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Alaska: Senate Votes 'No' on State Income Tax; Governor Disappointed with Vote - Today, the Alaska State Senate rejected a proposal to impose a state income tax on working Alaskans.

House Bill 115, a priority of the Alaska House Majority and Gov. Bill Walker, would have taken approximately $7 billion from the pockets of Alaskans over the next decade to inflate state reserves.

After the Senate voted down the Education Funding Act also known as the state income tax, Governor Bill Walker released a prepared statement.

Walker stated, “Consultants advising our administration and the legislature have consistently shown that a broad-based tax is necessary for us to close our fiscal gap.  They have also advised that every other state in the nation has some form of a broad-based tax to provide a stable revenue source for funding government services."

"We simply cannot continue to fund public safety, education and road maintenance by drawing down on our limited savings. I’m disappointed with the Senate’s vote this afternoon, but we’ll continue working with both bodies to fix Alaska’s fiscal crisis,” stated Governor Walker

“Whatever agreement the Senate and the House come to this session, it will not include an income tax. Period,” said Senate President Pete Kelly, R-Fairbanks. “The Senate will not penalize Alaskans for having a job.” 

The Senate Labor and Commerce Committee, chaired by Sen. Mia Costello, R-Anchorage, vetted the House income tax proposal. The negative consequences of taking income out of the economy during a recession were apparent. 

“We heard from the bill’s sponsor, the Walker administration and experts on income taxes, and took extensive public testimony from Alaskans,” Sen. Costello said. “People are seriously concerned about the prospect of an income tax during a recession, and today’s vote brought clarity to working Alaskan families and the businesses that employ them that an income tax is off the table. 

The Senate Majority says their plan solves Alaska’s fiscal problem – without taxing working Alaskans – through responsible reductions, a spending cap and strategic use of the state’s reserves.

“The Senate passed a bill [SB26] in mid-March that provides a solution to Alaska’s fiscal challenge by capping state spending and using earnings to help pay for government and the dividend, which protects the Permanent Fund for future generations,” said Senate Majority Leader Peter Micciche, R-Soldotna. 

SB26 limits government spending and allows a responsible annual draw from the Permanent Fund’s earnings to help pay for a smaller government and maintain a dividend.

Micciche said, “We do not support an income tax because Alaska does not need an income tax. Our Senate plan has been proven to fund Alaska’s government by closing the fiscal gap for many, many years without a burdensome income tax on Alaska’s families. It will protect the wages of working Alaskans” - More...
Friday PM - May 12,2017

Southeast Alaska: Group Notes Progress on Tongass Advisory Committee's Recommendations - Exactly two years ago, the Tongass Advisory Committee (TAC) reached consensus on its recommendations to advise the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture on developing an ecologically, socially, and economically sustainable forest management strategy for the Tongass National Forest. In addition to recommendations regarding the proposed Tongass Land & Resource Management Plan Amendment, the Committee also provided advice regarding implementation and monitoring of the Tongass transition.

Following conclusion of the Tongass Advisory Committee’s effort, many members of the group, along with other individuals from the region, have continued to work together as the Tongass Transition Collaborative (TTC) to build on common ground achieved through the Tongass Advisory Committee's process. The purpose of the Tongass Transition Collaborative is to give communities, stakeholders, other landowners, and partners a way to work constructively with the Forest Service. - More...
Thursday PM - May 11, 2017

Alaska: Alaska Senate will take Action on House Income Tax Proposal Friday - The Alaska Senate plans to vote Friday on a proposal to implement a state income tax.

The income tax is a priority of the House of Representatives and is supported by Gov. Bill Walker. The Senate Majority, in contrast, has stood firmly in opposition to taxing working Alaskans to build up the state’s reserves.

“Legislators are charged with making decisions that require political courage – it’s part of the job,” said Senate President Pete Kelly, R-Fairbanks. “The Senate has delivered a solution that does not require taxing working Alaskans, and we stand by that proposal. We’ll stand up Friday and be counted.” - More...
Thursday PM - May 11, 2017

Ketchikan: Grant makes possible purchase of 34 automated external defibrillators - North Tongass Volunteer Fire Department has been awarded a grant to purchase 34 automated external defibrillators (AEDs), wall mountable cabinets, signage, and supplies. North Tongass Volunteer Fire Department members will mount the units free of charge in high traffic areas throughout the North Tongass Service area, and provide the Alaska State Troopers with units to be carried in their patrol vehicles.

An AED is a portable electronic device that automatically diagnoses life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias, and treats them through defibrillation. AEDs are very user friendly, once turned on voice prompts will walk anyone through the process of defibrillation. - More...
Thursday PM - May 11, 2017

Alaska: Senate Approves Lean Capital Budget - The Alaska State Senate approved a lean capital budget (SB23) today, appropriating $35 million less than the governor’s proposal and $44 million less than last year’s budget. 

“We prioritized funding for maintenance of state assets, while leveraging as many federal dollars as possible,” said Sen. Anna MacKinnon, R-Eagle River, co-chair of the Senate Finance Committee. “With limited resources at our disposal, we directed funding toward highways, airports, housing programs, harbors and the safe water program.”

To provide reliable annual funding for preventative and deferred maintenance for state assets, including the University of Alaska, the Senate also passed Senate Bill 107. The bill is still working its way through the Alaska House of Representatives.  

Additionally, $288 million was appropriated to pay down the state’s outstanding oil and gas tax credit liability. Legislators across party lines – as well as Gov. Bill Walker – agree that the state should end the cashable credit program and pay off the backlog over time.  - More...
Thursday PM - May 11, 2017

COLUMNS - COMMENTARY

DICK POLMAN: Trump's Totally Predictable Tuesday Night Massacre - Now that Der Leader has deposed the lead investigator of Der Leader - sabotaging the rule of law, the kind of thing that typically happens in banana republics - I am surprised that anyone could possibly be surprised. Because it was obvious all last year that if this malevolent demagogue got anywhere close to power, he would do precisely what he has now done.

Those of us who lived through Watergate know what's going on. Just as Richard Nixon fired Archibald Cox because he felt the special prosecutor breathing down his neck, Donald Trump has sacked James Comey because he feared that the FBI's Trump-Russia probe was encroaching on his tinpot throne.

Nixon's Saturday Night Massacre triggered the impeachment proceedings that ultimately compelled Nixon to quit. Can the Tuesday Night Massacre do the same? We should be so lucky.

The problem, of course, is that today's Trump-corrupted Republicans are conditioned to put party over country. Have they even noticed that Trump has now fired the FBI director who was investigating him, the acting Attorney General who had the goods on Michael Flynn, and the U.S. attorney in New York City who had jurisdiction over Trump's Manhattan-based business dealings? - More...
Thursday PM - May 11, 2017