A Citizen’s Guide

JUNEAU—House Democrats complicated Gov. Frank Murkowski’s plan for a natural gas pipeline agreement Thursday by defeating a bill that would have given the administration more time to summarize public comments, suggest revisions to the contract, and complete supporting documents.

The House quickly adjourned following the bill’s defeat, putting an end to the second special session, which was to expire at midnight after 30 days. The Senate adjourned not long before the House.

The bill’s defeat puts the future of Murkowski’s natural gas agreement with the state’s three major oil companies in doubt. Murkowski’s spokesman said the governor had no plans to call legislators back into session until after the Aug. 22 primary election.

Kevin Jardell, the governor’s legislative liaison, said after the session that the administration was disappointed with the vote. He said more time would have helped, but was not strictly necessary.

“We think we can get there,” he said.

Democrats used a procedural rule to block the bill with a minority of votes.

House Majority Leader John Coghill, R-North Pole, called the move a “political slam” and said he was frustrated by politics on the last day of the summer’s second special legislative session.

“We’re so close to the primaries now our motives are so hard to keep clean,” he said.

The gas bill, which passed the Senate earlier this week, would have given the administration 120 days to complete the tasks instead of the 30 currently allowed by the Stranded Gas Development Act, the law used to negotiate the proposed contract between the state and BP, ConocoPhillips, and Exxon Mobil to develop North Slope natural gas reserves.

The current 30-day period ends Aug. 23.

House Minority Leader Ethan Berkowitz of Anchorage spearheaded the Democratic move. At a floor session Thursday, he introduced an amendment to the bill that would have forced the administration to wait 180 days—until after the election cycle—before doing the work.

Berkowitz, a candidate for lieutenant governor, argued his amendment would “remove [the gas contract] from the zone of politics.”

If Murkowski is re-elected, he would be able to continue his work, Berkowitz argued. If he isn’t, the new governor should not be burdened by the work of the previous administration, including the findings of the revenue commissioner. Rep. Eric Croft, D-Anchorage, argued the commissioner’s findings could “undercut” the state’s power to enforce its oil and gas leases. Croft is also a candidate for governor.

Rep. Les Gara, D-Anchorage, also described the amendment as removing politics from the process.

“Politics has clouded this gas contract,” he said before the amendment was introduced. “We might as well just wait for the next governor.”

Berkowitz used the tight deadline of the special session to leverage his party’s votes.

Because a vote by 30 of the 40 House members is required to let a bill move through certain procedural steps in the same day, a minority of voters could effectively defeat the bill.

Berkowitz threatened to defeat the bill if his amendment was turned down.

“I just suggest that if you want to see third reading, you adopt the amendment,” he said.

Coghill spoke against the amendment. He argued that blocking the administration from moving forward in the process would limit the public process laid out by the law.

“The public process is what took the beating,” he said after the vote, “not the governor.”

Earlier in the day, Revenue Commissioner Bill Corbus met with Democratic representatives to ask for their cooperation in allowing the bill to move forward.

Berkowitz’s amendment failed 26-13, but 10 Democrats and one Republican voted to stop the bill from moving to a final vote. Two attempts later in the evening to move the bill along also failed.

Interior lawmakers had mixed reactions to the move.

Rep. Jay Ramras, R-Fairbanks, said it came as a “predictable surprise.”

“Berkowitz is an excellent strategist,” he said.

Ramras said afterward that he was happy with the outcome.

“Killing this contract is best for Alaska,” he said, and tightening the time frame for the administration would ensure that it fails.

Rep. David Guttenberg, D-Fairbanks, voted for the amendment and to block the bill. He said he didn’t have faith in the administration to make a good deal and thought the short timeline would force a bad product.

Coghill criticized both the Democrats’ tactics and the result they achieved. He said the rush would block the administration’s ability to do justice to public comments on the contract.

Coghill also took the blame for allowing the tactic by not scheduling the floor session a day earlier.

“It was just a technical mess-up on my part,” he said.

Stefan Milkowski can be reached at smilkowski@newsminer.com or 459-7577.