capital focus

Before I came down here, I assumed gas line talk was going to heat up at the end of the session. Wrong. It’s pretty much the big item down here already.
Here’s my take on a few of the issues floating around. More »

JUNEAU — The Alaska Gasline Port Authority was taken out of the running for a state license to build a gas pipeline when Gov. Sarah Palin’s administration denied the group’s request for reconsideration Wednesday.

The port authority filed the request in early January after the administration ruled that its pipeline application did not meet the requirements of the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act. More »

JUNEAU — Eni Petroleum will invest $1.4 billion to develop its Nikaitchuq oil field on the North Slope, with drilling beginning this year. The project was outlined this week by Kevin Banks, acting director of the state’s Division of Oil and Gas, at a presentation hosted by the five-member Republican Senate minority.

The project includes 31 production wells, a 3.8-mile subsea pipeline, and separate processing facilities, according to Banks. The state agreed earlier this month to lower its royalty rates under certain conditions as an incentive for investment. More »

JUNEAU — Gov. Sarah Palin said Tuesday she was “more committed than ever” to the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act and the requirements it imposed on potential pipeline builders.

During a news conference at the governor’s mansion, she and key members of her gas pipeline team defended the approach and explained their refusal to consider ConocoPhillips’ alternative.

“We are very confident that our process will get us a gas line,” Palin said. More »

JUNEAU — State lawmakers are pushing to block legislators from fundraising for congressional campaigns while the Legislature is in session, but they may not have the right to do so.

In legal opinions released last week, a lawyer working for the Legislature argued that any state law restricting campaigns for federal office would be preempted by federal law. More »

Gov. Sarah Palin said Tuesday she wasn’t ready to back any candidate for president but had narrowed it down to two — fellow Republicans Sen. John McCain of Arizona and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.

Palin said she was trying to find time off the state clock to study where the two candidates stood on national security, resource development, and a natural gas pipeline, and had calls in to both campaigns. More »

Don’t people read my stories?
Sen. Charlie Huggins brought up the Mogel memo on TransCanada’s application at today’s floor session as if it was hot news. Actually, Sen. Gene Therriault mentioned it on the floor last week, and I wrote a story about it this weekend. More »

Remember last year how lawmakers described education funding, the PERS/TRS fix, and revenue sharing as three legs of one stool? The idea was that each component was more or less important depending on where you lived — the PERS/TRS fix would really help urban areas, for instance — so lawmakers looked for ways to balance the benefits in the separate bills, and stopped short of passing one without the others lest lawmakers lose interest once they got the part they liked.
So . . . the three pieces are back this year. More »

JUNEAU — State lawmakers are pushing back against a proposal by Gov. Sarah Palin to do away with the state’s certificate of need legislation regulating health care facilities.

Reps. Mike Kelly of Fairbanks and Peggy Wilson of Wrangell, both Republicans, expressed strong concerns with the governor’s plan at a news conference Monday.

Both described major problems in the health care system, including high costs and limited access to doctors, but questioned whether relaxing state regulations would decrease costs as advocates promise. More »

JUNEAU — A new statewide group is gearing up to fight two ballot measures aimed in part at stopping the development of a mine at the Pebble deposit in southwest Alaska.

The group, called Alaskans Against the Mining Shutdown, intends to register as a ballot measure group should the two “Alaska Clean Water” initiatives make it on the ballot this fall, according to a news release. (The Division of Elections is still verifying signatures gathered by initiative sponsors.) More »