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Annette Kreitzer, Andi Story make cases for District 3 House seat at Chamber forum
Republican challenger wants to avoid overtaxing businesses, Democratic incumbent says strong public services will lure companies in Juneau’s only competitive legislative race
By Mark Sabbatini
Juneau Independent
The two candidates in Juneau’s only competitive state legislative race spelled out their differences in managing the state ferry system, tax breaks for oil companies, sick leave, business regulations and other economic issues during a Greater Juneau Chamber of Commerce forum on Thursday.
The 50-minute moderated presentations by House District 3 incumbent Andi Story, D-Juneau, and challenger Annette Kreitzer, R-Haines, occurred five days before the Nov. 3 midterm elections, with many local residents already having cast their ballots since early voting began Oct. 19.
Kreitzer, who held legislative and executive branch jobs in state government between 1992 and 2012, more recently served as Haines’ borough manager from 2021 to 2024. Story, seeking her fifth two-year House term, also served five terms on the Juneau Board of Education and is currently the co-chair of the House Education Committee.
Questions to the candidates, provided to both before the forum, focused largely on economic issues befitting the Chamber’s advocacy of such matters. While both Kreitzer and Story agreed on some of the key challenges the state is facing and their causes — such as an unpredictable revenue situation due to oil dependence being harmful to businesses seeking stability — the solutions they favor largely diverge.
When asked about what legislation or policy changes they would favor "to strengthen Alaska's businesses, climate and encourage private sector investment," Story said what’s needed most is a sustainable long-range fiscal plan that allows the state to properly fund services that lure businesses and residents.
"It is having that fiscal plan where we can show how we can pay for things and people know they're going to get good quality schools," she said. "They know we're going to have good public safety. They would know we can make housing investments. We have to improve the affordability of life here."
Kreitzer said that while she agrees "what most businesses want is fiscal certainty," her longtime state experience shows overregulation and shifts in how policymakers impose rules are part of the problem.
"Sometimes it isn't the legislation you pass — it's the stuff you stop from becoming law," she said. "And so I would say that one of the things that the Legislature can do, and I would consider, is carefully looking at any business tax increase that might be proposed."
One new tax both readily agreed upon is for "highly digitized" corporations doing more than 50% of their business online — such as Amazon — for transactions involving Alaska customers. The Legislature failed to override a veto by Gov. Mike Dunleavy on such a bill earlier this year.
Both candidates said they favor some alterations to a mandatory paid sick leave law voters passed in 2024, such as exemptions for seasonal employees. But while Story said the law is generally "a good policy to have because I think that it helps reduce employee turnover," Kreitzer said "there's a reason that the state did away with sick leave" while she was Department of Administration commissioner 20 years ago under two different Republican governors.
"What the state decided to do instead was to provide generous leave instead of trying to separate it out into sick leave or annual leave, and I support that separation because I think it adds more of an administrative burden on a business when you have to care for sick leave," she said.
Different approaches to managing the Alaska Marine Highway System were also suggested by the two candidates.
"I think we need to look at setting up the Marine Highway System as a standalone corporation like the Alaska Railroad," Kreitzer said. While that option would still require some funding support from the state — unlike the railroad — and "would require some specialized agreements with the unions," it would be "a much better option for our ferry system to be able to operate outside of the political influence."
Story said she wants to state to revive a traditional pension system to help resolve an employee shortage that is keeping the ferry system from using all of its vessels. Also, she said she favors a statewide general obligation bond to pay for a range of projects including deferred maintenance of state ferry and other infrastructure.
Story said she favors boosting oil tax revenue by eliminating an "S Corp" provision that allows privately owned oil companies to avoid corporate taxes paid by publicly owned companies, and implementing a so-called “ring fence” provision that limits tax deductions for oil companies.
"That means oil companies can only apply tax deductions on losses to the specific field or project where these expenses incurred," she said. "It prevents companies from using losses in one productive field to lower their taxes in one that is not. So I think that just is a fair tax to have."
Kreitzer said she does not favor an attempt by some legislators this year to eliminate the S Corp provision as part of a deal to pass a bill intended to spur development of a natural gas pipeline on the North Slope, arguing the two should be considered separately. She also opposes the ring fence restriction because it will discourage exploration by companies by limiting their ability to manage financial risks
"That’s why most larger companies oppose ring fencing," she said. "That's why we did away with it in 2006 in Alaska, to encourage more exploration and to encourage oil companies to come out and develop in Alaska."
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at editor@juneauindependent.com or (907) 957-2306.
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