A Citizen’s Guide

As we enter the last day of the special session, let us bow our heads and pray… that this thing will just end.

Lawmakers have been hold up in the Capitol building almost non-stop since January, and most of the time has been devoted to Gov. Frank Murkowski’s oil tax proposal and gas contract.

The 30-day special session has been only partially successful. Lawmakers have had a chance to get a closer look at the oil tax and how it would work with the governor’s proposed gas contract with Exxon, BP and ConocoPhillips, but none of the corresponding legislation has crossed the finish line.

Of the four bills introduced by Murkowski, two are dead and two are barely holding on to life.

It’s time for a break. Nerves are starting to fray and it’s not pretty.

Members of the conference committee working on the oil tax bill are at loggerheads over the tax rate. And the other piece of legislation, the judicial review bill, is still waiting for the House to name a conference committee.

If the Senate doesn’t agree to compromise soon, lawmakers could sit back and watch the clock run out and then go home.

Or the governor could force everyone to stay in Juneau by immediately calling another special session. Lawmakers could balk and still go home, but that will probably depend on how close they are to a deal on the oil tax.

If a deal is within their grasp, they might be willing to spend a few more days in Alaska’s rain capitol. If not….