At a press conference Tuesday, Gov. Mike Dunleavy changed his story once again on his 2017 plan to cut $1.1 billion from the budget. The fiscal fantasy show goes on.
Read MoreThe right-wing Alaska Policy Forum was not enthusiastic about a recent column of mine in which I predicted that the right-wing Buckeye Institute in Ohio will give Gov. Mike Dunleavy exactly what he wants—research claiming that Alaska can’t afford a tax increase of any size or any kind.
Read MoreThere is uncertainty about this because it appears that Commissioner Jason Brune has yet to officially reject the PFAS regulations. Until that happens, all we have to go on is what DEC says on its site—that cleanup levels have been set for six chemicals in Alaska.
Read MorePick your favorite number about unfilled positions—1,500, 2,000 or 3,000—and the hundreds of millions to be saved. The Dunleavy budget has proven that all of them were wrong.
Read MoreGov. Mike Dunleavy keeps spreading a false statistic about Alaska public school spending, unhindered by the facts.
Read MoreNo one who reads this report can honestly conclude that “Alaska ranks behind the Congo on predictability of our permitting regime.”
Read MoreDEC Commissioner Jason Brune wants the state to sit back and allow the federal Environmental Protection Agency under President Trump to interpret the science and tell Alaska what to do about PFAS water contamination.
Read MoreLong-term operation of the hospital under a no-bid deal is unjustified. It seems as if goal was to get hundreds of state employees off the payroll as soon as possible.
Read MoreThe Legislature should exercise its budget powers in setting this year’s dividend, and then should change the formula in the law so that Alaskans can move on to other debates.
By Larry Persily
Read MoreThe proposed constitutional amendment would make it nearly impossible to raise oil taxes in Alaska. It would do this by mandating a two-step process to increase or enact any state tax, which would give a powerful advantage to those who want to block any change.
Read MoreWhen Dunleavy talks about oil production numbers he leaves out the all-important bit about the natural decline rate from the old fields and gives the impression that he is talking about an increase from the current level.
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