Opinion: Lawmakers aren’t keen on income tax. That doesn’t mean it’s a bad idea.

Just because few Alaska elected officials are talking about restoring the personal income tax is no reason to ignore the anniversary.

Sure, it may be strange to celebrate an anniversary with your ex, but state income taxes are different. Although it’s unlikely that she will remarry her ex, Alaskans may eventually be reunited with their taxes. Not willingly, of course. It’s like a shotgun wedding based on financial necessity.

It was 75 years ago in January that the territorial legislature enacted Alaska’s first personal income tax. It was 75 years ago this month that the first daytime soap opera appeared on TV, and Silly Putty was released.

A truly diverse trio of Diamond Anniversaries.

Alaska left the personal income tax in 1980. At the time, a majority of lawmakers believed that the state’s newly discovered oil resources were like stupid putty that could be reshaped and reused forever. While not exactly true, the ensuing debate over whether to reinstate the tax lasts longer than a soap opera, repeating the same message as just as many dramas: See if the couple gets back together. Watch next week for.

Back in 1949, the state legislature adopted a personal income tax for economic reasons: the territories were low on funds and the federal government was tired of subsidizing the Far North.

Governor Ernest Gröning tried to get legislative approval for an income tax in 1947, arguing that: This is not how it should be. ”

This is the same argument that tax proponents are making today. This means that people and businesses that benefit from government services should contribute to paying the bills. Mr. Groening failed in 1947, as advocates of tax reinstatement have long argued.

But two years after the governor gave his speech, many lawmakers changed their minds and joined forces with the sour tax marriage. “By 1949, we had no choice but to introduce an income tax,” noted Alaska historian Terence Cole said in a 2017 interview. “Still, it was a struggle.”

It wasn’t just about raising money for public services. Introducing this tax was to demonstrate to Congress that Alaska was self-sufficient and worthy of statehood. Just as advocates today say the tax needs to be reinstated to show investors, lenders and businesses that Alaskans are willing to pay for it.

A 2004 report from the University of Alaska Anchorage’s Institute of Social and Economic Research explains that widespread tax enactment helped pave the way for statehood in 1959. It became a state and is still a sub-region of the federal government. Without the 1949 income tax, there would be no federal land, no national oil lease sales, no Prudhoe Bay windfall, and no Alaska Permanent Fund. ”

Perhaps in time, more Alaskans will learn the history and purpose of the state income tax and accept it as a wise choice in the face of declining oil revenues. Everyone must help pay for public services.

Back in 2018, I served on Congress for Kotzebue Congressman John Lincoln. Lincoln was appointed to fill the vacancy and immediately became a member of the House of Representatives. One day, a colleague in my office asked me a question about a long-standing policy issue. When I answered, she asked, “How did you become so smart?” I told her she was 66 years old and she still had a lot to learn. “I don’t think it will take long!” she said.

The same is true for state income taxes. I hope it doesn’t take too long.

larry persily He is a longtime journalist in Alaska and has taken time off for federal, state, and local public policy work in Alaska and Washington, DC. He lives in Anchorage and is the publisher of the weekly Wrangell Sentinel.

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