With the Legislature remaining deadlocked on a capital budget containing possibly billions of dollars in construction projects, legislators are looking for solutions before the end of the 30-day special session next week.
Two days of hearings on energy projects by the House Special Committee on Energy may help with that.
Energy projects began to get reviewed by the a House committee Friday, but that hearing notably excluded the $200 million House leaders say they want to set aside for a small in-state natural gas pipeline.
State senators are blowing smoke in a claim that they need to wait until “studies” commissioned by the Legislature are finished before acting on Gov. Sean Parnell’s bill to modify state oil production taxes, a leader in the state House has charged
The Alaska Legislature passed a $12 billion state operating package Friday, but the vote was overshadowed by the continued impasse over the capital budget.
The Alaska Legislature has approved the fiscal year 2012 operating budget May 6, after two weeks of wrangling in a special session.
Hopes were raised Thursday for ending the special session as early as next week, and Gov. Sean Parnell, who’s had an at-times prickly relationship with the Senate, stood as central figure in helping bring about the end.
As legislative talks on the capital budget remain stalled, even with the operating budget poised for passage as soon as today, a few hints of the possible outcome are being revealed.
State House committees are planning two days of hearings on about two dozen energy projects included in the proposed capital budget.
The Senate hasn’t finalized its version of the capital budget; that means the House has yet to formally receive it. But with the special session set to end May 17, Rep. Lance Pruitt says time is running short. Pruitt, who is the co-chair of the House Special Committee on Energy, says the House wants a chance to thoroughly review the proposal.
Gov. Sean Parnell said he thinks an agreement can be reached on the capital budget.
He again called upon the Senate to send the House a bill and let the legislative process play out.
House and Senate negotiators came to terms on a state operating budget Wednesday, a positive development in a fits-and-starts special session that is still a long way from over.
The major obstacle continued to be the capital budget. While leaders on all sides expressed hope that a resolution could be found, none of them, including the governor, publicly offered a way out of the mess that hasn’t been stated, in some cases repeatedly, before.
