When the Senate Resources Committee advanced a bill to close the Hilcorp loophole, Anchorage Sen. Matt Claman said he had “no recommendation” on the bill, which is tantamount to saying he wants the loophole to remain.

Claman’s opposition could be crucial in blocking the bill. I have asked him to explain, but he has not responded so far. Alaska news organizations have yet to examine his opposition.

Closing the Hilcorp loophole, an idea that is understandably unpopular with billionaire Hilcorp Owner Jeff Hildebrand of Texas and his employees, would be a small step toward a sensible Alaska fiscal plan.

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The Golden Age of Alaska has suddenly collided with falling oil prices, the federal cavalcade of clowns, enormous investment risks from Trump’s global trade war and the lack of a fiscal plan.

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Sen. Dan Sullivan has long supported cuts to Medicaid in Alaska, though he hides behind the claim that he wants to help the “most vulnerable” recipients, which is the way to preserve the program for future generations.

Translated, this means he support cuts for Medicaid recipients who are vulnerable, but not “most vulnerable,” a term that remains undefined by design.

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The Dunleavy administration signed a $3 million marketing contract with Six-7 Strategies, owned by longtime political operative Kevin Sweeney.

The contract called for getting a website up and running by March 15 at the latest promoting the advantages of Alaska to the world.

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Rep. Nick Begich the Third voted for the so-called “SAVE” act that will disenfranchise thousands of Alaskans from voting by requiring documents that many of them don’t have.

Begich the Third and all Republicans, along with four Democrats, voted to require that people show proof of citizenship when registering to vote. It is a voter suppression plan.

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There was scant attention paid to President Trump’s tariff chaos Wednesday at a two-hour hearing on the Alaska LNG project, though the leaders of two state corporations both claimed that Trump’s support for the gas line helps the project.

Trump’s erratic behavior is the biggest threat to the latest gas pipeline dream, though Alaska’s leaders won’t say so out loud. They also refuse to say that Trump is trying to blackmail Asian leaders into supporting what Sen. Dan Sullivan is calling “America’s Gasline.”

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The federal Department of Homeland Security canceled a $46 million, 10-year grant to the University of Alaska Anchorage Tuesday.

On Wednesday, the Department of Homeland Security notified UAA in all caps that the termination was PAUSED.

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The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority takes an expansive view of how it can spend state money.

The authority will seek to defend its $50 million gas pipeline backstop deal before the Legislative Budget & Audit Committee today at 5:30 p.m.

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Gov. Mike Dunleavy went on Fox Business last week and said the master plan is to have the 42-inch gas pipeline in place and operating in two-and-a-half years, which would be October 2027.

The Alaska Gasline Development Corporation is making a presentation to the Legislative Budget & Audit Committee today that says the first gas would be flowing to Southcentral in 2031.

Either Dunleavy or AGDC is lying

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The Dunleavy administration believes that Trump’s trade war bullying will get South Korea and other Asian nations to sign long-term binding contracts for many billions to underpin construction of an Alaska LNG pipeline, regardless of the cost.

“I’m telling you these countries are calling us up, kissing my ass,” Trump said at a Republican Congressional Dinner Tuesday night, referring to the calls he is getting about his trade war. “They are, they are dying to make a deal. Please, please sir make a deal. I’ll do anything. I’ll do anything sir.”

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