This week, the University of Alaska Anchorage held a debate on Ballot Measure 1, a citizen-led effort to increase oil production taxes on the state’s biggest oil companies, which Alaska voters will decide in the Nov. 3 election.
Watch the debate below:
Robin Brena, chair of Vote Yes for Alaska’s Fair Share, and state Sen. Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage, a member of the Vote Yes group, represented the ballot measure’s proponents.
Roger Marks, former petroleum economist for the Alaska Department of Revenue, and Tom Walsh of Petrotechnical Resources of Alaska represented the ballot measure’s opponents.
The debate took place Tuesday, Oct. 13 and was streamed on Facebook Live. It was hosted by UAA Student Life & Leadership, the Seawolf debate team, the UAA Votes project and the Anchorage Daily News. Steve Johnson, director of the Seawolf debate program, moderated. Daily News reporter Alex DeMarban and Alaska Journal of Commerce reporter Elwood Brehmer participated to ask questions of the two sides.
The organizers are hosting another debate next Tuesday, Oct. 20, at 7 p.m. on Ballot Measure 2, an initiative that would change Alaska’s election laws. That debate will also be available to watch via Facebook Live.