Short pre-filed legislation list a good thing

The list of pre-filed legislation for the upcoming session of the state Legislature hit the streets this week.

The Valley delegation has a few items on the list:

Rep. Cathy Tilton, R-Fairview, has put her name on a bill that seems to make relatively minor changes to sport fishing guide regulations. She’s co-sponsoring it with Rep. Cathy Munoz, R-Juneau.

Rep. Wes Keller, R-Wasilla, wants Alaska schools to teach required courses in “the history of American constitutionalism.” He’s filed something similar before without much success.

Rep. Shelley Hughes, R-Palmer, is responsible for the three remaining pre-files that come from Mat-Su. She’s hoping to create new licensing requirements for private detectives, make the powers granted by a power of attorney document more explicit, and rewrite some of the mortgage lending rules.

There have been years when we would take umbrage that our delegation has offered such a paltry list. Of these, just the mortgage changes and the private detectives bill seem to warrant greater scrutiny.

But this year we’re kind of O.K. with it.

Sure, we believe that all legislation, including pre-filed legislation, is important. This is where laws are changed and policies set. Legislative acts through bills like these can stiffen criminal penalties and loosen regulatory regimes.

It can mean more time in prison for felons and more likelihood that a polluter moves in next door to you. This is real-world, everyday stuff.

But, quite frankly, it’s still small game compared to what the Legislature faces in this coming session, which begins on Tuesday in Juneau.

We want their eyes on three main things: the gas line, the budget and marijuana legislation.

By the requirements of the voter initiative that passed at the ballot box in November, marijuana laws have to go on the books in this session if the state wants to guide the rollout of the legal recreational use of the drug. The idea that the state wouldn’t do anything, we think, is unacceptable. We want to see a robust discussion and a reasoned approach to the law’s implementation.

The gas line is also hugely important to us. Bill Walker ran on the issue each time he sought the governor’s mansion. Now that he’s finally won it, we believe a pipeline is going to be front-and-center on his agenda.

The way natural gas pipeline legislation works out will dictate our state’s financial future. So Alaskans should pay close attention.

But by far the biggest fish the Legislature has to fry this session is the budget. As Alaskans, we have a mixed relationship with the gas pump. Sure, being able top off your SUV for darn near half of what you used to pay is nice. But there’s also a twinge of uncertainty when we do, because of what those low prices mean to state revenue.

Oil flooding the market due to a conspiracy of global factors has dropped prices to the point where Gov. Walker is halting major projects and asking departments to come up with plans for reduced budgets.

This could get tricky over the coming 90 days. So it’s probably a good thing we won’t be working on a bunch of bills. We wish our legislators good luck. We’ll watch their progress closely.