A Citizen’s Guide

While you turn your clocks back, the legislature might be turning the tax bill back.

The House and Senate committees currently reviewing Gov. Sarah Palin’s oil and gas tax bill seem to be warming up to a higher the tax rate, something previous House and Senate committees stripped from the bill.

Both committees are expected to do something to the bill this weekend.

One tool of persuasion is a computer model that gauges how different tax rates effect oil company profits. Some members of the House Resources Committee this morning are expressing skepticism about the computer model, saying it presents a limited view of the range of projects in the works on the North Slope.