November 18: Gone a week, but not forgotten

Many regular visitors to my website over the last week have noted no new posts had appeared since November 10. I apologize, but last week I had a full schedule of business travel.  

I have returned home to a full slate of issues that we will be covering in depth this week on my blog. From the recently passed oil tax increase to the continued follies at Matanuska Maid to critical dates that are looming just around the corner, here are a few of the items we will cover this week.

• The Palin administration issues a gag order forbidding all state employees from talking about Matanuska Maid. What does that mean, what is going on at Matanuska Maid and why is Palin abandoning the promise of open and transparent government?

• The Alaska legislature passes an increased oil tax that equals twice what Governor Palin's initial ACES proposal was. If Palin's ACES proposal was Alaska's fair share as she called it, what do you call a tax hike twice that amount? Will it impact oil & gas investment decisions and production in Alaska? And why after advocating and voting for higher oil taxes, did Speaker of the House John Harris issue such a terse press release basically disavowing the process that he managed?  

• AGIA bid deadlines due November 30, 2007. With the legislature retro-actively increasing the oil & gas tax rate to 25%, what impacts will that have - if any - on the major oil producers bidding on AGIA? Does the fact that the legislature just dramatically increased taxes fueled by emotion confirm the industries worries about the need for fiscal certainty? Is there any truth to the rumor that the deadline will be changed again because of the lack of credible applicants?

• Governor Palin's budget due to the legislature on December 15, 2007. After promising to cut the budget last year and failing, does she cut state operating spending this year? Were there promises made to secure votes on her oil tax plan that will account for increased state spending? What about the special committees appointed last year to propose solutions for health care and education, are new costs coming?

• Alaska's future. Looking ahead, we've just raised oil taxes and reduced investment tax credits while in the next five years over 40% of the oil Alaska will be counting on to fill state coffers hasn't even been discovered yet. Now what?