Latest oil tax plan more of the same

Legislators must think their constituents are too busy to notice what's going on in Juneau. How else to explain the so-called &#8220produce or pay” tax recently rammed through the House by the majority - and in an election year, no less?

After months of haggling over the best way to retool the state's oil tax structure, consensus appeared to be within reach as the final days of this special session wane. Seeming to heed mounting concern over the governor's proposal to tax industry profits, House lawmakers looked to be inching closer to agreement on a new plan that would simply improve the tax and royalty system already in place by changing the formula for taxing gross revenues.

This was, perhaps, most remarkable for the uncharacteristic display of genuine bipartisanship that went into the plan. Such teamwork should be the order of the day, given the issue's long-term significance for all Alaskans.

But somewhere along the line, politics got in the way. Employing its trademark closed caucus, the House majority decided that a flawed Republican-only solution was better than a plan everyone could agree on.

Drawn up behind closed doors with only the assistance of Murkowski administration officials and oil industry representatives, &#8220produce or pay” was passed without public testimony, minority input or the analysis of the Legislature's own paid expert consultants. Not surprisingly, it contains the same battery of giveaways and loopholes that the public, most candidates for governor, and a broad swath of legislators from both sides of the aisle have already rightly criticized.

It moves now to the Senate with the blessing of Valley lawmakers Carl Gatto, John Harris, Mark Neuman and Bill Stoltze, all of whom are running for re-election. Only Rep. Vic Kohring voted with the minority opposition.

We urge the Senate, in general, and Sens. Charlie Huggins and Lyda Green, in particular, to show a little more respect to Alaskans by giving this shabby and hastily constructed proposal a more thorough going over.

Likewise, we urge voters to pay attention. Final accountability, after all, is in your hands.