00 HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 39                                                                                           
01 Opposing President Clinton's proposed aircraft registration fee and proposed                                            
02 increase in the tax on aviation gas and jet fuel.                                                                       
03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
04  WHEREAS President Clinton has proposed that the Federal Aviation Administration                                        
05 charge an annual registration fee on planes and that the tax on aviation gas and jet fuel be                            
06 increased; and                                                                                                          
07  WHEREAS, under the registration fee proposal, the aircraft registration fee would                                      
08 escalate from $90 the first year to $278 a year starting in 1997 and would be the same for                              
09 small and large planes; and                                                                                             
10  WHEREAS, for planes flying 100 hours a year, the aircraft registration fee would add                                   
11 $3 an hour to the operation of the plane; and                                                                           
12  WHEREAS, under President Clinton's tax proposal, the tax on aviation gas would                                         
13 increase 47 percent a gallon over three years to $.22 a gallon, and the tax on jet fuel would                           
14 increase up to $.10 a gallon; and                                                                                       
01  WHEREAS the tax on aviation gas increased $.03 a gallon just three short years ago;                                    
02 and                                                                                                                     
03  WHEREAS Alaska has the highest number of pilots and the smallest number of road                                        
04 miles per capita in the nation; and                                                                                     
05  WHEREAS a major portion of the residents of Alaska depend on air travel for                                            
06 personal and commercial needs, and air travel is vital to Alaska's transportation system; and                           
07  WHEREAS Alaska would be unfairly affected by the imposition of the aircraft                                            
08 registration fee and by an increase in the tax on aviation gas and jet fuel;                                            
09  BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature opposes the imposition of the                                         
10 aircraft registration fee proposed by President Clinton, opposes President Clinton's proposed                           
11 increase in the tax on aviation gas and jet fuel, urges the President to withdraw these two                             
12 proposals, and urges the Congress to oppose the adoption of the proposed fee and tax                                    
13 increases.                                                                                                              
14  COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Bill Clinton, President of the                                
15 United States; the Honorable Al Gore, Jr., Vice-President of the United States and President                            
16 of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Robert C. Byrd, President Pro Tempore of the U.S. Senate;                             
17 the Honorable Thomas S. Foley, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives; the Honorable                              
18 J. Bennett Johnston, Chair of the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources;                                
19 the Honorable John D. Dingell, Chair of the U.S. House Committee on Energy and                                          
20 Commerce; the Honorable General Thomas C. Richards, Administrator of the Federal Aviation                               
21 Administration; and to the Honorable Ted Stevens and the Honorable Frank Murkowski, U.S.                                
22 Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska                                       
23 delegation in Congress.