{"id":21984,"date":"2015-11-11T09:06:49","date_gmt":"2015-11-11T17:06:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spijue.wpengine.com\/news\/alaska-editorial-calming-effect\/"},"modified":"2015-11-11T09:06:49","modified_gmt":"2015-11-11T17:06:49","slug":"alaska-editorial-calming-effect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/opinion\/alaska-editorial-calming-effect\/","title":{"rendered":"Alaska Editorial: Calming effect"},"content":{"rendered":"

The following editorial first appeared in the Ketchikan Daily News: <\/strong><\/p>\n

Developing a plan and beginning to implement it has a calming effect, and Gov. Bill Walker has achieved that with Alaska\u2019s liquefied natural gas project and likely soon with the budget \u2014 if the most recent special legislative session is an indicator, and it is.<\/p>\n

There is much about Alaska\u2019s finances to perpetuate unease. The state is in a financial crisis, with a growing $3 billion budget deficit and a severe decline in production of its highest source of revenue: oil.<\/p>\n

Unease \u2014 at least in part \u2014 had lawmakers complaining before the start of the session about the lack of bills provided for their prior review by Gov. Walker.<\/p>\n

Despite the complaints, Walker, who clearly had multiple conversations underway with oil-related entities, confidently stated: \u201cI am optimistic that once we actually sit down . . . it will be a productive process.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was. The tone and attitudes changed from one week to the next, and legislators, once they listened to what the administration presented, overwhelmingly supported the Walker administration.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, Walker, who had proposed a gas reserves tax for oil companies, received assurances from the companies that they would make the natural gas available for the project. Following that assurance, Walker pulled the tax proposal from the special session agenda.<\/p>\n

Next, the governor presented to the Legislature a plan to take TransCanada out of the natural gas project, arguing Alaska would gain more control over the project and likely be able to attain financing at friendlier rates.<\/p>\n

The Senate endorsed Walker\u2019s plan to authorize $157 million by a vote of 16-3, followed by a 39-0 House vote. TransCanada would receive $68 million for its most recent effort. The balance would be spent by Alaska to move the project forward.<\/p>\n

Alaskans depend on legislators, who are paid representation, to listen to proposals such as the one with TransCanada and vote. Unlike past votes regarding Alaska\u2019s natural resources that passionately divided and dismayed, the lawmakers almost unanimously endorsed Walker\u2019s plan.<\/p>\n

With the Legislature and Walker solidly behind the decision, it tells Alaskans that while there\u2019s a long way to go to the production point, this currently is the best calculated approach toward eventual success.<\/p>\n

That Standards & Poor\u2019s patted Gov. Walker on the back for proposed changes to the Alaska Permanent Fund in an effort to resolve the state\u2019s budget deficit situation only adds to the calming effect Alaskans have most recently experienced and appreciate in government leadership. It still remains to be seen whether the proposal will win with legislators and other Alaskans, but it\u2019s one plan to be considered.<\/p>\n

And a plan is the beginning to a solution.<\/p>\n

Walker signed the TransCanada buyout bill immediately following the close of the special session. He is expected to complete the buyout by Dec. 1. Dec. 4 is the date Walker and the oil companies with natural gas are expected to approve their own work plan and budget for the upcoming year.<\/p>\n

Alaska has begun to execute a natural gas project plan that is: a) solidly supported, b) considered the best way to provide energy to Alaskans and Outside, and c) increase state revenue. The plan is a precursor to success.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The following editorial first appeared in the Ketchikan Daily News<\/a>: Developing a plan and beginning to implement it has a calming effect, and Gov. Bill Walker has achieved that with Alaska\u2019s liquefied natural gas project and likely soon with the budget \u2014 if the most recent special legislative session is an indicator, and it is. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","wds_primary_category":8,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-21984","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-opinion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21984","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/107"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21984"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21984\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21984"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21984"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21984"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=21984"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}