By Alaska Senator Kim Elton

How do you say something thoughtful about the end of the second regular session of the 25th Legislature when any legislature is best defined as a cacophony of 61 competing thoughts?
     I'll try, though any analysis of the final products of 60 legislators and one governor comes with a big caveat: a better analysis of this session will come from a ten-year look back. Not wanting to wait for a decade, I'll give it a shot now.
     In less than 15 words: we spent a lot, we saved a lot, we did a lot. Now for the more nuanced analysis.
     On the 'spend and save' side, the important predicate is the 2007 special session where we rewrote Alaska's oil tax recipe. And of course the spur for the 2007 special session rewrite was the FBI investigation into corruption surrounding the 2006 oil tax rewrite.
     The FBI investigation led to a new governor and a legislature in serious rehabilitation mode. An important part of the therapy for the 25th Legislature was confronting the trauma surrounding the corruption-tainted oil tax formula achieved by the 24th Legislature.
     During that 2007 rehab special session, the legislature crafted a much more equitable oil tax. One of the biggest improvements was a stronger progressivity element. Better progressivity is a major part of dramatically higher oil revenues because, as world oil prices soared, Alaska (which owns the oil) now shares the extraordinary profits with multi-nationals (who lease and pump the oil).
     The new tax with strong progressivity gave the second session of the 25th Legislature the opportunity to dramatically spend on capital construction projects while even more dramatically boosting our savings accounts. We saved $5 billion in FY '08 and '09 general fund dollars, a staggering, unprecedented sum. We also spent with unaccustomed exuberance--there was a pretty modest rise in operating expenses but an extraordinary $1.6 billion in FY 08 and 09 general funds were diverted to the construction side of the ledger.
     We are a bit like an Alaska family that got a big spike in annual income so they socked extra dollars into savings and some into necessary home improvements and tossed in a few non-basic home projects. The legislature, like that family, spent 90 days sorting through home improvement basics and frills and funded some of both.
     That's the 'spend and save' side. Too much or too little of either savings or spending remains an open question but there was lotsa both.
     The 'do' side was enabled mostly by increased oil revenues and partly by a new bi-partisan dynamic in the senate. The senate, instead of being the place where elephant-sized ideas go to die, became a more lush savannah land where ideas could roam and grow, unencumbered by partisan predation.
     Two major accomplishments dominated reporting on this legislature: the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act (AGIA) that may--I use 'may' purposefully since I believe the wild optimism others express is far too premature--lead to monetizing North Slope natural gas; and the aforementioned oil tax revision that guarantees Alaska gets full value for its commonly-owned oil resources. Both really are historic milestones.
     But you have to peek behind these two mega issues to more fully divine the complete works of the 25th Legislature. This also is a legislature that: reconfigured the public school funding formula for the first time in a decade, sending more money into classrooms this year and in the out years; reinstated revenue sharing for Alaska communities to dampen pressures on local taxpayers; relieved Alaska communities from the crushing unfunded public employee retirement debt; passed a comprehensive crime package; and invested significantly in renewable energy and weatherization programs to lower future energy costs for Alaskans.
     Big savings. Parity with big oil. Big bucks for schools. Big steps forward on energy costs. Big commitments to Alaska communities. This all adds up to a big, big deal. I've been in the legislature for 14 years and these last two years have been more productive than the previous 12.
     So here's what I think policy wonks will say about the 25th Legislature ten years down the road: it was an Alas-can legislature instead of an Alas-can't legislature.