Governor calls a special session for gasline

By SUZANNE DOWNING

May 19, 2026 – With the regular legislative session set to end Wednesday night, Gov. Mike Dunleavy has officially called lawmakers back to Juneau for a special session beginning Thursday morning focused solely on the Alaska LNG tax legislation that has collapsed in the final hours of the regular session.

In an executive proclamation signed Tuesday afternoon, Dunleavy ordered the Thirty-Fourth Alaska Legislature into its second special session beginning May 21 at 10 am in the Capitol chambers in Juneau.

The special session call is narrowly tailored to one subject: House Bill 381, the complex natural gas pipeline taxation bill tied to the Alaska LNG project. This is the companion legislation to the bill that failed in the House on Monday night.

The proclamation specifically references legislation “relating to the taxation of certain natural gas pipeline property; relating to municipal taxation limitations; establishing an alternative volumetric tax on natural gas throughput; and relating to the allocation of revenue from the alternative volumetric tax.”

The move comes after days of legislative turmoil surrounding the gasline package, which had become entangled in broader political fights over oil taxes, defined-benefit pensions for state workers, education funding amendments, and internal House coalition tensions. At one point, the House Republican Minority Leader DeLena Johnson crossed over and voted with the Democrats on an amendment that killed the gasline bill.

The Alaska LNG legislation is a major economic-development package intended to improve the competitiveness of the long-discussed North Slope gasline project. By the final week of session, the measure had morphed into a Christmas tree with all kinds of ornaments hanging from it. Amendments unrelated to the gasline were layered onto the legislation, ranging from education funding provisions to attempts at state-controlled gas pricing and infrastructure spending.

One especially controversial amendment added language allowing certain boroughs to negotiate tax terms directly with the project developer, Glenfarne. Gov. Dunleavy had already warned such provisions would trigger a veto.

Meanwhile, Democratic-led majorities in the House and Senate were also using the defined-benefit pension bill, HB 78, as leverage during the gasline negotiations. That bill itself became the subject of a failed veto override effort Monday.

The governor’s special session proclamation signals that despite the collapse of negotiations during the regular session, the administration intends to continue pushing for passage of a tax framework viewed by supporters as critical to advancing the Alaska LNG project.

The timing also keeps lawmakers immediately back in Juneau just hours after adjournment, extending what has already become one of the most contentious and chaotic legislative endgames in Alaska history.

Under the Alaska Constitution, the governor may call lawmakers into special session and limit the subjects they may consider. The Legislature can only take up matters germane to the call unless expanded by a two-thirds vote.

Whether lawmakers can quickly untangle the political knots that sank the measure during regular session remains uncertain. But the governor’s message Monday was unmistakable: The fight over the gasline is not over.

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