Alaska Politics Blog : Democrats: Alliance ads on oil taxes "dishonest"

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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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Democrats: Alliance ads on oil taxes "dishonest"

Posted by Alaska_Politics

Anchorage Daily News

Posted: February 2, 2010 - 12:49 pm

From Sean Cockerham in Juneau –

State House Democrats today were assailing the industry ads calling for a rollback in state taxes on oil company profits.

“The Alliance ads are dishonest,” said Anchorage Democratic Rep. Les Gara. “When jobs are up, it’s not OK to lie to Alaskans in seeking a tax break. When investment is up it’s not OK to lie to Alaskans to get a tax break. When profits are up, it’s not OK to lie to Alaskans to get a tax break.”

Gara cited the recent Alaska Department of Revenue report saying that oil industry jobs and investment have risen in the state since Alaska increased its oil taxes in 2007. Conoco Phillips has taken $6 billion in profits from the state since the tax change, the Democrats said, describing it as the company's most profitable oil province in the world.

House Democratic Reps. Harry Crawford and Beth Kerttula joined Gara at an event in the Capitol this morning to talk about the Alliance ads, saying jobs were down when the state had lower taxes. Kertulla said the ads “just made me crazy.”

The Alliance ads highlight Alaskans who say they lost their jobs in the industry.

The Alliance has a website with arguments for reducing the state's oil taxes.