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Oil and Gas Pipeline Topics
Alaska
Senate pushes for increase in oil tax revenue, amid war-driven oil
boom Alaska Beacon
Alaska
Senate approves corporate income tax that would apply to Hilcorp and
other private oil companies - Anchorage Daily
News
Closing
$100 million Hilcorp loophole will save jobs and the PFD. – Reporting from Alaska
The measure approved by the
Senate on Wednesday would enact state taxes not just on Hilcorp but
many companies, and collect revenues that would otherwise be leaving
the state, Dunbar said in an interview after the vote. “To be clear,
it’s not just Hilcorp that might be affected by this, but that is one
of the large, obvious holes we see in our oil tax structure right now
that is causing us to shift tens of millions, and over the long term,
hundreds of millions of dollars, from schools and roads and the permanent
fund dividend to out of state companies and individuals,” he said.
(My comment: The
S-Corporation correction is my bill. Alaskans who understand this
topic have said “Yes” to this rational levelizing of the playing
field, by a margin of over 75%. There are over 11,700 “pass through”
entities in Alaska; these are S-Corporations, LLCs. This bill
addresses oil and gas producers and transporters. Hilcorp is a
S-Corp; so is Glenfarne who is asking for a repeal of our property
tax right now. This correction to our tax law is needed because these
companies are owned by individuals, who pay no tax on the earnings in
our state because we have no personal income tax. They pay personal
income tax in Texas, where the owners predominantly live.)
Soaring
gas prices prompt Trump to ease oil tanker rules and waive the Jones
Act Alaska Beacon
The Trump
administration temporarily suspended the
Jones Act on March 18, 2026, as part of its efforts to
bring down soaring U.S. gasoline
prices. The
Jones Act is more formally known as Section 27 of the Merchant Marine Act of 1920. One of the act’s most impactful features is
its ability to limit domestic
maritime shipping and coastal trade. Under the act, a foreign-designated ship is
not allowed to transport goods between two U.S. ports or territories
without either leaving U.S. waters first or transporting those goods
to a U.S.-flagged vessel – which must be staffed primarily by U.S.
sailors. This rule helps to protect the U.S. shipbuilding industry from foreign competition and the jobs of
American sailors; however, it also limits free trade.
Senate
cuts oil tax ‘loophole’ as Dunleavy administration suggests gasline
won’t happen unless developer gets big tax cut. Juneau Independent
The Senate on Wednesday
turned a House bill with a mundane purpose — renewing a three-year
oil royalty agreement for a company processing state-owned oil at a
Kenai Peninsula refinery — into a political hot potato. Sen. Forrest
Dunbar, D-Anchorage, introduced an amendment imposing state corporate taxes on privately
owned oil and gas companies of up to 9.4% based on their net profits.
The move is the latest of many attempts to eliminate what policymakers refer to as an
"S-Corp loophole," which refers to companies organized as
passthrough S corporations having their profits taxed at a personal
income level — and Alaska has no personal income tax. The most
notable instance of that occurrence is Hilcorp Energy Co., which
operates the Prudhoe Bay oil field after purchasing BP’s Alaska
operations in 2019.
(My comment: This amendment
is my SB 92. The concept is one of fairness for Alaska and our tax
system. Other oil companies are C-Corporations (IRS tax designation
for large companies, publicly traded). Some of our oil production and
transportation companies choose to be S-Corporations (IRS tax
designation for small companies (<100 employees) that are
privately owned by one or more people, and are taxed through their
income taxes.)
Momentum
builds for gas-tax holiday Axios
A national gas tax holiday
would temporarily suspend the federal gas tax, currently 18.4 cents
per gallon on gasoline and 24.4 cents per gallon on diesel fuel.
Those figures don't include state taxes, which can be higher.
LNG
Canada, Coastal GasLink sign pipeline deal, bringing projects closer
to reality CTVNEWS
The companies behind the
Coastal GasLink pipeline and the massive LNG Canada facility in
Kitimat, B.C., have signed agreements that bring both of their second
phases closer to reality.
Alaska
Senate votes to clarify state authority for imported natural gas
prices Alaska Beacon
One sentence on page 39 of
the bill has been problematic for state regulators, Giessel said. The
provision states a LNG import facility under the jurisdiction of
federal regulators is exempt from state regulatory oversight. Giessel cited several cases where state regulators have been uncertain
about their power to oversee rates for imported gas. “It needs to be
clarified that the RCA has the authority over the cost of the product
purchased by one of our utilities,” she said in support of SB 180
before Tuesday’s vote.
Current Topics
Murkowski
calls on Alaska lawmakers to adopt a ‘legitimate fiscal plan’ - Anchorage Daily
News
Murkowski
asks Alaska Legislature to up its game – Alaska Public Media
Murkowski
tells lawmakers to continue LNG pipeline scrutiny as state gauges
economic horizon – Alaska News Source
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski
called on Alaska lawmakers to adopt a long-term fiscal plan amid
shrinking federal budgets and dramatic swings in oil prices during
her annual address to the Legislature in Juneau on Tuesday.
Bill
tightening definition of sexual assault by a health care worker
clears first committee. – Juneau
Independent
Current state law requires
a victim to be unaware they’re being sexually assaulted by a health
care worker during treatment for a criminal charge to apply. House Bill 242 simplifies the law so "any sexual
penetration or contact by a health care worker during professional
treatment constitutes first- or second-degree sexual assault,"
according to a fiscal note summary.
(My comment: This
correction to our laws is needed! This crime happens and its not new.
I personally knew a woman to whom this happened to about 20 years
ago; the physician was convicted and imprisoned, losing his medical
license. But others get away with this crime due to this weak law.)
Lawmakers
again seek to ease access to yearlong birth control supply after
Dunleavy veto - Anchorage Daily
News
A version of the bill
passed both chambers for the first time in 2024, before Dunleavy vetoed it. He
cited in his veto letter that “contraceptives are widely
available,” and requiring insurance companies to provide yearlong
coverage is “bad policy.” Jeff Turner, a spokesperson for Dunleavy,
did not expand on why the governor said the bill
represented bad policy.
(My comment: This is a
baseless veto. It represents the retaliatory policies of this
Administration.)
How
much will Alaska have to spend? Volatile oil prices make it difficult
to predict. Alaska
Public Media
Oil isn’t the only thing
that brings in revenue. The state also takes in other sources of
revenue, such as fish taxes, cruise ship passenger fees, mining, and
corporate taxes. Since 2018, earnings from the Permanent Fund have
been the single largest source of general-purpose dollars in the
state budget, and are not nearly as hard to predict as the oil
market.
Opinion:
You get what you pay for - Anchorage
Daily News
Those here before 1980 once
paid some state income tax. Since then, the state has primarily run
on oil revenue and relied more and more on Permanent Fund earnings
and the largesse of a friendly federal government that provides more per capita for Alaskans than in any other state.
While it turns out Alaska’s leaders were farsighted in establishing
the Permanent Fund, they were shortsighted in fully abolishing an
income tax. Believing in the better nature of residents with an
annual Permanent Fund dividend was great while the revenue was there,
but over time far too many Alaskans have developed an entitlement
mentality.
Alaska
Senate advances constitutional amendment to lower override threshold
for spending vetoes Alaska Beacon
The Alaska Senate on
Tuesday advanced a constitutional amendment that would lower the threshold for veto
overrides of spending decisions.
One
of Permament Fund founders calls for 'continuous improvement'. – Reporting from Alaska
Lt.Fran Ulmer said there
was also a strong belief that saving something from nonrenewable
resources was crucial so that there would be a stream of income when
the oil ran out. Many people believed that the Prudhoe Bay oil field
would not last beyond 2000. I know that’s why I voted for the
Permanent Fund when it was on the ballot in November 1976. It was
approved by a two-to-one margin because it was universally popular.
The approval had nothing to do with the Permanent Fund Dividend,
which had yet to see the light of day. There was almost no talk of a
dividend in 1976. It wasn’t until after the 1979 Iranian
revolution—and the Alaska windfall from higher oil prices that no one
had expected—that the concept of sending checks to people began to
gain some traction.
(My comment: This essay is
a great review of history as it really was.)
Stuff I found Interesting
Board
of Fisheries overhauls commercial drift fleet management plan. - KDLL
But the new plan is simpler. It describes one set of rules
for the fleet, mostly regardless of the time of season. It sets
drifters’ regular fishing hours from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Mondays and
Thursdays in the Upper Subdistrict’s expanded Kenai and Kasilof
sections.
The new plan also lets the
Department of Fish and Game commissioner give the fleet more fishing
time if sockeye runs are strong. It totally bans fishing days longer
than 16 hours and limits fishing in early August to the west side of Cook Inlet – Drift Gillnet Areas 3 and
4.
Arctic
Earthquake
early warning system coming to Alaska. Alaska News Source
“ShakeAlert is the primary
implementation in the United States to achieve the goals of
earthquake early warning,” West said. “The west coast of the United
States, California, Oregon, Washington have done this now
successfully for many years and are operational today, so it feels
past time for Alaska to join the ranks of these places and have early
warning capabilities.”
Economy
The
stock market has only 2 catalysts Axios
"'The Market' is just
a guy staring at two screens. One has Truth Social. The other is
Anthropic's blog," is how one poster on
X recently summed up the situation.
So
metal Axios
Aluminum is a critical
input across a bunch of industries — cars, houses, packaging
— and higher prices feed into broader inflation
pressure. Over the weekend, aluminum prices rose after the
Middle East's two largest aluminum producers were damaged from Iranian
attacks.
Education
Inside
the schools Alaska ignored Alaska Beacon
Two inches of raw sewage.
Persistent chemical leaks. Pipes insulated with asbestos. A bat
infestation. Black mold. “It kind of blows my mind some of the things
I found in public schools,” says Emily Schwing, a KYUK reporter and
ProPublica Local Reporting Network partner. Recently, we published her
investigation of dangerous conditions in
deteriorating public schools in Alaska’s rural villages.
(My comment: We have a
backlog of deferred school maintenance that is $401 million and 103
schools long. You are probably thinking “well, fix them”, but I ask
with what money. Usually we fund the top 5 projects. Last year the
Governor vetoed 3 of those (his ongoing effort to destroy public
schools). The list is nearly all rural schools. Take a look at the
idea of correcting the S-Corporation “tax loophole” which means about
added $150 million/year.)
University
of Alaska Giving Day nets $1.1 million from a record number of donors. Alaska News Source
Donors could choose just
about any program in the university system to give money to including
clubs, academic programs and athletic teams. Of the three statewide
campuses, the University of Alaska Fairbanks raised the most,
$546,315 from 1,301 donors, followed by the University of Alaska
Anchorage with $452,779 from 2,084 donors and the University of
Alaska Southeast with $105,819 from 315 donors.
Back
to Basics: North DeArmoun Living
Recently, much of our
school curriculum has shifted to screens. While the Internet can be a
valuable storage and research tool, the longer we rely on screens,
the more we realize how important it is to have physical copies of
the text to read, to write in the margins, and to make connections
with actual pen and paper.
(My comment: I loved this
essay from South High School Principal, Dr. Luke Almon.)
Elections
Editorial:
Alaska makes voting easier without overreaching — or overreacting - Anchorage
Daily News
For once, an election bill
comes out of a state Legislature and doesn’t feel like it was
designed to trip voters up. That alone is worth noting.
Opinion:
Alaska's elections work best when they are open, transparent and in
our own hands. ADN
Alaskans tend to agree on
at least one thing about our elections: Voters should decide who is
best for the job, not political elites. The election system Alaskans
adopted in 2020 was built around that idea. It created open primaries
and demanded true source disclosure for campaign contributions so
voters can see where political money comes from. Together, these
policies ensure that Alaskans can pick candidates who will show up
and do the work.
Across much of the country,
elections are shaped by a different set of rules. Closed primaries
narrow the field before most voters ever weigh in. And decisions like Citizens United allow unlimited amounts of secret money to
pour into campaigns through groups that hide the people actually
writing the checks. By the time voters see the ads flooding their
screens, they often have no idea who is paying for them — or
why. Alaskans chose a different path. In 2020, voters adopted a
system that prioritizes voter freedom. Here, primaries are open to
every voter, with every candidate on the ballot to choose from. Here
in Alaska, we have banned dark money in our elections because campaign
finance transparency is a right we take seriously. When money starts
pouring into campaigns, voters deserve to know whether that money is
coming from their neighbors in Alaska or from political interests
thousands of miles away.
Healthcare
More competition could mean
lower prices Axios
Beijing's full-cycle drug
development could wind up having very little impact on drug prices
here. Plenty of experts argue that U.S. drug prices aren't tied
to research and development or manufacturing costs. Drug companies
launch at high prices simply because they can, those experts argue.
🏛️ Health cuts may help fund
war Axios
Republicans are
considering reductions in federal health spending to help pay
for a budget bill containing as much as $200 billion to fund the Iran
war and immigration enforcement.
(My comment: Alaska already
has several thousand people losing Medicaid coverage under the new
stricter rules. Healthcare insurance premium costs has jumper up
again.)
Opinion:
An approach to mental health care that could make a life-or-death
difference for Alaska youths - Anchorage Daily
News
Parents are an important
part of a teen’s support system and benefit from involvement in care.
HB 232 is not about excluding parents. It is about getting care as
quickly as possible to teens who may not know how to tell their
parents they are struggling or feeling suicidal, or cannot
realistically involve them. In a young mind, not telling
a parent can be for reasons such as not wanting to add more to a
stressed parent’s plate, not wanting to let that parent down, or not
being able to safely or realistically involve a parent.
(My comment: HB 232 is a
copy of my SB 90. Same bill but offered by Independent in the House,
rather than me (a Republican). My hope is that one of these bills
passes and we can get the help to teens who are looking for help.)
Politics
Hegseth
Strikes Two Black and Two Female Officers From Promotion List - The New York
Times
Defense Secretary Pete
Hegseth is blocking the promotion of four Army officers to be
one-star generals, a highly unusual move that has prompted some
senior military officials to question whether the officers are being
singled out because of their race or gender.
Two of the officers
targeted by Mr. Hegseth are Black and two are women on a promotion
list that consists of about three dozen officers, most of whom are
white men, senior military officials said.
Why
the Iran War May Force Countries to Rely Less on Natural Gas - The New York
Times
Nations have other options.
They could develop their own domestic gas supplies or invest in more
gas storage capacity to weather large disruptions, according to
analysts at Wood Mackenzie, a consulting firm. But both would take
time to have a meaningful impact.
Powell:
Fed yet to decide on whether to "look through" war's impact Axios
Powell offered more insight
into how he builds consensus at the Fed. "I think an
underrated skill is in listening to people," he
said. "If you listen to people, and you hear them ...
and they understand that you're actually listening to them, and not
just communicating at them — for most of the people, most of the
time, that's going to be enough," he said, before adding:
"And by the way, that's true on Capitol Hill."
(My comment: as a Nurse
Practitioner, I’ve always said that if I listen carefully to the
client story and symptoms, they themselves will identify the most
helpful path forward. In public policy it’s not the loudest, most
powerful folks that hold the answers.)
1
big thing: Era of unshackled warfare Axios
Trump criticized the Geneva Conventions during his 2016
campaign, lamenting that soldiers were "afraid to fight."
He vowed to bring back waterboarding and "a hell of a lot
worse." Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, then a Fox
News host, spent Trump's first term lobbying privately and on air to
secure pardons for soldiers convicted of war crimes. With the
Iran war now entering its second month, Trump threatened yesterday to
"completely [obliterate]" Iran's power plants, oil wells
and "possibly all desalinization plants" if a deal isn't
reached soon.
Trump’s
plan for presidential library skyscraper in Miami includes two gold
statues of himself - Anchorage Daily
News
“This landmark on the water
in Miami, Florida will stand as a lasting testament to an amazing
man, an amazing developer, and the greatest President our Nation has
ever known,” Eric Trump posted on social media. He did not
immediately reply to questions about the project.
1
big thing: Get ready for $200 a barrel oil prices if Hormuz stays
closed Axios
"There is no policy
option to prevent oil prices from marching up toward $200 a
barrel if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed," said Jason
Bordoff, founding executive director of Columbia University's Center
on Global Energy Policy. "It's too large of an amount of
supply to the global market."
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