In my latest column for State Tax Notes, I discuss several tax-related bills that were introduced during the most recent Alaska legislative session, which ended on May 17. Of the session, I noted that “…after the Alaska Department of Revenue released its Spring 2023 Revenue Forecast in March, the level of activity around tax legislation
Things Heat Up in Juneau
In my most recent column for State Tax Notes, I look at the numbers in the Alaska Department of Revenue’s (DOR) spring 2023 revenue forecast, which the governor and Legislature rely on for budget discussions during the legislative session. I also provide a summary of some of the bills legislators introduced during the last
Wait … What? A Potentially Dangerous Development in § 105(c) Retaliation Cases
In my last column I talked about a coming shift in the analysis the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission will use when it considers retaliation cases brought by the Secretary of Labor or by miners under § 105(c) of the Mine Act. For those of you that came in late, here’s the deal: until very recently, the miner (or MSHA, if they’re stepping in on the miner’s behalf) would have to prove first, that the miner engaged in activity protected by the Act. Then the miner would have to prove that his employer took adverse action against him (like firing him, or reassigning him to a worse job, things like that). Finally, the miner would have to prove unlawful motivation: that is, that the company took the adverse action because the miner had engaged in protect activity. (There are more details, but you don’t need them for today’s discussion.) We call that the Pasula-Robinette analysis, after the cases in which it was first articulated. A few months back, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit chose a different analysis for § 105(c) cases, holding that the company’s retaliatory action is unlawful if it would not have treated the miner the way it did but for the miner’s protected activity. As I told you when we first talked about it, the Ninth Circuit’s decision was undoubtedly going to have an impact on the way the Commission decides § 105(c) cases. I just couldn’t predict what that impact would be. (I know, I know. And here you thought I knew everything there was to know about this sort of thing. Sorry.)
Welp, we still don’t know how this is going to play out. But last month a new § 105(c) case came out of the Commission that muddied the waters even further. That’s the case I want to talk about this month.
Continue Reading Wait … What? A Potentially Dangerous Development in § 105(c) Retaliation Cases
We Have to Know What We’re Doing, Because They Don’t Always Get It
Let me tell you about an experience I had with a Labor Department lawyer earlier this month. It was one of those experiences that made me realize how important it is for those of us in the mining industry to have a good working knowledge of the Mine Act and how enforcement is supposed to work.
I represent a really good client, a company that mines its own materials and uses those materials in construction projects around the community. The construction side of the business is really what they do, with the rock production part being a small but necessary aspect of the operation. They generally have an excellent enforcement record when it comes to MSHA, but it would be a mistake to call them sophisticated mine operators.
It’s a fine, close-knit group of people, out there doing their best and trying to make a living. Every contact I have with them is positive and reminds me of how much I like the people part of what I do.
One Friday afternoon a while back, some of the folks on the mining side of the operation were welding a new guardrail on the crusher feeder because an MSHA inspector required that as a condition of terminating a citation. They were installing the new guardrail in sections and using the raised bucket of a loader as a physical barricade to provide fall protection for each section that was missing as they advanced along the feeder.
As they were getting ready to install the last section, MSHA arrived on-site to terminate the earlier citation. The three miners working on the installation were struggling a bit to stabilize the last piece of rail. Just as the inspector and the management representative got to the crusher, the loader operator jumped out of the machine and ran to lend a hand to the miners on the catwalk – leaving the loader unattended and the bucket raised.
You know what happened next.
Continue Reading We Have to Know What We’re Doing, Because They Don’t Always Get It
Bracing for Another Budget Debate
In my most recent column for State Tax Notes, I look at the numbers in the Alaska Department of Revenue’s (DOR) 2022 Fall Revenue Sources Book, which tabulates historical revenues and provides the revenue forecast that the governor and Legislature will rely on for budget discussions during the legislative session. I also discuss the status of the refundable/rebatable tax credits that have been available for more than a decade in Alaska to companies that invested in oil and gas exploration and development and in refinery infrastructure in the state.
Unrestricted revenues in Alaska, which fund government operations, are driven by royalties for oil produced from state leases and by three categories of taxes—oil and gas production taxes, petroleum property taxes, and corporate income taxes. As a result of lower predicted oil prices and reduced production, DOR lowered its 2022 fall forecast for unrestricted general fund revenue from that of its official spring 2022 forecast to $3.9 billion ($1.1 billion decrease) for fiscal 2023 and $3.4 billion ($0.7 billion decrease) for fiscal 2024.
Tax Actions by the Alaska Legislature in 2022
In my most recent column for State Tax Notes, I look at several bills that did and didn’t pass in the latest session of the Alaska State Legislature, which adjourned in May, and at what may be on the horizon.
Legislators introduced several bills that would have increased taxes on individuals or businesses in Alaska
MSHA Announces New Initiative to Enforce Silica Dust Standards
Last week, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) announced a new initiative to strengthen enforcement of its current respirable crystalline silica standards. Crystalline silica is a common mineral found in sand, stone, concrete, and other materials. When disturbed by cutting, grinding, or crushing, it becomes airborne and respirable, capable of
Alaska Gets a Boost from Oil
In my latest column for State Tax Notes, I outline the impacts rising oil prices are having on the Alaska economy and the state’s citizens, the accomplishments and tasks ahead of the Legislature as it passes the midway point in its regular session, and the fall prognostication by the Department of Revenue for revenue
Alaska Proposes New Surface Coal Mining Regulations
The Alaska Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has issued a notice of proposed amendments to the regulations regarding surface coal mining in Title 11 of the Alaska Administrative Code (AAC).
The DNR proposes to implement program amendments from the federal Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement required to maintain the state’s primacy over the
2021 Alaska Legislative Sessions Run From ‘Frenzy to Fizzle’
In my latest column for State Tax Notes, I outline several bills to increase taxes introduced during the 2021 sessions of the Legislature, and discuss the status of the government’s repayment of rebatable tax credits, two packets of regulations promulgated by the DOR, and a preliminary revenue forecast issued by the DOR for 2022.