2020 Ballot Measure 1: Oil Tax Initiative

Alaska Ballot Measure 1, also known as the Alaska North Slope Oil Production Tax Increase Initiative, was on the ballot in November 2020. The measure proposed changes to the tax structure on oil production in the North Slope. Specifically, it aimed to increase the production tax on oil fields that met certain criteria, such as a minimum level of production and commencement of production after 2002.

You can read the ballot measure language here.

This online event featured a panel discussion with two presenters supporting the initiative and two opposing it.

Panelists arguing for the initiative:

• Robin Brena is Chair of Vote Yes for Alaska’s Fair Share and helped draft the initiative on the ballot in November as Ballot Measure 1. He is a long-time oil and gas attorney who served as the chairman of the Oil and Gas Subcommittee for the Walker administration transition team.
• Bill Wielechowski was first elected to the Alaska State Senate in 2006. He serves Northeast Anchorage and JBER. He is an attorney and has a degree in Finance. He served on the Senate Resources Committee for 10 years where he focused on energy and oil and gas issues. He has served as the Co-Chair of that committee, as well as serving as the former Co-Chair of the Senate State Affairs Committee and Co-Chair of the Joint Armed Services Committee.

Link to “yes” panelists slides: Brena-ACG-BM-1

Panelists arguing against the initiative:

• Aaron Schutt, President & CEO, Doyon Limited. Before joining Doyon in 2006, Schutt was an attorney at the Anchorage offices of national law firms Sonosky, Chambers, Sachse, Miller & Munson, LLP and Heller Ehrman, LLP, where he represented tribal and ANCSA corporation clients in transactional and business matters. He is Chair of the ANCSA Regional Association Board.

  Link to Aaron Shutt’s slides: Schutt-Common-Ground-BM1-slides

• Roger Marks has been a petroleum economist in Alaska for more than 35 years. After more than two decades with the Alaska Department of Revenue, he started a consulting practice in which his clients have included oil companies and the Alaska Legislature. He currently has no financial ties to the oil industry.

  Link to Roger Marks’ slides: Marks-Common-Ground-BM1

• Ralph Townsend, Director of UAA’s Institute of Sociaal and Economic Research provided an overview of the ballot measure, and Drew Cason, Director of Government Affairs a Anchorage Home Builders Association was the moderator.

  Link to Ralph Townsend’s slides: Ralph-Townsend-Ballot-Measure-1-overview

This event was co-sponsored by the League of Women Voters, Anchorage, Youth Vote and Anchorage Public Libraries. It was supported in part by a grant from the Alaska Humanities Forum and the National Endowment for the Humanities, a federal agency. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

RESOURCE: ADN Article on Ballot Measure 1