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 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...

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, f...

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 t...

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 dra...

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 th...

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...

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);...

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...

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 questio...

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 - our look at the top 3 things on our mind this week - for the week of September 21, 2020.This week our Top 3 are these: 1) we dive into the "glide path" approach some have advocated for dealing with Alaska's current fiscal situation (1:46), 2) we explain why we believe Commonwealth North's new Alaska Fiscal Game misleads (23:17), and 3) we outline w...

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3  - our look at the top 3 things on our mind this week -  for the week of September 14, 2020.This week our Top 3 are these: 1) both an Anchorage Daily News editorial board op-ed and another in the Anchorage Press mislead to tilt against the PFD (1:55), 2) the ADN's "just the facts" piece about Prop 1, the oil tax initiative, misses on a key fact (19:05), a...

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 - our look at the top 3 things on our mind this week - for the week of September 7, 2020.This week our Top 3 are these: 1) oil's new "competitive analysis" of Prop 1 dodges key points (1:47); 2) we discuss why both "No on 1" & "Yes on 1" ads are misleading (18:38); and 3) the problematic 2019 'Buckeye Report' resurfaces w...

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 - our look at the top 3 things on our mind this week - for the week of August 31, 2020.This week our Top 3 are these: 1) does Wyoming's response to its own budget crisis show a way forward for Alaska (1:58); 2) we take a "way too early" look at where the next #akleg may be headed on fiscal issues (spoiler alert, it depends on reaching 16) (20:13); and 3)...

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 - our look at the top 3 things on our mind this week - for the week of August 24, 2020.This week our Top 3 (+1) are these: 1) some R's scoring upsets in the primary ran on a platform of 'supporting the Gov," now that they have won, we ask what is the Gov's plan? (2:08), 2) Sen Coghill tries to blame 'talk radio' for being behind in the earl...

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 - our look at the top 3 things on our mind this week - for the week of August 17, 2020.This week our Top 3 are these: 1) what the Trump Administration's action on ANWR this week means for Alaskans (both the cheerleader & realist versions) (1:51); 2) what we are looking for in the this week's election results (11:02); and 3) where the Permanent Fund goes fr...

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 - our look at the top 3 things on our mind this week - for the week of August 10, 2020.This week our Top 3 are these: 1) while some candidates say they support maintaining PFDs, the numbers show they are misleading voters (1:57); 2) while others talk a good game, Lynn Gattis has already demonstrated she is capable of effectively standing up to a "binding caucus&quo...

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 - our look at the top 3 things on our mind this week - for the week of August 3, 2020.This week our Top 3 are these: 1) recent op-eds by Larry Persily and others are avoiding the important question(1:47); 2) we break down the costs of ANS oil production and explain why we think Prop 1 is an acceptable addition (20:08); and 3) why what the Congress does on the next COVID...

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 - our look at the top 3 things on our mind this week - for the week of July 27, 2020.This week our Top 3 are these: 1) why a recent op-ed by Sen. Shelley Hughes and others actually has convinced us to vote YES on Prop 1 (1:54); 2) like others from the Top20%, Rep. Jennifer Johnston seems to be running on both sides of the fence at once just to stay in office (27:17); an...

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 - our look at the top 3 things on our mind this week - for the week of July 20, 2020.This week our Top 3 are these: 1) in an op-ed, Sen. Stedman expresses more concern about future generations than he does those right in front of him (1:51); 2) Senator Giessel sends out a mailer that claims things she's not (12:56) and 3) the Governor of Wyoming takes steps in resp...

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 - our look at the top 3 things on our mind this week - for the week of July 13, 2020.This week our Top 3 are these: 1) the, what sometimes seems intentional, confusion among candidates around the FY22 deficit number (1:49); 2) what the University should be looking for in a new, long term President (18:41); and 3)we (mostly) agree with a new report from the Alaska Policy...

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 - our look at the top 3 things on our mind this week - for the week of July 6, 2020.This week our Top 3 are these: 1) some good news on oil prices (1:55); 2) a recent op-ed by Sens. Hughes, Costello and Rep. Prax on oil taxes badly puts the cart before the horse - we discuss what it takes to fix it (9:01) and 3) why what happens in DC this month will have a big impact o...

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 - our look at the top 3 things on our mind this week - for the week of June 29, 2020.This week our Top 3 are these: 1) a new paper provides insight from a global perspective on who opposes resource distribution approaches like Alaska's PFD and why (1:55), 2) two new industry papers help pinpoint the challenges Alaska will face in coming years in continuing to attra...