Legislators want call for session withdrawn
House GOP leaders worried that gasline issue may come up
ANCHORAGE - State House leaders say if Gov. Frank Murkowski insists on calling a special session for later this month, they will adjourn without taking any action.
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Republican majority leaders have asked Gov. Frank Murkowski to withdraw his call for a special session, saying policy decisions on same sex benefits and the natural gas pipeline contract should not be decided by a "lame duck governor and Legislature."
House Majority Leader John Coghill, R-North Pole, said Monday he does not believe Murkowski will withdraw his call. So Coghill said he would press for the House to gavel out as soon as they meet.
The special session is scheduled to start Monday.
"This is one of the things where the court has put us in a timeline that does not allow for deliberation," Coghill said. "We would only have time to do what the court says."
The state is under a court order to have new regulations in place by Jan. 1 that would provide benefits to same-sex domestic partners of state employees and retirees.
Coghill said the state should implement the court-ordered regulations now and let the Legislature take up changes in its next regular session. This debate could turn into a two-year struggle between the Legislature and the court system, and hasty action would be unwise, he said.
Murkowski spokesman John Manly on Monday sent a news release that gave every sign the governor does not plan to back down from his call for a special session.
The release included a statement by Administration Commissioner Scott Nordstrand that said the Legislature's task should take no longer than a week.
"Our conclusion is that this is a public policy issue that requires a legislative solution," Nordstrand said in the statement.
The House GOP leadership met Sunday afternoon to discuss the governor's call to bring lawmakers back to Juneau.
Concerns have been raised that the governor will use the special session, the third one called this year, not for the same sex benefits issue but to get lawmakers back in Juneau to work on his proposal for a gasline contract.
"We do not believe that a special session will be productive at this time," House leaders said in a statement released Sunday.
"The implication of same sex benefits and gasline contract policy decisions should not be decided by a lame duck governor and Legislature," the House statement said.
House leaders said members would prefer to return to Juneau in January and take up the issue of same sex benefits then. However, the state Supreme Court has said the benefits must be in place by Jan. 1.
Nordstrand has said if the Legislature fails to implement regulations, he will.