Jay Ramras
Alaskan Legislator Tied To Cruise Industry
Authors Legislation To Circumvent $50 Head Tax
The battle on the recently approved Alaska head tax, that taxes the cruise line for each passenger they bring to Alaska ports got another victory this month.
Jay Ramras, a Republican legislator from Fairbanks, Alaska and chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, is also the owner of Jaybird's Wingworld, Food Factory, Pike's Landing and Pike's Waterfront Lodge. The lodge has close business relations with the cruise industry.
On June 11, 2007 in a closed session, The Select Committee on Legislative Ethics found that Ramas had a conflict of interest, when he entered House Bill 222 that would require the state to grant a tax credit equal to the amount levied in passenger taxes, thereby capping taxes the cruise industry pays.
The Bill 222 would also have been retroactive to December 17, 2006. The head tax bill, Ballot Measure 2, a citizen initiative received 23,286 signatures on a petition, to see it placed on the ballot in the August 22, 2006 election. The measure was approved during that statewide primary.
The $50 head tax, a 33 percent tax on onboard gambling revenue, and would subject the industry to Alaska's corporate income tax. The initiative also increases fines for illegally dumping waste from $500 to $5,000 and would requires cruise ships to hire marine engineers to monitor wastewater treatment and pollution control equipment.
The Committee found that the lawmaker acted improperly, creating a conflict of interest. Ramras responded to the committee's action by withdrawing House Bill 222, though he says he disagreed with the committee ruling.
Ramras has said that he gets 60 percent of his Fairbanks businesses' room rentals and 40 percent of his income from contracts with the cruise ship industry. He was negotiating new contracts with those companies while introducing legislation that would benefit them.
Ramras said that he was not thinking of himself and how he might benefit from the legislation, when he introduced Bill 222.
