Except for natural gas and possibly education, it's virtually a blank slate for the new Legislature, which convened Jan. 8 in Juneau.
Business groups watching the Legislature say it's too early to predict major issues lawmakers will wrestle with this spring, except for a desire to do something to expedite a North Slope gas pipeline project and to put more resources into schools.
"We have good leadership in the House and Senate, but the loss of experience of legislators who left last year will be felt," said Pam LaBolle, president of the Alaska State Chamber of Commerce, the association promoting general business interests in Juneau.
Others expect sparks to fly this spring. One lobbyist, speaking off the record, said new Senate President Rick Halford will likely take "every opportunity" to slam Gov. Tony Knowles.
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Mulder
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"The governor will be promoting legislation to ensure his legacy, and Halford will try to derail as much of that as possible," she said. "It will be difficult for more moderate members of the Senate to control him."
Generally, the same leaders are in control in both the House and Senate as in the previous Legislature. Except for Halford's possible shots at the governor, there will likely be less polarization and partisan battles, many lobbyists say.
Retirements of several legislators last year and the defeats of incumbents in elections last fall have also taken out some extremists, which will result in a more pragmatic Legislature and a move toward the middle among both Republicans and Democrats, they say.
A group of Anchorage moderate Republicans, such as Reps. Andrew Halcro and Lisa Murkowski, will be more influential. The powerful House Finance Committee, which clears most legislation, will be controlled by Rep. Eldon Mulder, R-Anchorage, and Bill Williams, R-Ketchikan, both moderates.
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Another emerging force in the House is Rep. Jeannette James, R-North Pole, who is the new majority leader. James is a conservative with a reputation as a straight-talking pragmatist.
She has at time been at odds with other Republicans in the House. For example, James actively supports development of a long-range fiscal plan that includes new revenues, including a state personal income tax.
There will still be conservative wings in both the House and Senate, however. In the Senate, new Sen. John Cowdery, a former House member, and Sens. Jerry Ward, R-Anchorage, Lyda Green, R-Matanuska-Susitna, and Randy Phillips, R-Eagle River, will form a strong conservative block.
Rep. Brian Porter, R-Anchorage, continues as speaker of the House, and Senate leaders have shuffled positions, with former Resources Committee Chairman Halford taking over as Senate president, a position he has held before, and Sen. Drue Pearce, R-Anchorage, the previous president, chairing the influential Senate Rules Committee.
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Halford
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The positions may be different, but in the consensus-style leadership of the Senate it means business as usual, more or less.
The House will have an experienced and influential Democratic minority, led by veterans like Rep. John Davies, D-Fairbanks and relative newcomers like Reps. Ethan Berkowitz and Eric Croft, both Anchorage Democrats.
State chamber president LaBolle said the loss of experienced legislators last year will take a toll.
"It's worth noting that 45 percent of the state House has two years or less legislative experience, and 35 percent of the state Senate," she said.
The loss of the experience of former Sen. Al Adams, a Kotzebue Democrat, will be particularly felt because of Adams' long tenure in the Legislature and his skill in forging a consensus, she said.
LaBolle said that even though Adams was in the Senate Democratic minority in the last few years, his knowledge of the system was often appreciated by Republican senators. He was easily worth two or three senators in terms of his effectiveness, she said.
The absence of former Sen. Tim Kelly, R-Anchorage, another legislative veteran who retired last year, is also of concern to business groups. Kelly, also a former Senate president, was knowledgeable and interested in business legislation that came before the Labor and Commerce Committee, which he chaired for many years.
He was also a force of moderation within the Senate Republican caucus, which included senators with strong conservative views, and was keenly involved in strategic long-range issues like the state fiscal gap and finding a solution to funding deferred maintenance on public facilities in the state, a potential billion-dollar problem.
Senate Labor and Commerce is now headed by Sen. Randy Phillips, R-Eagle River, a veteran legislator but one who has previously not been deeply involved in complex business legislation.
In the state House, Republicans are still firmly in control, but there will be more moderation and consensus-building with Democrats and with the administration. Speaker Porter is a moderate, as are others in the leadership, such as Mulder, who continues as Finance Committee co-chairman.
Rep. Joe Green, R-Anchorage, is another House leadership insider who is a moderate. Green moved from majority leader last year to head the Legislative Council, a House-Senate joint committee that manages the Legislature's administrative, financial analysis and legal support functions.
