Last Tuesday afternoon I was sitting in my home office in Anchorage (working on taxes, actually) when I received a call, telling me that HB 311, this session’s version of a bill first introduced by Rep. Charisse Millet in 2013, was up for hearing before the House Finance Committee at 8:30am the following morning. The bill, which requires the Governor to submit as part of his annual budget the “sustainable budget” number calculated consistent with the “Goldsmith/ISER” approach, had received two hearings in the prior legislature (2013-14) (here and here) but hadn’t received any attention from the Committee this session prior to the call.
As I described in my subsequent testimony, the approach contained in the bill could be used as a fiscal plan (which I have advocated in the past), as a spending cap (which I also have advocated) or as a spending guide.
Never one to pass up an opportunity to talk about sustainable budgets, by 8:30am the next morning I was in Juneau, with a presentation which combined my thoughts with those that Dr. Goldsmith previously had submitted in support of the bill (the slidedeck is below). Continue reading
Thoughts on Alaska Oil & Gas 
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