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.