November 01, 2014
Saturday PM

In August Alaska voted overwhelmingly to allow Governor Parnell's oil tax reform to work. Bond agencies soon thereafter raised our bond rating to AAA, saving the state millions of dollars of bond interest costs.

Capital has returned to Alaska with new exploration, drilling and production. Decline in production has effectively stopped, with increased volume now flowing through the Trans-Alaska oil pipeline.

Conoco Phillips just announced a new drill site at Kuparuk in recent days, representing the first new drill site there in more than a decade. Peak production is expected to be 8,000 barrels per day.

Governor Parnell was right about the oil tax, courageously putting forth SB 21, bringing a positive change to the management of our oil resources and to our state's revenue growth and stability picture over time. These things are important to state operations, the Permanent Fund, and to every individual Alaskan.

The Tax Foundation s 2014 State Business Tax Climate Index ranks Alaska among the top four best states. Our per-pupil school funding is in the top 10 nationally also.

The economy of Alaska is strong and diversified. Mining, tourism, health care, value-added seafood processing, and even manufacturing our state is growing in every direction in the private sector economy.

We are on the cusp of achieving a long-held dream of bringing North Slope natural gas reserves to market, an economic boost that will bring prosperity to Alaska for decades to come.

When Alaskans go to the polls on November 4, they have a clear choice: Continue on a path to prosperity, or stop everything and start in a new and unknown direction, introducing more uncertainty and wasting more years of time.

I am supporting Governor Sean Parnell and Chere Klein, knowing they will work well together to move our state forward. They both called it right on oil tax reform and will use their sound judgment to continue our growth in the years ahead.

Received October 29, 2014 - Published November 01, 2014

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