In the talk about tax cuts for the oil industry, there's much discussion of how many jobs they would create.
Not discussed is how many jobs the same money would create if it went to the state instead. The state invests in Alaska and for Alaska — not a penny goes to shareholders outside. And that money spreads through the entire economy rather than being concentrated in a single industry.
State spending creates jobs in state agencies, Alaska schools, Alaska municipalities, and in construction projects.
Therefore, any discussion of oil-industry tax cuts should include the benefits the same money would create as state revenue. Otherwise, Alaskans have no basis for informed decision-making.
This is why I will be voting to repeal SB21. No such discussion took place as it was passed, so Alaskans cannot determine if it was in their best interests.
A replacement bill should be introduced in the next legislature and subjected to such a discussion — conducted entirely in public — before passage.
— Stan Jones
Anchorage