Posted on 12/18/2011 2:38:37 PM PST by thackney
The Alaska Senate is about to enter a bruising debate over whether to slash how much Alaska taxes oil companies, with Senate President Gary Stevens calling the governor's tax cut plan a giveaway that could cost the state billions with little in return.
"We have been asking the administration (of Gov. Sean Parnell) for months to give us some proof this will do Alaska some good," Stevens said last week.
It's a debate likely to dominate the 90-day session of the Alaska Legislature that begins in Juneau on Jan. 17. The state House has already passed the governor's bill so the pressure from the state chamber of commerce and other groups who want to lower the tax is bearing on the members of the Senate who so far have stonewalled Parnell.
Parnell calls his bill to lower oil taxes the top economic priority of his administration and said he will keep pressing.
"We need a game-changer to turn declining production into increasing production," Parnell said in a recent speech. "And not just any old oil tax change will do; the changes have got to be meaningful, tweaks are not enough to make us competitive."
Proponents of cutting the oil tax are touting recent statements of some state senators about changing the system. But changes under discussion in the Senate are much more modest than what Parnell has been talking about.
"Many senators have concerns about the bill. Real and important questions. If it does make it out of the Senate it will only be with changes, major changes I suspect," Stevens said last week to the policy group Commonwealth North.
(Excerpt) Read more at adn.com ...
...
On the revenue side, we see continued declines in oil production in a state where oil revenues pay for 90 percent of the budget. There is a good reason to believe the state's production forecast is actually a tad optimistic: It includes new oil projects still being evaluated. If some of the new oil doesn't show up, as has often happened, the decline steepens.
...
The results of the Dec. 7 state oil lease sale weren't particularly encouraging. The sale wasn't a bust but it wasn't wildly successful, either. Basically, companies already on the Slope bid to add acreage, although there were two new companies, both small firms.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2821925/posts
>>>You are misinformed<<<
Actually I'm uninformed.
I was asking a question, not stating an opinion or a fact.
Thanks for the answer.
I was curious as to whether Sarah Palin's money sharing plan was becoming unraveled.
Yes. The so-called "oil curse" has bypassed the United States because Americans have traditionally owned the mineral rights to their own property. Alaska flirts with disaster under the current system.
I guess we should just pay the oil companies for getting that filthy oil out of the ground up here; but they probably wouldn't even be happy with that either.
Just business for the oil industry, but resources are state wealth up here that funds everything so we don't have all the taxes you all do in lower 48. Most Alaskans feel that if we don't get the going price for oil, let her in the ground. Alaska could go 10-15 years without any tax revenue if they had to, but actually oil industry always seems to want what we have in the end after crying poverty every other year and demanding tax reductions. No joke, been watching the game since I got here 20 years back. This ain't something new.
No offense Thackney, we just differ on this picture.
After what the Alaskan people have allowed to happen by re-electing the ousted republican senate member using democrate votes I say EFEM!
Crap, I can’t remember her GD name!!!
Isn’t 98 or 99% of land in Alaska owned by either the feds, the state or tribal entities? That leaves 1-2% in-holdings scattered from hell to breakfast for the private sector.
My mom and dad both worked at the elementary school in our small town. And among the many things I owe them is a simple lesson that I’ve learned, that this is America, and every woman can walk through every door of opportunity...
So I signed up for the PTA because I wanted to make my kids’ public education even better...
This was the spirit that brought me to the governor’s office when I took on the old politics as usual in Juneau, when I stood up to the special interests, and the lobbyists, and the Big Oil companies, and the good-old boys...
When oil and gas prices went up dramatically and filled up the state treasury, I sent a large share of that revenue back where it belonged: directly to the people of Alaska. And despite fierce opposition from oil company lobbyists, who kind of liked things the way that they were, we broke their monopoly on power and resources. As governor, I insisted on competition and basic fairness to end their control of our state and return it to the people.
...which provided extra, "early funding for [public] education" (Alaska State).
Governor Palin Signs Domestic Violence Legislation
That filthy oil is the fuel of the modern world we have today and for the foreseeable future.
Alaska has it (oil) and you're right you can ask anything you want for it. Just remember oil companies are just like any business interprise they require a profit to offset the massive investments that is required in the oil business. There isn't another industry in the world with the overhead of the oil industry.
Norway funds govt with oil taxes too and close to same size as Alaska. They have 400 billion in their perm fund, we have 40 billion. Reason is oil companies pay a much higher rate of tax in Norway. In Alaska, they realized long ago our politicians could be bought awful cheap and they could get a much better tax deal, just business as usual to oil companies. Why do you think so many of our Republicans are dead against oil industry taxes being reduced? They watched it done for many years and it never benefits Alaska or Alaskans. Not kidding either.
“I like Palin but tend to disagree with some of her policy choices...”
Watch it pal, we’re not allowed to say bad things about Palin. So repeat after me: “Palin did a great service to the country by screwing oil companies that wanted to explore there”. Repeat again.
Thank you...you can stay on this site (LOL).
The overly large tax scheme known as ACES that she and others put in place has been questioned as slowing down investment by the current governor and others.
The "money sharing" portion, the money that goes into the Permanent Fund and then a portion of the earnings goes to the residents, that money is strickly from the Royalties, sales of the mineral right production to the oil companies. That portion was unchanged during the Palin's Administration.
Although many talked as if Sarah Palin increased that to give more money to the people, it was completely unchaged during her time. Her adminstration changes only changed the tax structure and 100% of those additional funds went to the state government.
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