Bill Walker

The State Senate voted 16 to 3 on Tuesday, Nov. 3, to buy out TransCanada and take a larger stake in the Alaska LNG gas pipeline project.Download Audio

Gov. Walker wants to overhaul the way Alaska uses the Permanent Fund. His plan would turn the state’s various savings accounts into a kind of endowment, using their earnings to fund state operations.Download Audio

Buying out TransCanada puts the state on the hook for $7 billion more in construction costs if the Alaska LNG project ends up going forward. But the governor and his team argue it’s worth it to get more control -- and perhaps more revenue down the line.Download Audio

The Legislature is meeting in Juneau this week for a special session on the Alaska LNG project -- that’s the proposal to build a giant natural gas pipeline from the North Slope. The big question before lawmakers this session is whether the state should take a larger stake in the project, by buying out one of its partners. Download Audio

Gov. Bill Walker has pulled a controversial reserves tax from consideration during the legislature’s special session, after receiving assurances from the state’s partners in the Alaska LNG project that should any one company pull out, it would not withhold its gas from the project.

With two days to go until the session opens, it’s already off to a testy start. Download Audio

The Interior Department won't auction off drilling rights in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas in the next two years. The auctions would have been the first in the Arctic Ocean since 2008, and the first under President Obama.Download Audio

Later this month, state lawmakers will convene for their third special session of the year -- this time to discuss the Alaska LNG project. But with just two weeks to go, they have yet to see the legislation they'll be discussing - Gov. Bill Walker hasn't released it.Download Audio

Lawmakers have been expecting a special session on the state's proposed $55-billion gas pipeline project. But when Gov. Bill Walker called the session, it came with a surprise - a proposed tax on natural gas reserves held by the very companies the state is trying to partner with.

Governor Bill Walker said Monday night that he plans to call a special session of the legislature to discuss the state's massive natural gas pipeline project, dubbed Alaska LNG.