The AKLNG special session continued this week, giving more clarity on what will be an undeniably difficult project, no matter the subsidy lawmakers ultimately approve.
The biggest takeaway from the first full week of hearings on Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s proposed multi-billion-dollar, multi-decade subsidy for the natural gas pipeline project is that the state sure is lucky that lawmakers’ efforts to rush the bill through didn’t pan out.
Lawmakers adjourned the regular session on Wednesday in a largely uneventful final day, at least compared to the mayhem of Monday's attempt to force through a multibillion-dollar subsidy in the form of state and local tax cuts.
On Monday, the Alaska Legislature appointed the conference committee on the operating budget, kicking off the 24-hour period that allows meetings to be noticed a day in advance and starting the final mad dash to adjournment on May 20.
The rubber-stamp board of the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority is likely to vote Wednesday to approve a $190 million ANWR spending plan.
With less than a year left in his term, Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy has set his sights on the latest in a long line of attempts to advance an 800-mile natural gas pipeline.