Palin, Alaska grapple with lower crude prices

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters)


“It’s a wakeup call. We preached, when oil was at $140, that we had to prepare for the day when prices would drop,” Palin told reporters. “We realized it today.”

Palin has until December 15 to present operating and capital budgets for fiscal 2010. She was not specific about any planned cuts but said it will be hard to add workers to agencies. “We don’t want to grow that workforce if we can’t afford to do so,” she said.

The operating budget will likely not be smaller than the current year’s budget, but the rate of growth is expected to slow, she said.

Reuters