text: JM:  I'm assuming that by getting "80 million from those folks ALONE" you mean via an income tax.  That works out to $20,000 per worker.  I don't think they make enough to pay that much state income tax.  So you are willing to collect a small amount from non-resident oil slope employees and also tax the 200,000 Alaskan wage earners who would also pay an income tax.  And yes I think 4000 non-residents are "insignificant" to 200,000 Alaskans.  Further, most non-resident employees are seasonal and work mainly in the seafood processing and hospitality industries and do not make enough to pay an income tax.  What about the million tourists who pay nothing for the state services they benefit from?  Who do you think utilizes more state services, 4000 non-resident slope workers or 1 million tourists?