CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 177(FIN) am "An Act relating to the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act; providing inducements for the construction of a natural gas pipeline and shippers that commit to use that pipeline; establishing the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act reimbursement fund; providing for an Alaska Gasline Inducement Act coordinator; making conforming amendments; and providing for an effective date." This was the first hearing for this bill in the Senate Finance Committee. Co-Chair Stedman expressed that the intent of this hearing is to compare the provisions of CS HB 177(FIN)am, the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act (AGIA) bill which recently passed the House of Representatives, to its Senate companion bill, CS SB 104(FIN), which recently passed the Senate. To assist in this comparison, a copy of CS HB 177(FIN)am has been modified [copy on file] to highlight the differences. The provisions that differ are color coded: the House language is identified by blue lettering and the Senate language by red lettering. [NOTE: In addition to the color coding, the House language is underlined and the Senate language has a strike-through mark across it.] Co-Chair Stedman informed the Committee that, prior to this hearing, his office, Senator Huggins' office, and representatives of the Governor Sarah Palin Administration met and thoroughly reviewed the bills. The group has developed a recommendation as to whether the House or Senate language is preferred in respect to each differing language matter. Co-Chair Stedman identified the first difference between the two bills as being in the bill's title, page 1, line 3. The House language "reimbursement" is preferred to the "matching contribution" language included in the Senate bill. 6:08:57 PM Chapter 90. Alaska Gasline Inducement Act. Article 2. Alaska Gasline Inducement Act License. Co-Chair Stedman began reviewing the differing provisions in sections of Chapter 90. Article 2, added to Alaska Statute (AS) 43 by Section 1 of the bill. Section 43.90.110. Natural gas pipeline project construction inducement., subsections (a)(1)(A) and (a)(1)(B) (page 2 line 25 and line 30, respectively). Co-Chair Stedman informed that the preference in these instances is that the House word "reimbursements" be utilized following the word "state's" rather than the term "matching contribution" as proposed by the Senate. Section 43.90.110. Nature gas pipeline project construction inducement., subsection (a)(1)(C) (page 3, lines 4 through 6 and line 10) Co-Chair Stedman stated that the recommendation is that the Senate language be used. Thus the language "pursing firm transportation commitments in a binding open season, to securing financing for the project, or to" would be inserted following "related to" on page 3,line 4. The phrase "lobbying costs," would be inserted following "overhead costs," on page 3, line 10. 6:09:25 PM Section 43.90.130. Application requirements., subsection (9) (page 8 line 26) Co-Chair Stedman voiced that the House language "reimbursement" is recommended over the Senate's "matching contribution" language following the word "state's" on page 8 line 26. 6:10:04 PM Co-Chair Stedman announced that because only the Committee Members had color copies of the bill, he would identify the House language as that which is underlined and the Senate language as that which is struck-through with a line. 6:10:17 PM Co-Chair Stedman resumed his review of language recommendations in Article 2. Section 43.90.130. Application requirements., subsection (17) (page 9, line 30) Co-Chair Stedman stated that the recommendation is to retain the House language "to the maximum extent permitted by law" following "agreement" on page 9 line 30. This language was not included in the Senate version of the bill. 6:10:29 PM Section 43.90.130. Application requirements., subsection (18) (Page 10 line 3) Co-Chair Stedman expressed that the House language "reimbursement" is preferred to the Senate's "matching contribution" following "state's" on page 10, line 3. 6:10:38 PM Section 43.90.160. Notice, review, and comment., subsection (c) (page 11 lines 29 through 31) Co-Chair Stedman informed that the Senate language is preferred to that of the House in this provision. The language would read "(c) After the commissioners determine that all applications that have not been rejected are complete under AS 43.90.140, information provided by the applicants …". 6:11:00 PM Section 43.90.170. Application evaluation and ranking. Subsection (b) (page 12 line 15) Co-Chair Stedman expressed that the Senate language is preferred in this Section. Thus, the recommendation is that the word "six," would be inserted following "five," on page 12, line 15. 6:11:47 PM Section 43.90.170. Application evaluation and ranking. subsection (B)(5) (page 12 line 25) Co-Chair Stedman communicated that the House language "reimbursement" is preferred to the Senate's "matching contribution" language following the phrase "the amount of the" on page 12, line 25. 6:11:57 PM Section 43.90.200. Certification by regulatory authority and project sanction., subsection (e) (page 15 line 30) Co-Chair Stedman communicated that the Senate reference to AS 43.90.110 is preferred to the House reference of AS 43.90.100. 6:12:17 PM Section 43.90.220. Records, reports, conditions, and audit requirements., subsection (d)(2)(page 17 line 1) Co-Chair Stedman stated that the House approach to this subsection was recommended. Thus, the Senate language "when and as issued" would not be included in the text. 6:13:22 PM Section 43.90.230. License violations; damages., subsection (c) (page 17 lines 29 and 30) and Section 43. 90.230. License violations; damages., subsection (e)(1)(page 18 line 11) Co-Chair Stedman stated that the House language "reimbursements" is preferred to the Senate's "matching contribution" verbiage following the word "state" in both of these instances. Section 43.90.240. Abandonment of project., subsection (b) (page 18 lines 26 and 27) Co-Chair Stedman specified that the House language was preferred in this subsection. Thus, the language would read "(b) If the commissioners or the licensee determine that the project is uneconomic and the other party disagrees, the disagreement shall be settled…". 6:13:48 PM Article 4. Miscellaneous Provisions. Co-Chair Stedman next addressed the language recommendations pertinent to Article 4 of Chapter 90, added to AS 43 by Section 1 of the bill. Section 43.90.400. Alaska Gasline Inducement Act ….(page 25 lines 17 through 21) Co-Chair Stedman stated that the House language "reimbursement" was preferred to the Senate's "matching contribution" language following the word "Act" on page 25, line 17 and 19 and the word "state's " on line 21. Section 43.90.400. Alaska Gasline Inducement Act … .,subsection (c)(page 25 line 31) Co-Chair Stedman stated that the House language was the preferred choice in this section. Thus the Senate language "matching contributions in the form of" would not be utilized. 6:14:49 PM Section 43.90.400. Alaska Gasline Inducement Act …. Subsection (c) (page 26 line 2) Co-Chair Stedman recommended that the House language "reimbursement" be utilized instead of the Senate's "matching contributions" language following the word "as" on page 26, line 2. 6:15:00 PM Section 43.90.400. Alaska Gasline Inducement Act … Subsection (d) (page 26 line 8) Co-Chair Stedman stated that the recommendation is to adopt the House language "reimbursement" as opposed to the Senate language "contributions" following the word "for" on page 26, line 8. 6:15:22 PM Article 5. General Provisions. Co-Chair Stedman noted that the following recommendations pertain to language in Article 5 of Chapter 90, added to AS 43 by Section 1 of the bill. Section 43.90.900. Definitions., subsection (4) (page 29 line 3 and line 4) Co-Chair Stedman stated that the recommendation is that the Senate language be considered in two areas of this provision. Thus, the House word "mean" would be replaced with the word "means" on page 29, line 3 and the word ", and" would replace the word "or" following "Alaska" on page 29, line 4. 6:15:46 PM Section 43.90.900. Definitions., subsection (17) (page 30 line 13) Co-Chair Stedman stated that the recommendation is that the House language "a similar process" would be utilized as opposed to the Senate language "similar procedures" on page 30, line 13. 6:16:18 PM Co-Chair Stedman announced that this concluded the provision comparisons and recommendations. He characterized the majority of the changes as "word-smithing". 6:17:32 PM Senator Elton asked whether the Department of Revenue concurred with the recommended language. 6:17:39 PM MARCIA DAVIS, Deputy Commissioner, Department of Revenue answered in the affirmative. AT EASE 6:17:54 PM / 6:20:02 PM Amendment #1: This amendment incorporates the entirety of recommendations reviewed by Co-Chair Stedman into the bill. Co-Chair Stedman moved the amendment and objected for purposes of discussion. No discussion forthcoming, Co-Chair Stedman removed his objection. Without further objection, Amendment #1 was ADOPTED. AT EASE 6:20:46 PM / 6:21:07 PM Co-Chair Hoffman moved to report the bill, as amended, from Committee. AT EASE 6:21:40 PM / 6:22:23 PM Co-Chair Hoffman amended his motion to move with the bill, previous fiscal notes and a new Department of Natural Resources fiscal note dated May 11, 2007. There being no objection, CSC CS HB 177(FIN) was REPORTED from Committee with previous zero fiscal note #1 from the Department of Administration; previous zero fiscal note #2 from Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development; previous zero fiscal note #3 from the Division of Oil & Gas, Department of Natural Resources; previous $2,226,000 fiscal note #5 from the Department of Revenue; previous $132,800 fiscal note #6 from the Office of the Governor; previous $6,500,000 operating budget fiscal note #7 from the Department of Labor and Workforce Development; and new $5,000,000 capital expenditure fiscal note from the Division of Oil and Gas, Department of Natural Resources, dated May 11, 2007.