Rep. Kawasaki’s Newsletter: Flawed Oil and Gas Bill, What’s Ahead for the PFD?
On Monday, the Conference Committee on HB 247, the Oil & Gas Tax Credit Reform bill, was advanced and passed by both the House and the Senate. As introduced by the Governor, the bill was originally an aggressive reform to scale back costly subsidies by $500 million. The bill was dramatically changed through the Republican-controlled committee process to strip away nearly all savings and continue the unsustainable oil industry subsidies.
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Rep. Gara’s Newsletter: Good Budget News; Corporate Fiscal Plan that Will Harm Schools, Opportunity
A lot of good and bad things have happened since I wrote last. Here’s the good, bad, and, well, sorta’ secret stuff people should know about. And, on a revenue plan especially, I’d like to hear from you!
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NEWS: Conference Committee Advances Flawed Oil Tax Credit Subsidy Bill
Juneau – Today, the Conference Committee created to work out the differences between the House and Senate versions of House Bill 247 advanced a new version that continues unsustainable subsidies to the oil and gas industry that will cost Alaska hundreds of millions of dollars a year. The only member of the Minority on the Conference Committee is Representative Geran Tarr (D-Anchorage). She objected to the new version of HB 247 and voted no on advancing the bill out of the committee.
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Rep. Drummond’s Newsletter: Special Session Update
After negotiating over the Memorial Day weekend, the Legislature passed a $4.6 billion operating budget. This is a reduction of $500 million from last year. We also passed one of the smallest capital budgets in state history. Nearly $3.2 billion comes from the Constitutional Budget Reserve, the state’s savings account. The session now can be laser-focused on a fiscal plan, before our savings are depleted.
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Rep. Spohnholz’s Newsletter: Special Session Update
On Tuesday, the legislature passed a compromise budget package funded by the Constitutional Budget Reserve as is needed. This budget compromise is far from perfect, as are many compromises, but it allows us to keep Alaska open for business so that the fishing, tourism and business communities can continue to operate during the summer. The budget compromise ensures that we don’t face a crippling government shut down which would further damage the State of Alaska’s credit rating and hurt the thousands of Alaskan state employees and those who count on their essential efforts. In this special session update, I will describe these budgets generally as well as what is next in the special session.
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