Developer says no legislation is ‘deeply disappointing’ as one bill on the gas line remains.
JUNEAU, Alaska - With a special session already called, Alaska ’s 34th Legislature adjourned its regular session Wednesday evening, ending without a gas line deal and leaving one surviving bill as the last chance to break a months-long standoff between the governor and the legislature.
After both chambers adjourned sine die, any bills which haven’t been transmitted to the governor have been killed except for one:, the house-version of the governor’s LNG property tax bills, which will be the sole focus of the special session.
“An hour after adjournment there will be a special session,” Dunleavy said at an Anchorage press conference Tuesday. The special session is scheduled to begin Thursday at 10 a.m. “Rome is burning and we’re shoving a spay and neuter bill into an invasive species bill. There’s a priority issue here that is out of alignment with what the people of Alaska need and want.
” The governor has spent the past 60 days of the 121-day session urging lawmakers to pass sweeping property tax legislation sought by Glenfarne, the major developer behind the long-proposed LNG pipeline. Supporters argue the gas line cannot move forward without it.
“We’re doing what we believe is the best thing for the people of Alaska,” Senate Majority Leader Cathy Giessel, R-Anchorage, told Alaska’s News Source Tuesday. “We’re supporting a gas pipeline, but not at any cost to Alaskans. ” Under current property taxes, the state was projected to receive $8.4 billion in taxes from the pipeline by 2042, according to the Department of Revenue. Under the governor’s proposal, that figure fell to $829 million.
Local governments would see their share fall from $5.7 billion to $728 million over the same period. With days left in the session, and no streamlined way to get his bills across the body quickly, Dunleavy’s effort led to an eleventh-hour amendment from House Majority Leader Chuck Kopp, R-Anchorage, introducing the tax exemptions in a separate LNG-related bill which already went through the committee process. Rep.
Robyn Frier, D-Utqiagvik, introduced an amendment that changed Kopp’s plan to allow the North Slope Borough to adopt its own tax rate for the gas line.the House sent it back to the Rules Committee, effectively killing the bill and its attached amendments. Kopp blamed the administration with a complaint many in the legislature — across caucus lines — have bemoaned.
“The governor’s gonna have to figure out what he can do to get the legislature as a whole to yes,” Kopp said. “He already had me at yes. I’ve believed in this project for a long time, but I can’t do it by myself for him.
“I have people in my office working constantly with the legislature nonstop,” he said. “We’ve contracted people to work with the legislature non-stop. We’ve got people all over,” the governor said.
“My phone is open to everybody, my staff is down there working on this bill, I’m working with legislators, I think we’re fully engaged in this process. ” As a consequence of the failed gas line legislation, Dunleavy vetoed a pensions bill majority lawmakers have been fighting to pass for decades. Glenfarne, the project’s major developer, said in a statement on the eve of adjournment that the results of the regular session are “deeply disappointing.
” “Alaska has struggled for decades to advance the major infrastructure needed to fully develop those resources,” a company statement reads, “and today’s outcome shows how difficult it remains to align around the durable policy frameworks required to move projects of this magnitude forward.
“Alaska still has a historic opportunity in front of it — but realizing that opportunity will require urgency, alignment, and a competitive framework that allows projects like Alaska LNG to move forward. ”“What was going on in the building in the last few days would not lead to ,” he told reporters after adjourning sine die.
“My recommendation to them is they play a square game, because the Finance Committee in the Senate is not going to mess around. ”19-year-old Anchorage man shot five times in road rage incident released from hospitalWasilla men sentenced in illegal guide operation out of Kodiak, face prison, fines and worldwide hunting bansBudget heads to governor with $1,200 PFD attached ‘We are not going to let them disappear’: Legislature unanimously urges federal support in Halong relocation effortAlaska Legislature’s last-day action could cancel campaign-finance ballot measure
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