ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) -The Alaska Governor’s Prayer Breakfast was held in Anchorage Saturday morning. The keynote speaker was noted Evangelist Billy Graham’s grandson, Edward.

Graham said in his speech, “We’re here today to pray to our Lord and savior but pray about our leaders of this state.” Religious and community leaders from around the state gathered at the Egan Center starting at 8:00 a.m.

A large group prayed for local, state, and national leaders. During the breakfast, Graham spoke on the theme of “go and do likewise.” Graham is COO of the Christian organization Samaritan’s Purse, which provides medical care and disaster relief. They also do outreach to veterans.

“Prayer works, and it’s real simple. It’s just going to God with your asking your petitions, not selfish desires. But sometimes we got to be careful what we pray for. God will grant us wisdom when we want it, and sometimes that’s hard to deal with, but you’ve got some great leadership here,” Graham said in his speech.

Graham said that he will be heading to Southeast Asia in the near future to aid in disaster relief after the magnitude 7.7 earthquake that happened two days ago.

Governor Mike Dunleavy was not in attendance but sent his regards and said he regretted not being able to make it.

However, Alaska First Lady Rose Dunleavy was present, as well as Lieutenant Governor Nancy Dahlstrom.

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ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Edward Graham, grandson of famed evangelist Rev. Billy Graham, is set to speak at the Governor’s Prayer Breakfast in Anchorage on Saturday.

Graham is the Chief Operating Officer of the Christian organization Samaritan’s Purse, which provides disaster relief and other ministries in Alaska, the U.S., and around the world. Graham will be speaking at the breakfast on Saturday, on the theme “go and do likewise,” and leading prayer for Alaskan national, state and local leaders.

“I’ll be praying directly for the governor here, your senators, your congressmen and women, but also the local state leaders,” Graham said. “Good governance is so important. My prayer is that our men and women that serve this state are seeking godly wisdom and godly counsel.”

One of the ministries that Graham leads, “Operation Heal Our Patriots,” is based in Alaska, and Graham himself spent considerable time in the state growing up.

“I love it,” Graham said. “As a kid, I learned to fly up here. I mean, Alaska is about aviation. My father is a pilot. We have several planes that we keep here. We have an office at the airport in Soldotna where we keep and store aircraft that we use up here for ministry of various cargo planes and support aircraft float planes.”

Operation Heal Our Patriots operates out of a lodge near Denali National Park. Military and first responder couples from around the country spend time at the lodge while also receiving marriage counseling.

“That ministry has been going great,” Graham said. “It only continues to grow. We also started a first responder ministry. It started off with police, but this summer we’ll be doing firefighters as well from like the fires down in California, and we’ll bring them up to a place called Mystic Lake, Alaska.”

Graham, a U.S. Army Veteran and West Point Graduate himself, spends much of his time traveling as a part of the organization’s disaster relief.

“We have a massive volunteer army,” Graham said. ”Thousands of volunteers show up and work with Samaritan’s Purse — with our disaster relief and also Operation Christmas Child — which is a shoe box ministry where we go around the world sharing the gospel through gifts of toys.”

Graham said the organization can deploy a field hospital in 36 hours. Currently, Graham said they are standing by for permission to deploy a hospital in Myanmar after a devastating 7.7 magnitude earthquake has left over 1,000 dead, with the death toll expected to rise.

“We want to meet their immediate needs,” Graham said. “But more importantly, we want to know that God loves them and has not forsaken them. It is very bad there, and I’m hearing horrible stories from the team on the ground.”

The quake that has affected several southeast Asian countries happened to fall on the 61st anniversary of the Good Friday Earthquake, a 9.2 magnitude earthquake in southcentral Alaska that killed 131 people in 1964.

“We know with disasters like this, and Alaska is no stranger to earthquakes, We know that’s (death toll) going to go up. We’ll stand ready once we get the approval, but we have to get approval to go in from the government to allow us to work there.”

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Alaska is facing a persistent budget deficit. The Anchorage Daily News recently reported that without additional revenue, the state could face a shortfall of over $650 million in the next two fiscal years. This isn’t a new problem; Alaska’s spending has exceeded its revenue almost every year since 2012. Alaska is also the only state that receives more funding from the federal government than it does from all of our internal revenue combined. Our legislators will have to choose between devastating cuts to education and other social services, imposing new taxes on Alaskans, repurposing PFD dividends, or fixing tax loopholes that benefit out-of-state billionaires.

The best choice is obvious. The Alaska Constitution instructs the Legislature to ensure that Alaskans get the “maximum benefit” from the development of our natural resources. Yet a special class of businesses — S corporations — has made billions from our public lands without paying state income taxes. The S corporation structure allows these companies to enjoy a single layer of tax through a personal income tax, like private businesses, while protecting themselves from liability, like a traditional corporation. In most states, S corporation owners pay a state personal income tax on their earnings. Other states without a personal income tax, like Texas, impose a franchise tax on S corporations. Alaska is one of only two states in the country that taxes traditional corporations but not S corporations (the other state, Florida, brings in revenue with a sales tax instead).

Fortunately, the Legislature appears poised to correct the S corporation tax loophole. Senate Bill 92 would impose an income tax on oil and gas S corporations operating in Alaska — traditional corporations already pay income taxes in Alaska. The bill would make a meaningful dent in our state budget deficit; the Department of Revenue estimated that SB 92 would bring more than $100 million per year through 2030. That money could fund public schools and critical infrastructure.

Instead, we are giving that revenue away to a billionaire in Texas. In 2020, affiliated S corporations, Hilcorp and Harvest Midstream, acquired all of British Petroleum’s Alaska assets — including its nearly 50% share of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System. Tens of millions in annual corporate income tax revenue from BP disappeared. While we can’t recover that lost revenue, we can modernize Alaska’s tax code to accommodate the increasing proportion of S corporations in our oil and gas industry.

Alaskans should also be frustrated by the way that the S corporation loophole diverts tax revenue from the state to the federal government. S corporations, like anyone else, write off state income taxes on their federal tax returns. Alaska’s nonsensical tax code means that S corporations pay more income taxes to the federal government while the state gets no revenue at all.

Oil and gas interests have suggested that the state will somehow bring in more revenue by not taxing S corporations. This is a misguided argument that has been proven wrong throughout Alaska’s history. It is foolish to assume that a large company with operations across the country would reinvest extra profits in Alaska. That company is just as likely to transfer the capital to projects in the Lower 48 or simply enrich its billionaire owner. The Legislature can guarantee investment in Alaskans by taxing S corporations and using the revenue to fund public services.

It is equally silly to argue that imposing an income tax would be unfair to S corporations. It is unfair that traditional corporations pay state income taxes while S corporations don’t! Nearly every other state in the country — red or blue — creates a level playing field for business by taxing S corporations. Changing Alaska’s tax code to reflect the national consensus is foreseeable and common sense.

An overwhelming majority of Alaskans in every region of the state — 77% on average — want Hilcorp to pay a state income tax. This unusual consensus reflects the clear right choice on this issue. Do the state legislators representing you care about fiscal responsibility, tax parity, and addressing our budget deficit? Consider giving them a call to find out and to express your support for SB 92.

Catherine Rocchi is the regulatory lead for the Alaska Public Interest Research Group, a nonprofit consumer advocacy group. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College, a law degree from Stanford Law School and a master’s from the Stanford School of Earth. Before joining AKPIRG, she worked as a law clerk at the Alaska Supreme Court.

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