Alaska lawmakers are again talking about building a new legislative office building in Anchorage, after ditching a plan to do so last year because of the price tag and worries of Juneau legislators that it could be a backhanded capital move.

The Legislative Council, a panel of state senators and representatives that handles day-to day business of the Legislature, will meet in Anchorage today and discuss whether to move forward on the idea. Another option they'll talk about is to just renew the lease at the existing legislative office building on West 4th Avenue.

"I think we need to have a larger building with more offices and adequate parking, said Senate President Gary Stevens, a Republican from Kodiak.

The Legislature last year was planning to raze the downtown block across 4th Avenue from the state courthouse, on the old Anchorage Times property, and construct an office complex there. But the cost doubled to $86 million from the original estimate and the proposal was abandoned.

Now legislators are eyeing other potential locations. The most seriously discussed is a piece of state-owned property near the Atwood building, at what is now a parking lot near 9th Avenue and E Street. The cost of building it there hasn't been determined.

The chairman of the Legislative Council, Rep. John Harris, R-Valdez, said the state has four years left on its current lease. If the Legislature did want to construct a new office building, it would need to get the process started to have it ready in time, he said.

His staff has been gathering proposals from property owners who are interested in housing legislators. They aren't being released to the public at this point.

Harris, who is not planning to run for re-election because he's running for governor, said he's not pushing for a new building. He said he is seeking direction today from the other Legislative Council members on whether they want him to pursue it. If they do want a new building, a vote of the full Legislature would still eventually be needed in order to appropriate money to pay for the construction.

The Anchorage legislative office building is a center of activity when lawmakers aren't in Juneau during the 90 days of the annual regular session. Anchorage and Mat-Su Valley legislators have offices there, as do several others from around the state, and hearings are common.

Harris said there have been complaints about the elevator speed, the heating system and other issues. He said he thinks what happens next depends on whether legislators want to be more conservative and not spend money on a new building.

"I tend to be more conservative but I'm not going to try to put the chairman of leg council's position out there to try and influence other members," said Harris, who has an office in the Anchorage building.

He said he's trying to make it clear to Juneau legislators that this isn't meant as a Capitol move. Juneau Democratic Sen. Dennis Egan has mixed feelings about it.

"I think the current (building) is inadequate but I'm also worried about creating space for other things," said Egan, who is on the legislative council. "You know what other things are -- at least as far as Juneau and Southeast are concerned."

Senate President Stevens, who has an office in the Anchorage building, said heavy pressure for space there will grow as legislative districts are redrawn after the 2010 census.

"Pretty clear to me that there are going to be more legislators from Anchorage and the Valley who will probably want offices in the (building) as well," he said.

Stevens won't be at today's meeting and said he hopes a final decision won't be made until the following legislative council meeting. That's likely in November.

Find Sean Cockerham online at adn.com/contact/scockerham or call him at 257-4344.

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