Senate Republicans: TC Alaska/ExxonMobil Agreement
Positive For Alaska and Gas Pipeline

NORTH POLE – The Senate Republican Caucus provided the following comments on today’s announcement by TC Alaska and ExxonMobil regarding their agreement on the Alaska North Slope Gas Pipeline project.

“Certainly today’s announcement is very positive for Alaska and the country.  While it appears that this agreement honors the terms of AGIA while advancing an Alaska Gasline project, we will be very interested to look more closely at all the details, to be assured that the state’s “must haves” in AGIA will be protected.  I appreciate that their announcement continues to acknowledge the possibility of an LNG option that includes a liquefaction facility in Valdez,” said Sen. Gene Therriault, R – North Pole.

While several key aspects of the announcement are worthy of highlighting, such as TC-Alaska remaining the licensee under AGIA, and the open season timeline continues on schedule, Therriault noted, “This agreement marks a serious breakthrough for the gas pipeline project in that ExxonMobil’s partnering acknowledges that TransCanada’s ability to advance a project using the Northern Pipeline Act (NPA) is a significant advantage compared to the National Energy Board (NEB) process in Canada.  For years legislators were told by some that there was no advantage to using the NPA rather than the standard approval process of the NEB.”

“Throughout this process we always predicted that TransCanada and the companies would come together and negotiate an agreement.  This announcement today between TC-Alaska and Exxon goes a long way towards a commitment to see this project through,” said Sen. Tom Wagoner, R-Kenai.

“I am hopeful that today’s announcement will quiet those who appear to have been hoping for failure of the AGIA process,” said Sen. Con Bunde, R-Anchorage.

“We look forward to the continued development of solid construction cost data which the state and other interested parties will need as we approach an open season in 2010,” said Sen. Fred Dyson, R-Eagle River. “Construction of the pipeline is still not assured; however, this agreement is a real step forward.”

Legislature Adopts Resolution Supporting NPS Rule to Allow National Park Users to Carry Firearm for Protection

JUNEAU – The Alaska Legislature has overwhelmingly endorsed a resolution to send a message to the Obama administration in support of a National Park Service regulation allowing park users to carry a concealed handgun for personal protection. Senate Joint Resolution 3 passed with just one dissenting vote in the House.

“I thought it was important to express our appreciation to President Bush for adopting the regulation to allow park users to carry the firearms they need for personal protection in national parks,” said Sen. Gene Therriault, prime sponsor of SJR 3.

The regulation was adopted in the waning days of the Bush administration and went into effect in January. It was challenged by gun control and environmental groups, who argued the Bush administration had not conducted a thorough assessment of the environmental impact the regulation could cause. A federal judge in March issued a temporary injunction on the regulation.

Alaska contains more than 75 percent of the land mass of the National Park system, and Alaskans understand how important it is to have personal protection when in the wilderness, Therriault said.

“Whether they are used for bear protection, obtaining food in a survival situation, or signaling for assistance when needed, firearms have been on the hips and in the arms of Alaskans since the frontier was first explored,” Therriault said. “Today, the unbroken wilderness and inherent dangers of the backcountry have been exacerbated with the conditioning of animals to lose their natural tendency of avoiding humans.”

The resolution calls on the Obama administration to support the rule and improve on it. While the concealed carry rule has been temporarily held up by the injunction, park users can carry handguns into the parks, as long as they are unloaded, disassembled, and not immediately accessible in a backpack.

“Carrying around an unassembled, unloaded gun in the Denali backcountry is not going to be of much use if you are suddenly charged by a bear,” Therriault said.

Legislature Approves Therriault Bill to Exempt Some Service Area Decisions From Open Meetings Act

JUNEAU – By a vote of 35-4, the Alaska House of Representatives on Friday passed SB 48, providing an exemption to the Open Meetings Act for all municipal boards, commissions, and committees meeting solely to administer and manage existing policy. A public meeting which includes discussion and action on policy matters, such as contract negotiations or setting service area tax rates, will still require public notice.

“Senate Bill 48 makes a distinction in the Open Meetings Act between the meetings of boards or committees that are meeting strictly to administer a policy, as opposed to those meetings which discuss and set public policy,” Therriault said. “For example, if we have a road washout or a heavy dump of snow, road commission members need to be able to deal with the problem, that is, to administer a previously decided policy, without being in violation of the Open Meetings Act.”

SB 48 also clarifies an abnormality in state law regarding the definition of a “meeting.” Currently, meeting requirements for advisory bodies are more stringent than those for policy setting bodies. SB 48 places the same open meetings requirements on advisory bodies as are on government agencies authorized to establish public policy.

The bill is awaiting transmittal to the Governor for her signature. It will take effect 90 days after it is signed.

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Senate Republicans: Public Has Been Shortchanged

JUNEAU – Members of the Senate Republican Caucus today said the public had been shortchanged by a mixed bag of legislation produced by this year’s session, which adjourned Sunday evening before 8 p.m. Sen. Gene Therriault, R-North Pole, the minority leader, said while he was pleased by an overall reduction in spending, he was disappointed in the lack of funding for a number of crucial projects.

“I was discouraged that the majority was unresponsive to the Governor’s request for adequate funding for ongoing work with TransCanada on the gas pipeline,” Therriault said. “When issuance of the AGIA license was delayed last year it slowed down some of the work that TC Alaska was obligated to perform. The administration asked that the appropriation to track and audit this work be carried forward, and the majority coalition said ‘no.’ We have legislators demanding more information from the Governor on AGIA monitoring, but we do not provide the money to do the work.”

Therriault also noted that the capital budget did not contain a relatively small state match that would have captured as much as $150 million in federal funds for much-needed highway projects. “These federal funds left on the table could have paid for a number of important major maintenance and reconstruction projects on Alaska’s arterial highways,” Therriault said. “The Dalton Highway, while it will receive funding for one of many necessary projects, will continue to be substandard for many miles. We can’t continue to ignore the Dalton Highway; it’s not just an Alaska highway, it is our ‘road to the bank.’”

Therriault said a disparity in how capital projects were funded between regions was only part of the legacy of this legislative session. Other shortcomings include a failure to address many important policy issues in a timely manner, such as the Governor’s proposal to establish an electrical energy generation and distribution entity for the railbelt utilities or a bill requiring parental consent for a minor’s abortion.

“I was also somewhat dismayed that information vital to the debate over management of the public employees and teachers retirement systems was not generated,” Therriault said. “Many members have made commitments on this issue, and it would have been helpful to be able to get to the data we need to make an informed decision, especially in light of the growing unfunded liability of PERS and TRS.”

Sen. Fred Dyson, R-Eagle River, said he was disappointed that the majority refused to take even a small step toward a green future. “The Senate majority refused to force consideration of propane or compressed natural gas for some $25 million they appropriated for purchasing government buses and other equipment,” Dyson said. “This could have saved operating money, as well as reducing carbon emissions.”

“I was also deeply disheartened the Senate took no action on parental involvement in a minor’s abortion,” Dyson said.

Despite periodic differences on policy matters, Therriault was pleased to have maintained a good working relationship with Senate President Gary Stevens.

“Hope springs eternal, as the saying goes, so we remain hopeful that the Legislature will seize upon the opportunities presented to us to affect good public policy,” Therriault said. “Over the interim and going into the next session in January, we hope legislative committees will examine these issues in depth, inform the public of the implications of the options available to us, and move forward on good policy decisions. In other words, we look forward to a productive session next year.”

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Legislature Passes SB 45, to Authorize
Veterans’ Cemetery in Interior Alaska

JUNEAU – The Alaska House today unanimously approved legislation to authorize the establishment and maintenance of a veterans’ cemetery to serve the Interior and northern Alaska. The State Senate passed the bill on March 30.

Senate Bill 45, sponsored by Sen. Charlie Huggins, R-Wasilla, and Sen. Gene Therriault, R-North Pole, gives the Department of Military and Veterans’ Affairs the authority to establish veterans’ cemeteries and to set up a fund to provide for maintenance of the cemeteries. The bill also allows the Legislature to appropriate revenue generated by the sale of veterans’ commemorative license plates to the cemetery fund. Another section of the bill, unrelated to the cemetery provisions, clarifies veterans’ hiring preferences in state statutes.

“Providing for a final resting place for our veterans is an obligation that stretches back to America’s Revolutionary War and has continued through every conflict since then,” Huggins said. “I am proud that the Legislature has stepped up to this obligation, and appreciate the expedited passage of the bill by the House.”

“Alaska has the highest proportion of military veterans per capita, compared with other states,” said Therriault. “Out of an estimated 100,000 veterans statewide, about 11,000 of them live in the Interior and northern Alaska. We should be prepared to honor them as they deserve for their sacrifices made in defense of our state and nation. I appreciate the quick action by the Legislature in passage of this important piece of legislation.”

Senators Therriault and Huggins expressed their thanks to Representative Bill Thomas (R-Haines), Co-Chair of the Joint Legislative Veterans’ Caucus, who advocated for SB 45 on the floor of the House of Representatives.

“A veterans’ cemetery in the Fairbanks area will complement the national cemeteries in Sitka and on Ft. Richardson, so veterans from the Interior and northern Alaska can be interred closer to their homes and families,” Thomas said.
The law takes effect 90 days after the Governor signs it. Once a suitable location has been identified for the cemetery, the federal government has agreed to pay for its initial construction, while the state has agreed to be responsible for ongoing operation and maintenance.

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