revenue.

Here are a few of the major changes between the existing PPT and what the governor has proposed:

• Some of the worst loopholes in the PPT are closed, including allowing deductions for expenses made five years in the past. It also won't allow BP to deduct the cost of replacing the deteriorated pipes at Prudhoe Bay that cause the August 2006 shutdown.
• The Palin bill provides for a minimum tax based on gross revenues. The deductions can't lower taxes below a certain point.
• It requires the oil companies to provide far more detailed information on what they're spending money on, so that it's easier to both enforce the tax and predict future revenues.
• Makes sure that explorers, who aren't yet producing any oil, can get full value for the tax credits they earn through their investments.

Coming Next Newsletter

Find out what I'm doing in this picture!

Please contact my office anytime. I always look forward to hearing from you. I will see you all soon, in our neighborhoods, at our schools and community meetings.

Sincerely yours,