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Heyworth would not accept HB 302 as substitute for ballot initiative Whitaker’s Alaska Gas Corp. bill moved out of House Finance, passes in House, will be heard next in Senate Resources Kristen Nelson PNA Editor-in-Chief
Scott Heyworth told the House Finance Committee April 18 that he does not accept House Bill 302, which would create the Alaska Gas Corp., as substantially the same as the initiative he got placed on the November ballot.
Heyworth’s initiative, which has been certified by the lieutenant governor for the November ballot, specifies an all-Alaska gasline which would take gas to tidewater in Prince William Sound and then produce liquefied natural gas for shipment.
HB 302 does not preclude any options of routing or process, the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Jim Whitaker, R-Fairbanks, told the House Finance Committee.
Whitaker told the committee that Jack Chenoweth of Legislative Legal Services has said that HB 302 is substantially the same as the initiative, and that the lieutenant governor could determine that passage of HB 302 displaces the initiative from the ballot.
Asked by Rep. Eric Croft, D-Anchorage, if the producers have taken a position, Whitaker said they would have to speak for themselves, but that in confidential conversations he believed they felt HB 302 was the lesser of two evils, compared to the ballot initiative. Canada not in initiative !¸? the lead sponsor of the initiative for the all-Alaska gasline, said the initiative and HB 302 are “significantly un-similar.”
HB 302 is a project which will connect with a Canadian line, Heyworth said, while the initiative takes gas to Valdez.
“I’m not surprised industry would have called it the lesser of two evils,” he said.
And HB 302 is a study with a zero fiscal note, while the initiative — a project — has a $250 million fiscal note from the Department of Revenue, Heyworth said.
“If the House and Senate think this is similar … you’re going to force me into a position that I’ll have to sue,” he said. “… It will not hold up in a court of law.”
“There is nothing similar, ladies and gentlemen,” Heyworth said. To study or to build Rep. Con Bunde, R-Anchorage, told Heyworth the “Legislature can pass legislation — if you have a disagreement with the lieutenant governor, I guess that’s where you’d take it.”
Heyworth said he had no problem with HB 302, the “problem would be if the lieutenant governor decides it’s substantially the same as the initiative.”
“If you want to do studies,” Heyworth said, “go ahead… the citizens of Alaska want to build an in-state line.”
Rep. Gary Davies, D-Fairbanks, asked Heyworth if he agreed with Revenue’s $250 million fiscal note for the initiative.
“Of course I don’t: it’s a joke,” Heyworth responded. “… My estimate is $1 million.”
Davies also asked what if the initiative passes and the Legislature does an analysis and determines it isn’t feasible?
Heyworth said that “until someone steps forward and offers gas to market… we’ll never know.” Not in disagreement Whitaker said he didn’t disagree with very much of what Heyworth said.
“My emotions are such that I think we should take charge and move this forward,” he said, but my “logical side says we need to study it more…
“I think we’re trying to get to the same place… I think HB 302 gets us there faster,” Whitaker said.
House Bill 302 was moved out of House Resources April 18, passed the House April 22 and was referred to the Senate Resources Committee.
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