Alaskans for Sustainable Budget's "The Weekly Top 3"

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 - our look at the top 3 things on our mind here at Alaskans for Sustainable Budgets - for the week of July 29, 2024.

This week, our top 3 issues are these: 1) we discuss the movement we are (finally) seeing from Southcentral utilities on gas supplies (2:10); 2) we discuss another bad week for the Permanent Fund Board and how the new Chairman made the case even stronger for replacing and restructuring the Board (24:01); and 3) we explain why the new childcare (or any type of) tax credits are worse than subsidies (39:19).

The Weekly Top 3 (7.29.2024)

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 - our look at the top 3 things on our mind here at Alaskans for Sustainable Budgets - for the week of August 5, 2024.

This week, our top 3 issues are these: 1) we explain how a recent ADN editorial board op-ed advocates for a fiscal future that, if successful, would largely undermine former Governor Jay Hammond's vision for Alaska (2:15); 2) we explain how the Permanent Fund Corp and others are manufacturing a fake earnings reserve crisis and why Alaska's press seems to be buying it hook, line & sinker (18:59); and 3) we explain why many of Alaska's so-called progressives are just the latest incarnation of the old Limousine Liberals (36:51).

The Weekly Top 3 (8.5.2024)

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 - our look at the top 3 things on our mind here at Alaskans for Sustainable Budgets - for the week of August 12, 2024.

This week, our top 3 issues are these: 1) we discuss whether the Alaska economy is on an up- or down-swing (2:17); 2) we discuss the significance of global LNG supplier Excelerate's recent announcement that they are in advanced discussions to bring LNG to southcentral Alaska (19:43); and 3) we explain why we think the proposal to merge the two Permanent Fund accounts - the corpus and the earnings reserve - into a single account should become an election issue (36:17).

The Weekly Top 3 (8.12.2024)

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 - our look at the top 3 things on our mind here at Alaskans for Sustainable Budgets - for the week of August 19, 2024.

This week, our top 3 issues are these: 1) we explain how, after draining the Statutory Budget Reserve, the Constitutional Budget Reserve and a large part of the PFD, some are positioning to come after the Permanent Fund corpus (2:19); 2) we discuss what the Alaska oil & gas industry is NOT telling Alaskans about the next ten years (17:30); and 3) we explain why, while they make claims that they are, those pushing for increased K-12 spending really don't care about middle and lower-income Alaska families (36:26).

The Weekly Top 3 (8.19.2024)

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 - our look at the top 3 things on our mind here at Alaskans for Sustainable Budgets - for the week of August 26, 2024.

This week, our top 3 issues are these: 1) we discuss our take on the results for various legislative races from the primary election and what we see as the path forward (2:33); 2) we discuss the effort by some to combine what we view as two entirely separate issues related to the Permanent Fund: whether the Permanent Fund Board should be reformed (which we strongly agree with), and whether the two-account Permanent Fund structure should be merged into a single account (which we strongly disagree with) (20:25); and 3) we discuss how a recent letter to the editor from Keep Alaska Competitive co-chairs Joe Shierhorn and Jim Jansen dodges a critical fact about oil taxes (38:18).

In addition, we include a brief discussion Michael and I had about the proposals by some to return state employees to a defined benefit pension plan (47:10).

The Weekly Top 3 (8.26.2024)

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 - our look at the top 3 things on our mind here at Alaskans for Sustainable Budgets - for the week of September 2, 2024.

This week, our top 3 issues are these: 1) we explain how some legislative candidates have become so focused on being pro-oil that they have lost focus on being pro-Alaskan (2:15); 2) on the opposite end of the political spectrum, we explain how some so-called progressive candidates have become so focused on increasing government spending they are pushing revenue approaches that hurt the very working Alaska families they claim to be protecting (18:19); and 3) we explain how those pushing Cook Inlet gas are increasingly ignoring market reality and, in the process, looking more and more like those who pushed the Alaska barley and dairy projects of the late 1970s and 1980s (36:31).

The Weekly Top 3 (9.2.2024)

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 - our look at the top 3 things on our mind here at Alaskans for Sustainable Budgets - for the week of September 9, 2024.

This week, our top 3 issues are these: 1) we explain our frustration with the Governor's veto of the proposed rental car tax in the face of the state's ongoing $1.5 billion annual budget deficits (2:10); 2) we discuss some research that, contrary to what some think, concludes it's actually upper-income Alaska families who splurge most at PFD time (19:56); and 3) we discuss the role that fiscal policy can and should play in responding to Alaska's working-age migration issue (38:11).

The Weekly Top 3 (9.9.2024)

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 — our look at the top 3 things on our mind here at Alaskans for Sustainable Budgets — for the week of September 16, 2024.

This week, our top 3 issues are these: 1) we look into the numbers behind the latest #AKLNG proposal and explain why they raise more questions than they answer (2:15); 2) we discuss the arguments the Big Government Republicans are using in their attempt to maintain control over who benefits from — and who pays the bill for — government spending (19:32); and 3) we discuss the ongoing effort by some to Orwellianize the PFD by changing the words they use to describe it to camouflage their inability to change the underlying statute (35:13).

The Weekly Top 3 (9.16.2024)

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 - our look at the top 3 things on our mind here at Alaskans for Sustainable Budgets - for the week of September 16, 2024.

This week, our top 3 issues are these: 1) we explain how the data demonstrates the real driver of Alaska outmigration is faltering Alaska household income, which increased spending using PFD cuts only makes worse (2:14); 2) we look at this year’s PFD cut and the impact of the Legislature’s not-so-secret revenue approach of “the less you make, the more we take” (19:20); and 3) we explain why if Larry Persilly is genuinely concerned about “tax unfairness” he should focus even more on the Legislature than he has the Governor (37:14).

The Weekly Top 3 (9.23.2024)

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 - our look at the top 3 things on our mind here at Alaskans for Sustainable Budgets - for the week of September 30, 2024.

This week, our top 3 issues are these: 1) we explain how those justifying PFD cuts on the basis it's "free money" in reality are just trying to direct it into their pockets instead (2:06); 2) we explain the fundamental hypocrisy of many pushing for increased K-12 spending (18:25); and 3) we explain how Jesse Bjorkman has become so desperate to avoid defending his own record, he's taken to lying about others (36:48).

The Weekly Top 3 (9.30.2024)

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 — our look at the top 3 things on our mind here at Alaskans for Sustainable Budgets — for the week of October 7, 2024.

This week, our top 3 issues are these: 1) we explain how Republican legislative candidates have hamstrung themselves this election cycle (2:05); 2) we discuss how those candidates who continue to press for Cook Inlet gas subsidies are proposing to set the state backward economically (17:29); and 3) we discuss the message being sent by some shifts in ownership of North Slope oil assets (37:39).

The Weekly Top 3 (10.7.2024)

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 - our look at the top 3 things on our mind here at Alaskans for Sustainable Budgets - for the week of October 14, 2024.

This week, our top 3 issues are these: 1) we discuss the question legislators don't want constituents to ask: is the legislator willing to put their own money where their mouth is (2:14); 2) we explain why, to quote the late Yogi Berra, it's beginning to feel like "deja vu all over again" on the K-12 debate (17:28); and 3) Michael and I have an extended discussion on the issue of federal tax cuts, which is coming back around again for discussion with the coming expiration of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (38:08).

The Weekly Top 3 (10.14.2024)

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 - our look at the top 3 things on our mind here at Alaskans for Sustainable Budgets - for the week of October 21, 2024.

This week, our top 3 issues are these: 1) whether the Governor's focus on data centers is a last-minute Hail Mary in support of the AKLNG project and, if so, whether its a good one (2:14), 2) Larry Persily's most recent column and why we think it's hypocritical in not applying a similar standard to the state budget (17:28), and 3) some interesting developments in both the Kenai and Fairbanks legislative races and why we think they are significant (38:08).

The Weekly Top 3 (10.21.2024)

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 - our look at the top 3 things on our mind here at Alaskans for Sustainable Budgets - for the week of October 28, 2024.

This week, our top 3 issues are these: 1) we discuss the broader implications of a recent op-ed in the ADN about the impact of government picking winners and losers (2:06), 2) we explain why those claiming to be "fighting for" Alaska families and the Alaska economy are in fact doing the reverse - undermining Alaska families and economy - when it comes to the revenue side (12:25), and 3) we explain the irony of Governor Dunleavy and others pushing for AIDEA to spend even more on - let's be honest, useless - ANWR leases (34:14).

The Weekly Top 3 (10.28.2024)

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 - our look at the top 3 things on our mind here at Alaskans for Sustainable Budgets - for the week of November 4, 2024.

This week, our top 3 issues are these: 1) we ask whether the four business leaders writing a recent op-ed claiming that SB21 in its current form is still working for Alaska families even looked at the data first (spoiler alert: it's not) (2:31), 2) we explain why Jake Metcalfe's recent op-ed has it exactly backward: it's the current use of PFD cuts to fund government that puts the fiscal burden onto the backs of working Alaska families; by massively broadening the base, Ben Carpenter's proposal would reduce it significantly (17:13), and 3) we explain why, one way or the other, the coming Legislature will have to deal with campaign finance reforms, and our view on what they should do when they confront it (34:56).

The Weekly Top 3 (11.4.2024)

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 - our look at the top 3 things on our mind here at Alaskans for Sustainable Budgets - for the week of November 11, 2024.

This week, our top 3 issues are these: 1) we explain why we characterize the new House Coalition as a "bipartisan plutocracy" - government by the wealthy for the wealthy (2:11), 2) we explain why President Trump's recent video hasn't changed our skepticism of the Alaska LNG project (21:18), and 3) we discuss the internal inconsistency of the Trump energy policy - by making the oil & gas industry stronger, it may make prices and, with that, Alaska, among others, much weaker (39:19).

The Weekly Top 3 (11.11.2024)

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 - our look at the top 3 things on our mind here at Alaskans for Sustainable Budgets - for the week of November 18, 2024.

This week, our top 3 issues are these: 1) we discuss what Alaskans realistically should expect from the Trump Administration on resource development (2:07), 2) we discuss the coming legislative budget cycle and, based on the current oil outlook, what legislators will be facing when they arrive in Juneau next January (20:15), and 3) we use a recent report on where Alaskans are migrating to help make our point about how to help curb it (33:45).

The Weekly Top 3 (11.18.2024)

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 - our look at the top 3 things on our mind here at Alaskans for Sustainable Budgets - for the week of December 2, 2024.

This week, our top 3 issues are these: 1) we discuss the outlook for the state's fiscal situation that likely will be reflected in the upcoming fall 10-year revenue forecast and budget plan (2:07), 2) in light of the likely severe fiscal restraints the state will be facing, we consider the outlook for the upcoming legislative session (17:50), and 3) we explain why the recent sales pitch for the Alaska LNG Phase I project fails to convince and where we should be focusing instead (38:32).

The Weekly Top 3 (12.2.2024)

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 - our look at the top 3 things on our mind here at Alaskans for Sustainable Budgets - for the week of December 9, 2024.

This week, our top 3 issues are these: 1) we explain why the "simple answer" some claim solves Alaska's outmigration issue is, in fact, a significant reason we are in a death spiral in the first place (2:17), 2) we explain why the Alaska LNG Phase I project, as discussed in the Wood Mackenzie report, isn't a "private sector" project, but, in fact, a proposal that is already heavily subsidized by the state (14:51), and 3) we ask, where the heck is the Regulatory Commission of Alaska (RCA) on the Southcentral energy issue. The statutes say they should be at the center of it, but when we look around, they are nowhere to be found (35:32).

The Weekly Top 3 (12.9.2024)

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 - our look at the top 3 things on our mind here at Alaskans for Sustainable Budgets - for the week of December 16, 2024, our last show of 2024.

This week, our top 3 issues are these: 1) we explain why, by completely ignoring an important statute, Dunleavy is failing in his responsibility to "protect the economic stability of the state" (2:25), 2) we discuss our big takeaway from the Fall Revenue Sources Book: while producers clearly are benefitting from SB 21, the statute is failing miserably to allocate a fair share of revenues to the state (19:48), and 3) we look at recent developments in the Cook Inlet, where Enstar is openly seeking a state subsidy to reduce its gas costs but Chugach Electic commendably is moving forward with market solutions (37:56).

And as befits an end-of-year show, after we finish those, Michael and I add one more segment to briefly summarize what we see as the biggest issue facing the state at the end of 2024 as we look ahead to the beginning and upcoming session of 2025 (55:35).

Alaskans for Sustainable Budget's "The Weekly Top 3"

Brad Keithley