During the last legislative session the Mat-Su valley delegation created a new revenue stream for building transportation infrastructure that will be needed to spur construction of a new North Slope natural gas pipeline.

A recent opinion column in this newspaper by political activist Myrl Thompson relied on scare tactics and misinformation to describe what I accomplished last session.

First of all, Mr. Thompson never came to my Juneau office to discuss the issues he raised in his column. I wish he had because I could have had an open and honest discussion with him about his concerns.

Mr. Thompson unfairly characterized my actions with the Amerada Hess sub-account of the Permanent Fund as a "raid." The Amerada Hess account was established as part of a settlement with several oil companies in a legal dispute over tax payments to the state. The industry's lawyers insisted it wasn't possible to seat an impartial jury if it knew getting more tax money from the oil companies could eventually increase the size of their dividend checks. For that reason, the legislature passed a law placing any settlement money into a separate Permanent Fund account that could not be used for dividends.

The Amerada Hess fund grew from $194 million to $424 million dollars in ten short years. Lawmakers took a close look at the sub-account and realized that it was now large enough to safely use some of its annual earnings to help pay for capital construction projects. That idea became reality when the legislature passed HB 187, the Alaska Capital Income Fund.

The Amerada Hess funds are being used to build new roads in the Foothills area of the North Slope. Geologists believe the Foothills region contains billions of cubic feet of untapped natural gas.

These roads will make it possible for the oil and gas industry to conduct exploratory seismic and drilling work so that gas can one day be shipped down a natural gas pipeline. I think any reasonable person will agree that's a great way to invest a portion of the Amerada Hess account and increase the earnings of the permanent fund account.

Either Mr. Thompson didn't know what the money was going to be used for or simply chose to ignore it. He branded HB 187 as a "raid" even though it didn't touch dividend checks.

I am also wondering why Mr. Thompson didn't the take the opportunity to testify about the Alaska Capitol Income Fund when it was in the Senate Finance Committee last session?

He seems to relish his position as the self appointed legislative watchdog that looks out for the best interests of valley residents, yet he missed his best opportunity to weigh in on the legislation before it became law.

Next year is an election year and I expect to see Mr. Thompson lurking around the capitol building and writing more opinion columns. I am genuinely interested in reading what he has to say. I would also appreciate it if he takes the time to talk to me about legislation I'm working on so he can write about them in a more informed and accurate manner.

Sen. Lyda Green represents the Mat-Su Borough in the Alaska Legislature.

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