Just behind brainstorming solutions to remedy Alaska’s budget deficit, many Kenai Peninsula legislators have marked the AK LNG Project as priority number two for this legislative session.
Speaker of the House Mike Chenault says he hopes everything is on track for the project moving forward in 2016.
Spkr. Chenault: “I think it’s imperative on ourselves and our partners that we keep working. I think the engineering, design, things like that, are probably in the 80-82 percent completed range to be able to provide a price that we’re fairly certain for the cost of that project will be.”
That price estimate is instrumental for the legislature to be able to approve a constitutional amendment that would ask Alaskan voters if they approve binding future legislatures to the cost of the project.
Spkr. Chenault: “I’m hopeful that we are on the right track, that we get to that point that we can put a constitutional amendment on the ballot because if we miss that, by our rules, we have to wait for 2018 to put that on the ballot. And that starts affecting a window of opportunity that the State of Alaska has to possibly provide gas to the Asian continents.”
Currently Alaska’s constitution prohibits lawmakers from binding future legislators to spending. Chenault says having a safeguard for funding of the project in place is important.