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General Alaska Business Climate | General Business | ||||||||||||||||||
| Alaska ranks consistently low among the 50 U.S. states as a place to do business. This is according to three of the leading business ranking organizations, including CNBC, Forbes magazine, and ChiefExecutive.net. For 2011, CNBC ranked Alaska number 49, Forbes ranked us 42, and ChiefExecutive.net put us at 31. Alaska can and must do better. More... | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Alaska Business | Support | Take Action | Ask your Legislators what they are doing to improve Alaska's business climate. | |||||||||||||||||
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Oil Tax Reform | Taxation | ||||
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| Alaska is missing out on a worldwide boom in the oil and gas industry. As a result, we are about to slip to fourth place as an oil producing state, behind California, and our share of U.S. and Canadian production continues to nosedive. These alarming trends are a result of the aggressive “ACES” tax increases of 2007. More… | ||||||
| With Alaska voters having ousted several anti-industry state senators last November, the conditions for oil tax reform are better than they have been since the disastrous “ACES” tax increases were enacted in 2007. Gov. Parnell has set out four guidelines for oil tax reform and has introduced a bill that he believes follows those guidelines. Legislative consultants with Econ One Research concur that the Governor’s bill makes Alaska more competitive for oil and gas investment. Alaska producers are concerned that the initial bill, as introduced, does not go far enough to reverse Alaska’s production declines. Legislative committees are now holding hearings and taking input from the public. | ||||||
| SB21 | Support | Take Action | Urge your legislators to commit to meaningful reforms. | |||
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State Spending Out of Control | Alaska Budget Growth | ||||
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| With per capita State Spending almost doubling in the last six years, Alaska has a spending problem. A big spending problem. More… | ||||||
| Alaska Budgets | Reign In |
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Ask your legislators to commit to more sustainable spending levels in future years. Ask them to avoid driving Alaska off of a fiscal cliff and causing a sharp, prolonged economic downturn. | |||
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Alaska Transportation Infrastructure Fund | Infrastructure | ||||
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| Funding for roads, ports and airport projects tends to be boom or bust depending upon oil prices. It also tends to be too politicized. Rep Peggy Wilson (R—Wrangell/Ketchikan) sponsored a series of bills in 2011 to change that. Numerous co-sponsors joined her. More… | ||||||
| HJR 4 | Support |
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Write a letter thanking supporters for working to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot to allow creation of an Alaska Transportation Infrastructure Fund (ATIF). Encourage them to try again next year. | |||
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Accountability for Anti-Development Lawsuits | Litigation Reform | ||||
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| Alaskans have seen it happen many times. A new economic development project – be it a mine, an oil exploration well or a timber sale – receives its required permits and governmental reviews. Just before ground-breaking or start-up, an anti-development group files a lawsuit and asks the judge for an injunction to stop the project until the lawsuit is resolved. Jobs are put on hold, contractors’ seasons are ruined, and project investors incur large costs. More… | ||||||
| Rep. Eric Feige sponsored legislation in 2011, House Bill 168, to require anti-development groups who file such lawsuits to post a bond sufficient to cover the lost wages and contractor expenses of the project delays in the event that the project is found to have been “wrongfully enjoined.” He was joined by many co-sponsors in the House and Senate. HB 168 passed the House in early April, 2012. It was sent to the Senate, where it died in the Senate Judiciary Committee as a result of the committee chair, Senator Hollis French, not allowing it out of his committee. | ||||||
| HB 168 | Support |
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Write a letter thanking supporters of HB 168 for their good work. Encourage them to try again next year. | |||
Featured Research
Alaska is built on natural resource industries and federal government money. Learn more about the three legs of our economic stool. More...Know Your Elected Officials
Your opinion matters. Legislators want to hear from you. Find out who they are and contact them!
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Alaska Business Report Card
See which legislators score best on prosperity issues, as graded by Alaska's leading business organizations.
More...Calendar Meetings and Events
Our statewide calendar of public hearings and business meetings.
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