The Alaska Chamber collects and disseminates policy papers, studies and reports on issues important to the Alaska business community.
Untapped Potential - Childcare Impacts in Alaska
In late 2021, the Alaska Chamber partnered with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation on a report examining the impact of childcare issues on Alaska's economy. The report is part of a broader “Untapped Potential” study of five U.S. states that reveals the cost of childcare challenges and opportunities to unlock economic potential for states and employers.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation has always seen childcare as a two-generation workforce issue: essential to support the workforce of today and vital to develop our workforce of tomorrow. Before the COVID-19 public health crisis, access to affordable, quality childcare was hard to come by for working parents trying to enter, re-enter, or stay in the workforce. The pandemic exacerbated the existing issues in America’s childcare system and created an impossible situation for parents, employers, and childcare providers. Working parents struggled to balance home childcare and work as childcare providers fought to stay open and serve their communities, leaving employers wondering how and when their employees with children can return to work. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation has always seen childcare as a two-generation workforce issue: essential to support the workforce of today and vital to develop our workforce of tomorrow. Before the COVID-19 public health crisis, access to affordable, quality childcare was hard to come by for working parents trying to enter, re-enter, or stay in the workforce. The pandemic exacerbated the existing issues in America’s childcare system and created an impossible situation for parents, employers, and childcare providers. Working parents struggled to balance home childcare and work as childcare providers fought to stay open and serve their communities, leaving employers wondering how and when their employees with children can return to work.
Untapped Potential: How Childcare Impacts Alaska's Workforce Productivity and the State Economy. Read the full report from the U.S. Chamber Foundation here.
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act Executive Summary
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act Executive Summary prepared by the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committees outlines the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (H.R. 1), which overhauls America’s tax code to deliver historic tax relief for workers, families and job creators, and revitalize our nation’s economy. By lowering taxes across the board, eliminating costly special-interest tax breaks, and modernizing our international tax system, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act will help create more jobs, increase paychecks, and make the tax code simpler and fairer for Americans of all walks of life.
Economic Impacts in Puget Sound of Shell's Alaska Exploration Program
The Economic Impact in Puget Sound of Shell's Alaska Exploration Program report examines the economic impact in the Puget Sound region associated with Shell Exploration and Production Company’s (Shell) recent exploration efforts in Alaska. The scope of this report includes a brief overview of historical and contemporary Arctic oil and gas exploration and development, analysis of the economic impact on Puget Sound of Shell’s exploration activity in Alaska, and profiles of Puget Sound ports that have served to support Shell’s Alaska exploration.
Ties that Bind
The 2015 Ties That Bind report is the fourth commissioned since 1985 which measures the economic impacts between the Puget Sound and Alaska regions. The report, which details Alaska's economic impact on six Puget Sound-area counties, finds business with Alaska accounts for 113,000 jobs in the Puget Sound region and generates $6.2 billion in wage.
Maximum Sustainable Yield: FY 2015 Update
The Maximum Sustainable Yield: FY 2015 Update is the third update of a series the Institute of Social and Economic Research began in 2012, estimating how much Alaska’s state government can afford to spend, without risking sudden big budget deficits and economic hardships for Alaskans in the near future. Those problems are looming because oil revenues currently pay almost all the bills for public services — and oil production has been dropping since the late 1980s. But Alaska can extend the benefits from oil, by adding to the Permanent Fund and other financial accounts — so the earnings from financial accounts can increasingly take the place of petroleum revenues. Those revenues are expected to keep dropping, even with revenues from new oil sources and from a potential gas pipeline.
Commonwealth North Fiscal Policy Study
With Commonwealth North's (CWN) long commitment to a sound state fiscal policy and the state faced with a daunting gap between revenue and spending, CWN's Fiscal Policy Study Group was charged with an examination of the State's operating budget to identify recommendations to help reduce state spending. The 2015 Commonwealth North Study Report is the result of almost six months of deliberative discussions and presentations within their Fiscal Policy Study Group.