A Citizen’s Guide

With a week to go before the start of a special legislative session on the state’s oil production tax, Gov. Sarah Palin and her tax team are making the rounds to explain their proposal.

Revenue Commissioner Pat Galvin went over the plan with Senate majority members Wednesday afternoon and Senate minority members Thursday morning.

This evening, he and Palin will be in Fairbanks for a community briefing on their proposal, Alaska’s Clear and Equitable Share. Other high officials from the Department of Revenue and the Department of Natural Resources also will attend.

After Fairbanks, the team will head to Wasilla, Anchorage, Kenai and Sitka.

Palin first laid out her plan in early September, and she presented a draft version of the bill on Oct. 2. The special session starts Thursday in Juneau.

Tonight’s community briefing is scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m. at the Carlson Center and is open to the public. Palin is also planning to appear today on the Michael Dukes Show on KFAR, according to her spokeswoman.

The governor is taking public comments on ACES at her Web site, www.gov.state.ak.us.

A chance to weigh in

Palin’s plan keeps the basic structure of the current oil production tax but changes the tax rate and eliminates a number of significant deductions currently allowed to oil producers.

Rep. Scott Kawasaki, Rep. David Guttenberg and Sen. Joe Thomas, all Democrats from Fairbanks, are holding their own town hall meeting Monday evening to answer any questions and hear what residents have to say about Palin’s plan.

That meeting is scheduled to run from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Oct. 15 in the Fairbanks North Star Borough building at 809 Pioneer Road.

Legislative hearings set

Lawmakers aren’t scheduled to gavel in until late in the evening Thursday, according to Senate majority spokesman Jeff Turner, but that isn’t stopping them from digging right in.

The joint Legislative Budget and Audit Committee is scheduled to take testimony starting at 10:30 Thursday morning from Pedro van Meurs, a consultant who last year helped then-Gov. Frank Murkowski write his Petroleum Production Tax and from Daniel Johnston, a consultant hired by lawmakers.

The subject is “How PPT in its current structure compares to similar oil provinces around the globe; and a discussion of costs.”

Once Palin’s bill is formally introduced, House and Senate leaders will assign it to legislative committees.

Senate President Lyda Green, R-Wasilla, is planning to refer the bill to three Senate committees — Resources, Judiciary and Finance — according to Turner.

House Speaker John Harris, R-Valdez, is planning to send it to the House Oil and Gas, Resources, and Finance committees, according to his office.

Rep. Kurt Olson, a Republican from Soldotna and chair of the House Oil and Gas Committee, announced Thursday that his committee would meet every day starting next Friday. The committee will take testimony from “stakeholders” in the oil and gas industry, legislative consultants and the public.

“Our state’s long-term future may well be in the balance,” Olson said in a news release. “We need to give these revisions serious consideration, whatever direction the Legislature takes. Alaska must get its fair share while not strangling the economy.”

Contact staff writer Stefan Milkowski at 459-7577.