Much left to do as Legislature goes into overtime

MAT-SU — Though the legislative session in Juneau officially ends today, Alaska state lawmakers have said already that deadline won’t be met.

Meanwhile, here’s a list of legislation of local interest and where it stands in the process:

Knik Arm Bridge

The Legislature put $1.4 million in federal money into its operating budget this year to keep the Knik Arm Bridge and Toll Authority running for another year. The authority is the body tasked with getting a bridge from Anchorage to Point MacKenzie built. The plan is to bring a private company on-board that will recoup its expenses through tolls paid on the bridge.

The bridge was the subject of a couple of bills Wasilla Sen. Linda Menard has been pushing. One of those bills would have loaned the authority $150 million to cover expenses in the bridge’s early years. Menard said in her weekly newsletter Friday that the bills are still alive even if they’re not going to pass this year and she looks forward to working on them in the next session.

Rail Extension

The state’s capital budget contains an additional $20 million to keep the project moving forward.

In the interim, the federal government has decided on a route for the rail line, which has it meeting up with the main railroad line near Houston. The borough touts the project as a means to make its fledgling Port MacKenzie, viable but also to open up the Interior to mining and other resource development.

It is the capital budget that is the legislative logjam; neither the Senate nor the House has completed their work on the capital budget. And then the budget goes back to the governor, who can cut items. So it’s anyone’s guess what projects will remain and which will be cut.

Susitna project

The capital budget includes $65 million for the proposed dam on the Susitna River east of Talkeetna. The money comes from the Railbelt Energy Fund.

Point MacKenzie prison

The Senate has chosen not to fund start-up of the Goose Creek Correctional Center. The House hasn’t decided one way or the other, which means those bodies will have to work it out at the end of the session.

Senators voting to de-fund Goose Creek have expressed concern that the prison cost too much to build and will cost too much to run. Pro-prison legislators have pointed out that the money that was cut would have been what the state used to “validate the warranty” on the building — basically, to make sure everything was in good working order.

A number of bills from local legislators are still in committee with very little time left to move them out. Here is a partial list:

• Term limits legislation from Sen. Menard.

• The perennially introduced and perennially sidelined legislation from Rep. Mark Neuman, R-Willow, generally considered a bill to move the capitol from Juneau, but worded simply to build a new legislative hall somewhere in the state.

• A bill from Rep. Eric Feige, R-Chickaloon, that would give tax exemptions to volunteer firefighters.

• A plan to give scholarships to elementary school students so they can attend private school, sponsored by Rep. Wes Keller, R-Wasilla.

• Another from Keller that would mandate teaching and testing on the nation’s founding documents in public schools.

• A bill prohibiting courts from consulting foreign laws similar to other states’ moves to ban Islamic Sharia Law, sponsored by Rep. Carl Gatto, R-Palmer.

• A bill from Neuman that would clear up some language in the law outlawing gravity knives and switchblades.

• A bill from Gatto to divest state investments in Iran.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.