The Senate Finance Committee took up a proposal to tax oil profits and gas profits separately, a process known as "decoupling."
It's a complex question that could cost the state millions of dollars, if oil prices get relatively higher than gas prices. That's because right now, oil and gas are taxed together.
But if oil prices get to a point where they are relatively high compared to gas, some on the finance committee say the state wouldn't be able to bring in as much revenue from taxes as it could if oil and gas were taxed separately.
Gov. Sean Parnell vetoed the same bill that the committee is now considering two years ago, because he said it would amount to a tax increase.
But the Department of Revenue says it's a different game now -- for one, both the Denali pipeline project and TransCanada couldn't come to an agreement with anybody to ship gas in a pipeline.
The department says the current bill is not going to be what the committee ends up with.
"They also look forward to sitting down with us and working through a lot of these issues," said Bryan Butcher, the commissioner of the Department of Revenue. "We're not as concerned about the version of the bill now because it's seen as a starting point to move forward to come to a compromise between the governor and the Legislature."
No action on the bill was taken on Friday, other than a presentation by the Department of Revenue.
The finance committee will be the final Senate committee to hear the bill before heading to the Senate floor for a vote.
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