Alaska House approves three day recess for Memorial Day weekend during gas line special session

The Alaska House of Representatives voted Thursday to allow the legislature to recess for more than three days during the special session on natural gas taxation. The House passed Senate Concurrent Resolution 201 by a vote of 22 to 18.

Immediately after passing the resolution, House Majority Leader Chuck Kopp moved to adjourn the House until Thursday, June 4 at 11 a.m. The motion passed without objection. The adjournment creates a two-week recess spanning Memorial Day weekend.

Kopp said the measure would allow members to leave Juneau for Memorial Day weekend while House Finance Committee hearings on the gas line bill continue next week. Thirty-nine members were present for the vote.

Kopp said the resolution would let the legislature focus on committee work without holding floor sessions every three days.

"We have a number of members actually trying to catch a flight out of town right now to get out for Memorial Day weekend," Kopp said. "This would allow that to happen and come back this next week. We have a full week of Finance Committee hearings on this bill this next week."

Opponents warned the resolution could enable legislative delays on what they described as the most important issue facing the state this year. One representative said the vast majority of Alaskans cannot trust the legislature to avoid delaying the gas line legislation.

"And what this resolution would potentially endorse is one body or the other just sitting around showing up on the 29th day," the representative said.

Another member cited last August, when lawmakers adjourned for a day during a special session and never returned. Speaker Bryce Edgmon acknowledged the comparison before the vote.

"We are doing exactly what we did in August of last year, so the members are aware of that," Edgmon said.

Edgmon noted the voting threshold for SCR 201 was 21 votes, a majority of the body.

The House also voted 28 to 10 to adopt Senate Concurrent Resolution 202, which allows House Bill 381 and Senate Bill 280 to carry over from the regular session into the special session. Senate Bill 280 is the Senate companion to House Bill 381. Edgmon said the governor's proclamation calling the special session specifically mentioned House Bill 381, which addresses natural gas pipeline property taxation, but also allowed germane legislation.

"The proclamation does spell out one bill in particular, House Bill 381, but it also, if you read the proclamation closely, talks about other legislation germane to the subject that is on the proclamation," Edgmon said. "The other body was working on their version, Senate Bill 280."

After adopting SCR 202, the House introduced House Bill 2001, the governor's bill on natural gas project property taxation and related facilities. The House referred the bill to the House Finance Committee.