Legislative review, week of Feb. 27

Finance subcommittees in the state House were finishing their work on the Fiscal Year 2010 state operating budget as the week ended. The plan is for the full House Finance Committee to take up the full budget this week and hold hearings, and to finish work next week. Many lawmakers, including almost half the state Senate, will be attending the annual Energy Council meetings in Washington, D.C. this weekend. No substantial changes in the operating budget submitted by Gov. Sarah Palin are expected, despite a projected $1.36 billion gap between revenues and spending this year.

As expected, the administration submitted a "fast-track" supplemental appropriation bill to secure legislative authorization to infrastructure projects, roads, bridge repairs and airport work, that may be funded under the new federal stimulus program. The bill would authorize more projects than would actually be funded, at least for now. What Alaska will actually receive totals about $175 million for highways and bridge work, about $85 million for airport improvement and $40 million for transit projects, of which a good portion goes to the Alaska Railroad. The state already has a number of "shovel ready" projects now on the State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) list that are already blessed by the Legislature, and the new supplemental appropriations bill will add to that list.

In any event, the federal rules require states to be able to obligate half of their shares of infrastructure money by June and the other half by next February. Because of these tight timelines, only projects on which engineering and design are complete and permits and rights-of-way are in hand are eligible. No larger, more complex project that requires an Environmental Impact Statement can be funded with stimulus money. The state DOTPF's highway and bridge group expects to obligate about 80 percent of the funds for these projects by June, and the remainder next February). The agency's airports group expects to obligate 100 percent of funds for aviation projects by June. Much of this money will go to rural airports.

An important point being made by DOTPF is that many projects that have on the STIP list waiting for funding will now be done with the stimulus money, which means other projects will now move up the priority list on the STIP. As an example, many projects which won't make the stimulus list will wind up on the normal FY 2010 or FY 2011 capital budget, which has the projects funded through federal transportation programs.

Legislators continued to work with a variety of other bills last week, including proposed increases in the state minimum wage, a proposal to partly return public employees to a "defined benefits" (employer administered and guaranteed) pension plan rather than "defined contribution" plans. The latest version of this would give public employers an option of offering either. A revamp of the state coastal management program is also proposed in other legislation, and hearings are being held. This would move control of this program, which affects development projects in the "coastal zone" (including land projects as well as offshore,) to a council of coastal communities rather than being controlled by the state, which is now the case.

Bradners' Alaska Legislative Digest publishes more detailed weekly reports on the state legislative session. For information, email timbradner@pobox.alaska.net.