Parnell bid to cut oil taxes stuck in Senate OUTLOOK: Lawmakers want to wait for studies from consultants.

Gov. Sean Parnell's attempt to slash Alaska oil taxes appears to be going nowhere in the state Senate with less than a month before lawmakers adjourn for the year.
"I don't see the votes in the resources committee to move the governor's bill out at this time," Senate President Gary Stevens, a Kodiak Republican, said Thursday.
Senate leaders have said since the start of the legislative session in January that they don't see enough justification for what could be a tax cut of $2 billion a year for North Slope oil producers. Parnell has made cutting the taxes a top priority this session, and oil companies and their supporters have been pushing lawmakers to back his plan.
The bill remains stuck in the Senate Resources Committee, much to the frustration of the governor. "We can't let legislators do nothing," Parnell said Thursday. "I'm asking the Senate to move the bill and get moving on creating more jobs."
Parnell's bill is moving in the Alaska House of Representatives. But it won't matter much if the bill passes the state House unless the Senate gets interested.
Senators said they don't want to cut oil taxes before receiving studies by consultants Woods Mackenzie and the Van Meurs Corp. on how Alaska's tax system compares with other oil producing regions worldwide.
Those studies won't be ready until after this year's legislative session. Senate Finance Committee co-chairman Bert Stedman said the Legislature paid $96,000 for the studies and it would be stupid not to wait for them.
"I think it would be absurd to ignore that type of information and just start drawing conclusions," said Stedman, a Sitka Republican. "There are big decisions. We want to get them right."
Kenai Republican Sen. Tom Wagoner, co-chairman of the resources committee, said he's trying to craft an oil bill that could have enough support to pass. But it's likely to fall far short of what Parnell and the oil industry wants.
"My bill doesn't change the tax regime. All my bill does is incentivize additional production and additional drilling to get more oil into the pipeline from sources such as heavy oil, shale oil, tight sand plays," he said.
Senate President Stevens said money collected from oil the oil-tax structure now in place goes for things Alaskans want such as education, troopers and Medicaid. It's not clear what the state would get in return if it gave up the money to the oil companies, he said.
"We just can't give away the farm here. We just can't," he said.
Parnell said he's been asking the oil industry for stronger assurances the tax cut would lead to more investment.
"I think, though, that we have to look at the alternative. And my view is that the status quo is a do-nothing drop into economic obscurity. Ten years from now, if we maintain the status quo we'll have fewer jobs, less money in savings and we'll have a declining economy," Parnell said.
Parnell said he understands there are a lot of factors other than taxes that go into oil company decisions on where to invest. But he said he can't do anything about the geology or how much other oil regions tax, while he can try to make Alaska more attractive with a lower tax.
Parnell said he was "disappointed" that the Senate hasn't embraced his oil tax bill. But it's not clear what he's going to try and do about it. Parnell said Thursday that he doesn't plan to call the Legislature into a special session on the issue if the tax cut isn't passed before lawmakers go home for the year on April 18.
"I think lawmakers should be clear that I intend to get a bill this session. I don't have any intention of calling them back for a special session on oil taxes," Parnell said.
The current oil tax system was passed with bipartisan support under Gov. Sarah Palin in 2007. Parnell backed it as Palin's lieutenant governor, but said he's since become convinced that it's holding back additional oil production.