The Alaska Supreme Court has ruled against a state plan to borrow as much as $1 billion to pay tax credits owed to oil and gas companies in Alaska.
The plan was proposed by the administration of former Gov. Bill Walker and approved by the Alaska Legislature in 2018, but the court’s justices ruled that the Alaska Constitution forbids the state from taking on debt for those credits.
The ruling means the state must come up with another way to pay an estimated $738 million, the bill left over from defunct subsidy programs for oil and gas drilling and exploration. State officials declined to immediately comment on the ruling Friday morning.
Writing in a unanimous decision, Justice Craig Stowers said, “We reverse and hold that this financing scheme — even if unforeseeable in the mid-twentieth century — is the kind of constitutional ‘debt’ that the framers sought to prohibit under article IX, section 8 of the Alaska Constitution.”
The lawsuit was brought by attorney Joe Geldhof on behalf of Juneau resident Eric Forrer, a local carpenter and writer who formerly served on the University of Alaska Board of Regents.
“We took it by unanimous vote, and now we’re putting some strong stuff in our coffee,” Forrer said Friday morning after hearing the result.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Earlier coverage:
"gas" - Google News
September 05, 2020 at 01:16AM
https://ift.tt/2Gwp1lr
Billion-dollar plan for oil and gas tax credits is unconstitutional, Alaska Supreme Court rules - Anchorage Daily News
"gas" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2LxAFvS
https://ift.tt/3fcD5NP
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Billion-dollar plan for oil and gas tax credits is unconstitutional, Alaska Supreme Court rules - Anchorage Daily News"
Post a Comment