Patrice & Bill Parker | Ayse Gilbert

Vic Fischer & Jane Angvik | Katie Hurley
Senator Johnny Ellis | Elvi Gray-Jackson
Joe Josephson | Matt Claman | Chancy & Toni Croft

Ryan Buchholdt | David Landry | Sue Johnson
Heather Rauch | Mark, Debbie & Hannah Moderow | Jim Lottsfeldt
Jake Metcalfe | Jon & Elizabeth Buchholdt
Andy Josephson | Kathleen Metcalfe & Ray Brudie
Steven & Laurie Constantino | Eiven & Mary Pat Brudie

For a fundraiser supporting Hollis French!

Wednesday, August 4th from 5:00-7:00pm

at the home of Patrice & Bill Parker

(1550 H Street in Downtown Anchorage)

Please join Patrice & Bill Parker, Ayse Gilbert and their co-hosts at a fundraiser supporting
the Hollis French for Governor campaign.

For more information, contact the campaign at 441-5115.

Dear Alaskan,

My opponent wants to create an entirely new way of taxing oil companies in Alaska. He wants to negotiate each field on a case-by-case basis, asking the oil companies what they want from us.

He thinks we can sit down with some of the most powerful corporations in the world and outmaneuver them, again and again.

The Berkowitz plan comes with more questions than answers.

I, Hollis French, believe we should stick with ACES, which has put $12 billion in savings for our future.

Click here to contribute to my campaign

What do we have to gain from my opponent’s plan? How would it affect our state? Can we afford to pay for schools, better retirement programs and Denali Kid Care under this plan? Why would we abandon an oil tax that is working well for Alaska?

Today, I delivered to my opponent the five questions that concern me most about his scheme. You can read those questions here.

We deserve answers. We shouldn’t gamble our future on a new tax scheme without knowing what we are getting into as a state.

Realistically though, why would we gamble with our future?

ACES will continue working for Alaskans. It allows us to reform our retirement system, to expand Denali Kid Care, and to fund education and renewable energy.

As Governor, I’ll fix what is broken. On my first day, I’ll roll out a strategy to expand Denali KidCare, reversing Sean Parnell’s horrible veto of child care for 1,200 children. And to accomplish this, I won’t undermine how we pay for important projects in Alaska.

Please join me in moving Alaska forward.  If you can, contribute today – any amount from $10 to $500 – so we can bring this energetic campaign to a successful finish.

Together, we can make progress that benefits all Alaskans.

Sincerely,

Hollis French

PS – With 25 days left until the election, I’m proud to report that this campaign is on track for a victory. Click here to join our energetic team of volunteers, who have been spreading our message across Alaska.

Dear Alaskan,

The difference between me and my opponent is becoming clearer and clearer. Our competing views on oil taxes will be the defining issue in the Democratic primary.

Our current oil tax system is working. It forward funds education. It pays for renewable energy projects that lower our energy costs.

Contribute any amount today to keep this campaign strong.

My opponent’s plan throws out our current system, and makes us sit down with oil companies to negotiate royalties on a ‘field-by-field’ basis.

Remember VECO? After the FBI raided corrupt Republican offices, Democrats seized that unique moment and got a fair oil tax on the books. That tax is called ACES. Read the complete history of that battle here.

I believe that keeping our fair oil tax in place protects the things that you and I care about, like renewable energy and education.

Since this difference has come to light, the following articles have been written on the topic:

Politics v. Policy – The Wrong Side Wins With Berkowitz’s “Visionary Plan”

Gubernatorial candidates take aim at ACES

Berkowitz going rogue on ACES

Democrats Berkowitz, French divided on oil taxes

Oil companies, state prosper under ACES

Hollis French, Democratic Candidate for Governor on APRN

We Democrats worked hard on ACES and produced real results.

Let’s not allow election year politics to undo our achievement.

Sincerely,

Hollis French

PS – The reporting period ends today, so we are on a final fundraising push to keep us on track!   Click here if you can donate today.

“This is the single biggest issue in the state. How do you get a fair share for the oil revenue we all own in common,” French said. “I think it is likely to be the defining issue of this race.”

Berkowitz proposes the elimination of the ACES oil tax system that French and other Democrats were crucial in getting through the Legislature in 2007.

Click here to read the full story.

The dustup began about a week ago with an Anchorage Daily News article airing the views of both Berkowitz and state Sen. Hollis French, another Democrat in the primary race, on how to get the most bang for the buck out of oil taxes. Berkowitz, in the story as well as in commentary recently published in various media outlets, suggested replacing the tax law known as Alaska’s Clear and Equitable Share with a field-by-field royalty structure.

Since then, local progressive bloggers and others have cried foul, basically accusing Berkowitz of selling out his Democratic colleagues who had fought hard for and helped pass the controversial legislation in 2007.

And on Wednesday, a handful of local Democratic lawmakers stood shoulder-to-shoulder with French in a press conference at French’s campaign headquarters to blast Berkowitz for his abdication of what they see as a key Democratic victory.

French reminded the small gathering of reporters that ACES stemmed from an effort to reform the “corrupt” taxing system that had afforded at least one major North Slope field a nearly-zero tax rate. ACES, which increased the tax rate particularly in years when oil process are high, also includes tax credits for exploration.

French and other Democrats said under ACES the state has been able to sock away more than $5 billion in budget reserves while paying for roads and schools, among other things, that might not have been funded before. They contend the tax structure actually stimulated North Slope employment, although oil companies dispute that contention.

“In my view, this is the single biggest issue in the state,” French said.

Click here for the full story.

Click here for the entire story.

In a nutshell, I support ACES and he, in the words of the Anchorage Daily News, wants to “eliminate ACES entirely and replace it” with something different.

Democrats fought hard to pass ACES, our current oil tax structure.

I was “one of the legislators who was most influential during the passage of the current oil tax,” according to the article. I’m proud of that, and I’m also proud of how we worked across the aisle to pass the legislation.

ACES is working for Alaskans.

We’ve built our savings to a record $12 billion and paid for badly needed improvements to Alaska’s education, public safety and transportation systems. Moreover, ACES provides incentives for exploration and production, which will keep oil flowing down our pipeline.

But most importantly, ACES is about renewable energy and education.

Why? You don’t put a great teacher in front of every classroom in Alaska for free. With ACES, we can invest in voluntary pre-k programs for our children, and fix our broken teacher retirement system. And you don’t lower the cost of energy by simply watching the wind blow; you need money and manpower to erect a wind farm. With the revenue from ACES, we can provide incentives for clean, cost effective and proven renewable energy projects.

We cannot afford to undo the oil tax that Democrats fought hard to win in 2007.

As Bob Poe said in the article, the proposal would “take all our past tax policy and just throw it out the window.” I believe that changing oil taxes now means we give something away. We can’t do that.

Instead, we need a governor with a strong vision for the future, and the proven ability to get us there. I’ll invest in our children. I’ll lower the cost of energy. And I won’t undermine the system that pays for these important projects.

Hard work passed ACES and hard work will win this election.

With your support, our team grows stronger. Any contribution – from $10, $100 or $500 – will keep us on track for an August victory. Click here to contribute.

Democrats passed ACES to improve Alaska’s future. I’ll deliver on that promise.

Sincerely,

Senator Hollis French

You’ve probably heard about Ballot Measure 1, falsely named the “Alaska Anti-Corruption Act.” Brought to our state by a lower-48 shadow organization, the measure would interfere with freedom of speech for many Alaskans, under the guise of stopping corruption.

Last month, we dealt a blow to those pushing this bad idea, when ‘Clean Team Alaska’ left our state and headed home. They quit because the wealthy Washington DC group backing the campaign didn’t want to comply with Alaska’s tough new financial disclosure laws.

I led the charge to put those laws on the books, after the US Supreme Court decision gave your freedom of speech rights to corporations. Through hard work, we got the job done.

I’ve long fought for disclosure. In 2008, Representative Mike Doogan and I came up with the idea to force the disclosure of expensive meals that lobbyists buy for lawmakers. The proposal became law.

As your Governor, I’ll continue to push disclosure policy that gives the public access to information.

There will always be new challenges against, and new reasons for, strong disclosure laws in government. I’ll always side with full disclosure.

Yours truly,

PS – We still need to defeat this initiative. I’ll vote no this August, and I hope you will too.

Today I’m rolling out my education agenda.  You can read it here.

I’d love to hear your feedback.  If you like it, let me know.  If you have suggestions to improve it, click here.

Education is the key that opens the door of opportunity — for our children, and our state’s economy.  We need to act now.  As your governor, I’ll make smart education investments, for the benefit of future generations.

Fifty years from now I want people to say that we wisely invested our oil revenue in education, building a diverse economy and strengthening our communities.

The time for us to start is now.

Yours truly,

“We need to put more jobs in the hands of more Alaskans. That is the biggest opportunity,” said Democratic state Sen. Hollis French. “That should be our objective — to make sure our children and the Alaskans who want to get jobs can get them on the boats, with the processors, on the beaches, wherever the jobs are.”

“The biggest hurdle is to prevent our fish from being caught and processed by individuals who don’t have a stake in our state, who don’t have an economic interest in our communities,” French added. “What you want is a strong waterfront community where individuals who want to live and work here have that opportunity. So the opportunity is to provide jobs for Alaskans, and the hurdle is outside ownership.”

Click here to read more.