Alaska Politics Blog : Millett files bill to lower oil taxes

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Sean Cockerham

Sean Cockerham writes about Alaska state politics. He's worked for the ADN in Anchorage and Juneau, covered the legislature for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, and covered Washington state politics for the Tacoma News Tribune. E-mail Sean at scockerham@adn.com

Kyle Hopkins

Kyle Hopkins covers rural affairs, general assignments and politics for the ADN. He covered the 2006 campaign for governor, has blogged extensively about Alaska politics, covered Anchorage city government and was a reporter based in the Mat-Su. He grew up in Southeast Alaska and previously wrote for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner and Anchorage Press. E-mail Kyle at khopkins@adn.com and also find him on our rural Alaska blog, The Village.

David Hulen

David Hulen, the ADN's state and local news editor, is responsible for political coverage. He has been an editor and reporter at the ADN for more than 20 years. E-mail David at dhulen@adn.com

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Millett files bill to lower oil taxes

Posted by Alaska_Politics

Anchorage Daily News

Posted: January 29, 2010 - 6:43 pm

From Sean Cockerham in Juneau –

There was another bill introduced in the state House today to roll back oil taxes.

This one was filed by Anchorage Republican Rep. Charisse Millett. Her House bill 321 would reduce the base rate for how much the state taxes oil company profits from 25 percent down to 20 percent.

It’s a different approach then the bill filed earlier by Anchorage Republican Rep. Craig Johnson to reduce oil taxes.

Johnson's House Bill 308 wouldn't change the basic rate of Alaska's oil production tax. But it would cut in half the "progressivity" surcharge the state collects when oil prices are high. The Legislature's 2007 tax rewrite includes a 0.4 percentage point tax increase over the base tax rate for every dollar the price of oil rises above about $56 per barrel.

Johnson's bill would bring that surcharge down to 0.2 percentage points.

Johnson's bill could lead to a billion dollars less in state revenue in a year when oil prices are as high as they are now. I haven't seen a good dollar estimate for Millett's bill.