Sen. French

Want to improve Alaska's education system? Boost test scores? Improve graduation rates? Who doesn't? Here's an easy way to do it: work with children when their brains are growing the fastest.

How long will the pipeline last? Since 1977 the trans-Alaska pipeline has carried the economic lifeblood of Alaska from the North Slope to Valdez, where it is loaded on tankers and taken to market. The future of the pipeline is in a real sense the future of the state. How bright is that future?

An advertising campaign is under way to persuade the Legislature and the public to go along with the governor's plan to reduce taxes on some of the richest corporations in the world. The campaign is founded upon several myths that do not stand up to close examination.

Few subjects provoke more controversy than oil taxes. If oil is taxed at too high a rate there's a risk that crucial investments don't get made in the state's most important industry. If oil is taxed at too low a rate then we fail in our constitutional duty to ensure that our oil resources are developed and used for the maximum benefit of all Alaskans.

Alaskans deserve a fair share for the oil produced in this state. Alaska's Constitution says all Alaskans own our oil in common, and it should be developed for our "maximum benefit." We also need to encourage production, and jobs.

In 2005 I joined a small group of legislative Democrats led by Les Gara in what seemed then to be an impossible quest to fix a broken oil tax system that was sending billions in profits to BP and Exxon and shortchanging Alaskans. Along the way we were encouraged by Jay Hammond, Vic Fischer and other Alaska heroes.

Two years have passed since the Legislature enacted Alaska's Clear and Equitable Share (ACES), a new way to ensure Alaskans get our fair share of revenue from our oil. Today the benefits of this legislation are apparent.

Over the past three years, I have researched the track record of numerous health care reform initiatives. Based on that work, I am confident a properly constructed public insurance option will not harm the private insurance industry.