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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: KLP who wrote (81705)	3/13/2003 12:38:38 PM
From: Jacob Snyder	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

<How much money does every citizen of Alaska receive, no matter their age, for oil right now?> I don't know the exact number. The State government is funded entirely out of royalties paid by the oil companies, so we have no State income tax or sales tax. And a lot of local government, especially in theBush, is funded by State grants. But unless ANWR is opened up, that money will continue declining, as existing fields are mature. Then there is the Permanent Fund. Every Alaskan gets a check for $1000-$2000 each year, paid as a dividend from investments originally funded by oil revenues. I don't know of any other State or nation, that has ever had the self-discipline to save and invest, rather than immediately spend, any large windfall revenues from any source, in the way Alaska has.

To: KLP who wrote (81705)	3/13/2003 1:34:00 PM
From: jimbopost	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

Alaskans & revenue. Here's an article describing royalties and subsidies. Published Monday, March 4, 2002, in the San Jose Mercury News Alaskans love their oil money By John Balzar WHO wants to drill for oil in the far north of Alaska? Alaskans do. And do they ever. More than the oil companies themselves, more than labor unions, more even than George W. Bush, Alaskans are desperate to get some fresh crude flowing out of the wilderness. That’s because there is a threat on the horizon. Without new oil, goodness, Alaskans might be asked to pay taxes. For a generation now, Alaskans have been living high off public lands and the royalties from free-flowing petroleum. Instead of having to pay state taxes, Alaskans get a juicy cash kickback every year from their government. But the-big North Slope oil fields are slowly drying up. So Alaska has dipped into its shrinking state treasury for money to mount the mother of all lobbying campaigns: nearly $5 million to try to convince other Americans and Congress that it’s in the nation’s best interests to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling so that Alaskans won’t have to shoulder the yoke and actually pay for their schools and hospitals themselves. For pure self-interest, Alaska beats even Enron in trying to shape government policy. In the last year, the state spent $3.85 million in its Arctic refuge drilling campaign and appropriated another $1 million two weeks ago. By comparison, Enron spent $2.1 million lobbying in 2000 and $1.9 million the year before, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. On the frontier, life has been cushy for a generation now. Those hardy and self-reliant Alaskans get an annual “dividend from the Juneau government: the earnings off a $21 billion “permanent fund” that is the citizenry’s share of oil revenues over the years. Last year, the payout was $1,963.86 per person, or $7,855 for a family of four. On top of that, oil pays for 84 percent of state government, meaning no income or sales taxes. On the federal front, government also favors Alaskans. For every $1 they pay in U.S. taxes, they receive $1.68 back — to provide such cushy services as subsidized airline service to air-freight soda pop to remote villages. This per-capita payout is twice the 86 cents that Californians get back for each $1 they pay in federal taxes. Yet Alaskans adhere to the illusion of rugged individualism, which means they are second to none when it comes to complaining about government and taxes. Like many states, Alaska faces a budget deficit: $1 billion. The governor has proposed an income tax. Other politicians are arguing for a sales tax on the grounds that at least some of the burden would then be sloughed off on tourists rather than to residents. Some state leaders have been so daring as to propose dipping into the permanent fund to pay for government But the best hope, at least for the long run, is more oil. So when you hear that drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is going to help America, you’ll know exactly which part. John Bakar is a Los Angeles Times columnist.