That’s All Folks!

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The first round of the 33rd Alaska State Legislature is neatly wrapped up, and our lawmakers and their staff are integrating back into the civilian world for the summer. The drama, bruised sentiments, blather, tweets, accusatory statements, pointed fingers, shouts, and slammed doors of the winter session grow less poignant by the day. Alaska Spring has a way of interceding in human affairs. The anger a lawmaker may carry about a bill not getting its due treatment in committee is sure to be unsettled by the ancient cry of a sandhill crane, the smell of cottonwood buds on the wind, or the moose calf ambling across the highway ahead. (Watch out!)

There is a lot that these folks should be proud of as they fade out of the spotlight and into the summer fray. The legislature passed a significant investment into public education – the largest ever in state history. They passed legislation establishing the month of October as Filipino American History Month; they passed legislation to regulate the use and disposal of the “forever chemical” PFAS found in firefighting foams; they began work on a state Renewable Portfolio Standard to have utilities sell 80% renewable generated electricity by 2040; a Community Solar bill was introduced to allow more Alaskans the benefits of low-cost solar power; an omnibus election bill was heard which would allow greater access to the voting process; the state’s Renewable Energy Grant fund was extended indefinitely, and numerous clean energy projects were funded. Necessary for our salmon habitat, the legislature did not allow a state take-over of wetland development permitting duties, which would have led to decreased oversight.

The design of our Democracy serves to slow-roll, often for the best, so we are not surprised that few bills passed this spring. The process is messy, and the 33rd Alaska State Legislature is a completely imperfect and exhausting bundle of humanity, and we love it. It may not be the most remarkable legislature, but Ranked Choice Voting has produced a huge crop of freshmen and moderates, which benefits the state’s health. Alaska has enormous problems, from suicide rates to climate change, and getting away from partisan divisions is crucial. What the 33rd does next session hopefully will be a step toward the betterment of Alaska. It is time that the Governor, the Senate Bi-Partisan Majority, and the House Mish-Mash-Maybe-Majority put their collective shoulder to the wheel and work on a plan.
Whether the legislature is in session or not, our plan at The Alaska Center is to continue advocating for increased voting rights and voting access, increased renewable energy production, and increased equity and justice – in schools, workplaces, homes, and everywhere else. We will fight to protect salmon from habitat loss, climate change, and bycatch.

We will keep our eyes on the horizon for a special session on some broad-based tax proposal, rumored to be scheduled for September or October. We truly appreciate all of the support and feedback you have provided and the work you have put in this session reaching out to lawmakers on issues important to you. Constituent contact is vital to an elected official, even if they don’t give you the answer you may want to hear or any answer at all.

Never ever, ever give up.

Herein follows a brief note from the author (who is headed out to Bristol Bay for gillnetting soon and will be departing The Alaska Center for future pursuits):

“I appreciate you all, and have learned more over the past eight years at The AK Center than I have space to put in words right here in this email/blog. There is no easy way to define the work of this organization. What I can say is this is a non-profit that seeks to empower youth to fight for things that will help them live lives of abundance.
You can always reach out to me directly at louieflora@hotmail.com.
Be excellent to each other,”

Louie Flora/The Alaska Center

Climate Hope in the Community Solar Garden

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Following a familiar pattern – the regular legislative session went into special session – and then in a surprise move at the last minute, voted on a budget with more minority members than majority, and the House did not go into conference committee. Remember: you can always be surprised! Despite messy gridlock and the constant strain of the PFD there are brightnesses among what became of the regular session, and we are pleased to announce the introduction of our top legislative priority – Community Solar garden legislation – SB 152 – on May 15th. We have been working behind the scenes with friends and allies in the legislature for months to see it born, and we are pleased it is now out in the world.

Take Action on Community Solar

SB 152 will clarify the rules for communities wishing to create a Community Solar garden. Generally, a solar garden is a solar panel array that is larger than a single residential array and can benefit renters and others who do not have the space or the financial means to purchase and install their own solar panels. The bill strives to ensure that more Alaskans, those in underserved communities, and those at the lower end of the income spectrum can participate in clean, affordable Solar.

Through our current Solarize programs, we have seen tremendous support for solar. We have always worked to make solar more accessible, and this bill would be a significant step in the right direction. 79,000 Alaskans live below the Federal poverty level, and over 260,000 Alaskans live in rental housing. Community Solar is the smart economic choice because it will reduce energy costs for Alaskans.
All Alaskans deserve to be a part of a renewable future. Community Solar helps lower-income and historically disadvantaged groups at the frontline of our climate crisis get direct access to the benefits of renewable energy and ensures benefits of renewable energy are shared more broadly. Community Solar is a step in the right direction toward climate justice. It’s the simplest, most equitable, and least expensive way to decarbonize Alaska’s energy system!

Current regulations do not allow Alaskans to pursue “Community Solar,” we believe that renewables are a necessary part of a just transition, and this bill will remove some of the barriers that keep too many Alaskans dependent on extractive energies and give them more agency in their utilities. Additionally, Community Solar is poised to become much more common thanks to a new $7 billion fund tied to the Inflation Reduction Act. This federal infusion of funds for a myriad of renewable energy programs and projects will redefine Alaska’s energy mix – and we want Community Solar to be a significant part of this.

At The Alaska Center, we work to bring more awareness to the power people have in the decisions about their utilities. From elections to legislation. We are stoked to celebrate the introduction of Community Solar legislation and the CEA election turnout this week! We hope you are planning to join us tomorrow for our Annual Auction at the Anchorage Museum. (If you haven’t scooped up those tickets yet, we will have a few tickets at the door remaining.) And if you can’t make it…you can always celebrate from afar by bidding on some pretty sweet silent auction items.

It feels fortuitous that our theme this year is “Climate Justice/Climate Hope.” Each of our legislative priorities in this session is key to working for climate justice and forging climate hope and we are seeing the shift in real time. From democracy legislation to clean water protections and renewable energy accessibility, each is needed to achieve our goals of a just transition for our state. And each of you is necessary to make these legislative priorities happen. We are excited to see you tomorrow to reconnect, dance, dine, drink and move forward in our work together!

HB 4 – The Fatal Distraction

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[cs_content][cs_element_section _id=”1″ ][cs_element_layout_row _id=”2″ ][cs_element_layout_column _id=”3″ ][cs_element_text _id=”4″ ][cs_content_seo]Wedge issues are great at distracting folks from actual problems. Are the highest healthcare costs in the nation bleeding your family dry? Is your kid’s education system sinking into disrepair? The Alaska State Legislature’s House Majority has a solution – hold a bunch of hearings on the repeal of Ranked Choice Voting (RCV). No fiscal plan? No worries – The House Majority is here to the rescue, to rile you with culture wars, to baffle you with BS.
HB 4 to repeal RCV is not a must-have issue for the legislature to gavel out. An increase in education funding is. It is well known in the capitol that HB 4 will not pass the state Senate. It is also known that a petition is being circulated out in Alaska to get a repeal of RCV on the ballot. That combo seems to indicate that these last-minute hearings on HB 4 are designed to maintain publicity and right-wing outrage on the issue as we enter the prime summer signature-gathering months.
Considering that RCV passed and has been successfully tested through an election cycle, has helped seat a moderate state Senate and has a savvy and passionate army of supporters – it will be a massive street fight if the repeal effort gets enough votes to go up on the ballot, one that has a high likelihood of ending with the full retention of the RCV statute.
The vast majority of testifiers on HB 4 are opposed. Many testifiers have asked the sponsor to table the bill, to focus on real issues. While we agree with this sentiment, it is also likely that the House Majority will ride this issue to a floor vote to get politicians on the record with their sentiment toward RCV. HB 4 did garner an additional recommendation to send it to the House Finance Committee, which could indicate that some members of the Majority leadership wish to either slow-roll the bill or prolong the agony.
Good election laws are fundamental to bringing more people to the table to move good and efficient government forward. Unlike HB 4, which merely seeks to divide and politicize and constrict voting, SB 138, which was heard this week in the Senate Finance Committee, would help more Alaskans be a part of the solution to our numerous actual problems.
SB 138 seeks to establish a ballot-curing process, which would allow absentee voters to fix benign mistakes with their ballots. In the 2022 special election primary, we saw high ballot rejection rates for easily correctable issues. It would improve the absentee voting experience by removing the witness signature requirement, a major reason why ballots were rejected last year, and allowing voters to vote absentee for future regularly scheduled elections. It would allow voters to register within 30 days of an election, including Election Day, and it would allow for pre-pay postage for absentee ballots.
As this legislative session concludes, it often feels like a record with an artificially sped-up tempo. You almost expect committee hearings to be conducted in staccato chipmunk voices. Bills on the move usually lurch forward unpredictably. It is a strange time, and a lot can happen quickly. Priorities emerge, and opportunities are exploited. We predict that SB 138 is preparing to hibernate for the interim in the Senate Finance Committee and that the House Majority will push to move HB 4 along despite the crosswinds of public opposition. The time the legislature has left is precious; how they use it has consequences for all of us. An energy-sapping policy like HB 4 impedes and tarnishes the work of the whole.
Yours in politely asking for a more thoughtful approach,
The Alaska Center
PS – The online silent auction is OPEN! Support our work; follow the button below to check out over 200 awesome offerings from local Alaskan businesses and individuals. The silent auction will close Saturday, May 20th at 6:45 pm.
From art to experiences and so much more, there is something for everyone. Even if you can’t make it to the auction and celebration, you can still place a bid to support our work for Climate Justice and Climate Hope, no matter where you are!

\n\n[/cs_content_seo][cs_element_button _id=”5″ ][cs_content_seo]Start Bidding Now\n\n[/cs_content_seo][cs_element_gap _id=”6″ ][/cs_element_layout_column][/cs_element_layout_row][cs_element_layout_row _id=”7″ ][cs_element_layout_column _id=”8″ ][cs_element_button _id=”9″ ][cs_content_seo]Bills To Watch\n\n[/cs_content_seo][/cs_element_layout_column][cs_element_layout_column _id=”10″ ][cs_element_button _id=”11″ ][cs_content_seo]More Hot Takes In A Cold Place\n\n[/cs_content_seo][/cs_element_layout_column][/cs_element_layout_row][/cs_element_section][/cs_content]

Another Great Race

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[cs_content][cs_element_section _id=”1″ ][cs_element_layout_row _id=”2″ ][cs_element_layout_column _id=”3″ ][cs_element_button _id=”4″ ][cs_content_seo]TAKE ACTION: Tell the House and Senate Finance Committees to support a Green Bank for Alaska!\n\n[/cs_content_seo][cs_element_gap _id=”5″ ][cs_element_text _id=”6″ ][cs_content_seo]We are familiar with races against time in Alaska: think of the Serum Run of 1925, where brave mushers relayed diphtheria antitoxin to the people of Nome through minus eighty temperatures to save the population from devastation by the spreading epidemic. Think of a salmon season when millions of fish pass through a fishing district at the peak of the run and fisherfolk catch as much as they can hold because soon the peak will pass. Think of all the birds and beasts out there feasting furiously in the months of light to get enough fat for winter or migration. Think of the end of the legislative session when staff and lawmakers endure marathon floor sessions, often all night long, trying to get their priorities addressed before the last gavel falls.
The home stretch is before our lawmakers, the end is nigh (May 17th), and it is motivation enough to move some bills along. The obvious trouble is that 60 legislators and a governor are shepherding bills forward with numerous pinch points and gates along the way. Only eight bills have passed the legislature so far this session. We can expect a few more but not many. Traffic is backed up for miles. 
The Governor’s bills to establish an Energy Independence Fund (aka a Green Bank), HB 154 and SB 125 are in the House and Senate Finance Committees. It is crucial these bills pass the legislature this session for a few reasons. States with established Green Banks are in a more competitive position to receive federal funding for clean energy programs under the $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund administered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Funds are to be allocated by September 2024. Since it will take time for the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation to establish the Green Bank after it is signed into law, it makes great sense for the legislature to act now. The next twelve days could determine whether we are eligible and prepared for a massive investment in clean energy and transportation projects that will save Alaskans billions of dollars on electric, home heating, gasoline, diesel, and car maintenance bills. No pressure!
Federal investment tax credits for renewable energy projects were extended for a ten-year period under the Inflation Reduction Act. Another clear reason for the AK Legislature to pass a Green Bank this year is that the clock is ticking on the decade of available tax credits. These are significant, historic tax credits. With a Green Bank to provide low-interest financing and tax credits to incentivize purchases, energy efficiency construction projects, and rooftop and community solar projects will skyrocket in Alaska, providing good-paying jobs. By not moving the Green Bank bills this year, another year in the life of the IRA tax credits will be gone.
The race is on. Tell the House and Senate Finance Committees to prioritize HB 154 and SB 125 this session. Time is money, as they say.  
Urgently yours,
The Alaska Center

\n\n[/cs_content_seo][cs_element_button _id=”7″ ][cs_content_seo]A Green Bank is Good For Alaska!\n\n[/cs_content_seo][cs_element_gap _id=”8″ ][/cs_element_layout_column][/cs_element_layout_row][cs_element_layout_row _id=”9″ ][cs_element_layout_column _id=”10″ ][cs_element_button _id=”11″ ][cs_content_seo]Bills To Watch\n\n[/cs_content_seo][/cs_element_layout_column][cs_element_layout_column _id=”12″ ][cs_element_button _id=”13″ ][cs_content_seo]More Hot Takes In A Cold Place\n\n[/cs_content_seo][/cs_element_layout_column][/cs_element_layout_row][/cs_element_section][/cs_content]

Sun and Wind 4EVER

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TAKE ACTION: Support the Renewable Portfolio Standard legislation

Sun and Wind. When we hear people say that solar and wind are new and variable energy sources, it calls into question their understanding of historical facts. The sun reportedly has been pumping energy out for 4.5 Billion years. The wind got started on Earth probably at around the same time as the Earth came to have air molecules to move, not long after it came together as a planet, also approximately 4.5 Billion years ago.

There is often an argument that the only reliable energy source is from fossil fuels. The next time some old duffer starts going on about fossil fuel reliability, you just tell them “hooey” – their vaunted fuels are just experimental in the grand scheme of things – the most mature fossil fuels are from a period a mere 419 million years ago. That is barely a blip compared to the reign of solar and wind energy. It makes sense that humankind plans to return rapidly to solar and wind energy after dabbling in strange, experimental energy like fossil fuel. Our sun and wind are ancestral, time-tested, ancient power sources, and people like a sure thing.

The cost to harness the oldest and best energy is falling by the day. Check out any graph comparing the cost of new solar installations with the price of natural gas and coal power generation. The price of solar energy has dropped precipitously over the past decade. Combine this with a federal infrastructure funding package that prioritizes renewable investments and sweetens the pot with tax incentives. Combine this again with a moral case for energy sources that don’t emit greenhouse gasses, and you have a recipe for change. Perhaps not as quick as some would want, or that is sufficient to save us from climate disruption, but a fundamental change.

Right here in Alaska, not only in one, but now in two legislative sessions, legislation has been introduced to force/mandate/require electric utilities to get free from high-cost fossil fuels and switch to 80% renewable sources for generating electricity by the year 2040. There is obviously a belief that electric utilities can achieve this goal, or else the bills would not have been introduced at all, much less receive hearings. Utilities are setting internal goals; for instance, the Homer Electric Association has a board policy that calls for 50% renewable electricity by 2025 – based on the State of Alaska’s own aspirational policy goal.

On Thursday, House Bill 121 had an introductory hearing in the House Special Committee on Energy. This bill would establish a Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) for Alaska’s utilities and drive investment in lower-cost renewable energy. As a Cook Inlet natural gas supply shortage and corresponding sharp energy price increases are looming on the horizon, it is high time our utilities act to incorporate more and more and more wind and solar, and battery storage. That is another reason why RPS legislation is getting airplay this year. Even the most stalwart fossil fuel devotee must face the fact that something has to give. If utilities do not diversify into renewable energy, and the state has to import liquified natural gas, the cost to consumers will skyrocket from a place that seems already pretty high. The economy will suffer, homeowners will suffer, business overhead costs and government operating costs will increase, and heads will roll. You get the picture.

The committee heard testimony from Hawaiʻi State Energy Office on the 50th state’s RPS and its transition away from imported fossil fuels. Price volatility in imported fuel drove consumer sentiment in Hawaiʻi toward a successful energy transition. Alaska and Hawaiʻi are related in their remoteness, the timing of their statehood battles, their otherness, and the fact that half of Alaska vacations in Hawaiʻi – these states have a ton in common, not to mention sun and wind. Ours is a different sun and a different wind but just as mighty and ancient. If Hawaiʻi can go renewable, there is no doubt that Alaska can follow suit.

Another hearing or two on HB 121 should be held this session. The bill has a good chance of passing next year with your support. Stay tuned, but first, get out in that spring sun and feel the 4.5 Billion years of past, present, and future awesomeness on your unique and very special face.

Sincerely,
The Alaska Center

The unchecked leaks: Tax Loopholes, and Sliding Scale Credits

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[cs_content][cs_element_section _id=”1″ ][cs_element_layout_row _id=”2″ ][cs_element_layout_column _id=”3″ ][cs_element_text _id=”4″ ][cs_content_seo]If our state were a car (of course, our state would never be a mere car, it would be a badass F-350 Ford truck with an obnoxious decal on the rearview window and a snowmachine in the back), but say it was an automobile of some kind, it would be wise for the operator to take heed of leaking fluid left on the ground in the parking lot – be it oil or be it antifreeze or any other toxic ooze from the underbelly. A sound and sober assessment would lead the driver to fix the leak so the engine did not blow up.  
We need the Alaska State Legislature to do this with the S-Corporation loophole that allows Hilcorp to reap huge profits in Alaska and pay no corporate income tax, taking all of the money back to Texas HQ. At the same time, our education system teeters in a funding crisis. Of even greater fiscal importance, the legislature needs to address the sliding scale tax credit it gives to oil companies that have already deprived the state of Billions in revenue that could have gone toward building up our state.
Alaska seems stuck in a strange acceptance of a condition that is not right or well or normal. We do not need to accept underfunded schools, leaky roofs, potholes up the wazoo, insignificant investments in renewable energy, bridges, ferry vessels, ports, libraries, and museums. We don’t need to be saved by federal investment (though it helps) – we have the tools to fix the problem, and we have the problem right in front of us seemingly every year since the passage of the abysmal SB 21 oil tax policy/blatant give-away/almost criminally insane financial maneuver.
The good news is that there are options for addressing the roughly $600 million budget deficit. Not all of them are politically realistic in the current zeitgeist – say zeroing out the permanent fund dividend or imposing a progressive income tax. Some are realistic, including requiring oil companies incorporated under IRS Code as S-Corporations, to pay state corporate income tax. The Department of Revenue has estimated this would bring an additional $47 to $61 million per year into state coffers. On the other hand, the oil tax credit system deprived the state of an estimated one Billion dollars in Fiscal Year 2022. Modifying the oil tax credit system through simple tweaks could bring in enough revenue to bridge the deficit gap. These changes could solve our deficit promptly instead of imposing a broad-based sales or income tax, which would take a few years to set up before the state would see increased revenue. The simplicity and the immediacy of this fiscal fix makes it essential.
Another reason to take note this year specifically – is that these changes are proposed in a bipartisan piece of legislation sponsored by the powerful Senate Rules Committee, SB 114. Rumor has it that many lawmakers and the Governor are keeping their ears open to the proposal. As the legislative session enters its final stretch, there seems to be some cohesion around the idea that something needs to happen on the fiscal front and that the oil and gas industry needs to be at the table providing solutions and helping with the hard work. SB 114 is a reasonably moderate proposal – it simply would have Hilcorp pay the same tax that the other majors, Exxon and Conoco, are already paying. It would not do away with tax credits. It reduces them and ties them directly to capital investment in Alaska. 
We know from history that nothing is straightforward regarding the oil tax code or any tax code for that matter. It is a cozy nest and a protective bramble for attorneys, accountants, and few others. Please expect that the legislature will be very deliberative when it comes to significant changes, not wanting to upset the status quo or break any eggs in the process. SB 114 might be just the ticket. It makes fiscal sense, gets us out of our deficit problem, and would make a rounding error dent in the profit of our major oil companies.  
Tell your Senator you support this fix, so Alaska can keep on Truckin’.
Vroom, Vroom,The Alaska Center

\n\n[/cs_content_seo][cs_element_button _id=”5″ ][cs_content_seo]Find Your Elected Officials’ Contact Info\n\n[/cs_content_seo][cs_element_gap _id=”6″ ][/cs_element_layout_column][/cs_element_layout_row][cs_element_layout_row _id=”7″ ][cs_element_layout_column _id=”8″ ][cs_element_button _id=”9″ ][cs_content_seo]Bills To Watch\n\n[/cs_content_seo][/cs_element_layout_column][cs_element_layout_column _id=”10″ ][cs_element_button _id=”11″ ][cs_content_seo]More Hot Takes In A Cold Place\n\n[/cs_content_seo][/cs_element_layout_column][/cs_element_layout_row][/cs_element_section][/cs_content]

Our Piece of the Pie

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Getting a piece of the pie can be a great motivator for states. The sweet aroma is hard to resist when there is a $27 Billion pie to be allocated to energy efficiency, renewable energy, clean transportation, battery storage projects, and more. As the benefits of the Inflation Reduction Act programs begin to spread across the nation, we can almost see Biden and his administration smiling at the kitchen window of the White House in the spring sun, wearing flour-dusted aprons.

Earlier this year, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) unveiled guidance on how states and nonprofit groups can apply for $27 billion in funding from a Green Bank that will provide low-cost financing for projects intended to cut planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions. The EPA expects to award $20 billion in competitive grants to as many as 15 nonprofit groups that will work with local banks and other financial institutions to invest in projects that reduce pollution and lower energy costs for families. Another $7 billion will be awarded to states, Tribes, and municipalities to deploy a range of solar energy projects, including residential rooftop solar, community solar, and solar storage.

We are glad, then, that Alaska has chosen to go after new federal clean energy benefits in earnest and not die of deprivation on some hill of partisan spite while other states gobble up the positives. Alaska has, along with every other state in the United States (except the self-sabotaging states of Florida, Iowa, South Dakota, and Kentucky), applied for funding under the EPA’s climate pollution reduction grant program, which will help our state lay the foundation for climate action. The Dunleavy Administration has also reprised a state Green Bank framework in legislation to position Alaska to receive federal start-up funding.

As a refresher, because The Alaska Center and our partners have supported its establishment in Alaska for many years now, a Green Bank is an entity established in state statute – but it can be established as a nonprofit – which facilitates public/private lending partnerships to move large scale clean energy projects forward. Having the support of government capital to take the risk out of private lending arrangements increases the security of large-scale loans and brings traditional financing entities to the table.

Last year, the Dunleavy Administration proposed establishing a Green Bank structure in the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA). This put a lot of NGOs and Tribes on edge due to the lack of transparency in the AIDEA board decision-making process and the fact that AIDEA has invested heavily in questionable endeavors – buying up oil and gas leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge after no actual petroleum company found them economic, for instance. This time around, the Dunleavy Administration is proposing the state Green Bank be established in the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation (AHFC), a more trusted entity with a track record of overseeing numerous successful energy efficiency projects such as the Home Energy Efficiency Rebate Program, and the Weatherization Program.

Senate Bill 125 and House Bill 154 to establish a Green Bank for the state of Alaska were introduced on April 5th, and the House version received a hearing this week in the House Energy Committee. These bills do not specifically reference a Green Bank, choosing instead to call it the Alaska Energy Independence Fund, but the functions will be the same. The legislative findings at the beginning of the bill state it simply enough:

“The legislature finds that permitting the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation to create a subsidiary to assist in the financing of sustainable energy development serves a public purpose benefiting the people of the state. The Alaska Housing Finance Corporation is empowered to act on behalf of the state and its people in serving this public purpose for the benefit of the general public.”
This is a simple but key statement. Sustainable energy development will create jobs, make our communities more efficient, independent, and resilient, and will decrease carbon emissions. If that is not a public purpose benefiting the people, we don’t know what is.
We expect that with the immediacy of EPA funding for states, and the fact that having a Green Bank in place will put Alaska in a competitive position to receive additional grants, the legislature will approve this concept, if not this year than next. There will be arguments about the unacceptable amount of federal spending – arguments that ignore the future cost of federal spending on climate-related disaster relief, arguments that ignore the cost of the Trump tax cuts, and the trillions we spend on other programs like national defense. Overall, though, the benefit of this smart federal spending – and a legal structure that will lead to additional private lending – will win the day. Alaska can and should get a piece of the pie on its plate. We deserve it!

Happy Spring,
The Alaska Center

Wing-and-a-Prayer budgeting for DEC

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[cs_content][cs_element_section _id=”1″ ][cs_element_layout_row _id=”2″ ][cs_element_layout_column _id=”3″ ][cs_element_button _id=”4″ ][cs_content_seo]TAKE ACTION: Tell your senator you oppose 404 Primacy\n\n[/cs_content_seo][cs_element_gap _id=”5″ ][cs_element_text _id=”6″ ][cs_content_seo]The State of Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) hopes to sell the Alaska State Legislature on a costly program to take over responsibility for federal permitting of wetland development. This comes at a time when the legislature faces a deficit of between $400 and $600 million, depending on the level of funding they arrive at for a boost to our education system. It also comes when the state lacks any credible fiscal plan to bridge the deficit gap aside from drawing down savings accounts.
The program DEC hopes to burden the state with is called “Clean Water Act Section 404 primacy”. The 404 permitting program regulates the dredging and filling of wetlands and waterways for construction projects, including large mining projects, often in sensitive salmon habitat. The federal government handles this responsibility for (almost) all states because the federal government has the resources to do the vast and complicated job. States generally do not have the resources. Alaska definitely does not. Exhibit A) $½ Billion deficit and no fiscal plan. Three states: Michigan, New Jersey, and Florida have assumed 404 permitting primacy, and all of these states are having trouble maintaining them.
Under the Clean Water Act, a state can apply to take over the program if it can demonstrate that the state program is equivalent to the federal program. Already, the lowball cost estimates that DEC has provided make it clear that Alaska intends to take over the program and do the bare minimum to meet the federal requirements. Currently, the federal program requires 49 staff with an annual budget of $7.9 million. DEC has requested $5 million for a program run by 28 staff. The likelihood that an understaffed and underfunded state permitting program will do a lousy job and be hit with lawsuits is absolute. Part of the DEC’s rationale for wanting to assume the program is to “speed up” the permitting process. Remember that these are highly complex permits, often in sensitive salmon wetland habitat, in a state with the most wetland habitat. A state that is drawn together by salmon, if nothing else. The true cost of this program to state coffers has been grossly underestimated.
Lawmakers in the House Finance Committee saw the wisdom of denying the proposed $5 million increment increase to create a new DEC bureaucracy and took it out of the budget, allocating the money to a program that actually has a proven track record: Head Start. The budget then moved to the full House floor and the wild and wooly full House amendment process, where it was added back in through some clever political maneuvering on a vote of 18 against, 22 for. The hypocrisy is rich in lawmakers acceding to the creation of a new bureaucracy with only the vaguest idea about outcomes – especially those who bemoan “outcomes” in education while voting to starve that critical system.
If the idea is that DEC wetland permitting will improve economic outcomes for Alaska, one has to only look to our takeover of federal wastewater permitting. In the decade since we took over the responsibility for wastewater permitting, under the same rationale as today’s push for 404 primacy, our state’s economy has not been bolstered by more lax wastewater permitting. In fact, we have plummeted and are stubbornly at the bottom of most national rating systems as far as economic activity. The argument that assuming wetland permitting will ultimately pay for itself through increased permit issuance and permit fees is also a sham. Since DEC took over the federal wastewater permitting agency, funding has consistently dropped, causing many of its core programs to be severely underfunded. The legislature would do well by revisiting self-serving assumptions made by extractive industry boosters about the connection between permitting and the overall economy. To be open for business, a lot of actual choices will have to be made about broad-based individual taxes, closing corporate tax loopholes, and funding early childhood and social services programs. Creating a new state bureaucracy to craft shoddy development permits that will not protect salmon, will be constantly challenged in court, and will cost Alaskans well over the $5 million a year figure being foisted on the legislature (easily $10 million a year by some estimates) is no way to get there.
The state Senate still has yet to start working on its version of the operating budget. From there, the budget differences will be hashed out by House and Senate conference committees, so there remain plenty of opportunities to call on the legislature to remove the proposed money for DEC wetland permitting primacy. The fact that the House Finance Committee chose Head Start over creating more DEC bureaucracy should give us hope that many lawmakers in the Senate will choose the future instead of the past in their decision-making.\n\n[/cs_content_seo][cs_element_gap _id=”7″ ][cs_element_button _id=”8″ ][cs_content_seo]Tell Alaska’s legislators to protect our budget and defend our fisheries\n\n[/cs_content_seo][cs_element_gap _id=”9″ ][/cs_element_layout_column][/cs_element_layout_row][cs_element_layout_row _id=”10″ ][cs_element_layout_column _id=”11″ ][cs_element_button _id=”12″ ][cs_content_seo]Bills To Watch\n\n[/cs_content_seo][/cs_element_layout_column][cs_element_layout_column _id=”13″ ][cs_element_button _id=”14″ ][cs_content_seo]More Hot Takes In A Cold Place\n\n[/cs_content_seo][/cs_element_layout_column][/cs_element_layout_row][/cs_element_section][/cs_content]

The House xerox copies bad voting bills from the Senate super-minority

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A slew of bills pertaining to elections and voting saw airplay this week in the House State Affairs Committee. HB 1 intends to repeal Ranked Choice Voting/Open Primaries (bad), and HB 37 to institute ballot-curing, postage paid by mail envelopes, and a ballot tracking system (good) were heard on Tuesday and held in committee.

The House Judiciary Committee apparently believes that Senator Mike Shower – election denier par excellence, residing in one of the smallest conservative minorities in state history, should emerge from his sleepy senate backwaters to guide the work of a House standing committee. The House Judiciary Committee sponsored in rapid succession HB 129, HB 130, HB 131, and HB 132, which are all identical bills to those that Senator Shower prefiled earlier this session. They have a familiar theme: make it harder and more complicated for Alaskans to vote, elevate the phantasm of widespread voter fraud by toughening penalties for said offense, and give credence to the conspiracy that voting machines and vote tally systems were the cause of Donald Trump’s loss.

There are good faith changes that can be made to help Alaskans ensure that their votes are safe, secure, and counted. Ballot curing, ballot tracking, and a more robustly funded system for by-mail voting are good starting points. There is always room for improvement in our system.

The ever-sprawling, ever-shifting nature of conspiracy thinking makes good faith compromise challenging. Donald Trump tried to overthrow Democracy in America. Likely the majority of these bills would not have been introduced if he had prevailed, which is a tough pill to swallow when discussing compromise on voting reform measures. If a “reform” touted by a Trump supporter is based on empirically and legally wrong information, does it still get to play in the great field of legislative ideas? Apparently it does, considering the bills that House State Affairs is choosing to bring up. Whether it needs to become law is another question.

Ranked Choice Voting and Open Primaries won at the ballot box, decreased the power of political parties, and led to the largest field of mostly moderate freshmen lawmakers we have seen in decades. Those are factual statements. You can voice your support for RCV and against HB 1 here. When the House State Affairs Committee holds hearings on HB 1 to repeal RCV while hearing a slate of other bad voting bills, there is an implicit message that RCV is part of a greater conspiracy that the House Majority is addressing. We refute this idea, strenuously, because it is nonsense. Believe you me, we will fight any repeal attempt of RCV either in the legislature or at the ballot box with all available resources, strategies, tactics, and Alaskans we can muster.

The Senate Bi-Partisan supermajority has widely broadcasted that their agenda will focus toward the middle on education, retirement/employee retention, energy cost, and a few other issues. Only one of Senator Shower’s election bills has had a hearing in the Senate this session (after he consumed almost the entirety of his tenure last year as chair of Senate State Affairs on this type of bill). We don’t anticipate that there will be lots of patience in the Senate this year for the House’s posturing on their voting issues that are so profoundly suffused with the anti-democratic events of the recent past. While we’re hopeful, we encourage you to contact the legislature to let them know what you want to see.

Here’s to hoping,
The Alaska Center

An RPS Revival

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[cs_content][cs_element_section _id=”1″ ][cs_element_layout_row _id=”2″ ][cs_element_layout_column _id=”3″ ][cs_element_text _id=”4″ ][cs_content_seo]The Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) policy has been revived and resurrected from the past legislature, and looks at this point much better than the version that died in committee last year. SB 101 was recently introduced in the Senate, and a companion was introduced in the House, HB 121. These bills establish renewable energy benchmarks for electric utilities to meet in an effort to transform our electric energy sources away from fossil fuels. Like last year’s proposal, utilities would be required to provide electricity from renewable energy resources in the following percentages and by the following dates – 25% by December 31, 2027; 55% by December 31, 2035; and 80% by December 31, 2040. If a good faith effort is not made by utilities to reach these percentages, fines are levied.
Unlike last year’s severely watered-down and over-complicated version – this new legislation starts fresh. It does not allow nuclear energy to be considered “renewable,” nor does it allow waste heat recovery from natural gas combustion to be categorized as “renewable.” Both items will surely be on the utility wish list for amendments to the RPS as it moves forward. To increase residential solar energy as a way of contributing more renewable electrons to the grid, the new RPS policy modifies the existing net energy metering policy by allowing home and business owners who put up solar panels and accrue credits for the energy production beyond what they use, to use these credits throughout the year. Current regulations require that all surplus energy is credited to your next month’s bill. This RPS also sweetens the solar pot by requiring that the credits for surplus energy be at the utility’s retail rate. Current solar regulations nickel-and-dime home solar producers by crediting their surplus energy at a much lower rate.
Anticipate electric utilities uniformly chafing at the idea of having their investment decisions mandated by the legislature, but don’t be fooled – transmission, generation, and distribution of electricity are inextricably linked to public regulation and swayed by public policy decisions. This happens daily, across the nation. To be fair, these decisions are complex. The process of filing tariffs and making rate cases before regulators can be time-consuming and costly, but it is simply the price of doing business as a utility.
Utility managers have a unique advantage in swaying lawmakers as they are the experts in the energy field, while most of our elected officials juggle general knowledge of multiple matters and seek out experts to inform their decisions. Hence, when a complex piece of legislation is brought up in committee, those with significant technical, financial, and legal knowledge are often given greater deference. However, in the case of our unique, member-owned, Board of Director-governed non-profit utilities, we Alaskan rate-payers need to be heard, loudly, in the legislative process. We are the ones paying extremely high electric rates as the price of natural gas increases due to looming supply shortages.
This is the right time for an RPS policy. The legislature has recently mandated that utilities work together to craft system reliability standards and a planning process for new generation. The federal government has unleashed billions of dollars for renewable energy, including a direct payment for non-profit utilities that build new renewable generation facilities. Utility managers are working together more collaboratively than in decades past on upgrading the railbelt transmission system and battery storage facilities. Also, of vast importance, the price of renewable energy is plummeting at a rate never before seen in history. At the same time, we are tied to a monopoly supply of natural gas in the Cook Inlet basin, ever increasing in cost despite years of subsidies from the state’s general fund.
Let’s keep the new RPS policy from falling prey to complex and unending rewrites and delay tactics, utility in-fighting, byzantine attorney tricks, and old costly dogmas about Alaska always and forever needing oil and gas to thrive. It’s time we move in an orderly fashion into the future that is renewable energy guided by a clear RPS policy. Write your legislators today, tell them Alaskans support the RPS.
Keep up the good work, friends, and we will talk to you soon.
The Alaska Center

\n\n[/cs_content_seo][cs_element_gap _id=”5″ ][/cs_element_layout_column][/cs_element_layout_row][cs_element_layout_row _id=”6″ ][cs_element_layout_column _id=”7″ ][cs_element_button _id=”8″ ][cs_content_seo]Bills To Watch\n\n[/cs_content_seo][/cs_element_layout_column][cs_element_layout_column _id=”9″ ][cs_element_button _id=”10″ ][cs_content_seo]More Hot Takes In A Cold Place\n\n[/cs_content_seo][/cs_element_layout_column][/cs_element_layout_row][/cs_element_section][/cs_content]