Alaska's Constitution mandates that its resources be used for the maximum benefit of the people. Recently, 11 members of the state Senate voted down a motion to revive the failed petroleum production tax bill. Those votes are costing the state, based on today's prices, an estimated $6 million a day in additional oil tax revenue.

Additional money for new schools and to help pay sky-high rural electric bills next winter will not be coming.

And what do we do about the gas pipeline? The North Slope oil producers will not move forward on a gas pipeline contract without some certainty on oil taxes.

The gas pipeline is our economic future. I'm sure my Republican colleqgues believed they were doing the right thing when they voted against the oil tax bill. As the PPT bill is revivied during the special session, I hope they take a second look at it and work with the administration, the state House, the producers and the senators who voted for the bill to come up with legislation we can all agree on.

If we don't, I think we're going to have a really tough time explaining to the folks back home why we left more than a billion dollars a year in additional state revenue on the table when the producers agreed to pay higher taxes.

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