Yes, I know it’s Monday. The last three days in Juneau have been extremely hectic. I was way too tired last night to write the column. I am writing this from the public lounge in the Capitol – my former office before I got an office in Juneau! There is an attempt to get a gasline bill passed in exchange for Governor Mike Dunleavy (R – Alaska) not vetoing the pension bill. He must act today or it becomes law. There is also the conference committee report for the operating budget sitting on members’ desks. And the Senate needs to concur with the capital budget. The session ends on Wednesday at midnight unless the adjourn before that or extend 10 days, which is unlikely, or Dunleavy calls a special session. 

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Check out the sixth and seventh episodes of Governor Peninsula! In these episodes, the Democrats hold a meeting and Jeff Landfield with Probably Media starts asking some questions! And make sure to tell us what you think.

Episode 6

Episode 7

Do it Live!

The House is currently debating a ton of amendments to Senate Bill 180, a bill about LNG imports and the Regulatory Commission of Alaska. The main one is stuffing Governor Dunleavy’s gasline bill into it. Representative Chuck Kopp (R – Anchorage) has been pushing this hard in exchange for Dunleavy not vetoing the pension bill – something Kopp was the main sponsor of and really wants passed. This Landmine article goes more into the proposed deal. 

It’s a huge mess. Many members of the House majority are against the deal or are really on the fence. Senators Bert Stedman (R – Sitka) and Lyman Hoffman (D – Bethel), the Senate finance co-chairs, are pissed they are trying to subvert the finance and resources committees with this maneuver. Because SB 180 is a Senate bill that passed the Senate, whatever the House sends over can only be voted up or down on. If the House is successfully able to do it live and the Senate has 11 votes for concurrence, the bill will go to Dunleavy without a single hearing in either of the resources or finance committees. 

The House Resources Committee has a version of the gasline bill they sent to the House Finance Committee, but that has not moved out of the committee.

For this attempted deal, they are basically discarding what Representative Robyn Frier (D – Utqiagvik) put together in the resources committee and replacing it with what Dunleavy and Glenfarne want. 

The Senate version of the bill is still in the Senate Resources Committee. Senator Cathy Giessel (R – Anchorage), the Resources chair, has had something like 35 hearings on the bill and not yet kicked it to the finance committee. 

Dunleavy introducing the bill on March 20 was not ideal. It should have been introduced in January. 

The whole thing is super loose! They are trying to do committee work on the House floor with a major piece of legislation before midnight because many of them want the pension bill. 

Dunleavy was supposed to hold a press conference at 10 am, then 12 pm, then 12:30 pm. It has still not happened. I was told earlier today by a source in Dunleavy’s office that he imposed a 3 pm deadline today to have the gasline bill in hand or he will veto the pension bill. That deadline has come and gone and still no veto. Dunleavy’s absence in all of this is a huge problem.  

It’s also not clear if the Senate is on board or even involved with the deal. A few days ago Senator Bill Wielechowski (D – Anchorage) was talking to House leadership about the deal, but he seems to have stepped back. 

Basically, Kopp is really pushing for this to happen. Mark Begich, who is working for Dunleavy on the gasline, and lobbyist Wendy Chamberlain, who is working for Glenfarne on the gasline, have been in the Capitol a lot the last week meeting with legislators. I have seen Wendy more in the building the last week than the last eight years combined! She prefers to work out of her office at the Rainbow Swamp close to the Capitol. (I love the Rainbow Swamp and Wendy!)

There are labor leaders crawling all over the Capitol like Viet Cong. They really want the pension bill. And some of them want the gasline bill too.

But the whole thing feels forced. It’s conceivable the House could load SB 180 up and pass it today (they would need 30 votes to go from second reading to third reading on the same day and 27 votes for same day reconsideration), send it to the Senate, the Senate take it up and concur, waive enrollment and engrossment, and send it to Dunleavy. All before midnight. But the odds of all that happening are extremely low. 

The conference committee report for the operating budget is sitting on members’ desks. Both bodies still need to pass that before session ends. That is an up or down vote, but there will be some debate. The Senate also needs to concur with the House version of the capital budget.

And there are still a ton of bills out there that different people want passed for various reasons. These include a bill about tax credits for horses and hay, naming the state vegetable the giant cabbage, a bill about digital driver’s licenses, a civics bill, the tobacco bill, the crime bill, just to name a few. Literally. The longer the House spends on the gasline bill, the less time there is to do all the other bills. 

The constitutional session clock expires at midnight on Wednesday. The Legislature could extend 10 days if this shaky deal falls apart, but that requires a two-thirds vote of each body. That is unlikely. The one advantage of extending 10 days is all the bills stay alive. But a lot of people have travel plans and are leaving after Wednesday. 

Governor Dunleavy could call them back into an immediate special session within an hour of adjournment. After that he has to give them a 30-day notice for a special session. 

It’s basically one giant cluster fuck and I have no idea what is going to happen. 

I am watching all of this closely. Follow the Landmine on X for live updates today and through the end of session. 

This Week’s Loose Unit

I can’t even. It’s all of them! This week’s Loose Unit is the entire Alaska Legislature and Governor Dunleavy. There is really not much else to say. Things are MAX LOOSE in Juneau! 

If you have a nomination for this week’s Loose Unit, or if you have any political news, stories or gossip (or any old pics of politicians or public officials) please email me at jeff@alaskalandmine.com.