Alaska’s Budget Crisis Dominates Legislature’s Weekend – Alberta’s In A Similar Boat! Will Alaskan and Albertan Officials Seek To Keep Government Special Interests ‘Whole’ At The Expense of Taxpayers, Ratepayers and Consumers?

Alberta Premier Rachael Notley, CBC Photo

“Tax it, regulate it, subsidize it“

Added by ANCHORAGE DAILY PLANET Editor on April 8, 2016.
Saved under Editorial

Watching some of Alaska’s most wealthy, powerful people and organizations with a dependency on state government as they push for all manner of taxes and offer plans to tap into the Permanent Fund earnings to help the state make ends meet and protect their bottom line is not a pretty sight.

Ronald Reagan Sculpture

Rather than suggesting we should be cutting government further before taking such drastic action – something that will amount to a pay cut for every working Alaskan – they have joined officials in pushing for those of us who work to ante up to protect their interests.

They are nervous and want the more than $4 billion budget deficit fixed – and right now. They are siding with those in government who believe its current size is just fine and that Alaskans should be more than willing to shoulder the honor of paying to keep it that way. This is a government that sees you only as a revenue source.

Listening to them, we are reminded of former President Ronald Reagan’s sage observation: “Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.” More….

Weekend Links To Alaska’s Fiscal Crisis (APRN):

Changes to oil tax bill scale back incentives for new oil
With just over a week left in the legislative session, lawmakers are still wrangling over the always-contentious issue of oil taxes.

Use of Permanent Fund on budget focused on in Legislature
Proposals to spend Permanent Fund earnings on the state budget will be a major focus of the legislative session’s final nine days.

The status of Alaska’s budget
“There is no perfect plan, other than the plan that gets done,” Walker said.

University of Alaska braces for cuts, warns of economic impacts
As the legislature’s conference committee hashes out the state’s operating budget for the upcoming fiscal year, the University of Alaska is standing by, waiting to see just how large the fiscal dent will be.

Calgary Herald Editorial Board: Response to Premier Rachel Notley’s televised kitchen-table pitch has been consistent: there was little new for Albertans to digest. There were, however, expressions of care for those who have lost their jobs during the recession, as well as promises to take measures that will improve the provincial economy. In short, Notley has set the table for Thursday’s budget.

It was a well-crafted presentation, promising something for everyone: no cuts to the Notley-friendly public service, investments in infrastructure, assistance for low-income families and efforts to diversify the economy.

The problem is the government demonstrates a continued determination to ratchet up spending. More….

Our Commentary:

Higher energy and other natural resource taxes impact companies, for they:

become less competitive in the world market,
tend to employ fewer citizens, and
contribute less to the economy while generating less tax revenue in the long run.

Higher energy taxes impact utility ratepayers, as regulators approve higher rates to cover the higher cost of energy taxes.

Higher energy and other natural resource taxes hurt consumers,who are able to save less, spend less and invest less.

T h e r e f o r e:

Higher energy and other natural resource taxes – and regulatory burdens — support a growing bureaucracy at the expense of corporate and individual taxpayers, utility ratepayers, consumers and their economies.

Bureaucracies become richer. Private companies and citizens become poorer.

Will Alaskan and Albertan elected leaders stop the madness this spring, the unsustainable spending? Or, will they continue to feed the insatiable appetites of government spending beneficiaries? -dh

About the Author: wpnorthern

Dave Harbour, publisher of Northern Gas Pipelines, is a former Chairman of the Regulatory Commission of Alaska, a Commissioner Emeritus of NARUC, NARUC's Official Representative to IOGCC and Vice Chairman of NARUC's Gas Committee. He served as Gas Committee Chairman of the Western Conference of Public Service Commissioners. He also served as commissioner of the Anchorage Bicentennial Commission and the Anchorage Heritage Land Bank Commission. He earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree: English, at Colorado State University, a Master of Science Degree: Communications-Journalism at Murray State University and graduated from Utility Regulatory School for Commissioners at Michigan State University. He served as a Vice President for Communications and Public Affairs at Alaska Pacific University, taught bank marketing classes at the University of Alaska and was an English teacher at Los Alamos High School. Harbour served in ranks of Private - Captain during a 4-year assignment with the Army in Korea, Idaho, Georgia and Fort Meade and received the Meritorious Service Medal among other commendations. Harbour is also a past Chairman of the Alaska Council on Economic Education, the Alaska Oil & Gas Association Government Affairs Committee, the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce, the Export Council of Alaska and the Department of Commerce's District Export Council. He is a past President of the Alaska Press Club, American Bald Eagle Foundation, Consumer Energy Alliance-Alaska and Common Sense for Alaska. Harbour was instrumental in founding the American Bald Eagle Research Institute (UAS), the Alaska Support Industry Alliance, the Downtown Anchorage Business Partnership, and Arctic Power. He also served as CEO of several small Alaska organizations, including the Anchorage Parking Authority and Action Security, Inc. Harbour is also Chairman Emeritus of the Alaska Oil & Gas Congress. Harbour's wife, Nancy, is a professional, performing arts administrator and his three boys, Todd, Benjamin and William work in the fields of environmental management, energy marketing and medicine.