One of the sensible things the Legislature should do this year is enact SB 114, which would close the Hilcorp loophole and reduce state oil tax credits by $3 a barrel, tying the credits to capital investment. This would be a good step toward a balanced fiscal plan.

Two years ago, Gov. Mike Dunleavy said he would support a reduction in tax credits and closing the Hilcorp loophole if the Legislature sent him a bill with those changes.

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Dunleavy has a credibility problem when he talks about a fiscal plan because he claimed for the last four-and-a-half years that all we needed were three constitutional amendments to settle the dividend formula, cap state spending and require that any tax increases be approved by voters and the Legislature.

In 2018 and 2022 he pledged there was no need for any new taxes and that we could have giant dividends and no real cuts in services, though it was clear to any competent analyst that he was wrong.

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There is no chance that the House Education Republican Wrecking Crew will have its way requiring written parental approval for children to learn or do anything in the public schools.

But just because the wrecking crew—Jamie Allard, Mike Prax, Tom McKay and Justin Ruffridge—have fallen flat with rules that will never become law, their handiwork should not pass without public review.

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We’re supposed to take it on faith from Kenai Rep. Ben Carpenter, the acolyte who put former temporary budget director Donna Arduin back on the state payroll, that cutting the Alaska corporate income tax to the lowest in the nation will lead to great gains in productivity and jobs.

We are supposed to believe that if Alaska cuts taxes on Wal-Mart and Kroger and AT&T, it won’t be long before food and phones will be cheaper and more people will be employed in Alaska.

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Joey Crum, appointed by Gov. Mike Dunleavy to the University of Alaska Board of Regents, told legislators his business was not “subsidized” by the state.

But he did not make it clear that his business is a state contractor that has collected about $2.5 million in state money over the last four years.

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The obvious case against legislative confirmation for Bethany Marcum on the University of Alaska Board of Regents got even stronger Friday with a ruling by the Alaska Supreme Court reinforcing the conclusion that she played a key role in unconstitutional gerrymandering while serving on the Alaska Redistricting Board.

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Four months ago Dunleavy said that carbon sequestration would solve our financial problems and that there was no need to talk about taxes. Or gore any oxen.

“The reason we landed on this is it doesn’t gore any ox,” Dunleavy said at a December press conference, a miracle substitute for the tired talk about taxes. He claimed the state could start collecting money within months.

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While the imaginary Alaska Office of Food Security continues in stealth mode, the recommendations of the emergency food security task force have failed to draw any public notice from Gov. Mike Dunleavy.

The Alaska Office of Food Security, which Dunleavy claimed to have created last fall, led by his campaign PR man, does not have a website on which to post the findings of the food security task force. The task force finished its work in early March.

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The Alaska Permanent Fund board of directors made a reasonable call Wednesday in putting a cap on in-state investments at $200 million, the amount they have already committed to about 20 investments, some of them with tenuous ties to the Alaska economy.

The potential for political corruption and conflicts of interest are two of the biggest problems with this program. Those problems remain even with the fund now saying it won’t add to the pot of money aimed at promoting Alaska projects.

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Sullivan has introduced a Senate resolution that says the “Vietnam war was an extremely divisive issue back home in the United States, as a result of biased and shameful attacks from the media, academia, politicians and many others.”

What’s really shameful is that Sullivan is unaware of one of the most important lessons of that disastrous chapter in our history.

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