Senate Bill 21 repeal petitioners show no signs of slowing down, even as most of Alaska winds down for the Fourth of July holiday. That includes rural Alaska, where one Democratic lawmaker says sentiment against the oil tax reform bill is high and people are eager to sign the petition.
"I went down to the bingo hall and announced what was going to be happening and everyone was so interested in what was going on," said Sen. Donny Olson when describing a recent trip to his hometown of Golovin. "There was such support for it that they actually stopped the bingo proceedings, so the people could all come up and sign."
Olson was one of nine senators to vote against the bill when it passed the upper chamber by just one vote in March. He says infrastructure projects in Golovin will be delayed indefinitely because of a revenue shortfall caused by the bill's passage.
"We start looking at things like the food bank, public safety, and those kinds of issues, but the VPSO issues -- we see a lot of people's interest being piqued because it's going to affect them directly," Olson said.
The Alaska Support Industry Alliance says reversing course would be the wrong direction for Alaska, and has launched a radio campaign emphasizing the benefits of the bill to Alaskans.
"I think it was critical for us to put it in place now," said the alliance's general manager, Rebecca Logan. "The window for actually developing our resources is not always open, so we needed to get this place, so we know there is going to be a time lag between putting the bill in place and getting more production and revenue."
Logan believes many people are signing the SB21 repeal petition because they're afraid of the revenue shortfall and don't trust the oil companies. She says the current tax regime's predecessor, the Alaska's Clear and Equitable Share plan championed by then-Gov. Sarah Palin, wasn't any better.
"There is going to be a revenue shortfall, but there was already going to be a revenue shortfall anyway under ACES," Logan said. "Under ACES it was much worse; we were looking at $1.5 billion over the next two years, so regardless of ACES or SB21 we're going to have a revenue shortfall."
Logan says despite her organization's efforts, she fully expects repeal organizers to get the 30,000 signatures necessary for SB21's overturn to be placed before voters next year.
Division of Elections Director Gail Fenumiai says her office will be open on Saturday, July 13, the deadline to collect the signatures. The signatures of 7 percent of people who voted in the last election in at least 30 House districts must be on the petition. Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell's office must certify the signatures before placing the repeal effort on the 2014 ballot.
Contact Adam Pinsker
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Senator: Most Rural Voters Support Oil Tax Repeal
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