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.
The 33-27 vote fell short of the 40 votes needed to enact House Bill 78, which would have given public-sector employees the option to opt into a pension system.
Legislators have sparred with Gov. Mike Dunleavy throughout his time in office, especially when it comes to his picks for the state’s boards and commissions.
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.
A bill to restore pensions for Alaska’s public workers cleared the Legislature for the first time in nearly two decades, despite opposition from some lawmakers who have benefited from pensions themselves.