A Citizen’s Guide

First: So Gov. Sarah Palin got a lot of what she wanted from the House last night, including the big one: a 25 percent tax rate.

The vote essentially came up twice: once as an amendment and once in the final vote.

Here’s how the House voted on the amendment to increase the tax rate to 25 percent (locals in bold):

Yes: Buch, Cissna, Crawford, Dahlstrom, Doll, Doogan, Edgmon, Fairclough, Gara, Gardner, Gatto, Gruenberg, Guttenberg, Harris, Holmes, Kawasaki, Keller, Kelly, Kerttula, LeDoux, Lynn, Nelson, Roses, Salmon, Seaton, Stoltze.

No: Chenault, Coghill, Foster, Hawker, Johansen, Johnson, Joule, Meyer, Neuman, Olson, Ramras, Samuels, Thomas, Wilson.

And here’s how the House voted on the final bill, which included the 25 percent tax rate (again, locals in bold):

Yes: Buch, Cissna, Coghill, Dahlstrom, Doll, Doogan, Edgmon, Gara, Gardner, Gatto, Gruenberg, Guttenberg, Harris, Holmes, Joule, Kawasaki, Keller, Kelly, Kerttula, LeDoux, Lynn, Nelson, Neuman, Salmon, Seaton, Stoltze, Thomas

No: Chenault, Crawford, Fairclough, Foster, Hawker, Johansen, Johnson, Meyer, Olson, Ramras, Roses, Samuels, Wilson

Notice that Rep. John Coghill, R-North Pole, voted against the tax increase amendment, but for the final bill.

The final bill includes the tax cap for in state gas, the amendment requested by Doyon, Ltd. and Fairbanks Natural Gas.

Then: Don’t forget about that other oil and gas thing.

And Finally: The price of Alaska North Slope crude oil rose 86 cents on Friday to $94.82.

Why are prices so high? Exxon’s Rex Tillerson blames nationalization.

Still, not only is $94.82 not the highest price ever, it isn’t even the highest price this month.

What is the highest price ever? A couple of weeks ago, the Houston Chronicle showed how tricky it can be to answer that question.

Cambridge Energy Research Associates disagrees. They say it’s $99.04.

But that’s for West Texas intermediate, not Alaska North Slope crude oil.