Chenault plans to propose AGDC amendment

  • By Becky Bohrer
  • Monday, March 31, 2014 10:36pm
  • News

JUNEAU — House Speaker Mike Chenault on Monday said he plans to propose allowing out-of-state residents to serve on the board of directors of a corporation that could play a key role in a major liquefied natural gas project in Alaska.

In a memo to lawmakers, Chenault, R-Nikiski, said he will offer the amendment to SB124, a bill to extend the sunset date of the Council on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, during a House Rules Committee hearing Thursday. Chenault said he would have preferred to find another bill or to attach the amendment to SB138, which is aimed at advancing the gas project. But with lawmakers scheduled to take up the confirmation of board appointees next week, he said that precluded use of SB138, which is still working its way through the committee process.

Richard Rabinow, a pipeline industry consultant and former president of ExxonMobil Pipeline Co., is among the appointees whose confirmation lawmakers are scheduled to vote on April 11. Rabinow, from Houston, Texas, is among the members Gov. Sean Parnell appointed to the board of directors of the Alaska Gasline Development Corp., or AGDC.

Rabinow told Parnell he would resign if the Legislature, before adjourning, did not expressly permit out-of-state residents to serve on that board.

Minority Senate Democrats called on Parnell to withdraw Rabinow’s name, citing a state law requiring appointees to boards or commissions of state government to be and have been before the last general election registered to vote in the state. Chenault and Rep. Mike Hawker, the lead sponsors of the bill that established the AGDC, have said the legislative record “clearly reflects” the intent that the governor can appoint “from the widest possible field of expertise, without limiting that field to Alaskans.”

“I realize that Mr. Rabinow is a resident of Texas. However, he has pipeline expertise spanning over four decades,” Chenault said in his memo. “There are very few individuals in the United States with his level of historical knowledge and executive leadership in the pipeline industry.”

His proposed amendment states that a public member to the AGDC board would not have to be a registered voter or resident of the state.

The boards of the Alaska Railroad Corp. and the Alaska Aerospace Corp. currently allow for certain members to be nonresidents.

Chenault said in an interview that he would prefer Alaskans serve on the board. “But if the brightest person for that job happens to be someone from somewhere else, then I think that we’ve got to be able to have that ability to pick that talent,” he said.

Sen. Kevin Meyer, who sponsored the domestic violence council bill, said he didn’t know how he felt about the “hijacking” of that measure, though he said he didn’t take it personally. Since SB124 has already passed the Senate, once it passes the House it would come back to the Senate, where senators would decide if they agreed with any changes made. If they did not agree, the bill could go to a conference committee.

Meyer, R-Anchorage, said at this point, if the changes that Chenault has proposed are made, he would probably vote against concurrence. He said he thinks he speaks for most members of the majority caucus in saying they would feel better with an Alaskan serving.

However, he acknowledged the desire to have someone with expertise serving on the board and said he could still possibly be convinced that Rabinow has unique skills that the state will need in pursuing the gas project.

More in News

Kenai Middle School Principal Vaughn Dosko points out elements of a redesign plan for the front of the school on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Work soon to begin on Kenai Middle security upgrades

The security upgrades are among several key KPBSD maintenance projects included in a bond approved by borough voters in October 2022.

The Kenai Fire Department headquarters are photographed on Feb. 13, 2018, in Kenai, Alaska. (Peninsula Clarion file)
Kenai adds funds, authorizes contract for study of emergency services facility

The building shared by Kenai’s police and fire departments hasn’t kept up with the needs of both departments, chief says.

Kenai Parks and Recreation Director Tyler Best shows off a new inclusive seesaw at Kenai Municipal Park in Kenai, Alaska, on Thursday, June 27, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai awards contract to develop Parks and Rec master plan

The document is expected to guide the next 20 years of outdoors and recreation development in the city.

Balancing Act’s homepage for the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District’s Fiscal Year 2026 Budget. (Screenshot)
KPBSD launches ‘Balancing Act’ software, calls for public to balance $17 million deficit

The district and other education advocates have said that the base student allocation has failed to keep up with inflation.

Natural gas processing equipment is seen at Furie Operating Alaska’s central processing facility in Nikiski, Alaska, on Wednesday, July 10, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Harvest Alaska announces proposed redevelopment of Kenai LNG terminal

The project could deliver additional natural gas supplies to the Southcentral market as early as 2026, developers said.

A depth marker is almost entirely subsumed by the waters of the Kenai River in Soldotna, Alaska, on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
After delay, borough adopts updated flood insurance maps

The assembly had previously postponed the legislation amid outcry from the Kenai River Keys Property Owners Association.

Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Peter Micciche points to where the disconnected baler ram has bent piping at the Central Peninsula Landfill in Soldotna, Alaska, on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Borough approves federal request to fund recycling redesign

A large baler that was used for recycling was recently left inoperable by a catastrophic failure in its main ram.

A person is detained in Anchorage in recent days by officials from the FBI and U.S. Department of Homeland Security. (FBI Anchorage Field Office photo)
Trump’s immigration raids arrive in Alaska, while Coast Guard in state help deportations at southern US border

Anchorage arrests touted by FBI, DEA; Coast Guard plane from Kodiak part of “alien expulsion flight operations.”

Jamiann S’eiltin Hasselquist asks participants to kneel as a gesture to “stay grounded in the community” during a protest in front of the Alaska State Capitol on Wednesday focused on President Donald Trump’s actions since the beginning of his second term. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Trump protest rally at Alaska State Capitol targets Nazi-like salutes, challenges to Native rights

More than 120 people show up as part of nationwide protest to actions during onset of Trump’s second term.

Most Read