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A report from the Alaska State Chamber of Commerce-The Voice of Alaska Business

The first session of the twenty-third Alaska State Legislature is underway and the Alaska State Chamber of Commerce, the "Voice of Alaska Business", is actively lobbying for positive legislation on issues of importance to business. Following is a summary of the issues identified by our statewide membership as the highest priorities for legislative action in the legislative session of 2003.

Open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to Environmentally Responsible Oil and Gas Development

The Alaska State Chamber of Commerce supports Alaska's role in providing America with a major portion of its domestic oil, and we are urging the United States Congress to pass legislation opening the Coastal Plain of ANWR to responsible exploration, development, and production of its oil and gas resources.

We are urging the Governor and the Alaska Legislature to continue to support and actively participate in efforts to open the Coastal Plain of ANWR to environmentally responsible oil and gas development.

Protect Alaska's Fiscal Future

We are urging the Legislature and Administration to continue efforts to adopt and implement a unified long-range fiscal plan for the state. The plan should address a strategy to bring state spending in line with revenues, encourage and promote economic investment and business development, maintain the state's infrastructure by means of a deferred maintenance plan for all state-owned facilities, and further establish performance measures for state services in concert with results-based government.

The fiscal plan should implement a biennial state budget; privatize state services that can be competitively provided by the private sector; promote development of new businesses that can competitively provide goods or services currently provided by the state; and utilize a systematic funding mechanism, such as general obligation bonds, to meet the state's capital needs.

Superior Education System

We are urging the Legislature and Administration to support an excellent public school system as a necessary component in the growth of our state. Increasing the student dollar and providing an inflation proofing mechanism for the K-12 Education Funding Formula will assist school districts in meeting high standards of...