House Majority Marks Successful Legislative Session

	Alaska State House Majority Organization

Posted: May 17, 2007
Contact: Will Vandergriff, 465-5284, House Majority Press Secretary

(Juneau) - The House Majority marked a successful first session of the 25th Alaska Legislature, taking positive action on all of the major priorities of the caucus before adjourning just ahead of the constitutional deadline late Wednesday night. House Speaker John Harris (R-Valdez) said the people of Alaska can be very proud of the work done by the Legislature over the past 121 days.

We approved the Governor's AGIA bill, giving her the framework she believes will result in a gas pipeline proposal for us to review next session. We approved an omnibus ethics bill, to address significant legislative and executive branch ethics questions that have arisen over the past several years. Our work on the operating and capital budgets produced spending bills that comprehensively cover the needs of Alaskans.
~ Rep. John Harris

"We set out four major priorities for this caucus, and, of course, we have taken action on a number of other important issues, as well," Harris said. "We approved the Governor's AGIA bill, giving her the framework she believes will result in a gas pipeline proposal for us to review next session. We approved an omnibus ethics bill, to address significant legislative and executive branch ethics questions that have arisen over the past several years. Our work on the operating and capital budgets produced spending bills that comprehensively cover the needs of Alaskans. And, while we made some progress on the PERS/TRS issue, we expect to be working on it through the interim."

"Those were the four over-riding issues we set out to address this session, but there were other important successes, as well," said House Majority Leader Ralph Samuels (R-Anchorage). "These include setting aside $1 billion for next year's education funding, making the changes needed to accommodate the 90-day session limit next year, and passing a bipartisan omnibus anti-crime bill."

[We also set] aside $1 billion for next year's education funding, making the changes needed to accommodate the 90-day session limit next year, and passing a bipartisan omnibus anti-crime bill.
~ Rep. Ralph Samuels

• AGIA – Alaska Gasline Inducement Act – HB 177
  This new effort toward a pipeline to commercialize North Slope natural gas was passed essentially as requested by Governor Palin. It takes the approach of asking for proposals from interested companies or combinations of companies, provides up to $500 million in subsidy for the successful licensee to get the project to an "open season," and requires proposals to accommodate a list of 20 "must-haves" to protect the interests of the state.


• Omnibus Ethics Bill – HB 109
  The House combined more than 13 bills into the Governor's ethics bill, HB 109, addressing numerous ethics issues of both the legislative and executive branches of government, covering the activities of legislators, staff, governor's appointees and employees, and lobbyists.


• Operating and Capital Budgets – HB 95 and SB 53
  The operating and capital budgets commit $10.9 billion (not including supplemental appropriations) to the programs of state government and hundreds of needed construction projects. This includes $9.174 billion for the operating budget, of which $3.68 billion is general fund, and $1.738 billion for capital projects, of which $531 million is general fund. These two bills comprehensively address the needs of the people of Alaska.


• PERS/TRS – Public Employees and Teachers' Retirement Systems
  The House recognizes the unfunded liability of the two retirement systems for the state and local employees remains to be fully funded; however, the appropriation of $185 million within the capital budget funds a one-year reprieve. It is the expectation of the members of the House that over the interim, a comprehensive resolution to the PERS/TRS problem will be completely vetted and finalized for consideration during the 2008 session.


• Education Funding
  The House joined the Senate in setting aside $1 billion of the expected FY2007 surplus for K-12 education funding for FY2009. This action will give a head start to crafting that portion of the operating budget next session, and provides a level of comfort for local school boards that funding for their programs will be available next year.


• 90-Day Session – HB 171
  With passage last November of the initiative reducing the length of each legislative session to 90 days, the House took the lead in identifying statute changes needed to make the public processes of the Legislature fit within the 90-day limit. Among other changes, the Legislature reset its starting day as the third Tuesday in January, meaning the regular session will now end in mid- to late-April. The bill also reset deadlines for the Governor to introduce budget-related bills.


• Bipartisan Omnibus Anti-Crime Bill – HB 90
  This comprehensive anti-crime bill addresses a number of important changes, relating to sexual offenders, traffickers in prostitution, incarceration and bond hearings, cold case murder investigations, reporting violent crimes, and taking DNA samples.





# # #