Done and Gone

The Capitol is nearly empty as I write this. Most legislators pulled out for home this morning, happy to see the last of each other until, hopefully, January. Until then, it’s a return to normal life – and, of course, campaigning.

What the special session left behind was:

• An AGIA licensee. TransCanada, a first-rate pipeline company, will try to get the financing together and build a 1,700 mile gas pipeline from the North Slope to Alberta, where it would hook into a pipeline network that can take it all over North America. The legislature also appropriated the first $30 million of the $500 million we committed to TransCanada.
• Disgruntled legislators. Some of legislators who voted against the AGIA license are still whining about it, trying to make mountains out of molehills and predicting imminent disaster. Issuing the license and committing the money is a gamble, it’s true, but it’s a risk worth taking. Will it succeed? We’ll see. And, I guess, listen to the naysayers on a regular basis.
• A $1,200 check for every man, woman and child in Alaska. The estimated cost of this piece of redneck socialism is around $750 million. I could go on for several sentences – paragraphs for that matter – about why this is a bad, bad, bad idea, but what’s done is done. I’ll enjoy watching Gov. Sarah Palin and those who voted with her trying to limit this to the one-time payment they vowed it will be, though.
• More money for the Power Cost Equalization Program, which pays down the costs of electricity for mainly rural utilities and their rate payers. We didn’t do enough for rural Alaska, where the energy problems are most acute, but at least we did this.
• Another $60 million for the weatherization program, which helps people pay to make their homes more energy-efficient. This is a program that makes real sense, so this is a win for everybody.
• Another $50 million for the renewable energy grant fund. This is, at best, a premature piece of spending, since the money isn’t likely to get out soon because of backlogs at the Alaska Energy Authority. And, as much as people like to talk about renewable energy, it’s not clear just how many economically feasible projects there are in Alaska.

There’s more. You can read the bills for yourself here and here.

And One More Item

Lest I forget, the just-ended session also produced an investigator to look into the question of whether members of the Palin administration used undue influence to try to get a state trooper fired. The investigator, Steve Branchflower, a retired state DA, is said to be already on the job. This’ll keep the dozen or so regulars in the political blogosphere hoppin’.

Th-Th-Th-Th-That’s All Folks

This will be the final issue of the e-news until session resumes, assuming I get re-elected and nothing really important – or funny -- comes up between now and then. Until then, be well. And don’t spend that $1,200 all in one place.

Later,

Best wishes,