Phoenix, Arizona -- State lawmakers finally wrapped up their
annual session after enacting close to 400 new laws but failing to reach
a deal with the governor on one of the prime issues: immigration and
border security.
In fact the 164-day session ended almost as it began in January, with
squabbles over what Arizona should do at a state level to cut down on
the number of people crossing the border illegally.
In the end, even the Republicans who control both the House and Senate
could not agree on how to advance the issue -- and even whether to put
some provisions of the measure vetoed two weeks earlier by the governor
directly to voters.
What finally got approved for ballot status were three measures: a new
list of services to be denied to illegal immigrants, declaring English
the state's official language and making punitive damages off limits to
those not in this country legally.
Broader proposals for employer sanctions and a new trespass law aimed at
border crossers were considered too complex for the ballot. And senators
even refused to ask voters to adopt a law to block cities and counties
from having policies that prohibit police officers from enforcing
federal immigration laws.
Denver, Colorado -- Marc Holtzman has lost his appeal before
the Colorado Supreme Court and ended his campaign for governor.
Holtzman has been fighting a ruling by Colorado Secretary of State Gigi
Dennis that he had not collected enough petition signatures in the 1st
and 7th congressional districts to win a spot on the Aug. 8 Republican
primary ballot.
Holtzman's attorneys had argued that, because Colorado's provisional
ballot law would allow a Republican voter to cast a ballot anywhere in
the state, he should be allowed to count signatures gathered all over
the state in the two congressional districts. Last week Denver district
court judge Robert Hyatt rejected that argument, prompting Holtzman's
appeal.
Political consultant Katy Atkinson said that had Holtzman stayed in the
race he would have continued to inflict the political damage on Beauprez
that began last summer, which put Beauprez on the defensive.
Now Beauprez can start playing offense, she said.
Carson City, Nevada -- After four years on a failed mission to
become Gov. Kenny Guinn's official portrait artist, Carson City barber
Adam Baker refused to accept the selection committee's recent decision
to eliminate him from the competition..
Instead, Baker hung his portrait of Guinn in the Nevada Capitol. Baker
chose his location -- just above a urinal in the first floor men's
restroom.
"I was kind of a little bent yesterday," Baker told reporters. "So, I
decided, I'm going to take this stupid portrait and I'm going to hang it
up anyway. So, I took it to the Capitol, and I hung it up above the
urinal.
"No one batted an eye."
Guinn spokesman Steve George confirmed Adams was seen in the building.
Adams' undertaking began about four years ago when he began painting
portraits of his barbershop customers in his spare time.
In 2003, he offered to do the governor's portrait for free. Guinn
invited him to the Capitol, where he sat for a round of photos on which
Adams based his portrait.
But when the painting was done, Adams said the governor's staff returned
it to him.
"I took it (to the governor) and they kind of treated me like I was from
outer space," Adams said. "A couple hours later, they brought it back to
the barbershop."
"I'm really not doing this to get back at the governor," Adams said.
"Well, yes I am. I'm ticked because he outsourced this all over the
country. There were 16 artists from Nevada and he didn't pick any of
them."
Portland, Oregon -- Gov. Ted Kulongoski has hired Jim Ross, a
San Francisco political consultant, to run his re-election effort.
Kulongoski's former campaign manager, Cameron Johnson, left the campaign
recently citing personal reasons after the death of his brother.
Ross is well-known in San Francisco political circles, where he managed
Gavin Newsom's successful 2003 race for mayor. Ross has been involved in
several congressional, legislative and initiative campaigns.
Kulongoski campaign spokeswoman Anna Richter Taylor said that Ross, who
has a consulting business in San Francisco, will work full time on the
Democratic governor's re-election campaign.
Portland, Oregon -- Former Gov. John Kitzhaber has endorsed a
ballot initiative that would amend the Oregon constitution to make
affordable health care a right and require the Legislature to push
toward universal access by mid-2009.
Backers of the HOPE initiative are making a last-ditch effort to reach
the November ballot by collecting 101,000 signatures by the July 7
deadline.
Kitzhaber, who heads an independent health reform campaign called the
Archimedes Movement, released a statement saying he supports the HOPE
initiative because it is "a grass-roots effort to address one of the
most serious problems facing our state and our nation."
The HOPE initiative is sponsored by three legislators: Sen. Alan Bates,
D-Ashland, Sen. Ben Westlund, I-Bend, and Rep. Mitch Greenlick,
D-Portland.
Kitzhaber praised the HOPE initiative for establishing a "time frame for
action" that could set the stage for reform through the Archimedes
Movement. Such reform would be based on an exemption from federal rules
governing Medicare and Medicaid, allowing Oregon to pool all government
health care money and spend it in a way guaranteeing a basic level of
care for all residents.
Houston, Texas -- The heated national debate on immigration
may give a boost to the Houston group that wants local police to help
crack down on illegal immigrants, but getting the proposition on the
ballot still won't be easy.
A new group called Protect Our Citizens announced a petition drive to
require a citywide November vote on the contentious issue of whether to
allow city police to question people about their immigration status.
Even with the recent spotlight on immigration issues, getting the
necessary 20,000 signatures from registered Houston voters by Sept. 1
will take organization, volunteers and money, analysts said.
Petition supporters want to change a Houston police order, which they
call a "sanctuary policy," that prohibits officers from seeking
information about the immigration status of people they encounter, and
from detaining anyone solely for being in the country illegally.
They are allowed to inquire about the status of people arrested for
other crimes.
Protect Our Citizens wants to get a measure on the general election
ballot that would amend the city charter to permit officers to make
immigration status inquiries. It would not require that they do so.
Under federal law being in the country illegally is a civil and not a
criminal offense.
The police policy has generated vehement opposition since it was ordered
in 1992, but it has strong support from many city and police officials.
Mayor Bill White says that local law enforcement should not be
responsible for upholding immigration law.
"We do not want to reduce the ability of police to investigate crimes by
making them do the work of the federal authorities," he said.
Police departments in several other cities with large immigrant
populations, including San Antonio, Dallas, Los Angeles, and Phoenix,
have similar policies against checking on immigration status until after
a suspect has been arrested on criminal charges.
Austin, Texas -- Independent candidates Carole Keeton
Strayhorn and Kinky Friedman will be on the Texas ballot in November's
race for governor.
The announcement by Secretary of State Roger Williams sets up a historic
five-way race for the fall election with the two independents,
Republican Gov. Rick Perry, Democrat Chris Bell and Libertarian James
Werner.
Mr. Williams, the state's top elections officer, said that each of the
independents collected far more than the 45,540 signatures required by
law.
Mr. Friedman, the singer and mystery author making his first bid for
statewide office, turned in more than 137,000 valid signatures, the
secretary of state ruled.
Mrs. Strayhorn, the Republican comptroller seeking the state's top job
as an independent, collected 108,512 valid signatures, according to Mr.
Williams' count.
Mr. Williams took six weeks to certify the names. The process was a
departure from past practices in which secretaries of state have used
statistical sampling to certify who gets on the ballot.
In announcing the results, the secretary of state defended his
signature-by-signature review, which had prompted an unsuccessful
federal lawsuit from the Strayhorn camp.
"Our method of verifying every signature is the most accurate, has been
upheld by the courts and was done faster than in years past," Mr.
Williams said.
The independents submitted their signatures on May 11. The Strayhorn
camp turned in 222,514, and the Friedman campaign delivered 170,258.
Under state law, voters could not sign petitions if they voted in either
the Republican or Democratic primaries in March. If a voter signed more
than one petition, the one signed first counted.
The only independent candidate elected Texas governor was Sam Houston in
1859.
Carson City, Nevada -- Organizers of a petition to enact the
nation's most stringent government spending limits in Nevada submitted
nearly 153,000 signatures, many more than needed to put the issue before
voters Nov. 7.
But an apparent typing error in the petition has jeopardized its chance
of reaching the ballot.
State officials are investigating a discrepancy between the official
version of the Tax and Spending Control for Nevada petition filed in
December with the secretary of state in December and the version
circulated on the street for signatures.
Opponents of the measure say the typo would have a $1.3 billion effect
on the state budget, making the two versions different enough to
disqualify it for the ballot.
The TASC committee also is investigating the difference, but a spokesman
said it is possible the secretary of state's staff accepted two
different versions as the official document following previous technical
errors with the 4.000-word petition.
"If that is the case then we don't see a problem at all," said Bob Adney,
director of the TASC committee.
Denver, Colorado -- Republican gubernatorial hopeful Marc
Holtzman has filed an emergency motion with the Colorado Supreme Court
requesting his name remain on the primary ballot until the court rules
on his appeal.
Holtzman's legal team also asked the court to reverse Denver District
Court Judge Robert S. Hyatt, who ruled that Holtzman needed 1,500
signatures from each of the state's seven congressional districts to
make the Aug. 8 primary ballot.
Bob Beauprez, the only official Republican candidate for governor, filed
a written opposition to Holtzman's request.
Secretary of State Gigi Dennis found that Holtzman did not meet that
requirement in the 1st and 7th districts. Hyatt ordered Holtzman's name
removed from the ballot unless the Supreme Court decides to hear his
appeal.
Pierre, South Dakota -- South Dakota voters will decide in
November whether they agree that life begins at conception and that the
state should outlaw most abortions.
Secretary of State Chris Nelson says that a petition to refer the new
abortion law to a public vote has enough signatures to qualify for the
ballot, making official a matter that is expected to dominate political
debates this year.
The referred law says life begins at conception. A doctor could be
charged with a felony for performing an abortion except to save the life
of a pregnant woman.
Santa Fe, New Mexico -- Brace for New Mexico's gubernatorial
race to become negative and far more intense now that Republican John
Dendahl has entered the fray, state political.
While Dendahl -- who replaced the lesser-known and milder-mannered J.R.
Damron -- will campaign seriously, Richardson enjoys the power of the
incumbency, a $6 million war chest and a head start in the advertising
war.
Richardson is considering a run for the presidency in 2008, but Dendahl
denies that his purpose is to ruin such a bid.
Some Republicans had been complaining that Damron hadn't been aggressive
enough in his campaign and that his fundraising abilities were no match
for Richardson.
Boise, Idaho -- Former Idaho first lady Patricia Kempthorne
says she wasn't surprised not to get the lieutenant governor's job.
Kempthorne announced in March that she had asked then-Lt. Gov. Jim Risch
to consider her for the appointment when her husband, former Gov. Dirk
Kempthorne, left office to become U.S. interior secretary.
"Life goes on," Patricia Kempthorne said breezily by cell phone as she
sat on a plane in Chicago waiting for passengers to finish boarding. "I
knew he would choose who was the right one for him."
Risch, who became governor last month, chose 81-year old former senator
and farmer Mark Ricks for the post.
Juneau, Alaska -- Political candidates usually tout their
strengths and attack their opponents’ weaknesses. But Alaska Gov. Frank
Murkowski has decided that he needs to admit fault in order to win
re-nomination in the Republican Party primary.
His full-page advertisement in a recent edition of the Anchorage
Daily News is a break from politics as usual: Murkowski acknowledged
that he has angered most Alaskans, joking that perhaps he should
consider a personality transplant.
Murkowski’s pollster, David Dittman, wrote the ad. Dittman says the
governor concluded that he is perceived as stubborn and unwilling to
listen.
“The thought was, well, you can’t hide from it, you can’t dis-acknowledge
it or pretend it’s not there. Handle it. Get that out of the way. Talk
about it,” said Dittman.
Dittman says Murkowski could win re-election if he can attract about
half the voters who don’t like him personally but who like the direction
the state is heading in, especially as it relates to the economy and
funding of public education.
“Is the state in good shape or not? Is it better than it was four years
ago? And if people say ‘Yeah, it is,’ then he’ll at least deserve that
credit,” said Dittman.
Republican gubernatorial candidate John Binkley says Murkowski’s
political problems are about more than style.
The third major candidate in the Republican primary, Sarah Palin, says
that Alaskans won't be fooled by Murkowski's ad. Even a Murkowski
supporter questions the governor’s approach.
Recent polls show Murkowski with a job approval rating as low as 20
percent, the second worst ranking among the nation’s governors.
Utah at large -- LDS members are flooding the office of Sen.
Orrin Hatch and his colleagues with phone calls, e-mails and letters
urging them to approve a Constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.
Hatch's office reported receiving some 8,000 letters or e-mails and more
than 1,000 calls since The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
urged its members to contact the Senate on the issue.
Sen. Bob Bennett's office says staffers have received more than 2,500
contacts from Utahns since the church issued its letter of support, "a
definite increase in correspondence," according to spokeswoman Mary Jane
Collipriest.
Salem, Oregon -- Earlier this year, John Kitzhaber passed up
politics for a principle. Instead of seeking a third term as governor,
which only one individual has attempted in Oregon history, Kitzhaber is
pursuing an even bigger challenge.
"We want a system of health care that we can afford, that covers
everybody and produces health," Kitzhaber said. "Most of what we fight
about is the means to an end, and we forget about what we want the
system to produce."
He wants nothing less than an overhaul of a system that has soaring
costs. Health-care spending now accounts for one of every six dollars
that the United States produces annually in domestic goods and services.
Health-insurance premiums for employers rose by 9.2 percent last year.
Yet the system fails to cover one in every six Americans -- more than 45
million people -- and one in six Oregonians.
Americans, by some measures, are less healthy than people in several
other nations.
What Kitzhaber wants to do, as a test, is pool the money already spent
in Oregon on major health-care programs, such as Medicare for older
people, Medicaid for poor people and lost income from the federal tax
break that employers get for sponsoring health insurance for workers.
That's about $6.3 billion.
"We do not need more money in the system," Kitzhaber said. "It's how the
money is allocated."
He wants to redirect spending based on a series of principles, such as
effectiveness of treatments and prevention of illnesses, that are
developed with public participation.
Santa Fe, New Mexico -- Gov. Bill Richardson has been out of
the state nearly one in every eight days since he's been in office,
state records show.
Richardson, who is seeking re-election this year, has spent all or part
of 159 days since his inauguration on Jan. 1, 2003, traveling, the
Albuquerque Journal reported.
Richardson's most extensive out-of-state travel came in 2003 when Lt.
Gov. Diane Denish or Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron served as
acting governor for a total of 71 days, the newspaper reported.
In 2004, Denish or Vigil-Giron acted as governor for 36 days, and in
2005, the total of acting governor days was 33, records show.
Richardson has been out of the state all or part of 19 days this year.
The governor's total time away from the state is about half that of his
predecessor, Republican Gary Johnson during his second term, which ended
in 2002.
When inaugurated, Richardson promised to promote New Mexico to the
country, but he also has blended state business, international diplomacy
and politics.
As chairman of the Democratic Governors Association, Richardson said he
will commit time this year to helping fellow Democratic governors get
re-elected. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates at least 18
races as a toss-up or learning one way or the other.
Carson City, Nevada -- As a June 20 deadline looms, backers of
several initiatives are scrambling to gather enough signatures to send
the proposals before Nevada voters in November.
Of six initiative petitions that began circulating in the fall, four
remain alive. Organizers need 83,184 valid signatures to qualify each
proposed constitutional amendment for the Nov. 7 ballot.
Backers of the People's Initiative to Stop the Taking of Our Land, which
aims to change eminent domain, are the only ones reporting sufficient
signatures.
After hiring a company to help, they have gathered 130,000 signatures
and are preparing to submit them.
Paid workers continue to gather signatures for Republican gubernatorial
candidate Bob Beers' Tax and Spending Control for Nevada.
Organizers would not disclose how many signatures they have for the
proposal, which limits annual increases in state spending to the growth
of population plus inflation.
Last week, TASC supporters sought a restraining order against a
union-led coalition they accused of using intimidation to keep voters
from signing their petition.
The TASC group and Nevadans for Nevada reached an agreement on conduct
at petition locations.
Paid workers continue to collect signatures for Republican congressional
candidate Sharron Angle's Property Tax Restraint Initiative.
Organizers would not provide an estimate of how many signatures they
have for the proposal, which is styled after California's Proposition
13.
Relying on volunteers to collect signatures is a group of teachers
seeking to require daily physical education classes for all students
from kindergarten to 12th grade.
R.R. Apache, president of the Nevada Association for Health, Physical
Education, Recreation and Dance, said he was unsure whether the group
will get enough signatures.
Backers of the Truth in Science and the Prohibition of Unfunded Mandates
initiatives have dropped efforts to qualify them for the ballot.
The first would have required teachers to tell students that questions
about the theory of evolution exist.
The Nevada Association of Counties' proposal would have prohibited state
government from requiring, without providing more money, local
governments to provide new services.
Missoula, Montana -- Candidates for Montana’s lone U.S. House
seat sparred recently over spending and tax priorities, with the
Democratic challenger suggesting Montana’s middle class can no longer
afford the decisions the current Congress is making.
Monica Lindeen, a Democratic state senator from Huntley, said the war in
Iraq and tax breaks she contends have mostly benefited the wealthy and
corporations are creating a ‘‘red sea of debt for our children.’’
Families have to be held accountable for their spending habits, and
‘‘it’s time that we also hold our elected officials responsible and
accountable for their actions,’’ she said during a debate with incumbent
Republican Rep. Denny Rehberg and Libertarian candidate Mike Fellows of
Missoula.
Rehberg, who is seeking his fourth term and ran unopposed in this year's
primary, defended his own voting record, saying he has consistently
fought to repeal the estate tax, which he said is particularly harsh on
Montana farm families.
‘‘Yeah, I get a little cranky about the estate tax,’’ said Rehberg, who
told the audience he had to sell about one-third of the family farm
after he inherited it just to pay off what he owed the federal
government.
‘‘No family should have to do that,’’ he added.
Fellows, who has run previously for the U.S. House, said he considers
himself the only true fiscally conservative candidate running for the
House.
Billings, Montana -- Montana’s economy is chugging along at a
clip not seen since the energy boom of the 1970s, thanks in part to
developing economies in other countries, a University of Montana
economist said Sunday.
Energy is obviously having a major effect on this latest boom but so is
the quieter export of metals from Montana, including copper, lead and
zinc, said Paul Polzin, director of the Bureau of Business and Economic
Research.
Unlike the boom of the 1970s, this one is driven by demand more than
supply, which means the good financial times are likely to last longer
than a more supply oriented economy, Polzin said.
“We are becoming more and more optimistic about the Montana economy,” he
said.
Helena, Montana -- After dropping a big lead and coming in a
distant second for the Democratic U.S. Senate nomination, John Morrison
will have his work cut out for him if he hopes to piece together a
political future, observers say. But it hardly spells the end of his
political career.
"We can be very hard on politicians, but we can also be very forgiving,"
said Craig Wilson, a Montana State University-Billings political
scientist who has watched Montana politics for four decades.
Morrison, widely considered the early favorite to win the Democratic
nomination and take on Republican incumbent Sen. Conrad Burns, lost to
state Senate president and Big Sandy farmer Jon Tester by a nearly
2-to-1 margin in just concluded primary.
Denver, Colorado -- Money is pouring in early to opposing
campaigns for statewide ballot measures related to gay relationships.
Gay philanthropist Tim Gill and evangelical powerhouse Focus on the
Family have made sizable donations to their causes.
The pro-gay camp, Coloradans for Fairness and Equality, has raised more
than twice that of its opponents, taking in $229,618 since January,
according to campaign reports filed with the Colorado secretary of
state.
The Gill Action Fund, Gill's political spending arm, has given $179,000
to that campaign, including a $50,000 donation May 10. Gill Action gave
$55,000 on March 8 and $74,000 on April 25, records show.
Meanwhile, the coalition of Christian groups sponsoring a state
constitutional amendment defining marriage as a heterosexual union has
raised $101,628 in the past six months. The U.S. Senate this week is
debating a similar measure that would apply nationwide.
Focus on the Family, a member of Coloradans for Marriage, has given
$55,000 to the Colorado campaign, including a $20,000 donation May 22.
New Life Church, led by the Rev. Ted Haggard, who also heads the
National Association of Evangelicals, has given $12,000 to that
campaign.
Both sides describe the funds raised so far as "seed money" that has
enabled them to establish the infrastructure of their campaigns. Much
larger donations are expected in the fall, when the groups ramp up
efforts to garner public support on this socially divisive issue.
Denver, Colorado -- The Denver Election Commissioner has lost
sensitive information for more than 150,000 voters - about 42 percent of
those registered in the city - that could be exploited by identity
thieves if it fell into the wrong hands.
What has some election commissioners fuming is that the filing cabinet
containing the microfilm with voter registrations from 1989-1998
vanished during a February move to a new office building, but top
officials say they only learned about it June 1.
And they heard about it from City Councilwoman Judy Montero, who
demanded to know why an Internet blog was reporting "that confidential
data about Denver voters has been compromised."
"We're taking this very seriously," commission spokesman Alton Dillard
said. "We're conducting a full investigation having to do both with
trying to locate the information and to find out essentially who knew
what when. We will get to the bottom of it."
The missing records could be an identity thief's dream, because they
contain voters' names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, signatures
and addresses, according to a statement on the commission Web site.
At this point, officials don't know if the voting information inside the
500-pound filing cabinet was stolen or simply misplaced when the agency
moved to the city's Minoru Yasui Building from its old headquarters on
West 14th Avenue.
Police haven't been called in yet, but Dillard said staffers are
scouring every inch of the commission's new and old buildings and its
warehouse - all of which are heavily secured. Officials also are
questioning the bonded moving company that handled the relocation.
Dillard said it is possible that the microfilm was consolidated into
other cabinets and boxes. Also missing is a box containing early voting
signature cards, which contain voter names, birth dates, addresses,
signatures and, in some cases, the last four digits of Social Security
numbers.
The missing records are just the latest in a series of commission
controversies.
Before last November's election, a clerical error forced the agency to
pay $43,000 to re-mail a voters' guide, and City Council members blasted
the agency for turning in a $3 million 2006 budget to fund two elections
using polling places, when the commission was really driving toward a
change to voting centers.
There was a leadership void at the agency when the records went missing
because Executive Director Karon Hatchett resigned under criticism in
January.
Denver, Colorado -- A Denver District Court judge ordered the
secretary of state's office to put gubernatorial candidate Marc Holtzman
on the Republican primary ballot.
"It's a Cinderella story," said Holtzman campaign manager Bob Gould.
However, whether Holtzman has enough valid signatures to legally stay on
the Aug. 8 ballot will not be decided for at least 10 days. If he
doesn't, his name will still appear on the ballot but votes cast for him
won't be counted.
Judge R. Michael Mullins said it was in the public interest for Holtzman
to be put on the ballot by the legal deadline for the secretary of state
to certify the ballot. Under those tight state-mandated deadlines for
certification and printing, Holtzman's name might not be able to be
added to the ballot if it's later found he did collect sufficient
signatures.
"What's at risk here is if Mr. Holtzman is successful on his challenge
... then he doesn't have a remedy if he is not allowed on the ballot,
which in effect denies his access to the ballot," the judge said.
Phoenix, Arizona -- Sen. Bill Brotherton’s decision not to run
for re-election opens yet another Democrat seat in the chamber.
The often fiery legislator who has served for nearly nine years becomes
the fourth Democrat and the sixth senator to leave the Senate at the end
of the year, vacancies that current House members want to fill.
In all, 11 state representatives are seeking Senate seats this year.
Three other Senate vacancies have already been filled this session after
the death of Marilyn Jarrett and decisions by Harry Mitchell and
Gabrielle Giffords to run for Congress.
Mr. Brotherton, who was appointed to the House in 1998 and is completing
his fourth year in the Senate, said he decided not to run when he
realized he would not have time to coach his daughter in Little League.
“I don’t want to stay until my priorities get screwed up and I end up
losing something that really matters to hold on to something that
doesn’t matter nearly as much,” he said of his family life versus
legislative career. Mr. Brotherton also practices law.
Phoenix, Arizona -- Gov. Janet Napolitano has signed into law
a $58.2 million supplemental appropriations bill giving more money to
the Department of Corrections and other state agencies to get them
through the rest of the current fiscal year.
The Legislature completed final action on the bill (HB 2864) separating
it from more than a dozen other budget measures for the next fiscal
year, which begins July 1.
The House and Senate both have passed versions of 2006-2007 budgets, but
they differ on tax cuts and spending for education and other ser- vices.
The supplemental appropriations bill includes nearly $10 million for the
Department of Corrections and redirects an additional $10 million
already in the department's budget. Corrections needs extra cash to pay
for officer overtime and health care costs.
Money also is included for the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment
System, the state court system and the Departments of Administration,
Education, Health Services and Revenue.
Juneau, Alaska -- The day after lawmakers failed to hand Gov.
Frank Murkowski the first of three keys he says are necessary for a
natural gas pipeline deal, Murkowski announced he would give them some
time off before convening another special session.
"I think under the circumstances we can gain more by having the
Legislature take a little break," Murkowski said at a news conference at
the governor's mansion.
The Legislature adjourned after failing for the second time to pass a
proposed tax on oil companies' profits in Alaska, which would replace
the state's current production tax and is Murkowski's first key to a gas
deal.
The special session also ended without passage of Murkowski's second
key, a bill giving him the power to negotiate a long-term oil tax freeze
for the three oil companies that would build and own the line along with
the state.
The third key, legislative ratification of a contract setting the
terms for recovering the North Slope's 35 trillion cubic feet of natural
gas, would come once the first two bills are passed by lawmakers.
The contract doesn't guarantee a pipeline will be built. That
decision will be made by Conoco Phillips, BP PLC and Exxon Mobil Corp.
about four years after the contract is signed.
Murkowski said he may reconvene the Legislature after the Aug. 22
primary elections to take up those and other bills meant to smooth the
way for the contract, but he must first talk to House and Senate
Republican majority leaders.
"Obviously there is consideration of that point, but I haven't made
any decision, haven't had any input," he said.
Tensions were high in the final days as the House and Senate argued
the level at which the profits tax should be set. At $70 per barrel, the
House's version would have resulted in a total state and federal tax
rate of 62.7 percent of the value of oil produced, while the Senate's
bill would have resulted in a 59.9 percent take.
That's about an $800 million annual difference in tax revenue to the
state at that price.
A compromise bill approved by House and Senate negotiators after a
day of closed-door meetings split that total state and federal
government take in the middle -- 61.3 percent at $70 per barrel oil.
At that price, it would bring the state an estimated $2.5 billion
above the current production tax each year.
The Senate accepted the deal, while the House rejected it.
