Suzanne Downing: Nine days left to prove Alaska can still build something

By SUZANNE DOWNING

JUNE 10, 2026 – Nine days. That’s all that remains in Alaska’s special legislative session, and yet the hearings continue, hour after hour, in House and Senate committees as lawmakers debate the most consequential economic development project Alaska has seen in a generation.

The question is no longer whether the Alaska LNG project is real. Glenfarne has put real money on the table. Asian customers have signed preliminary agreements. The federal government is supportive. The pieces are aligning in a way that Alaskans have not seen since the earliest days of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System.

The question now is much simpler: Will the Legislature pass a clean bill that the governor can sign?

In the House, there are encouraging signs that lawmakers understand what is at stake.

One notable moment came when Rep. Calvin Schrage joined a bipartisan coalition to defeat an attempt to attach an S-corporation tax provision to the gasline legislation. The proposal would have immediately affected the only two companies currently producing natural gas for Southcentral Alaska consumers: Hilcorp and HEX/Furie.

The gasline itself would take years to build. The tax, however, would begin impacting producers almost immediately.

Anyone who believes those costs would simply be absorbed by the companies has not been paying attention. Taxes imposed on gas producers do show up in utility bills and consumer costs. At a time when Alaskans are already worried about affordability, adding new costs to Cook Inlet gas production would move the state in exactly the wrong direction.

Schrage’s vote proved decisive.

It was also a reminder that sometimes governing means resisting the temptation to load every policy wish list item onto the nearest moving train.

The purpose of this legislation is straightforward. During construction, Glenfarne will spend billions of dollars building infrastructure while generating little or no revenue from the project itself. The tax structure under debate recognizes that reality.

Alaska is essentially saying: We understand you are investing enormous sums to build this project. We will not tax you as though you are already producing and selling gas before the first molecule ever moves through the pipe.

The naysayers think it is a giveaway. But it is simply common sense. It is also Alaska’s opportunity to demonstrate good faith.

For decades, investors have watched Alaska change the rules, reopen deals, and find new ways to create uncertainty. Whether fair or unfair, that reputation exists. This legislation offers lawmakers a chance to send a different message: When Alaska makes a deal, Alaska keeps its word.

The Senate remains harder to read. There are indications that Senate President Gary Stevens and Sen. Elvi Gray-Jackson understand the importance of sending a clean bill to the governor. But there are also members who continue searching for ways to amend, complicate, or otherwise burden the legislation.

With only days remaining, the concern is not what happens during the hearings everyone can watch. The concern is what might appear in the final hours.

Veterans of Juneau know that major amendments often arrive late, when attention is fading and deadlines are looming. One cannot help but wonder whether proposals like the S-corporation tax could reappear at the last moment in the Senate, creating procedural complications and potentially forcing the House and Senate into a race against the clock.

Summer has arrived in Alaska. The hearing rooms are mostly empty. Most Alaskans are fishing, working, building, traveling, or enjoying the brief season they wait all year to experience.

But what is happening in Juneau right now is of the greatest consequence, for this project has the potential to provide affordable gas for Alaskans, create thousands of jobs, generate long-term state revenue, and strengthen America’s energy relationship with allies in Asia.

We Alaskans are closer than we have ever been but that does not guarantee success.

Alaska has a long history of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory when it comes to large resource projects. Many legislators understand that. They want their children and grandchildren to have opportunities in this state. They do not want their names attached to another chapter in Alaska’s history of missed opportunities.

That is why the House deserves some credit. Not for passing a final bill yet, but for showing signs that members from different political perspectives can recognize when a proposal serves the broader interests of the state.

The path forward is not complicated: Pass a clean bill, send it to the governor, and give Glenfarne the certainty it needs during the construction phase.

Let Alaska finally build the gasline it has spent generations talking about.

Nine days remain. The ninth inning for Alaska. Nine days to fish or cut bait. We’ll soon find out whether the Legislature is ready to get serious, or if they’re just playing games.

Suzanne Downing is founder and editor of The Alaska Story and is a longtime Alaskan.