00 SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 19 01 Urging the United States Congress to honor the terms of the Mineral Leasing Act and 02 the Alaska Statehood Act and provide the state with a 90 percent share of all bonuses, 03 royalties, and rentals received by the federal government from the Arctic National 04 Wildlife Refuge and the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska. 05 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 06 WHEREAS the Alaska State Legislature is grateful for the hard work underway by 07 President Trump's Administration to unlock the vast natural resources and economic potential 08 of the state; and 09 WHEREAS this state is a young state, the resources of which are vital to maintaining 10 national security, growing the state's economy, and ensuring geopolitical superiority in the 11 Arctic and North Pacific; and 12 WHEREAS President Donald J. Trump's 2025 executive order, "Unleashing Alaska's 13 Extraordinary Resource Potential," rescinds cancellation of leases within the coastal plain of 14 the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and expedites review of all necessary permits and 15 easements for exploration to facilitate, to the greatest extent possible, the production of oil 01 and gas within the area; and 02 WHEREAS the executive order also prioritizes liquefied natural gas development in 03 the state; and 04 WHEREAS the executive order highlights the economic and national security 05 benefits for the United States associated with oil and gas development; and 06 WHEREAS, when issuing the 2025 Secretary's Order 3422 titled "Unleashing 07 Alaska's Extraordinary Resource Potential," United States Secretary of the Interior Doug 08 Burgum said that "[i]t's time for the U.S. to embrace Alaska's abundant and largely untapped 09 resources as a pathway to prosperity for the nation" and recognized "the central role the State 10 of Alaska plays in meeting our nation's energy needs"; and 11 WHEREAS, in Secretary's Order 3422, Secretary Burgum directed the Department of 12 the Interior and the Bureau of Land Management to pursue reopening up to 82 percent of the 13 National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska to leasing to expand energy development opportunities 14 in the state for the benefit of the nation; and 15 WHEREAS Secretary's Order 3422 further directs the Department of the Interior to 16 convey to the state the land previously withdrawn along the Trans Alaska Pipeline System, 17 paving the way for construction of pipeline for the Alaska Liquefied Natural Gas Project; and 18 WHEREAS the state welcomes additional oil production on federal land, while 19 recognizing that lease activity write-offs against producers' tax liability cause a reduction in 20 state revenue; and 21 WHEREAS the state's aging transportation infrastructure is expected to require 22 significant repair and upgrades to accommodate the heavy traffic anticipated for the 23 construction of the proposed pipeline for the liquefied natural gas project; and 24 WHEREAS, in 1957 and 1958, when considering the admission of the state into the 25 Union as the 49th state, the United States Congress recognized that the state's comparatively 26 small population and limited industrial base would not be able to generate enough revenue to 27 pay for basic state services, especially because the state is geographically isolated and large, 28 covering one-fifth the area of the contiguous 48 states; and 29 WHEREAS, in 1957, the United States Congress amended the Mineral Leasing Act 30 of 1920 to grant the Territory of Alaska 90 percent of the proceeds from mineral leases, 31 including oil and gas leases, on federal land in the territory; and 01 WHEREAS, in sec. 28 of the Alaska Statehood Act of 1958, the United States 02 Congress established the right of the state to receive 90 percent of the income derived from 03 mineral leasing collected from the development of federal land in the state; and 04 WHEREAS, during debate over the Alaska Statehood Act, the report from the Senate 05 Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, speaking to the 90 percent royalty share to Alaska, 06 "deem[ed] it only fair that when the State relieves the United States of most of its expense 07 burden, the State should receive a realistic portion of the proceeds from resources within its 08 borders"; and 09 WHEREAS, in 1958, Secretary of the Interior Fred Seaton stated that, according to 10 analysis prepared by the Department of the Interior, the additional costs of statehood would be 11 offset by the 90 percent in mineral revenue to be provided to the state; and 12 WHEREAS that assurance was integral to residents' vote in favor of statehood and 13 taking on the costs of self-management; and 14 WHEREAS, during its deliberations, the United States Congress also acknowledged 15 concern that previous land reservations and withdrawals had involved some of the most 16 resource-rich and valuable tracts in the territory, including acreage that is now part of the 17 National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, thus 18 preventing the state from producing revenue from that land and further justifying that 90 19 percent of mineral revenue be provided to the state; and 20 WHEREAS, when the United States Congress passed the Alaska Statehood Act and 21 the people of the state voted in referendum to approve it, a compact of the provisions was 22 created, including the provision to provide 90 percent of mineral revenue from federal land to 23 the state; and 24 WHEREAS the United States Congress enacted legislation that provides for the state 25 to receive a 50 percent share of the adjusted bonus, rental, and royalty receipts derived from 26 leasing, exploration, and development of land on the coastal plain of the Arctic National 27 Wildlife Refuge, in contravention of the percentage share required under the Mineral Leasing 28 Act and the Alaska Statehood Act; and 29 WHEREAS the federal government enacted legislation that provides for the state to 30 receive a 50 percent share of the adjusted bonus, rental, and royalty receipts derived from 31 leasing, exploration, and development of land in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, 01 the majority of which is required to be paid in impact grants to the small number of 02 communities directly impacted by production in the reserve and not available for state use; 03 and 04 WHEREAS the decline in oil prices, the decline in the Trans Alaska Pipeline System 05 throughput, and revenue reductions from write-offs on federal lease activity have reduced and 06 will continue to significantly reduce the revenue available to maintain the transportation 07 infrastructure of the state and to fund state government programs necessary to support 08 production in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the National Petroleum Reserve in 09 Alaska and construction of a liquefied natural gas pipeline; and 10 WHEREAS the state was not allowed to freely select state land as promised under the 11 Alaska Statehood Act, reducing the revenue available to the state from mineral production on 12 state land; 13 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States 14 Congress to honor the terms of the Mineral Leasing Act and the Alaska Statehood Act, which 15 provide that the state receive a 90 percent share of all bonuses, royalties, and rentals under 16 leases received by the federal government for exploration, development, and production in the 17 coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; and be it 18 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States 19 Congress to provide that the state receive a 90 percent share of all bonuses, royalties, and 20 rentals under leases received by the federal government for exploration, development, and 21 production in the coastal plain of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska. 22 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Mike Johnson, Speaker of 23 the U.S. House of Representatives; the Honorable Hakeem Jeffries, Minority Leader of the 24 U.S. House of Representatives; the Honorable John Thune, Majority Leader of the U.S. 25 Senate; the Honorable Charles E. Schumer, Minority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the 26 Honorable Mike Lee, Chair of the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources; 27 the Honorable Martin Heinrich, Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy 28 and Natural Resources; the Honorable Bruce Westerman, Chair of the U.S. House Committee 29 on Natural Resources; the Honorable Jared Huffman, Ranking Member of the U.S. House 30 Committee on Natural Resources; and the Honorable Lisa Murkowski and the Honorable Dan 31 Sullivan, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Nicholas Begich, U.S. Representative, members of 01 the Alaska delegation in Congress.