NOTN- Alaska lawmakers will continue holding hearings this week during a 30 day special session on Senate Bill 2001, and separately House Bill 381, the governor-backed gas pipeline tax proposal tied to the proposed Alaska LNG project.
The Alaska State Senate Finance Committee is scheduled to meet today, Thursday and Friday at 9 a.m. in Juneau to hear presentations and discussion on the bill.
Today and Thursday’s hearings will include presentations from consulting firm GaffneyCline. Friday’s meeting is also focused on continued review of the legislation.
The House met yesterday, and will continue work this week in Anchorage.
Governor Mike Dunleavy called the special session after lawmakers failed to pass a gasline bill during the regular session, lawmakers received the governor’s proposal on day 80 of 120.
The governor is pushing for larger tax breaks and incentives for the project’s developers.
According to reporting from the Alaska Beacon following an Energy Conference in Anchorage, state and local governments would eliminate 90% of the property tax that would be levied on gasline-related infrastructure in exchange for future opportunities to tax natural gas as it moves through the yet-to-be-built system.
Though legislators are currently sitting on both sides of the fence, some argue the proposal would reduce future revenue for both the state and local governments along the pipeline route.
