Autumn is nearly over and Winter is creeping up on Fairbanks. To tell you the truth, at this point, I’d rather just have snow since we already have the ‘cold’. As you have heard, the Legislature has been called in to a special session regarding progress on the important gasline legislation that passed in 2014 under the last administration. We are scheduled to convene on Saturday morning at 11am. It won’t be easy to leave home for a month on the road, but this was anticipated and lawmakers should get this important work done no matter what the personal inconvenience. Special Session Topic – Gas Reserves Property Tax The legislature will tackle the difficult and bold issue of a gas reserves property tax during this session. Despite not having all the details of the bill, a reserves tax has been a concept that has been floated for many years as a way to spur development on leases that are not being produced. A similar concept preceded the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. Basically, a leaseholder that is not utilizing their field to produce natural gas, would no longer be exempted from paying property taxes like the rest of us.
State Ownership and TransCanada In 2014, SB138 was passed to create a new gasline proposal outside of theAlaska Gasline Development Corporation and Governor Palin’s Alaska Gasline Inducement Act. The AKLNG proposal brought together the big three corporations who have leases on the North Slope and the state in a partnership. At stake during this special session is whether we buy our share from TransCanada and exercise our equity interest in what could be the largest pipeline project in the world. With ownership comes both risks and rewards and lawmakers will have to wrestle with the current costs today to decide whether 25% statewide ownership is a good investment. The Billion-Dollar Budget Questions
As you know, the state is facing a growing unease in the economy across Alaska with low-priced oil, an oil tax system that doesn’t work and budget cuts from the federal government. Last year, we were able to cut the budget by $800-million and still worked hard to spare education and healthcare from the deepest cuts. Next year is beginning to look just as bleak without a rebound in oil prices and with some completely unwilling to accept the job with all of these challenges.Governor Walker will soon release some information on the budget and a fiscal plan to stabilize the economy and put Alaska on a firm fiscal heading. I am looking forward to hearing from neighbors, new Alaskans, Pioneers and everyone who has ideas and wants to continue to keep Alaska a great place to live, work and raise a family. Working Hard for Fairbanks Families,
Representative Scott Kawasaki |
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