Stalemate continues over energy relief for Alaskans
Originally published Wednesday, August 6, 2008 at 5:22 p.m.
Updated Wednesday, August 6, 2008 at 11:19 p.m.
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Stumble It!JUNEAU — With one day left in this special session, lawmakers are still without an agreement on an energy assistance bill.
The Senate likes its two-year, $1.3 billion package that includes a $500 payout for most Alaska residents and assistance with heating and utility bills. It passed the upper chamber on Monday night.
The House is backing a two-year, $825 million approach that consists of $1,200 individual payouts and suspension of the fuel tax. That plan was originally introduced by Gov. Sarah Palin, who also offered latitude to pursue additional options.
Unlike the Senate’s proposal, the House plan does not provide direct assistance to consumers or utility companies with heating or electric bills.
With the Senate bill already passed, it was up to the House to either concur or finalize its own proposal. House lawmakers worked late into the night Wednesday.
Should lawmakers not agree by 11:59 p.m. today, Palin could call them back for another special session. “We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it,” she has said.
“It would be unacceptable with Alaskans facing this crisis and with the wealth pouring into this state for lawmakers to leave without doing anything,” she said. “It would be unacceptable for their constituents, I know that.”
Senate President Lyda Green, R-Wasilla, sent House Speaker John Harris, R-Valdez, a letter encouraging collaboration late Wednesday afternoon.
“The Senate majority believes it is imperative that the Legislature enact an energy plan to expeditiously assist Alaskan families,” Green wrote. “The Senate stands ready to work cooperatively with the House of Representatives to reach an agreement on this critical issue.”
Harris quickly responded, defending the House majority’s agreement with Palin’s approach “due to its simplicity and ease of application.”
Providing relief became an issue as the state began to prosper from rising oil prices while its residents found themselves beset by soaring energy costs.
In various rural villages, unleaded gas is pushing $10 a gallon; heating fuel is over $9 a gallon and electricity costs $1.17 a kilowatt hour, or 11 times the national average.
Lawmakers are trying to figure out fair, short-term relief until they return for their regular session in January.
The debate:
Should they support a uniform lump sum or should they approve some assistance based on utility rates that in some parts of the state are three and four times the national average? Perhaps a little of each?
Senate Finance Co-Chairman Lyman Hoffman, D-Bethel, said both could be accomplished if the House was willing to reconsider enhancing energy assistance programs currently in place.
One is a federal program called the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, also known as LIHEAP; some lawmakers want to enhance the state’s contribution.
Another program subsidizes consumers’ power costs, primarily in rural areas where utility rates far outpace national averages. This is called Power Cost Equalization and is the most contentious.
The formula currently works this way:
The state first calculates the average rates collectively charged in Anchorage, Fairbanks and Juneau and uses that figure as a base. It then takes the difference between that base and a rate of 52.5 cents per kilowatt hour, which is the formula’s predetermined ceiling, in place for over a decade.
From there, the state subsidizes 95 percent of that difference up to 500 kilowatt hours per month. Usage above 500 kwh does not get subsidized.
The Senate wants to adjust that formula; the House Finance Committee entertained that option, but eventually pulled it off the table.
Community Discussion
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TAKE THE HOUSE BILL AND ADD IT TO THE SENATES BILL...AND JUST VOTE YES!!!
ENOUGH OF THE DILLY-DALLYING AROUND.
The Anchorage Daily News report shows they took time to celebrate one of the guy's birthday and eat cake on the house floor. Wonder if they will tell the rest of us to eat cake. Wonder if they will just adjourn and wait for January to work out an energy plan. After all they can say the people can use APF dividend check.
$500 dollars won't even fill my fuel tank 0nce!
This is an abysmally poor response by the legislature and once again shows that too many of our elected officials have more desire to line their own pockets rather than make any real difference for the people to put them into office.
I propose we need a new special session to get rid of these sluggards. Let them eat cake in the unemployment line.
I'm disgusted.
Getting rid of this bunch o' bums just opens the door for the next bunch o' bums.
If we vote the way we've always voted, we'll just keep getting the same poor decision makers we've always gotten.
The house is heavily represented in anchorage. And anchorage enjoys the lowest energy cost in the nation. For them, it's about free money. They don't care about the plight of others because it simply doesn't affect their lives. People in barrow may as well be in africa to them.
If the situations were reversed, things would be different, and that means that one geographic area has way too much power.
At the same time, the interior delegation is weak because of the split betweens dems and republicans who no longer vote with each other. When it was all republicans, interior had POWER because no matter what, they all voted together.
It is going to be very, very interesting to see what happens in the next 24 hours.
I am going with "nothing".
$1,300,000,000 divided by 620,000 alaskans equals almost $2100.
Each alaskan can decide if buying more fuel oil or better windows or a smaller car or gasoline for there moose hunt or whatever is best for them.
Republican equals corruption. It's been proven on the presidential level. It's been proven in the House, the Senate, and the Supreme Court. It's been proven by our own Republican senator. As long as the Republican party continues to favor big corporations, big government (we now have the biggest deficit in American history) and ignore the middle class, the people will suffer.
Okay, I'll admit it. We have an awful lot of democrats that aren't much better.
HELP THE PEOPLE OR GET THE HELL OUT OF OFFICE!
Any payment to residents not based on diesel consumption misses the target and doesn't solve the energy crisis in Alaska. Anchorage does not face an energy crisis, but rather a boom supporting North Slope services and production companies.
25% of PFDs and any supplement dividends paid to all residents will goto the IRS with income taxes.
50% of all dividends paid per resident will goto Anchorage bowl residents that heat with Cook Inlet gas for a fraction of the cost of the rest of the state.
That leaves only 25% of the total funds discussed to interior, western, southeastern and other Alaskans heating buildings with diesel.
Sarah Palin & state senators-- are you listening? You ran on integrity and I submit you are buying votes in Anchorage with any plan to just cut checks and not equalize energy costs. You are giving Anchorage residents a big screen TV when they are talking about heating their sidewalks downtown this winter because fuel is still so cheap with Cook Inlet gas.
Many plans have floated around from selling the State royalty oil at subsidized rates (currently not constitutional but could be) and subsidizing fuel distributors. Real leadership would be daring to tackle these ideas and not just buy 1/2 the votes in the state giving out checks to Anchorage and the IRS.
Yeah, repub or dem, doesn't matter... but they should work together to concentrate their power.
Everyone needs to contact their legislators tonight via emails or POM's, the more the better. Let them know how strongly you feel about their inaction.Here are a few links for addresses.
http://w3.legis.state.ak.us/house/house....
http://w3.legis.state.ak.us/senate/senat...
http://www.legis.state.ak.us/poms/
http://www.legis.state.ak.us/poms/messag...
Go there! You have 50 words or less, to express your concerns. Tell them to agree on a short solution to help our families survive this winter. They can ponder all winter on a better solution, but for now, the House's bill seems best.
For me gasoline is my greatest energy expense. Gasoline enables me to go and get things for myself. Instead of paying someone else to deliver oil I can cut and haul wood, instead of going to the store I can go get some fish and meat. Like I said earlier all Alaskans need different energy relief. A cash payment would allow everyone to make there own decision.
Throw the bums out and never vote repub or dem again.
That is, if theres anyone left in the interior by November...
Do not ask for handouts. Make the changes necessary. Vote the way you feel and eliminate both parties. An Independent Alaska would not be in this situation. If you need assistance please move South.
Pat
House District 7 rep Mike Kelly is quoted in the Anchorage Daily News as saying any rebates are welfare and morphine. http://www.adn.com/legislature/story/485...
If this is even a remotely accurate quote, what an embarrassment he is to Fairbanks--especially after his insensitive comments this winter about victims of domestic violence. I hope he gets voted out of office. Anyone can see the need, esp the dire need in rural Alaska. What was he thinking? Time to send someone to Juneau with more compassion--and common sense.
When I read the House and the Senate Bills, the Senate bill provided more relief. I'm curious, Matthew, as to why you felt the House bill was best?
I read that article and Mike Kelly's plan is to build a Susitna dam and a road to Nome. What an idiot we have representing the interior. He and Ramras are lost causes. How will we spend our share of the Susitna dam to heat our homes? Comments like his make the borough mayor sound intelligent and that's a tough row to hoe.
I agree with Senator Hoffman from Bethel that the State can afford to do a two year temporary relief plan, but they don't have time to work out the details for anything beyond an immediate payment.
out_in_the_cold may have the final answer for tomorrow, but I would like to see exactly what the Senate plans to spend more of our money on than they plan to let the people spend.
Tick TOCK!
Jaybird is using a red barn analogy currently. Waiting to see if he gets to the point.
Top senators including Green and Bethel Democratic Sen. Lyman Hoffman said the energy bill must include money for greater home heating and electricity subsidies.
One minority Republican senator couldn’t help but point out that Green was one of three senators who voted against SB 4002 on Monday night, even though the bill included all the electricity and heating oil subsidies Hoffman wanted.
nice.
By the way has anyone seen the results of the Senate vote on the Governor's plan? The House approved it 34-3. The Governor is for it, the house is for it, that leaves only eleven votes from actually having it approved. They can always have a lock in and debate more spending, but not moving this plan forward is a waste of State money. At the rate oil prices are dropping, we might be money ahead to start buying back some oil.
And Rep Kawasaki let them know the crisis is such that Fairbanks is resorting wood and wood pellts.
Where I was raised the Amish farmers typically had white barns.
didn't cath the point of the red barn but evidently it needs a lot of paint :)
LET'S ALL PLAY "FORK THE PORK TO OUR CRONIES"...
...AND EVERYBODY ELSE CAN ALL GO FREEZE TO DEATH.
dancing to the Juneau boogie
maybe we should go check the sewer system in Juneau to see if they're all high on Ecstacy or pills or some bad voodoo going on..
somebody already did that to the WARshingtonDC sewers and the results are amazing.
So Meyer said that there will be misdemeanor charges against those suppliers who attempt to cheat the state with any price jacking within a fuel subsidy.
3rd reading.
For those that are counting on a hand out from those that aren't feeling your pain your cries will fall on deaf ears. Pain equals results only if the one feeling the pain has some means to stop the hurt. The well is full and overflowing with enough funds to help mend the peoples cries. The problem is those that are in charge of the well are NOT THIRSTY. The problem with the masses has always been the same we don't understand greed, and the unethical. Thats why history always repeats itself with the masses electing others to manage their security. Invest in your own security is my best advice to those that don't know how to gather their own pine cones winter is always the same longgg and coldddddd..
I want to know what Anchorage restaurant Doogan has been eating at for $1200 a dinner!?!
I've sent my message to our Legislators via the webpage Matthew Erickson submitted above--by the way, Thank You Matthew. I don't feel like requesting our State do something for ALL of us is asking for a "handout". I beleive that our State is perfectly able to continue to operate without some of the fluff currently being enjoyed. We personally, don't live an extravagant lifestyle, we work Very hard for what we have and we will continue to do so. For us, living in Interior Alaska is what we want to do and we will make whatever sacrifices necessary to continue to live here. However, there will be so many who will not. How can they? Some will have to move south just to survive. And when the people go, what will we need government for anyway? I've heard bits and pieces about the state suspending the fuel tax. Would it really be that big of a deal to our state? Who really would suffer? I just hope that our Legislators READ some of the messages they are likely to receive before it is too late to make some kind of decision before January.
I should have previously mentioned as well, thanks Matthew for the links. I too sent POM messages this evening.
AlaskaLady, good post.
Why is it the governments job to make the cost of living cheeper where you choose to live. If you can't afford to live in the Bush or Fairbanks move to where you can afford to live. Why insist the government pay your bills if you can't afford them? As for the possible $500 or $1200, this should be revenue sharing process and why should a resident (or lets say an Alaska Native so it's not confused with a race issue) be paid a lower share of the wealth because he or she chooses to live in Anchorage? Shouldn't all residents have the same share of the states windfall then choose what they want to do with the money. Just a thought, unpopular but a thought none the less!
At this point I would rather see them wait till January and actually take the time to come up with energy plan that would work for the betterment of all Alaskans. Waiting to the last minute will result either in accepting the Senate's plan, going to committee, or the Senate adjourns leaving the house with no option but to adjourn doing nothing.
No one should have counted on this money.
I don't thing anyone is counting on it per se, I know I'm not. I think it is a bit more of people wishing on a star & crossing their fingers. They aren't counting on it, but it would likely be nice.
halfway, that thought is the most popular in the state. 34-3 in favor of the governor's plan to share the wealth equally with all Alaskans. That's the House's vote and you think they are just ignoring their constituents state wide, no way. The Senate won't take a vote on the initial plan. The same Senate that pissed and moaned for a month about AGIA. The Senate's constituents are the House's constituents, so why the usual delay? Are our State Senators just that uninformed or are they looking to get paid?
Kawasaki just mentioned they had "farted around all summer" & needed to vote & vote yes.
Those that drafted the senate bill must have friends who need jobs. This thing sounds like it will take $$$$$$$ to administer and for the relief people will need on heating oil will have to wait for a refund. To fix this you don't have to be a rocket scientist just physically responsible. Save some, spend some, fix some.
30 yea
7 nay
on the amended house version of the senate version
title was then changed.
If the $1200 is distributed and I don't by a 42" plasma screen or develop a drug habit...
Do I have to give the money back ?
tick tock - by my clock - time's up. What's the decision?
Halfway and ONAPA--well said!
Quite a discussion going on here with lots of details and quotes from Fairbanks area legislators, considering that the dnm didn't actually give us much of it! I read adn.com, and was shocked and prompted to come here based on what my "rep," Mike Kelly, said...
From adn tonight:
Handouts don't build "self-reliance and character," Kelly said, they just let people sleep in and put off energy problems for another day. He argued the state ought to spend its money on projects such as the Susitna hydroelectric dam or a road to Nome.
Ah, yes, thanks sir--self-reliance and character must be built by paying $4.50/gallon while my state gov't has collected billions in extra revenue!
Thomas--re: your 1st post, Kelly is gop, and interior dems are actually sticking up for interior interests on this.
Let's go with the Palin/house plan. It's my choice to live here instead of Anchorage (dread the thought of living there, regardless of energy costs!), and it's pretty much everyone's choice to live where they do, and having low or high energy costs is just one of many factors in that choice. A simple payment to each Alaskan is the best, simplest way, whatever it's amount. With the simple payment, the state avoids creating more bureaucracy, and each resident or family can choose the best use of the money--oil, gas, wood, investment in efficiency or alternatives, etc., or a Mexico vacation during which they turn down the home thermostat for a few weeks.
Thank you Poppa for the links, I'll be contacting Kelly and others.
Some were bored and watched the Channel 15 version.
akprincess72
Thanks for the play by play! :)
Halfway, The State has been subsidizing Anchorage's natural gas at a disproportionate rate (in contrast to the rest of the State) for quite some time now, from what I've gathered.
An equally justified couple of questions might instead be, "Why has Anchorage deserved having their fuel sources subsidized at such a beneficial rate that's not otherwise enjoyed by the rest of the State? Simply because they're Anchorage?? Simply because of a misuse of the 'majority rules' construct?"
After all, they appear to have received long-term (and significant) subsidies simply because they chose to live in Anchorage, right?? How is that different than others' concerns expresed here? Because Anchorage has long-ago lost reason to coplain loudly, as a result of those same subsidies??
Economy of scale, and proximity to available resources.
2 reasons for lots of things in this world, including why Anchorage has lower energy costs than Fairbanks, and why Fairbanks has lower costs than many other places.
just me, you're welcome.
Sean, the proximity and quantity of the resource in question would indeed have something to do with a 'free-market' interpretation/analysis involving no other factors.
However, that has little to do with **disproportionate State subsidies**, (ironically in one of the warmer parts of the State), involving Anchorage's natural gas..
Again, why does Anchorage, in particular, merit disproportionate **STATE SUBSIDIES**, in contrast to the remainder of the State??
That question has little or nothing to do with either 'economies of scale' or 'proximity to the resource,' and everything to do with questioning what is clearly a matter of preferential treatment by a political body (for whom engaging in prefential treatment is legally questionable...), in an area of the State that least needs it.
In being brief, I avoided the subsidy issue. My points stand along side that, I don't want to argue about subsidies for Anchorage (I dislike them greatly, thus agree w/ Dirk and Justme). Just wanted to point out that, unfair subsidies aside, energy probably would/should be cheaper in Anchorage.
I agree, Justme, we should really invest in all sorts of alternatives and innovations in efficiency. I don't think economy of scale and proximity to resource are any kind of "excuse," as you call them. They are simply 2 very real factors (of many factors) in pretty much any energy/economy situation.
The lesson to anyone really paying attention to our situation might be to do what it takes as an individual to reduce one's own energy use and/or expense, and to support and work with others who want collaborative solutions (larger alternative sources).
I keep hearing people say that if you can't afford to live here move. You don't need a handout. Heating oil and electricity prices have tripled since we moved into our home 3 years ago. That is unprecedented. Is it my fault that energy prices have risen? I think not our usage has went down but the prices still rise. I live in a 5+star energy rated new home. Pass the House version for this year and take the time to work out a more permanent solution during this fall/winter session.
whine whine i have been an Alaska resident for 30 years left for seven and just came back for good (Moved here Fairbanks) because i can't stand Anchorage. My point about the WHINE is: If we joined forces once again like i stated in the (incident at the fair) and ran a T.V. spot like they have for months now about the mining and put all our hearts into WHAT BE TRULY BELIEVE should happen than maybe the upper class of good people would listen. meaning (some) good people in Juneau. ever think about that! All i have heard since i came back was cry over this and that about GVEA and now this ... well we have rights STAND UP and voice your opinion on a state (ALASKA) T.V. add.
Allegheny, I couldn't help it, it was so riveting!!! ;)
Honestly though I wanted to hear the individual arguments both yea & nay to see the thought processes behind the decisions. It was very informative in that respect. I had to change some of my previously held opinions while watching it & others were irrevocably verified. Some of the reasonings for their individual votes/decisions were honestly just stupid & blind.
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