Sen. Lesil McGuire (R) explains details of her new gasline bill, Monday, March 28th, 2011, in her office at the Alaska State Capitol. (KTUU/Carolyn Hall Jensen) |
With so much emphasis on oil taxes, there's been little time this legislative session for lawmakers to talk about their plans to build a gasline, but there have been some developments in recent days suggesting the topic is about to make a big comeback.
The latest of which is a bill from Sen. Lesil McGuire (R-Anchorage), which would ask voters if they think the state should just shell out $6 billion, in the form of general obligation bonds to build an in-state line itself. The question would appear on the 2012 ballot.
Legislators would not be bound by the voters' opinion and the question purposely leaves out specifics so as to allow flexibility, but Alaskans’ approval would be yet another tool for lawmakers to use as they pursue an in-state line.
“I believe it’s roughly 86% to 87% of Alaskans that are going to support this bill,” said McGuire, “but what we want to do is see if that’s the case and be sure about it so that we know what the sentiments of Alaskans are.”
McGuire said because of timing late in the session, she doesn’t expect it to pass this year, but that she hopes to at least start a conversation.
“I like the idea of it personally, I just don’t know if we want to wait another year to do it or not,” said House Speaker Mike Chenault (R-Nikiski), who introduced a similar measure last year, which would have allowed voters to contribute some or all of their PFD to an in-state gasline fund.
Other lawmakers, like Rep. David Guttenberg (D-Fairbanks) said they think Alaskans will want more specifics than are written into McGuire’s bill.
“I think the voters are going to need a little more focus on what it is that they’re putting $6 billion dollars aside for,” said Guttenberg, who supports the notion of the state building its own line.
SPECIAL SESSION POSSIBILITY
An important state report on the feasibility of an in-state gasline is due this July and Chenault said Monday he thinks the legislature should be prepared to gather for a rare September special session where they would decide whether or not to advance a line, based on the report’s findings.
TRANSCANADA VISIT
TransCanada and other AGIA stakeholders will have their say on Friday when they testify on a House bill, which would allow the state to abandon AGIA as soon as this summer, if conditions for the large-diameter line prove uneconomic.
