HB 386-EXTEND NORTH SLOPE SEVERANCE TAX CREDIT CO-CHAIR SAMUELS announced that the first order of business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 386, "An Act making uniform throughout the state the deadline for certain exploration expenditures used as credits against the production tax on oil and gas produced from a lease or property in the state by extending to July 1, 2010, the deadline for those expenditures on leases or properties located north of 68 degrees, 15 minutes, North latitude." REPRESENTATIVE VIC KOHRING, Alaska State Legislature, presented HB 386 as Sponsor and said the bill provides tax credits to the oil and gas industry for drilling work and abandonment of work. The credit will "apply toward a variety of payments to the State of Alaska. Such payments are production taxes, what are called bonus bids, lease rental payments, property taxes, corporate income taxes." He said he hopes it will provide a major incentive to invest in Alaska. The bill adjusts the law that is going to expire in 2007 and extends it to 2010. He said the legislature should pass it now so the companies can plan accordingly. He said HB 386 is strongly supported by the industry, particularly Anadarko Petroleum Corporation and BG North, who said it is in Alaska because of the credits. 1:26:37 PM REPRESENTATIVE KOHRING said these credits were addressed in the committee substitute to HB 488, which might not be included in the final bill. It is important that the industry have these [credits] to offset the taxes of HB 488, he stated. 1:27:31 PM CO-CHAIR SAMUELS said these were referred to as "the SB 185 tax credits" in the CS, which came from Representative Kohring. REPRESENTATIVE KOHRING said his staff worked on creating the credits. CO-CHAIR SAMUELS said he is not going to offer an amendment. If HB 488 doesn't pass, "then I don't have a problem as much with being able to take these tax credits off of the income property taxes, because, quite frankly, they're not used that much. These are for true explorers." He said he will be sending a letter from the House Resources Standing Committee to the House Finance Committee to say his committee has not changed its position on HB 488 "on not being able to take these credits against income and property taxes in the big scheme of things. If you're going a big tax reform bill, but we still thing the income tax and the property tax should not have this as a credit against that, but if it is a stand-alone piece of legislation, the implications are far less severe." 1:29:30 PM REPRESENTATIVE SEATON said these credits under this bill are not tradable, but they would be under HB 488. If it is only allowable against production tax, "you're going to have to wait until you go into production, so I think it's reasonable for this tax but not the other." 1:30:02 PM CO-CHAIR SAMUELS said it is a different scenario if HB 488 and SB 305 fail. REPRESENTATIVE SEATON moved to report CSHB 386 (O&G) out of committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal notes and the accompanying letter. Hearing no objections, it was so ordered. The committee took an at-ease from 1:31:28 PM to 1:32:49 PM.