Nov 8: PPT Lands in Finance. Time to Focus or Time for Funny Business?

Three weeks into the special session on oil taxes and Governor Palin's proposal to raise oil taxes has finally landed in the respective finance committees, the last stop before a floor vote.

From here on out I'll be writing more on the technical aspects of the legislation now that they've gone through the first two committees of referral and the finance commitees are historically where the heavy lifting gets done.

In the House, the bill passed to the finance committee from two previous committees contained so much confusion it took the members of finance two days to sort it out.

Conflicting amendments and vague language along with a fiscal note that was off by a few hundred million were just a few of the challenges that show how most legislation doesn't begin to take firm shape until the last committee stop.

In the Senate Finance Commitee, one of the points of discussion was language inserted in Senate Judiciary concerning cost deductions. In response to recent corrosion problems on the North Slope, SB80 was introduced last year to clarify what was an acceptable maintenance cost deduction.

One of the concerns about SB80 has always been the vague language concerning what consitututes faulty maintenance. In Senate Finance, Department of Revenue Commissioner Pat Galvin voiced concerns about state auditors being put in the position of determining when costs cannot be claimed due to negligence.

Instead, Commissioner Galvin expressed support for an automatic denial, even though he admitted that such events may not have anything to do with faulty maintenance.

In House Finance on Wednesday, Econ One testified that costs are definitely going up on the North Slope. Also, Gaffney/Cline testified that with market pressures, oil companies must continue with an agressive development program or face writing down reserves.  

Politics Behind Closed Doors by Palin?

During last years gubernatorial campaign, candidate Sarah Palin never once missed an opportunity to slam former Governor Frank Murkowski and his reputation for bullying legislators.

"I'll work with legislators, not against them", she was heard saying from Fairbanks to Juneau.

Now comes word that this might be yet another one of Palin's campaign promises that won't keep.

Over the last few days, I've had confirmation from majority lawmakers that Palin has promised Democrats that she will help them by campaigning against any Republican who votes against her tax plan.

Wednesday on the www.voiceofthetimes.net they reported the same rumor.

In addition, the word in the capital is that Palin is meeting with Democratic lawmakers from rural Alaska and promising them support for capital improvement projects in their districts if they support her ACES plan.   

This from the same governor who refused to meet with lawmakers before she unilaterally cut capital budget projects in last years budget while saying their "needs to be an adult in the house".

Many have raised concerns about Palin's absence during the special session. Fairbanks Republican Jay Ramras, who has been an outspoken critic of the new tax plan, offered up one of the most biting quotes about Palin's no show in communicating with lawmakers about her proposal.

"I heard the governor be very articluate about her luggage getting lost between New York and Anchorage, but I have yet to hear her articulate about her proposed economic policy."

In response to the ACES legislation since it was introduced, Palin told the Fairbanks Daily News Miner on Tuesday, “I’m absolutely convinced and at ease that there isn’t the undue influence coming at them,” she said.

I guess that depends on what your definition of undue influence is.