Alaska lawmakers failed to meet an informal deadline Wednesday to vote on a bill reducing taxes for the Alaska LNG project in hopes of improving the long-dreamed gas pipeline’s chances of moving forward.
Lawmakers had planned to reconvene in Juneau July 1 to vote on a compromise drafted by a conference committee working out a new version that can win majority support in the House and Senate. But leaders of the bipartisan coalitions controlling the House and Senate say they’re still working out the details after a lengthy series of hearings on Friday and Saturday. They’re now planning a final vote for July 16.
“This is a big issue, and it really deserves far more time than we've been able to give it thus far,” said House Speaker Bryce Edgmon, a Dillingham independent. “We're doing our best to get it to the governor in a way that allows for the project developer to, hopefully, get out into the private equity market and get supporters for it.”
Soldotna Rep. Justin Ruffridge, representing the House’s all-Republican minority on the conference committee, said his caucus is in the dark and frustrated. So he and seven other House Republicans showed up to the Capitol Wednesday hoping to make their case during what’s known as a technical session. One House Republican characterized it as a “fact-finding mission.”
“There's been, supposedly, a lot of work that's been done over the last three days. I couldn't tell you what that is, because I haven't been a part of it,” Ruffridge said. “I think that's frustrating for a lot of people, so they try to come find out what's happening on their own.”
Technical sessions are typically uneventful — lawmakers gavel in and quickly adjourn without taking any action. But House Minority Leader DeLena Johnson, a Palmer Republican, says she planned to object to adjourning to July 16.
That would have given Republicans a chance to express their concerns about the slow progress on the bill on the floor and perhaps compel lawmakers to return sooner.
“I've been watching a number of the conference committee hearings, and it seems like a lot of old ground is being gone over again,” Johnson said. “I'm feeling like that they could move a little faster.”
But they didn’t get that chance. House Speaker Bryce Edgmon, a Dillingham independent, canceled the session instead.
“To have a number of members come down for a technical session after they were advised not to come down, just to create political theater, is not helping the process,” Edgmon said.
The Senate held a technical session Wednesday and adjourned to July 16.
Lawmakers are making progress behind the scenes, Edgmon said. Edgmon said he expected the conference committee to roll out a new draft of the gas pipeline tax bill in a meeting scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Thursday. The new draft will include “technical fixes” and “cleanup language,” Edgmon said.
“It's likely not to meet everyone's expectations, for sure. We understand that,” he said. “But it's progress.”
Majority-caucus lawmakers declined to describe the new draft in detail.
“It’ll include the title,” said Sen. Bert Stedman, a Sitka Republican. “Everything else is subject to change.”
Lawmakers also Wednesday declined to attempt an override of nearly $90 million in state budget items vetoed by Gov. Mike Dunleavy. Edgmon said lawmakers simply didn’t have the three-quarters supermajority needed to override a budget veto.
