Anchorage Daily News

JUNEAU -- Gov. Sarah Palin's preliminary gas line presentation will be held May 28-30, but it may take place before a sparse crowd.

House Speaker John Harris, a Valdez Republican, said Tuesday he will not cover travel and lodging expenses to the briefing in Anchorage.

Harris said state money should not be spent on discussions that ultimately will take place in the special session that will begin just one week later in Juneau.

The special session will be devoted to discussions of a gas pipeline and the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act the Legislature passed last year.

Harris broke the news to the 40-member House on Monday after he began to receive travel requests from those living outside Anchorage.

"This is not a slap at anybody," Harris said. "It's for the simple reason that we will be in session three or four days later hearing the same information."

Kurt Gibson, a deputy director for the state's oil and gas division, said the Anchorage presentation is potentially more inclusive for the Legislature.

"Everyone gets a vote, but not everybody sits on every committee," Gibson said. "Some folks don't get the same exposure that others do.

"This is basically an opportunity to make sure that the playing field is equal. It's one way the administration can ensure it."

One day after Harris told his members, Senate President Lyda Green, a Wasilla Republican, followed suit on Tuesday with an e-mail of her own.

Green was out of the state and was unavailable for comment, said her spokesman, Jeff Turner. In her e-mail, Green wrote to the 20-member Senate:

"Since the same information will be offered in Juneau during our special session in early June, I will not be reimbursing any member or staff for travel or per-diem to Anchorage for the governor's briefing on AGIA. If you want to attend you certainly can do so, but I will not reimburse you for any expenses you incur."

Lawmakers, however, do have separate office accounts they can use for the trip. Also, some have separate budgets for serving as a committee chairmen.

At least half of the Senate and House live in the Anchorage area already. Others would have to come in from rural areas such as Bethel, Nome and Kotzebue or the state's southeast region.

Palin's special assistant Joe Balash said using repetition as an excuse not to attend, "gives short shrift to the complexity and sophistication of work that's been done."

"Hearing it more than once isn't a bad thing; they are making one of biggest decisions since statehood," he said.

The administration is deciding whether to recommend awarding a license to TransCanada Corp. to build a gas line.

The Calgary company submitted a proposal last November and emerged as the only one of five applications to conform to AGIA's bid requirements.

Last month, however, Conoco Phillips and BP announced that they would move forward with their own project, giving some lawmakers concern about awarding TransCanada the license.

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