Oil and Gas Tax Changes Reach Next Step in Ballot Initiative Process
Lt. Gov. Kevin Meyer has certified the ballot initiative application for what sponsors call the "Fair Share Act." The initiative’s supporters now have to gather signatures to get the initiative on the ballot in 2020.
The
initiative would reform Senate Bill 21 by eliminating some oil production tax
credits, and restore progressive taxes on legacy oil fields.
The
Lieutenant Governor’s office is charged with determining the legality of ballot
initiatives and whether enough qualified voters have signed on to the petition.
The
Alaska Department of Law's review of the application found it legally
sufficient as an initiative application, but the proposed law itself
"difficult to interpret," wrote Alaska Attorney General Kevin
Clarkson. The proposal "raises a number of implementation and
constitutional questions" that would need to be dealt with after it is
enacted, Clarkson wrote.
Issues
the Department found include the terms and units used in the language of the
proposal, vagueness in which specific laws it is proposing to change, and
constitutional questions over equal protection and due process.
The
Division of Elections, which Meyer oversees, will begin preparing petition
booklets to be circulated across the state. The petition sponsors will have one
year from the date they’re notified those booklets are ready to file the
initiative petition.
Backers
told Channel 2 last month that the model proposed in the "Fair Share
Act" would have generated an additional $1.1 billion for the state in
Fiscal Year 2018.
The
organizers said Tuesday night that many of the budget cuts that caused
controversy across the state could have been avoided with the tax structure
called for in the initiative. "If the "Fair Share Act" were in
place today, the state could afford to fund all these government services and
pay out a full statutory PFD while still being the most profitable place in the
world for oil companies to do business." said Nate Graham , Vote Yes! For
Alaska's Fair Share Communications Director.
The
Alaska Oil & Gas Association warned Tuesday night the measure could cost
jobs. "“This proposed ballot measure is yet another flawed attempt to
adopt complicated tax policy through the initiative process" said Kara
Moriarty, president & CEO of AOGA. "While the sponsors say it will not
have any impact, make no mistake, no industry in Alaska can sustain a $1
billion plus tax hike without negatively impacting investment decisions for
their business, which creates less opportunity for jobs for Alaskans. We look
forward to communicating with Alaskan through this process.”
The group behind the initiative now must gather signatures amounting to greater than 10% of the total ballots cast in Alaska's last general election. Out of that total figure, 70% of the signatures would have to come from across 30 separate house districts.