JANIE LEASK: Good afternoon and welcome to Commonwealth North. My name is Janie Leask. I'm manager of community relations for Alyeska Pipeline Service Company and president of the Board for Commonwealth North.

Before we get started we'll do the cell phone notice. Please either put yours on silent or, please, preferably turn it off.

On your table you'll see question cards. And if you do have a question during any course of the panel, please, write your questions on the card, hold them up and staff will come around and collect them. And we'll do our best get to as many questions as possible as time allows. Respecting the fact that our goal is try to get you out of here at 1:00 o'clock, but also recognizing this is a very important discussion that we're going to hold today.

I'd like to thank Heather Flynn specifically for underwriting today's forum. Thank you so much, Heather. And it's also very nice to have you back in your state, our state. Thank you very much.

So today we are very pleased to have this distinguished panel of individuals who are going to address the critical question that's been in a lot of our minds of how we as a state can best put to use our projected budget surplus for this next fiscal year. And I say projected because as you will hear there are some differences of opinion as to where if this budget surplus does, indeed, exist and if so then what the size of it is.

So let me introduce our head table and guests and panelists. From your right, Governor Walter J. Hickel, twice Governor of Alaska, former Secretary of the Interior, co- founder of Commonwealth North.

Heather Flynn, former Anchorage assemblywoman, active member of Commonwealth North, and as I mentioned the underwriter of today's forum.

Next to Heather there begins our panel members. That's Eric Wohlforth, an attorney with Wohlforth, Johnson, Brecht, Cartledge & Brooking. Eric is also a member of the Board of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation and Commonwealth North.

Next to Eric is Dr. Scott Goldsmith, a professor of Economics at UAA's Institute of Social and Economic Research. Scott is also a long-time member of Commonwealth North and co- chaired one of our previous studies, Alaska's Asset Portfolio: Managing For Maximum Return.

Next to Scott is Senator Gretchen Guess representing District J here in Anchorage. Gretchen is a senior economic analyst for Alaska Communications Systems.

Marc Langland, next to Gretchen, Marc is chairman, CEO, president of Northrim Bank, board member of Commonwealth North, and also a past president of Commonwealth North.

And next to Marc is Representative Norman Rokeberg, representing District 27, a member of Commonwealth North, and a commercial real estate broker.

Ladies and gentlemen, please help me welcome the head table. (Applause)

So we're going to jump right in. And the first one to start off I've asked Marc to start the discussion and provide us with a summary of the past fiscal planning efforts so, Marc.