A Citizen’s Guide

The Murkowski administration is expected to release a handful of amendments to the Stranded Gas Development Act on Wednesday. The governor has said the amendments are needed to make legal some of the provisions in the proposed contract with the state’s three major oil companies currently being considered by the Legislature.

John Manly, spokesman for Gov. Frank Murkowski, was unsure how many amendments will be released tomorrow. But he said he expects them to come in the form of four or five bills.

No word yet on how many state laws besides the stranded gas act will need to be amended.

Legislators will now have three things to juggle. They already have their hands full with the oil tax rewrite and the draft gas contract. Now they get to see the amendments that will tie the two together.

The House is set to convene at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, the Senate will meet at 1 p.m. The House Finance Committee will take up the oil tax bill at 1:30 p.m.