Alaska Senators Differ With Governor

The committee's recommendation is a substantive rewrite to the House's version, which was passed Sunday night and backed Palin's call for a rate boost from 22.5 percent to 25 percent.

And as the Legislature draws closer to the midnight Friday deadline, a stalemate between the House and Senate could render the 30-day special session a waste of time.

If no agreement is met, Palin has said she would call a second special session.

Optimism on adjourning with a bill seems to be eroding in the Capitol with some lawmakers accusing Senate Republicans among a majority coalition of delay tactics.

Rep. Les Gara, D-Anchorage, challenged the timing of this change.

"This is not the time for somebody to come up with a brand new bill," Gara said. "They are trying to undermine the governor's bill.

"We've reached a point where people have come together, and this is not the point where we should start tearing people apart."

Senate Finance Committee member Sen. Fred Dyson, R-Eagle River, said he is concerned about meeting the deadline.

"This committee has worked so little, only to get all this stuff jammed here in the end at what two and a half days out?" said Dyson, who is a member of the Senate minority. "That's very concerning."

Senate President Lyda Green has denied there is any foot-dragging going on, and said the bill took longer to write than anticipated.

The Senate Finance Committee bill must still go to the Senate floor for a full vote before returning to the House.

If the Senate passes a bill, and if it's different from the House version, any changes would have to be accepted by the House.

If the House rejects the bill, differences would have to be worked out in a conference committee, made up of members from the House and Senate, before the session ends.

That options appear less likely as the Friday deadline for adjournment approaches.

Critics also are concerned about the number of differences in the Senate bill from the approved House bill, including the way the state would assess a surcharge as the market price of oil goes up.

The House called for a .4 percent surcharge to kick in when oil reaches $52 a barrel; the Senate version starts the surcharge at .6 percent at $52 per barrel, but reduces the rate at $20 higher increments.

Rep. Mike Doogan, D-Anchorage, said he did not believe the House would support the Senate Finance Committee's version and was stunned at the differences.

"If I were an editor of a newspaper and had to rewrite the copy this much, I would have taken the reporter's byline off of it," Doogan said. "This is a rewrite, not a revision."