Politics

Why call them special sessions when they happen so often?

State lawmakers forced to kick off the latest special session on Wednesday grouse that the sessions don't feel so special anymore. Many are veterans of several of them.

Including the current one, the state has held 36 special sessions since Gov. Bill Egan called the first one in the summer 1964 to provide disaster relief to victims of the Good Friday earthquake.

If you thought the special sessions increased after 2008, you'd be wrong. That's when a voter mandate shrank the Legislature's regular session from 120 days to 90.

A look back shows special sessions have been driven by big, sticky issues, and the state has plenty of those, what with its oil field production continuing to wane. Close to 22 of the special sessions have come since the mid-1990s under the watch of the last four governors, as lawmakers have wrestled with thorny matters including subsistence rights for rural residents, finding a happy median for oil and gas taxation, and creating the fabled natural gas pipeline.

Here are a few facts to help launch this latest special session, called for up to 30 days by Gov. Sean Parnell. This time, the most controversial issue is clearly a tax cut for oil companies.

The breakdown: Governors have called 30 special sessions, and a handful of those have gone the full 30 days, the maximum allowed under state law. The Legislature has called six. Those usually last no more than a few days, with the exception being a 30-day impeachment inquiry of Gov. Bill Sheffield in 1985. The impeachment under consideration, related to allegations stemming from a multimillion dollar lease for state offices that benefited a Sheffield fundraiser, didn't happen.

The shortest: One day. It happened twice, both times during Gov. Sarah Palin's tenure. In the summer of 2007, the Legislature called a session to approve a needs-based subsidy for seniors, a Palin-supported effort. Two years later, the Legislature called another session to override Palin's rejection of $28 million in federal stimulus funds for energy-cost relief.

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Average cost: About $30,000 a day over the last 15 years, in large part because of the per-diem payments to lawmakers which currently stand at $238 a day.

Most expensive: The $1 million, 27-day meeting called by Gov. Sean Parnell last spring to discuss matters such as extending the Alaska Coastal Zone Management Program, an effort that failed. The next most expensive special session was the $940,000 meeting called by Palin in summer 2008 to address the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act.

Total cost since 1997: That's when the Legislative Affairs Agency began tracking special-session costs independent of regular sessions. Since then, lawmakers have met 244 days in 20 special sessions, for a total cost of $7.3 million.

Most trigger-happy governor: Palin called three special sessions over nine months starting in October 2007. The sessions, dealing with her successful efforts to raise oil and gas taxes and pass the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act, lasted 30 days apiece. Only seven sessions in state history have lasted 30 days.

Trigger-happy runner-up: Frank Murkowski called five special sessions over two and a half years starting in 2004. Two of his sessions lasted 30 days, including those dealing with efforts to create a natural gas pipeline and his successful effort to raise taxes on the oil and gas industry.

Trigger-happy honorable mention: Tony Knowles called eight special sessions in six years starting in 1996, with subsistence accounting for half of those. He wanted the Legislature to support a constitutional amendment giving hunting and fishing priority to rural residents on state land and waters. The effort failed.

Contact Alex DeMarban at alex(at)alaskadispatch.com

Alex DeMarban

Alex DeMarban is a longtime Alaska journalist who covers business, the oil and gas industries and general assignments. Reach him at 907-257-4317 or alex@adn.com.

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