Thumbs  up to Senate Resources for stepping up and dropping a bill yesterday to ensure that we had a Bad Bill of the Week!

SB 275 – “An Act relating to natural gas and natural gas projects; relating to the Alaska Gasline Development Corporation; relating to the powers and duties of the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee; relating to the value of certain oil and gas; relating to an income tax on certain natural gas-related entities; relating to the oil and gas production tax; establishing a surcharge on gas processed in the state; and providing for an effective date, includes the following key provisions: 

• Expands legislative oversight of the Alaska Gasline Development Corporation and the Alaska LNG project.
• Requires legislative approval for certain aspects of the project
• Limits confidentiality agreements
• Mandates public disclosure of proprietary information
• Adds new taxes and surcharges affecting multiple parts of the project

In other words, “An Act to Ensure Alaska’s Gas Stays in the Ground.”

SB 275 would effectively move the boardroom into the Capitol, inserting legislators into a private-sector energy project and creating a new bureaucratic fix for a problem no one has identified. If career politicians want to run companies, they should leave Juneau and try the private sector — where performance, not politics, determines who stays in charge.