As we previously reported, the Alaska LNG Project bill passed the Senate Tuesday night however representatives across the state still want questions answered.
Mayor Mike Navarre expressed his concerns over the broad terminologies incorporated into the Heads of Agreement that was signed by Governor Sean Parnell’s administration.
Mayor Navarre: “The language says any other items that they think might be important or needed to move it forward so it’s a fairly broad outline and the concern of course is that they’ll come out with a package of legislation next year that says here’s what we need to move the gas line forward and anyone who objects at that time is against the gas line.”
He went on to say that the borough does not want to be in an adversarial position with the Governor just to ask questions about what might happen to tax structures that would impact both state and local governments.
Democratic Representative Scott Kawasaki of Fairbanks said one of the biggest unanswered questions is whether state ownership is the best deal for Alaskans.
Rep. Kawasaki: We’re risking a lot on the front end. The Roger Marks report that just came out a couple days ago seems to think we could be on the hook for $2 billion up front if we decide to take a detour off this proposal in the future. Rick Harper’s report that also just recently came out a few days ago has a lot of questions about our marketability of gas and whether the state can adequately market against the big giants that are used to marketing.