newsminer.com

The House Rules Committee took up AGIA this afternoon after a long weekend away. The big question -- and the one likely to be at the fore over the next week -- is whether or not lawmakers should amend the bill, and whether or not they can.

The Rules Committee, which doesn't traditionally amend bills, moved the bill out of committee unchanged and without objection, but did consider a number of amendments.

One would have changed requirements in the AGIA license involving other gas pipelines built within the state. Another would have required TransCanada to provide blanket indemnification to the state regarding a potential liability owed by the company to former project partners. A third would have required the state to resolve the Point Thomson dispute before providing any reimbursements to TransCanada.

Lawmakers debated both the merits of the various amendments and the risk that amending the bill would jeopardize the whole AGIA process, which involves a legal agreement between the state and pipeline builder.

Committee chair Rep. John Coghill suggested a vote to amend the bill could effectively be a vote against the bill.

"This is amendable," he said, citing a strong belief in the separation of powers between the various branches of government. "The consequences of that, though, are significant."