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Ketchikan: After decades, Gravina Access Project Reaches Milestone By MARY KAUFFMAN - The Gravina Access has been a priority for Ketchikan since at least 1972, when the Ketchikan airport was constructed directly across Tongass Narrows from Ketchikan. Now a milestone finally clears the way for the Alaska Department of Transportation to begin final design and start construction associated with the Gravina Access Project.

Last week, the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (DOT&PF) joined the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) in signing the June 2017 Gravina Access Project Record of Decision and Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement.

According to a news release from the Governor, the Alaska Department of Transportation is working closely with the Ketchikan Gateway Borough on design details of the various projects. Once those agreements are completed, the ADT&DOT can begin final design with a goal of starting construction before 2019 and completing by 2021.

Last fall, Governor Walker committed to investing in Ketchikan the $96.8 million originally allocated to the project. Estimated cost for the Gravina Access Project is $45 million. Additional potential linked developments on Gravina and Revillagigedo Islands would use the remainder of the original project funds. Federal money previously set aside for improving Ketchikan’s connection to the airport will be used to finance design, construction and related activities.

The purpose of the Gravina Access Project is to improve transportation between Ketchikan and Saxman on Revillagigedo Island and the Ketchikan International Airport.

On October 21, 2015, the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities announced that it had decided to recommend the Gravina Access Project Alternative G4v as the state’s preferred alternative to the Federal Highway Administration. Alternative G4v does not include a new ferry service or new ferry terminals.

The selected alternative, G4v, includes:

• The reconstruction of existing airport ferry berths;
•  Improvements to pedestrian facilities at the airport ferry terminals;
• A new heavy freight mooring facility and new ferry layup dock on Gravina Island;
• Shuttle vans for transportation to and from the airport;
•  Upland improvements to Gravina pedestrian access; and
• Replacement of the Airport Creek bridge and reconstruction of portions of Seley Road. 

The original nine build alternatives considered included six bridge alternatives and three ferry alternatives. Six build alternatives were determined reasonable in 2000.  The Final EIS which was distributed to the public and federal and state agencies on July 30, 2004, identified Alternative F1 as the FHWA’s and DOT&PF’s Preferred Alternative. The FHWA issued a Record of Decision on September 15, 2004, and identified Alternative F1 as the Selected Alternative that would best satisfy the purpose of and need for the Gravina Access project while minimizing impacts on aviation, navigation, marine habitat, and the local economy. Alternative F1 would cross Tongass Narrows via Pennock Island with two bridges: a 200-foot bridge over the East Channel and 120-foot bridge over the West Channel. 

The 2004 Preferred Alternative F1 included a road segment on Gravina Island to connect the bridge over West Channel to the Airport Access Road. The road segment, referred to as the Gravina Island Highway, started approximately 3.4 miles south of the airport runway and continued north to the intersection of the Airport Access Road and Lewis Reef Road. The DOT&PF had moved forward with construction of the Gravina Island Highway prior to Governor Palin’s announcement and completed construction of the highway in the fall 2008. The Gravina Island Highway cost approximately $26 million and is now open and provides public access to lands on Gravina Island. Access to the highway is by ferry.

In 2005 with the passage of a landmark transportation bill, approximately $223 million was included in the massive Highway Transportantion Bill passed on 07/29/05 for the Gravian Access Project with the requirement the Alaska State Legislature to approve approximately $65 million in matching funds for the project. - More...
Thursday PM - June 29, 2017

Alaska: Path to End Oil & Gas Cash Payments Offered; House Majority Says Flaws in Alaska’s Oil Tax Regime are Bigger Than Paying Cash for Tax Credits By MARY KAUFFMAN - Today, members of the Alaska Senate Majority offered a path to end cash tax payments to oil and gas companies. During a press conference this morning, the Alaska Senate Majority agreed to support an end to cash subsidies for North Slope oil companies, but refused to consider the other provisions in the House version of HB 111 that would protect Alaska during times of low oil prices and ensure Alaskans know how oil industry subsidies are used and who gets them.

House Bill 111 is a priority of the Alaska House Majority Coalition as part of a series of bills that make up a comprehensive fiscal plan. The House version of HB 111 would end the practice of paying oil companies cash for tax credits but also included provisions limiting the nearly unlimited liability to the state under the current oil tax credit system.

Both versions of HB 111 end the practice of subsidizing the oil industry on the North Slope with unaffordable tax credits, which is expected to save the State of Alaska an estimated $1.5 billion over the next 10 years. However, according to the Alaska House Majority Coalition, the Senate version of the bill would result in the loss of an estimated $1.45 billion by replacing the cash for credit system with a higher percentage of “carry forward” deductions that oil companies could subtract from production and other taxes they pay to the State of Alaska.

"We believe it is urgent to pass legislation ending these cash payments," said Senate President Pete Kelly (R-Fairbanks). "The state will bleed at least one million dollars per day between now and the end of the year – that could pay for seven troopers for an entire year – unless we act now."

With little more than two weeks remaining in the second special session called by Gov. Bill Walker, Senators are urging their colleagues in the Alaska House to come to the table and end a program both sides agree the state can no longer afford.

"Under this proposal, the state will stop offering cash payments for credits beginning July 1, 2017," said Sen. Cathy Giessel (R-Anchorage), chair of the Senate Resources Committee. "We must stop this cash bleed. It will save us at least $200 million between now and Dec. 31 – possibly more."

The Alaska Senate passed a bill to end cash payments to oil and gas companies on May 15, but the House failed to concur. In an effort to strike compromise, the Senate adopted several changes, including a provision to enact "100 percent ring-fencing."

The provision would mean that 100 percent of losses incurred on a lease stay with that lease until it enters production. Then, the losses could be applied against the taxpayer's overall segment (North Slope or Cook Inlet). As a result, the state will, essentially, require production before allowing loss deductions.

"The Senate is prepared with a proposal to move forward on, reach compromise, and end cash payments, today," said Sen. Giessel. "We are calling on the House to join us and take action. We can and must do our job, now."

“We continue to see a kick the can approach from our colleagues in the Senate Majority on this and other fiscal plan measures. We have said from day one that Alaska’s flawed oil tax system needs to be fixed to give industry the stability they need to make investments going forward,” said House Resources Committee Co-chair Rep. Geran Tarr (D-Anchorage), Chair of the Conference Committee tasked with working out the differences between the House and Senate versions of HB 111.

Tarr said, “This new Senate Majority proposal is a half-measure that continues a flawed system that leaves Alaska on the hook covering potentially billions in industry losses for years to come. I look forward to working with Senator Giessel on this issue, but the proposal they unveiled today does not address the underlying problem of costs to the state.”

“I can’t support the Senate Majority’s new proposal because they essentially are just changing the name of the liability but the state will still pay the same to the oil companies. We may not pay cash but will still lose revenue for our commonly held oil resources. Changing the name but paying the same is not a solution,” said House Resources Committee Co-chair Rep. Andy Josephson (D-Anchorage), who sits on the HB 111 Conference Committee.

Josephson said, “The members of my Coalition tried to fix many of the well understood flaws in the oil tax system last year, but those solutions were rejected by the Senate Majority. We are trying to fix these flaws again this year but the Senate Majority continues to refuse to act. Our Coalition has had a sense of urgency to fix this flawed system since the first day of the session. The first time I have seen a sense of urgency on this issue from the Senate Majority is this morning.” - More...
Thursday PM - June 29, 2017

COLUMNS - COMMENTARY

MICHAEL REAGAN: Tuning Out the Fake News Media - The stock market is soaring.

The economy is improving and employment is up.

But all you get from the Fake News Media (FNM) every night is more Trump bashing.

Night after night, as one phony scandal involving the president, his family or his administration fizzles into nothing and is replaced by another, TV and cable channels bring on their biased reporters to bash Donald Trump.

No wonder everyone's I meet is bummed - especially those who watch nothing but the FNM's TV and cable channels.

I can always tell someone who watches nothing but the FNM, because when you meet them they ask, "So what do you think about your president now?"

I also run into people all the time who didn't vote for Trump and want to feel good about the president.

But when they turn on their TVs or pick up their shrinking newspapers, all they get are negative news stories about Trump.

I'm waiting for the fakers at CNN, MSNBC or the New York Times to do a hard-hitting investigation exposing how the president ties his shoes wrong every morning. - More...
Thursday PM - June 29, 2017

JOHN L. MICEK: It Should Be An Interesting July 4 for Republicans - Senate Republicans better get ready for some fireworks. Their July 4 recess is going to be a hot one.

Earlier this week, with Republican ranks deeply fractured, Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell, of Kentucky, announced he was postponing a critical, make-or-break procedural vote on a bill repealing the Affordable Care Act, until after a weeklong holiday break.

The not-entirely-unsurprising announcement is a virtual guarantee that GOP senators will be deluged by lobbyists and constituents on both sides of the issue at a time most of them would rather be marching in home state parades or crashing barbecues.

The Kentucky Republican needed 50 votes to approve a measure allowing debate to proceed on the Obamacare replacement bill, which would result in 22 million more Americans losing their insurance over the next decade, even as it drove up out-of-pocket expenses.

The analysis by the independent Congressional Budget Office also concluded that the GOP bill would reduce federal spending by $321 billion during the same time period.

But in a perfect storm of awful, McConnell couldn't muster the support. As was the case in the House, conservatives complained that the bill didn't go far enough.

For example, they demanded that states be allowed to waive the existing law's prohibition against insurance companies charging sick people higher prices for coverage, The New York Times reported.  - More...
Thursday PM - June 29, 2017