Oil industry shows its strength once more as legislators bury oil tax bills

BP, ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips and Hilcorp had no problem recruiting Alaska business and government leaders last year to join the parade to keep oil taxes lows on ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips and Hilcorp.

There was a lot of senseless jabber about how keeping oil taxes low would increase Permanent Fund dividends, create jobs and improve life in Alaska.

“This ballot measure goes too far. It is bad for jobs and puts our economy at risk. There has to be a better way for Alaska,” the oil companies said through their front group, “OneAlaska.”

“We can make a better future for Alaska. Together,” the front group promised.

OneAlaska pretended to be a mom-and-pop enterprise created to unify Alaskans, with no interest in benefiting corporate leaders in Houston and stockholders who want dividends, but not the Permanent Fund kind.

The “sky is falling” rhetoric ignored the reality that the main impact of the initiative, with oil prices low, would have been to raise the minimum tax to 10 percent, which is reasonable. The initiative was the only short-term revenue option open to the state.

The so-called “Alaska leadership team” of OneAlaska did not include the real leaders—executives of the oil companies who spent $25 million or more to influence the vote in Alaska.

One of the most frequently repeated claims by OneAlaska was that oil tax changes should be studied and decided by legislators in the open, not dealt with through the initiative process.

Legislators should be able to debate and examine the issue, giving oil taxes the attention they deserve, OneAlaska claimed.

The Anchorage Daily News echoed this oil industry talking point in its vision for the 2021 session, calling on the companies to “come to the table and help hammer out a fair solution that doesn’t kneecap investment on the North Slope, but which also helps provide services essential to Alaskans.”

Dream on Pollyanna.

The initiative came about because the governor and Legislature blocked any real action on oil taxes for years and will continue to do so. This is typically done in secret, out of public view. The oil industry has no interest in coming to the table.

The Legislature hasn’t done a thing this year to examine the weaknesses in tax law and how to fix them. The oil companies that financed the opposition to the initiative never thought otherwise.

Sen. Bill Wielechowski introduced SB 106 and SB 107, both of which have been ignored. Rep. Adam Wool introduced HB 130, which is stalled. Sen. Tom Begich introduced SB 13, which is going nowhere.

The claims last year from the alleged “OneAlaska leadership team” that the Legislature is the proper place to thoroughly consider oil taxes and do it out in the open were all part of the oil industry con job.

I’m still waiting for the alleged leadership team to release its secret plan to “SAVE JOBS AND THE PFD.”

Your contributions help support independent analysis and political commentary by Alaska reporter and author Dermot Cole. Thank you for reading and for your support. Either click here to use PayPal or send checks to: Dermot Cole, Box 10673, Fairbanks, AK 99710-0673.