State Dept. of Revenue Announced Spring Revenue Projections

The State Department of Revenue says it expects to get $7.3 billion in unrestricted income for this fiscal year.

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By Sean Doogan

Story Created: Apr 6, 2011 at 3:11 PM AKDT

Story Updated: Apr 6, 2011 at 7:28 PM AKDT

The State of Alaska released its spring revenue projections this morning, and says it is expecting a big surplus.

The State Department of Revenue says it expects to get $7.3 billion in unrestricted income for this fiscal year.

That compares with about $5.7 billion projected for last fiscal year.

Governor Sean Parnell says he wants to save as much as $2.5 billion of an expected surplus over $3 billion.

Parnell's priorities include putting billions of dollars into the Alaska State Legislature's savings account, and another $400 million into his Performance Scholarship Program.

However, the budget, which still has not been passed, relies on oil tax reductions that have stalled in the State Senate.

Governor Parnell says, “If it doesn't pass, then I expect economic growth and oil production will decline over time and we will have to save more money over time to see our economy through that."

He has offered severe budget cuts if his proposed oil tax reductions do not make it through the Legislature by the end of the session.

State Senate leaders say they don’t believe the governor’s plan has enough support to make it to the floor for a vote and suggest waiting until next session to tackle the issue.

Senator Bert Stedman (R-Sitka) says he wants more information on the possible effects of the proposed tax cuts.

Stedman spoke out at a press availability Wednesday saying, “It is pretty difficult to expect, in my opinion, the elected officials to make decisions dealing with billions of dollars worth of our resources then in the next breath tell us ‘don’t worry about the technical details or the analysis, just vote for the bill.’"

The Legislature has just 11 days left in the current session.

Of the more than 300 bills it has considered this year, so far, only two have passed both houses.

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