Presentation on Alaska Public Finances Last Week

Anchorage--

I have received some interest in my presentation last week about Alaska's public finances from those who couldn't attend it. Accordingly, here are my notes, plus my bio for the introduction.

P.S. Watch this space for another announcement coming soon on my work on Alaska public corruption.



Cliff Groh
“The Prudhoe Bay Curve and the Squeal Point”
Bartlett Democratic Club May 12, 2011

The Pipeline Is Less than One-Third Full and Production Continues to Fall

High Oil Prices Can’t Bail Us Out Indefinitely

Gasline and ANWR Are More Political Footballs than Economic Saviors

Alaska Eventually Hits a Squeal Point

What Should Happen Then?

Actual Alternatives Include:

1. Budget Cuts Beyond the Bone
2. Personal Taxes
3. “Permanent Fund Solution”

Your Answers to “What Should Happen Then?” Turns on:

1. How Long You Intend to Live in Alaska
2. What You Fear the Most
3. What You Think the Permanent Fund Is For

Cliff Groh

Cliff Groh is a lifelong Alaskan who has been a lawyer for more than 20 years. He is now a writer and attorney in Anchorage.

Groh served as the Special Assistant to the Commissioner of Revenue in the administration of Gov. Steve Cowper from 1987 through 1990. In that capacity, he served essentially as the State of Alaska's tax lobbyist in the successful effort in 1989 to revise the state's oil taxes in a way that increased revenues from the giant Prudhoe Bay and Kuparuk fields. The legislation adopted in 1989 to revise the Economic Limit Factor (ELF) created a regime for oil taxes that lasted until the Alaska Legislature adopted the Petroleum Profits Tax in 2006.

Groh was also the principal legislative staff member working on Permanent Fund Dividend legislation in 1982. He worked closely then with two former Speakers of the Alaska House of Representatives, State Representatives Terry Gardiner of Ketchikan and Hugh Malone of Kenai. That legislation adopted in 1982 produced the per capita Permanent Fund Dividend Alaska has today. Groh has co-authored two chapters for an academic book on Permanent Fund Dividends to be published by Palgrave Macmillan.

Groh has been a board member of Alaska Common Ground for more than 15 years. He has organized, presented at, and/or moderated at more than a dozen events regarding Alaska fiscal policy over the past two decades. He was a delegate to the Conference of Alaskans in 2004.

Groh is probably the only Alaska lawyer who has performed stand-up comedy in multiple states, and he is definitely the only Alaska lawyer who has been interviewed for an hour on national television about public corruption.

His speech today is entitled “The Prudhoe Bay Curve and the Squeal Point.” He would like each of you to think of vicious questions to ask him at the end of his presentation.


Bartlett Democratic Club May 12, 2011