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Dear Friends and
Neighbors,
I'm going to start out a
bit negative.
Yesterday, May 18, was a
day that defies description.
Governor told the
Legislature:
· pass the bill he wants or he will veto the
bill for Alaska's workforce.
· pass his version of a gas pipeline bill that
no one is allowed to know much about, or he will veto a bill worked
through 2 Legislatures for the past 4 years.
· his
veto of the pension bill (here) at 10:48 pm scorns and denegrates the public
employees who work in local governments as well as the state.
His version of a gas
pipeline defies our Constitution - ignoring resource development
for benefit of Alaskans (benefit for a private company), surrenders
our taxing authority (removes local taxation authority, forbids
financial transparency, logical financial assessment).
The Governor's actions
can be described by some very troubling terms that I am leaving for
you to come up with. This "transactional" approach is the
worst possible way to make public policy.
Pipeline-for-pension
deal falls apart as the Alaska Legislature’s regular session nears
end Alaska Beacon
Alaska
LNG negotiations between Dunleavy and lawmakers break down as end
of session nears - Anchorage
Daily News
Dunleavy
vetoes state employee pension bills after LNG debate stall. Alaska News Source
Dunleavy
vetoes public employee pension bill after gas line bill stalls in
House. Juneau Independent
LNG
bill finds last-ditch avenue to passage with legislature in crunch
time. Alaska News Source
Gov. Mike Dunleavy,
R-Alaska, vetoed a long-fought for bill providing pensions for
state employees Monday with days left in the session after a hail
Mary play to pass property tax exemptions for the proposed natural
gas line stalled.
But after nearly 10 hours
of debates about the proposed legislation on the House floor, it
was amended in a way that Kopp said would kill the deal with
Dunleavy.
I beseech Alaskans! -
Please think before you vote in August Primary and November General
elections. Alaska needs leadership in the Governor's seat with the
humility to work with the Legislature, listen to Alaskans rather
than D.C. and corporations, and is willing to focus on the job.
Being Governor is a hard job. Please choose a work horse, not
another show horse.
Thank you to my staff and colleagues!
Samantha Freeborn compiles, and constructs
these newsletters so well!
Deneen Tuck monitors Conference
Committee, summarizing actions.
Jane Conway does final editing.
Paige Brown has been a phenomenal
Resources committee aide, managing all the legal and logistics.
I am proud to work with
this team of amazing women!
I am so grateful for the
Senate Resources Committee this year. They do not complain
about the massive work load we have had, what became daily
meetings, then twice-daily meetings.
These members are some of
the most intelligent, experienced Senators. I'm humbled to have
chaired such a great committee.
Our work was supported by
the Legal Counsel for the Senate Majority, Sonja Kawasaki.
Her attention to detail and knowledge of statutes is invaluable.
It takes a team of
support staff to accomplish this complicated work. Those are the
senate secretaries, audio managers, and building crews.
Diverse perspectives make
policies better, which is why bipartisan coalitions are so
important and more productive.
Senate Floor Work
Many bills are passing
the Senate floor every day.
Eight bills were heard and passed on
Saturday, May 16.
Eleven bills were heard and passed on
Sunday, May 17.
Two bills were heard and passed on
Monday, May 18.
See the section below on
Bills Moving.
Supporting A Gasline for Alaskans Act
In the Legislature, this
bill is important, supported, and seriously being worked on.
I suspect Governor
Dunleavy will call a special session of 30 days on this topic at a
cost of $1 Million. (Yes, that's the cost of a Special Session.) My
team and I are ready to work.
Fifty-five percent (55%)
of Senate Resources committee meetings were devoted to this topic in
this session.
We adopted Version
S on
Monday, to contain the Fairbanks Spur Line amendment.
SB 280, Version S, moved
out of Resources on Monday and on to Senate Finance on Tuesday, May
19.
The House version has
none of the protections for Alaskans that the Senate version
has.
The House version shifts
all the revenue and benefit to Glenfarne. The Governor
wants the House version.
The White House
made a call to the Senate Presidenta about this bill. That is
stunning. The White House, interferring in state sovereignty and
the Tenth Amendment.
Some folks are urging me
to “pass the pipeline bill the way the Governor wants it”.
I can’t do that without changes
in the bill, and actual information about the project.
The gas is a State
resource.
This resource is not mine
to give away.
· The gas belongs to the people of Alaska.
· I am a trustee for the people of Alaska, and
have a fiduciary duty to ensure the maximum benefit for the people.
· I have a Constitutional duty to never
surrender the power of taxation.
· I understand these duties, entrusted to me by
the people of Alaska.
· It’s a serious weight that bears on every
decision I make here in the Legislature.
Does the Senate pipeline
project bill ensure the maximum benefit for Alaskans?
· The Governor removes property taxes and
uses a very small tax of 6 cents, lasting for the entire
construction period, and for 10 years after or when 10Bcf of gas
flows through. Senate increases the tax by a few cents and repeals
it in 10 years after LNG production starts so local governments
can return to charging normal property tax to a now-successful gas
pipeline.
· increases the minimum tax on oil from 4% to 6%
to offset deductions from producing the tax.
· The Dalton Highway is a predominately gravel road from Fairbanks
to Deadhorse (the North Slope oil fields)that costs about $75
million/year to maintain. The Senate bill sets a 30-cent
surcharge on every barrel of oil going down the pipeline, to be
dedicated to offsetting about $60 million of the maintenance cost.
· The gas pipeline corridor goes right by Fairbanks.
The Senate bill requires a gasline spur to be built.
· Glenfarne is an LLC, similar in Federal tax
code to S-corporations, which exempts them from corporate taxes in
Alaska. The Senate bill requires this tax (>$400
Million/year) on the significant profits Glenfarne is projected to
make on Alaska's gas.
· The Senate bill requires Alaska Hire
provisions. The Senate bill
requires Alaska labor agreements.
· The Senate bill has a provision for community
impact funds - for the pipeline corridor and all around the
state.
· Also: transparency, foreign entity
involvement, repeal of these laws if the project fails, and
prohibition on overrun costs being pushed on to Alaska gas
customers.
You
can read Supporting A Gasline for Alaskans, Version S here.
Items in this Newsletter:
· Department of Revenue Fiscal Assessment of
Alaska Gas Pipeline Proposal
· Bills Moving
· Senate Floor Sessions
· 2026 Budget Conference Committee
· Finance Committee Meetings
· Resources Committee Meetings
· Oil and Gas Pipeline Topics with Current
Topics, Stuff I Found Interesting, Arctic Issues, Economy,
Education, Politics, Healthcare
· Resource Values, Permanent Fund Data
· Alaska History
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