AGDC board member bill advances
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KRISTEN NELSON Petroleum News
A bill to include legislators as nonvoting members of the Alaska Gasline Development Corp. board of directors has passed the Senate, been amended in the House and was in House Rules April 6.
Different versions of the proposal originated in the House and Senate. The Senate version, Senate Bill 125 sponsored by Sen. Mia Costello, R-Anchorage, passed the Senate and was amended in the House to include elements of House Bill 282, sponsored by House Speaker Mike Chenault, R-Nikiski.
Costello proposed that one member from the House, appointed by the speaker, and one from the Senate, appointed by the president, be added to the AGDC board as nonvoting members.
Chenault’s bill added two legislators to the board as nonvoting members, but his bill also required that four of the public members appointed by the governor shall have “expertise and experience in natural gas pipeline construction, operation, and marketing; finance; large project management; or other expertise and experience that is relevant to the purpose, powers, and duties of the corporation.”
Under existing law the governor is only required to consider the qualifications of the public members he appoints, but is not bound by any qualifications in making his public-seat appointments.
In addition to changing the basis for the governor’s selection of public members, the bill was also amended in the House to include adding a non-voting member of the minority, appointed jointly by the president and the speaker.
Financing and policy decisions In a sponsor statement for the amended bill Costello said the state “will face increasingly complex financing and policy decisions” as the Alaska LNG project moves forward.
“AGDC is the state’s primary representative in the project and will be a focal point for these discussions in the coming years. It is essential the state have a transparent, clear decision making process in place,” Costello said.
“Senate Bill 125 helps accomplish this by giving all parties a seat at the table.”
She noted that legislators serve on a dozen state commissions, including the boards of state corporations such as the Knik Arm Bridge and Toll Authority, the Alaska Aerospace Corp. and the board of the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute.
The constitutionality of legislators serving on boards has been a topic of discussion as the bill moved through committees, with no resolution, although the facts that the legislators would be nonvoting members and would receive no compensation were viewed favorably by some members.
The bill had not yet been scheduled for the House floor when this issue of Petroleum News went to print.
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