A Citizen’s Guide

Correspondent-for-hire R.A. Dillon sends us the following from Juneau:

Members of the House Finance Committee have begun the long, hard slog through amendments to the oil tax bill — 33 amendments in all. The first three amendments have passed with little opposition. More controversial proposals are coming, including:

• Change the escalating surtax provision to make it closer to the version adopted in Senate Judiciary — an increase of 4 percentage points for every $10 a barrel the price of oil on the West Coast tops $52 a barrel.

• The so-called “Exxon Valdez” amendment that would prohibit any producer with a civil judgment against it from receiving tax credits while the case is appealed, unless the judgment is deposited with the court in an account that pays interest at the producer’s internal rate of return — estimated to be 23 percent for Exxon Mobil.

• Require the Legislature to set aside $50 million of the oil tax revenue every year for rural heating costs.

• Require the Legislature to dedicate $30 million annually for alternative energy projects in rural Alaska.

• Anchorage Democratic Rep. Harry Crawford’s amendment to set the base tax on North Slope gross production instead of a company’s net profits.

With many more amendments to go, it’s going to be a long day.