House Bill 296 "An Act making an appropriation to the Alaska Natural Gas Development Authority; and providing for an effective date."
Click for PDF: http://www.akdemocrats.org/sponsor/HB296_ss_rep_croft.pdfIn the 2002 election, 62 percent of Alaskan voters voted to create the Alaska Natural Gas Development Authority as a public corporation of the state to facilitate the creation of an Alaskan natural gas pipeline. The Governor appropriated $150,000 and the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee added $200,000 to get the Authority started. This meager investment is not enough to allow the Authority’s seven-member board of directors and its Executive Director the resources they need to help realize an Alaskan natural gas pipeline project.
With all of the public support and political rhetoric in favor of the project, the only thing missing is the financial support. By allocating $2.15 million to the Alaska Natural Gas Development Authority, this bill gives the Authority the financial resources necessary to actively pursue the investors and contracts needed to transform this project from a “pipe dream” into a reality.
Alaskans know how valuable a natural gas pipeline would be to the citizens of this state in terms of jobs and economic growth. With oil production declining and vast amounts of natural gas going unused for lack of a viable means of transporting it to market, a natural gas pipeline is the most direct means of increasing the state’s resource revenues and should be an integral part of the state’s fiscal plan.
Alaska has waited long enough for a trans-Alaska natural gas pipeline. The people have spoken loudly in favor of pursuing the project, and now is the time for the Legislature and the Governor to act in the best interest of Alaska.