Oil tax bill causes dustup in Alaska House

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - No one was told to sit down and be quiet at the Alaska House on Wednesday, but rules of order were invoked and challenged during a dustup over the introduction of an oil tax credit bill.

The bill was introduced by the House Resources Committee, which is led by Democrats Geran Tarr and Andy Josephson. Minority Republican members of the panel objected vigorously, saying they weren’t consulted and didn’t want their names on the bill.

The objections were met with incredulousness by some Democrats, who said Republicans routinely introduced committee bills without Democratic input when the GOP controlled the House.

“The members here, who were here last year, did exactly what they are complaining about today,” said Rep. Les Gara, D-Anchorage. “There is no rule that anybody be consistent. But there is a courtesy that would require you to stand up and say you changed your mind.”

Republican Rep. Dan Saddler of Eagle River later objected to a Gara comment that he felt maligned Republican members’ integrity. Speaker Bryce Edgmon, D-Dillingham, asked them both to try to avoid statements that may appear to impugn the character of others.

This wasn’t the first time the issue had come up this session.

On Tuesday, the co-chairs of the House Finance Committee sought and received permission from the panel to introduce bills in the name of the committee. Minority Republicans, including Rep. Steve Thompson, voted against the authorization.

Thompson, a past finance co-chair, opposed the blanket authorization, saying people might assume members support a given committee bill even if they don’t.

That’s what House Minority Leader Charisse Millett found galling about the oil tax credit bill.

One of her caucus’ priorities is defending the state’s oil tax policies. To have her members associated with legislation that seeks to change the system and conflicts with their beliefs is upsetting, she said Wednesday.

Millett said that in the past, under Republican-led leadership, committee bills often were introduced after a deadline for filing personal legislation had passed.

In the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, was ordered to sit down and was silenced by Republican colleagues using a rule barring any senator from impugning the motives of any other during debate over Sen. Jeff Sessions’ nomination for U.S. attorney general.