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Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz has signed on with 337 other U.S.mayors to back goals of the Paris accord on global emissions reduction and climate change, a spokeswoman for the mayor said. The initiative was organized through the U.S. Conference of Mayors and ratified at the group’s meeting in Miami Beach June 1. “Anchorage maintains our commitment and responsibility to adapt to and mitigate climate change,” Berkowitz said in a statement. “Alaskans know how critical good stewardship is for our economy,…

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Uber, newly-approved by the Legislature and Gov. Bill Walker to operate in Alaska, has told Juneau officials that it will not be paying sales tax for ride services. Uber told the city the drivers have responsibility to pay sales tax but city officials said that is impractical because money is actually transferred to Uber directly. If this holds up it will leave legislators who championed the company looking a little red-faced. Sen. Mia Costello made a big point of Uber’s…

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Despite all the gloom and doom overall the state is not in bad shape financially. We cite figures from the June 20 Standard & Poor’s report, which were supplied by the state administration and are current, but the best estimate for the Constitutional Budget Reserve fund balance as of July 1 is $4.3 million; as of May 31, the Permanent Fund’s Earnings Reserve was $12.5 billion. In terms of the projected FY 2018 deficit, the current estimate for the draw…

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The budget Conference Committee wrapped up work early Thursday afternoon and sent the compromise version of HB 57 to the House and Senate for consideration. There were no huge cuts in spending overall although some institutions, like the University of Alaska, will be significantly affected. The Alaska House of Representatives passed the budget by a vote of 31-8. The Alaska Senate passed the bill by a vote of 16-1. The bill will now be sent to the governor for approval….

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The House-Senate budget conference committee rolled through several agencies late Thursday afternoon including the Dept. of Health and Social Services and the University of Alaska. The UA budget wound up at $317 million in undesignated general funds, down from $325 in the current budget. The House had recommended status quo for the university as had the governor. A Senate Finance subcommittee initially recommended $312 million but the full Senate Finance committee dropped it to $302 million, although that number was…

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There were very modest results in state and federal offshore lease sales held Wednesday, June 21. Only one company submitted bids for tracts, Hilcorp Alaska LLC. Hilcorp operates producing oil and gas fields in upper Cook Inlet. The company submitted bids on 14 federal and six state tracts and was the only bidder. What was significant is that this signaled a big shift for Hilcorp away from its strategy of purchasing and then renewing, through invested, aged producing fields toward…

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The House-Senate budget conference committee met yesterday and proceeded to close out the Dept. of Transportation and Public Facilities operating budget. The committee resumes work today at 4 p.m. (We will provide an update). Standard and Poor’s issued a “negative watch” on Alaska’s credit rating due to the continued budget impasse and lack oa s a state fiscal plan. Here is Gov.  Bill Walker’s statement: “Today’s (Tuesday’s) announcement from S&P is both concerning and disappointing—but not surprising,” Governor Walker said….

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The clock is ticking. Unless the Legislature passes an appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2018, state government shuts down on July 1 – 18 days from today, Tuesday. The Legislature’s game of chicken continues in Juneau, although the House-Senate conference committee on the budget will meet today, June 20, at 3 p.m. The first special session concluded Friday, at the end of its 30-day limit, and Gov. Bill Walker immediately called a second one, which can last another 30 days….

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