The Weekly Top 3

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 - our look at the top 3 things on our mind this week - for the week of March 22, 2021. This week our Top 3 issues are these : 1) why we believe the Department of Revenue's Spring Rev F'cast misleads on an important issue (1:50); 2) the Alaska House Coalition's proposal to layer on yet another regressive tax on middle & lower income #AKfams (14:00); and 3) yet another le...

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 - our look at the top 3 things on our mind this week - for the week of March 15, 2021. This week our Top 3 issues are these : 1) how we believe the legislature should address the federal money coming to the state under the American Relief Plan (1:52); 2) why we think the House Minority's "Declaration of Guiding Principles" prioritizes the Top20% over middle & lower inco...

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 - our look at the top 3 things on our mind this week - for the week of March 8, 2021. This week at Michael's request our Top 3 becomes a Top 4. These are the issues : 1) LegFin's presentation to the Senate Finance Committee last week was great as far as it went, but it had one huge hole (2:12); 2) an op-ed piece in Republican mouthpiece MustRead Alaska signals a deepeni...

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 - our look at the top 3 things on our mind this week - for the week of March 1, 2021. This week our Top 3 are these: 1) the growing battle over whether to overdraw the Permanent Fund (2:00); 2) what Reps Merrick & Rasmussen really mean when they say they intend to "stop" an income tax (17:09); and 3) we celebrate some good news from the oil patch (34:12). Then, in respo...

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 - our look at the top 3 things on our mind this week - for the week of February 22, 2021. This week our Top 3 are these: 1) establishing a House Ways & Means Committee is a good thing (1:58); 2) the COVID relief bill currently making its way through Congress shortchanges Alaska and other state & local governments in need (12:52); and 3) following up on a listener reques...

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 - our look at the top 3 things on our mind this week - for the week of February 15, 2021. This week our Top 3 are these: 1) the Ninth Circuit's decision staying Conoco's Willow project raises longer term concerns (1:50); 2) we need alternative revenues to substitute for PFDcuts, but how do we avoid them adding to spending (15:10); and 3) our take on the current House (d...

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 - our look at the top 3 things on our mind this week - for the week of February 8, 2021. This week our Top 3 are these: 1) a Ketchikan Daily News op-ed has it right, the legislature should "Focus on the Economy," but they aren't (1:50); 2) oil prices are going up, but not nearly enough to dig the state out of its fiscal hole (18:43), and 3) like his predecessors, the Go...

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 - our look at the top 3 things on our mind this week - for the week of February 1, 2021. This week our Top 3 are these: 1) the Senate Finance hearings are revealing a lot about where members think the state's fiscal situation is headed (1:56); 2) the ADN editorial page entirely ignores what we believe is the fundamental problem driving some to push for excess Permanent...

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 - our look at the top 3 things on our mind this week - for the week of January 25, 2021. This week our Top 3 are these: 1) Senator Micciche outlines the right objectives, the challenge will be in achieving them (1:59); 2) the language of the Governor's proposed Constitutional Amendments doesn't match what we understand to be the objectives (18:39); and 3) forget ANWR, t...

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 - our look at the top 3 things on our mind this week - for the week of January 18, 2021. This week our Top 3 are these: 1) the ADN's myopia is making Alaska's fiscal situation more difficult, not better (1:51); 2) Rep. Prax's approach will lead to continuing, ever-deeper PFD cuts (17:25); and 3) the Manhattan Institute's Brian Riedl offers some important insights into h...

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 - our look at the top 3 things on our mind this week - for the week of January 11, 2021. This week our Top 3 are these: 1) we start by taking a look at Legislative Finance's budget outlook presentation last Friday (1:44); 2) we discuss what we find of interest so far in the legislature's stack of prefiled bills (15:45); and 3) we share our takeaway from last week's ANWR...

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 - our look at the top 3 things on our mind this week - for the week of January 4, 2021, our first podcast of the new year. (To demonstrate how rusty we are, the podcast starts by referencing the week of January “9th,” but don’t be confused, its the week of the 4th.) This week our Top 3 are these: 1)our take on the upcoming House Finance Committee session on the Governor...

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 - our look at the top 3 things on our mind this week - for the week of December 21, 2020, our last podcast of the year. This week our Top 3 are these: 1) our take on the ADN's outlook for the coming legislative session (1:50), 2) why former Governor Murkowski's proposal that the state bid on ANWR leases is a bad idea for the state (16:45), and 3) as we approach the end...

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 - our look at the top 3 things on our mind this week - for the week of December 14, 2020. This week our Top 3 are these: 1) which path did the Gov choose with his budget - to make deep spending cuts or continue business as usual (2:01); 2) what does the Gov's proposal tell us about who will pay the necessary additional revenues - put another way, who is going to be taxe...

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 - our look at the top 3 things on our mind this week - for the week of December 7, 2020. This week our Top 3 are these: 1) coming off the Prop 1 debate, some are now suggesting the state should completely eliminate the PFD and divert the money to state government in order to attract investment (2:02); 2) what we will be looking for this coming week as the state issues,...

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 - our look at the top 3 things on our mind this week - for the week of November 23, 2020. This week our Top 3 are these: 1) the coming budget will force the Governor to make a big decision between two alternative paths (1:44); 2) as push comes to shove, the Alaska Policy Forum seems to be siding with the Top20% on the PFD (22:48), and 3) the Permanent Fund Corp lays out...

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 - our look at the top 3 things on our mind this week - for the week of November 23, 2020. This week our Top 3 are these: 1) now that we know the legislature will be closely divided, all eyes turn to the Governor's budget (1:52); 2) the Alaska Municipal League says its weighing in on state fiscal policy, and that may be a good thing for the PFD (14:48); and 3) with the f...

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 - our look at the top 3 things on our mind this week - for the week of November 16, 2020. This week our our Top 3 are these: 1) now that the vote count is nearing the end, where those looking in the upcoming session for deep budget cuts should focus their energy (1:54), 2) what last Friday's Institute of the North discussion on "constitutionalizing" PF draws may portend...

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 - our look at the top 3 things on our mind this week - for the week of November 9, 2020. This week our our Top 3 are these: 1) we break down the #akleg election results so far and take a stab at what they mean going forward for Alaska fiscal policy (1:53), 2) we dive into the two core issues surrounding the Permanent Fund, why some want to divide them but why we think t...

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 - our look at the top 3 things on our mind this week - for the week of November 2, 2020. This week our discussion centers on what we believe will become the Top 3 issues once the election results are finalized: 1) the likely interplay between the efforts to organize House and Senate leadership and the Governor's FY22 budget, due to be presented in mid-December (2:05); 2...

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 - our look at the top 3 things on our mind this week - for the week of October 26, 2020. This week our Top 3 are these: 1) Michael (leans no) and I (yes) have a final, pre-election discussion on Prop 1, the oil tax initiative(1:55); 2) our thoughts on the proposal by some to use the Power Cost Equalization (PCE) fund to plug a portion of next year's deficit (16:56); and...

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 - our look at the top 3 things on our mind this week - for the week of October 19, 2020. This week our Top 3 are these: 1) what Conoco's Lower 48 acquisition of Concho Resources means for Alaska (1:48); 2) what's important in the #akleg races with two weeks to go before the election (18:58); and 3) its important to understand that a big part of the fiscal clash next ses...

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 - our look at the top 3 things on our mind this week - for the week of October 12, 2020.  This week our Top 3 are these: 1) both the #AKmedia  and many Alaskans  are overlooking two, hugely important issues related to Prop 1 (1:57); 2) the false question about the PFD being put to legislative candidates at many debates (17:21); 3) the impact reduced oil demand is having...

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 - our look at the top 3 things on our mind this week - for the week of October 5, 2020. This week our Top 3 are these: 1) the Leg Finance and Department of Revenue presentations last Friday before House Finance; they are important for a number of reasons (note, we include a correction at the start to clarify some confusion over terminology during the discussion) (1:49);...

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 - our look at the top 3 things on our mind this week - for the week of September 28, 2020. This week our approach is a bit different. In the first segment we talk about our Top 1 for the week - the fundamental misstatements included in two recent "No on 1" op-eds (1:55). But in the second, instead of doing two and three, Michael channels recent listener questions, which...