Gov. Sean Parnell denied Thursday his administration had lied to or attempted to mislead legislators about oil tax reduction bills, as the tense relationship between the governor and legislators grew increasingly rocky.
“I was extremely disappointed in the way several representatives impugned the motivations of my administration,” Parnell said.
Members of the House of Representatives were debating House Bill 118 late Wednesday evening when several said they’d been misled by the Parnell administration and Department of Revenue.
The bill, providing a research and development tax credit, was touted as a way to broaden the state’s oil-dependent economy away from oil. Instead, they said, they discovered the bulk of the benefit would go to big corporate taxpayers, ConocoPhillips, BP and Exxon Mobil Corp.
Representatives from the Department of Revenue told legislators conflicting information about who could claim the research tax credits, and led them to believe the benefits wouldn’t go to oil companies.
Rep. Les Gara, D-Anchorage, questioned how the misinformation came about.
He said he didn’t know “whether it was just sloppy work by the administration, or whether I was misled,” Gara said on the House Floor.
“Do people in this room really feel they were given an accurate presenting on this bill by the department?” he asked.
Rep. Mike Doogan, D-Anchorage, said the Legislature was likely intentionally misled, and he didn’t trust either the Parnell administration or the Department of Revenue.
“I particularly don’t trust the department, because, frankly, they’ve lied to me,” he said.
The House’s rules of decorum generally bar personal attacks, but Rules Committee Chairman Rep. Craig Johnson, R-Anchorage, didn’t address Doogan’s comments Wednesday night.
Parnell, a former legislator, said the concerned lawmakers handled their complaints poorly and violated their own rules.
“Usually when a legislator has a concern like that, where they feel like they’ve been given incorrect information and they think it’s intentional, they’ll call me, come see me,” he said.
Johnson didn’t return a message left with his office Thursday.
House Bill 118 passed 23-12, but has yet to go to the Senate. Juneau’s representatives split on it, with Republican Cathy Muñoz voting in favor and Democrat Beth Kerttula opposed.
Bryan Butcher, commissioner of the Department of Revenue, appeared with Parnell at the press conference and denied the accusations of lying.
“I have no information that we have ever been dishonest with anybody,” he said. “Certainly we have never lied to Rep. Doogan,” he said.
The conflict with the House members comes after an incident earlier this week when Parnell tried to rally oil industry opposition to a Senate oil tax bill that doesn’t provide as large a decrease in tax rates as he wants by referring to an earlier version of the bill and calling it a “tax increase.”
Senate President Gary Stevens called it “purely deceptive to say we’re trying to raise taxes” after a Department of Revenue analysis showed the bill would lower taxes.
Parnell said his statement addressed an older version of the bill, not a newer one.
“It was a moving target,” he said.
“I told the truth, the commissioner told the truth, we’re all here trying to get the job done for Alaskans,” he said.
Focusing on the conflicts won’t help the state, he said.
“The name calling needs to stop, we need to focus on bringing about solutions,” he said.
• Contact reporter Pat Forgey at 523-2250 or at patrick.forgey@juneauempire.com.
Comments (30)
Add commentI am just amazed at what is
I am just amazed at what is going on here. Alaskans need to tune in because Parnell is flat out lying to all of us.
Remember how nice it was when we had Governors that we could trust, that you knew the last thing they would ever do is lie to Alaskans.
Parnell has fallen way short of good governance and should just step down.
King Sean I says
You follow your rules. I'll follow the Palin/Parnell rules.
Translation: I can say anything I want and bend the truth in any way I want. You can't, 'cuz you got rules.
Phony outrage
Doogan is right. Parnell lied like crazy about his giveaway to the oil companies. Now it appears that the governor is upset because he was called out for being the liar he is.
This R&D tax credit bill. ANOTHER giveaway to the oil companies?? Why is Cathy Munoz voting for this, after voting for the oil tax giveaway? She has some 'splainin to do.
You know...
It was about this point in Palin's reign that she got cross-wise with the Legislature, and decided to throw in the towel. Could we be so lucky twice in a row?
The truth of the matter is that
If his (Parnell, or Butcher) mouth is open, he's being purposely deceptive.
I don't trust one word that comes out of either of their mouths.
Fooled again
Munoz fell for it again but so did the majority of the house. Thank god we have the Senate to actually read and stop these bills. Maybe the house should adopt the following rule, " if the bill is generated by Parnell- just vote no"
“Usually when a legislator
“Usually when a legislator has a concern like that, where they feel like they’ve been given incorrect information and they think it’s intentional, they’ll call me, come see me,” he said.
So this is a regular thing for Parnell? "Normally when they catch me in a lie they just call me directly"
Sorry but its pretty easy to tell when a politician is lying. Their lips are moving. How do you tell if they are a politician? They are patting you on the back with one hand and reaching for your wallet with the other.
do your homework
Legislators have more complete access to resources, and the staff to do the leg work, than constituents. With limited session days I expect they have worked on the issues during the previous year, sort of like homework. How is it they now blame the administration for skewing the textbooks?
The Governor has his own position to argue. Our House and Senate have theirs. All position themselves based upon their own research. If our legislators are questioning the information perhaps we need a closer review of who is providing the textbooks our legislators are relying upon, and perhaps entertain more open disclosure so the rest of us can keep up?
Position to Argue
The Governor should only have one position to argue and that is the position of the people. As for sending an email that has information that is several days old...Boo...The Governor should be more concerned about a stable long term budget than pumping some number of barrels of oil that he pulled out of the air.
e-mails?
"the position of the people"? Could you be more specific?
The truth?
"“I told the truth, the commissioner told the truth, we’re all here trying to get the job done for Alaskans,” he said."
That right there is a lie - Parnell is not concerned with Alaskans or what Alaskans want. He is concerned with lining the pockets of the oil companies and setting himself up for a cushy oil job when he gets kicked out of the Governor's mansion. Get it through your thick skull Sean - We, the Alaskan people, do not want this. And it's our state, you work for US - not the oil companies.
more representatives than constituents
It is comforting to know we have more 'representatives' of all Alaskans than any of us voted for. I'll just sit back now.
Parnell
Parnell has been lied All along. It time you RECALL him
billb & roughcut
Huh? Say that three times..
Sean will say...
Sean will say that we cannot afford to pay for this project here or that project there when he line item vetoes dozens of projects that actually WILL create jobs, but then he says we can afford to give away $2 billion+ to the oil companies.
He says we cannot afford to have annual increases (he calls them "giveaways") to our schools, but we can afford to lower our tax base with no guarantee that they will use one cent to explore.
Note to Sean: If the oil companies aren't motivated to explore for more oil by a price that is well over $100 a barrel, which would make them many more billions, then why would they explore more with your measly giveaway? Lets keep the one and only thing Sarah Palin managed to accomplish for our state intact, and leave ACES alone.
To Sean and the blowhard Butcher...
"Liar Liar Pants On Fire!" Thanks for the laugh!
It's all over town...
...This attitude that it's o.k. to lie a bit. Then it's a bit more, then even more. What is the difference between a little lie and a big one? Or another one? When does a inappropriate assumption become misinformation, then turn into repeating what you have heard? After a while it just turns into gray mush. The truth is, there is a lot of B.S. in this town, too many people trying as hard as possible to lift a heavy load of bull in a wet paper bag.
They would not do this if they lost their funding (jobs) if they lie. In Juneau, people can slop by without being responsible. In the real world, people like that get weeded out.
Mike Doogan for Governor!
By everything I've read and re-read, it does indeed appear that the legislature was mislead or lied to regarding this huge tax giveaway. I suspect the latter. So do many others in here.
Republicans overall have a history of creating "no billionaires left behind" legislation. This is just another example.
Parnell has made his tax giveaway "my #1 priority" during this legislative session. His own words.
If his #1 priority is to make wealthy companies wealthier, then what does that say about his commitment to Alaskans? It says that the oil companies take precedence over Alaskans, and he is basing all his tax giveaways on some false expectation that the oil companies will invest it in Alaska instead of pocketing it. They promise nothing in return.
Applause to the Senate and the brave democrats who are holding his feet to the fire. Keep up the good work.
Will of the People
I think the will of the people would include:
Knowing how much the oil companies make from the investments in Alaska. The current reporting system does not allow us to know just how much the companies are making by extracting our oil. Knowing this would allow us to set reasonable tax rates with an understanding of the real effect of the tax structure.
Getting the maximum amount of revenue for our resources.
Setting aside surpluses for future generations.
Making gradual adjustments to the tax structure and not making hasty decisions based on promises. We can always give the money back to the oil companies in the future but if you give it away it is gone.
Running the State of Alaska like a business where legally enforceable contracts are signed.
Having a transparent relationship with the oil companies instead of relying on trust with specific milestones for production.
Rewarding companies for the new oil they produce and not for "harvesting" our superfield Prudhoe Bay. Why should we give generous tax credits for no new investment or investments made 25 years ago?
We are hearing the same things that we heard last year from our legislators-that we just don't have all the information that we need to support significant tax reductions because the oil companies haven't provided it. The changes this year will be minor and will continue to be so until we can be shown the real effect of ACES. The oil companies have one purpose: to maximize their profits this puts them directly at odds with our legislature. Having the oil companies justify their positions with actual data would go a long way in supporting their position that they need a tax decrease. The oil companies themselves have told us there was a time when our tax system was too generous. How are we to know this is not the case now unless they provide us the data?
lets open their books
Good points aknut. I see a glitch. Full disclosure of profits by the oil companies will not answer the new-age question of how much profit is one allowed to make? Any profit will be at odds with government simply because government does not generate revenue. It takes from one source and redistributes it to another. But I can see how pulling back the curtains would assist those in the decision-making process to hammer away at boardroom expenditures.
Run the State like a business? You would not like the results. One of the wealthiest states in the union with a population equal to some rural California communities and still we seem to be coming up short. Boardroom expenditures have nothing on us.
Surpluses? Believe me, the Permanent Fund will be there for future government bailouts when the oil peters out as any finite resource eventually does.
reporting questions
If Gov. Parnell was so upset by being called a liar why wasn't he asked to explain the discrepancies between his original reports about jobs and revenue and the study done by the McDowell Group or the presentations given by Mario Van (something)? I don't believe that Dogan technically broke their own rules as the quote that I read (could be a misquote) stated that he didn't trust the Parnell Administration or the Department (I assume of Revenue) and not Sean Parnell or Commissioner Butcher themselves.
Governor who was employed by Big Oil...
If one Googles Governor Sean Parnell, and goes to Wikipedia, it jumps out at you that Parnell was employed by ConocoPhillips as Director of Gov't Relations in Alaska after leaving the Alaska Senate. In 2005, Sean was employed by the lobbying firm, Patton Boggs, who represented Exxon Mobile Corp. in the Exxon Valdez oil spill litigation. Our governor is well educated and is no dummy. I seriously question, once again, the ethics involved in his attempt to aid his old pals in Big Oil. His proposed tax cut for his oil pals would take huge funding away from our state that is used to provide services on all levels for the people of this state. Is Parnell's attempt to reduce taxes for his oil friends in direct conflict with the "greater good" for the people of Alaska? I believe it is!
Friends, this smacks of what many of us are calling the CORPORATOCRACY these days. America has morphed into a nation where, often, the people have lost their power and corporations and Wall Street banking cartel concerns run rough shod over the regular old folks of this country. Let's put the brakes on the advancement of this Corporatocracy control over the citizens of the State of Alaska!! Talk to your representatives and senators and remember this nonsense when the next elections come!!!
It's interesting -
Seeing all the different angles the comments take on what this article is about. I and others think it is about lies, others discuss the dichotomy between a Governor's duty to - who? - the state of Alaska? or big oil? A lot of good comments here. Not many pro-Governor.
Yes ~beemerjack~ excellent point about the Governor's personal objective. It is very interesting the fact he has evolved in his career position to a place where his duties are for the benefit & care of the people of Alaska, yet his mind in reality is stuck in the past - HIS past, back in the good 'ole days when he represented the interests of big oil. He took the other fork in the road years ago. He really doesn't get it. He really isn't a lobbyist anymore. He became Governor by default - He obviously has not even thought about WHAT a Governor does.
Silly boy. What a wuss. Will somebody please wake him up and remind him the duty of the Governor is to govern for the citizens of Alaska, and to not continue to do what he did 20 years ago for big oil?
Duh.
spoorsprint
Articulated points. Yes, I visited the site you recommended. Very enlightening. Couple of points I would like to present.
Having someone in office with on-the-job experience within the oil industry is not automatically suspect when that same officer is selected to represent a state 90+ reliant upon extraction of said resource.
Want to run the State like a business? This is what business does.
Ethics? As much as many like to spoor on lawyers their ethics are subject to better oversight than our politicians.
My first instinct is not to suspect the ethical values of prospective employees based upon who they worked for last, absent any grand jury indictments.
Ken
You're right. It's unfair to prejudge our governor based on his previous employer. He needs to be given a chance to prove his loyalty to the State.
Problem is, he HAS had that chance. And his loyalty (to Alaskans) has been found wanting.
But he certainly is trying to run the state like a business - the oil companies' business. And they stand to profit handsomely from his fine work on their behalf.
I'm hoping that Rep Mike Doogan considers running.
handsomely?
According to what I have read the oil should be available for free.
handsomely?
According to what I have read the oil should be available for free.
outside the box
I know this is a radical idea...but the resources pulled out of our ground are being sold back to us. Granted there are some expenses but...why are our Native villages paying such a high price to simply exist when their own resources are being delivered to their doorsteps at such inflated prices?
Want something to fight about?
Want my respect?
Do something beyond posturing for the capitol city.
Have a village of 200? How about 400? What is the number?
Take note...these people could well be the rescuers of the next century just as they were for our predecessors. I strongly recommend we treat them better.