The Senate Transportation Committee dove this week into the Dunleavy Administration’s proposed General Obligation (G.O.) Bond package. To put out bonds to pay for a suite of shovel-ready projects, this idea has been under discussion for the past few years of flat capital budgets and has a level of bipartisan support. I would say that this Senate hearing is the first step in a dance, but it is really the second or third step since the idea has been around for a while. A G.O. Bond bill is a multi-phased affair. It has to pass both houses of the legislature, and then, as required by the state constitution, this bond issuance and the projects the bond is supporting must be approved by the voters statewide.
The need for voter approval is the reason that one of the projects in the G.O. Bond bill is a likely albatross: a proposed $8.5 million to support the highly controversial West Susitna Access Road. As a refresher: The West Susitna Access project is a proposed 107 mile road from the Susitna River to Rainy Pass. This is another of those unfortunate projects designed primarily to benefit foreign mining interests, facilitated by The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA), and boosted by boosters as our economic salvation. Please read this excellent summary of the issue from our friends at the Susitna River Coalition
A separate meeting about another deeply unpopular project financed by AIDEA, the proposed Ambler Road, revealed the Ambler Road would cost $2 million per mile. The Susitna West Access road, likely through more challenging terrain, could cost more. Thumbnail estimate for 107 miles at say 2.5 million per mile: $268 million. What is being requested in the initial draft of the bond bill is a pledge of public debt--$8.5 billion--to help a foreign mining company study a proposed quarter-billion-dollar road that has divided even the people of the Mat-Su Borough.
Senators on the Transportation committee spent a good part of the hearing discussing the West Susitna Access project specifically, whether it fit the criteria as “shovel ready,” an early indicator of the unease that the legislature could have with it moving forward. There are plenty of shovel-ready projects proposed in the bond package that would create immediate economic benefit - school roof repair projects, airport projects, energy efficiency upgrades for the University of Alaska - projects that make sense for a bond package. The controversial and divisive West Susitna Access project allocation could bog down an otherwise bi-partisan bond election.
West Susitna Access should be removed from the bond bill. The $8.5 million should go to a project that creates jobs immediately in the construction sector, aligned with Alaskan priorities, not the shareholder priorities of an Australian mining company.
Thank you,
Louie Flora
Bills/Hearings to Watch
Monday, March 8
1:00 p.m.
(H)RESOURCESStanding Committee*
+Overview: Dept. of Environmental Conservation by
Commissioner Jason Brune
*+HJR 12ENDORSING ANWR LEASING; RELATED ISSUES
-- Testimony <Invitation Only> --
+Bills Previously Heard/Scheduled
3:30 p.m.
(S)RESOURCESStanding Committee*
+Presentation: Ocean Pasture Restoration Inc.
Alaska By Russ George/Ted Crookston (note: for background see this article https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/questions-and-answers-with-rogue-geoengineer-carbon-entrepreneur-russ-george/)
+=SB 29COOK INLET: NEW ADMIN AREA;PERMIT BUYBACK
-- Testimony <Invitation Only> --
Bills Previously Heard/Scheduled
**Streamed live on AKL.tv**
Tuesday, March 9
1:30 p.m.
(H)FINANCEStanding Committee*
+=HB 69APPROP: OPERATING BUDGET/LOANS/FUNDS
+=HB 71APPROP: MENTAL HEALTH BUDGET
+Presentations:
Mental Health Trust Authority FY 22 Budget &
Reserves Summary by
- Mental Health Trust Authority
- Mike Abbot, Chief Exec. Officer, Alaska Mental
Health Trust Authority - Christopher Cooke, Chairman, Board of Trustees
AIDEA FY 22 Budget, Reserve & Credit Summary by
Alaska Industrial Development & Export Authority
(AIDEA)
+Bills Previously Heard/Scheduled
1:30 p.m.
(S)TRANSPORTATIONStanding Committee*
+=SB 74G.O. BONDS: STATE INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS
-- Testimony <Invitation Only> --
**Streamed live on AKL.tv**
Wednesday, March 10
9:00 a.m.
S)FINANCEStanding Committee*
Alaska Energy Authority - Update on Assets,
Projects, Grants & Loans
Bills Previously Heard/Scheduled
1:00 p.m.
(H)RESOURCESStanding Committee*
+=HJR 12ENDORSING ANWR LEASING; RELATED ISSUES
-- Public Testimony <Time Limit May Be Set> --
+=HB 81OIL/GAS LEASE:DNR MODIFY NET PROFIT SHARE
-- Public Testimony <Time Limit May Be Set> --
+Bills Previously Heard/Scheduled
3:30 p.m.
(S)RESOURCESStanding Committee*
+=SB 61OIL/GAS LEASE:DNR MODIFY NET PROFIT SHARE
-- Invited & Public Testimony --
*+SB 62GAS LEASES; RENEWABLE ENERGY GRANT FUND
-- Invited & Public Testimony --
Bills Previously Heard/Scheduled
5:45 p.m.
(H)LABOR & COMMERCEStanding Committee*
-- Please Note Time Change --
Presentation: Workplace Safety in the Seafood
Industry by
- John Stallone & Dennis Smythe, former AKOSH
Chief of Enforcement
- Joe Knowles, Director, Labor Standards &
Safety Div., DOLWD
Thursday, March 11
11:00 a.m
(H)FISHERIESSpecial Committee*
-- Please Note Time Change --
*+HB 54INVASIVE SPECIES MANAGEMENT
-- Invited & Public Testimony --
+Bills Previously Heard/Scheduled
1:30 p.m.
S)TRANSPORTATIONStanding Committee*
+=SB 74G.O. BONDS: STATE INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS
-- Public Testimony --
**Streamed live on AKL.tv**
3:30 p.m.
(S)STATE AFFAIRSStanding Committee*
+=SB 83ELECTIONS; VOTING; BALLOT REQS
-- Public Testimony --
Friday, March 12
11:45 a.m.
H)NATURAL RESOURCESFinance SubCommittee*
+Presentation: Div. of Mining, Land & Water
1:00 p.m.
(H)RESOURCESStanding Committee*
*+HB 98FOREST LAND USE PLANS; TIMBER SALE
-- Invited & Public Testimony --
+Bills Previously Heard/Scheduled
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