Hours before the end of the special session, the gasline bill fell apart after the Senate adopted several amendments to the bill that Governor Mike Dunleavy (R – Alaska), Glenfarne (the developer), and key members of the House said killed the bill.

The most notable amendment added a long debated provision to apply Alaska’s corporate tax to S corporations at a progressive rate based on taxable income. The amendment narrowly passed 11-9. The effective date is January 1, 2028.

A previous version of the amendment with a retroactive effective date to January 1, 2026 failed 9-11. Senators Bert Stedman (R – Sitka) and Jesse Kiehl (D – Juneau) voted no on the amendment with the retroactive effective date and yes on the amendment with the January 1, 2028 effective date. 

Other amendments adopted include putting a timeline on the project and adding a project labor agreement.  

Governor Dunleavy held a press conference in the Capitol at 8 pm – shortly after the Senate passed the bill by a 12-8 vote. Dunleavy made it clear the provisions added to the bill by the Senate are unacceptable to advancing the project. He thanked the House, who passed their version of the bill last week by an overwhelming vote of 34-5. 

Dunleavy, who issued a proclamation earlier today for another special session beginning tomorrow morning (June 20), said he hoped legislators could quickly work out their differences and pass a bill agreeable to him and Glenfarne.  

Several legislators were in the Governor’s conference room during the press conference. After the press conference, Representative Jeremy Bynum (R – Ketchikan) approached Senator Bill Wielechowski (D – Wielechowski). He questioned the profits Wielechowski was claiming Glenfarne would make. Tensions rose as the two walked towards the stairwell. Bynum got into Wielechowski’s face, and then things went off the rails from there. I started filming right after Bynum got in Wielechowski’s face. 

The House was scheduled for an evening floor session to take up a concurrence vote on the Senate’s version of the bill. But that was canceled after it became clear just how high tensions were in the Capitol. The Senate adjourned sine die for the special session after they passed the bill. The House will automatically time out at midnight. 

Both bodies are scheduled to gavel in tomorrow morning for the next special session on the gasline bill. They have a few options.

One, they could both gavel in and leave. Two, they could gavel in and pass a resolution to bring the bill back where it was. This would allow the House to take up a concurrence vote tomorrow. If they failed to concur, which is likely what would happen, a conference committee could attempt to work out the differences. It’s not likely a deal would come together tomorrow. 

A conference committee and legislative leadership would have a month to try and work out a deal. If a deal were to be reached, everyone would have to come back to Juneau to vote to adopt what would come out of a conference committee. 

It should be clear by tomorrow afternoon what will happen. Check the Landmine X page for live updates from Juneau.