SJR 15: Requesting the United States Congress to repeal sec. 20001(b)(5) of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act to honor the Alaska Statehood Act with respect to the state's share of bonuses, royalties, and rentals from exploration and development in the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
00 SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 15 01 Requesting the United States Congress to repeal sec. 20001(b)(5) of the Tax Cuts and 02 Jobs Act to honor the Alaska Statehood Act with respect to the state's share of bonuses, 03 royalties, and rentals from exploration and development in the coastal plain of the 04 Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. 05 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 06 WHEREAS, in 1957 and 1958, when considering the admission of Alaska into the 07 Union as the 49th state, the United States Congress acknowledged significant concerns that 08 Alaska's geographical challenges and low population would make the new state susceptible to 09 financial instability; and 10 WHEREAS, during its deliberations, the United States Congress also acknowledged 11 concern that previous land reservations and withdrawals had involved some of the most 12 resource-rich and valuable tracts in the territory, including acreage that is now part of the 13 Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; and 14 WHEREAS, to counteract potential detrimental effects on the state's finances and to 15 bolster revenue, the United States Congress considered a federal-state revenue sharing
01 division that would provide the state with 90 percent of the income derived from mineral 02 leasing on federal land; and 03 WHEREAS, in 1957, the United States Congress amended the Mineral Leasing Act 04 of 1920 (30 U.S.C. 191) to provide Alaska with the same federal revenue sharing arrangement 05 provided to existing states by granting the Territory of Alaska 90 percent of the gross 06 proceeds from oil and gas leases on federal land in the territory; and 07 WHEREAS the United States Congress, in sec. 28 of the Alaska Statehood Act of 08 1958 (P.L. 85-508), confirmed the right of the state to receive 90 percent of the income 09 derived from mineral leasing collected from the development of federal land in the state; and 10 WHEREAS the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920 (30 U.S.C. 191), as amended, provides 11 that "[a]ll money received from the sales, bonuses, royalties . . . and rentals of [certain 12 federal] public lands . . . shall be paid into the Treasury of the United States; and . . . 90 per 13 centum thereof shall be paid to the State of Alaska for disposition by the legislature thereof," 14 which is consistent with the provisions of the Alaska Statehood Act with respect to the share 15 of profits obtained from leasing, exploration, and development of federal land within the 16 state's borders to which the State of Alaska is entitled; and 17 WHEREAS sec. 20001 of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (P.L. 115-97) provides 18 for the leasing of land for the development and extraction of resources, including in portions 19 of the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; and 20 WHEREAS, under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (P.L. 115-97), the United 21 States Department of the Interior is required to hold two lease sales by 2025, offering at least 22 400,000 acres for each lease sale; and 23 WHEREAS sec. 20001(b)(5) of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (P.L. 115-97) 24 provides for the state to receive a 50 percent share of the adjusted bonus, rental, and royalty 25 receipts derived from leasing, exploration, and development of federal land in the state, in 26 contravention of the percentage shares required under the Alaska Statehood Act; and 27 WHEREAS the Congressional Budget Office has estimated that gross receipts from 28 the lease bonus bids alone could generate proceeds of up to $2,200,000,000 over a decade; 29 and 30 WHEREAS, because the United States Department of the Interior issued a final 31 environmental impact statement in 2019 and plans the first lease sale within the coastal plain
01 of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as soon as possible, which could occur during calendar 02 year 2020, an injury to the state's finances is imminent; 03 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States 04 Congress to repeal sec. 20001(b)(5) of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (P.L. 115-97) to honor the 05 Alaska Statehood Act, which provides that the State of Alaska receive a 90 percent share of 06 all bonuses, royalties, and rentals under leases received by the federal government for 07 exploration and development in the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; and 08 be it 09 FURTHER RESOLVED that, if the federal government receives income from the 10 exploration and development of the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge 11 before the repeal of sec. 20001(b)(5) of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (P.L. 115-97), the 12 Alaska State Legislature urges the United States Congress to ensure that the state retroactively 13 receive a 90 percent share of the bonuses, royalties, and rentals received under leases issued 14 by the federal government for exploration and development of the Arctic National Wildlife 15 Refuge. 16 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Mitch McConnell, Majority 17 Leader of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the U.S. House of 18 Representatives; and the Honorable Lisa Murkowski and the Honorable Dan Sullivan, U.S. 19 Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska 20 delegation in Congress.