As Alaska budget tightens, $1.2 billion oil tax deduction comes under scrutiny

JUNEAU — As legislators and Gov. Mike Dunleavy traveled the state last month, they heard from Alaskans upset about budget cuts and eager for a solution to the state’s financial crisis.

Again and again, members of the public asked whether the governor and lawmakers will raise taxes on the oil industry or cut tax credits paid to oil and gas companies doing business here. Earlier this year, Democrats in the Alaska Senate suggested the oil and gas industry was being “held harmless” by budget cuts. To bolster their argument, they point to a line from a fall estimate that says the state is expected to pay $1.2 billion in tax credits to oil companies during the current fiscal year.

Cutting those credits could eliminate the need to cut other things, they argued, and that message has been picked up by some Alaskans.

“Apparently I’m missing something,” said Fairbanks resident Cory Travline in a March 16 town hall meeting, according to the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. “I haven’t heard anyone talk about taxing the Slope. ... We have resources, they are not exhausted. Why don’t we use them until they are? It seems pretty common sense to me.”

Read more: https://www.adn.com/politics/alaska-legislature/2019/04/07/as-alaska-budget-tightens-12-billion-oil-tax-deduction-comes-under-scrutiny/