NEW FEDERAL LAW OPENS AMATS TO LEGISLATORS, MAY HAND ANCHORAGE ROAD PROJECTS TO STATE

The Alaska senate may finally win a hard fought battle to seat state legislators on the local agency responsible for major road projects in Anchorage. An obscure “rider” quietly attached by federal lawmakers to a mammoth transportation funding bill may now allow members of the Alaska legislature to serve on the AMATS policy board, ending a longstanding dispute between the municipality and state senators who want to oversee road projects in Anchorage. AMATS makes final decisions over the location, funding, and timing of major road projects in Anchorage. Currently, AMATS has 5 voting members: the Mayor, two Assembly members, and two state commissioners. How the new federal “rider” will affect AMATS is unclear: on its face the new federal law allows state legislators to serve as policy (voting) members of AMATS. Depending on the wording of new state legislation which would be required to seat legislators as voting members on AMATS, control of the agency could pass from municipal to state officials.

Passing a bill authored by State Sen. Ben Stevens in 2004, the legislature tried to “expand” the AMATS policy board by including two new “public” members, one appointed by the governor and the other by the municipality. That law (SB 260) is currently being challenged in state court by Mayor Begich who claims it violates a contract between the municipality and the federal government. Whether the rider violates this contract and its affect on control of AMATS still remains unclear.

Ben Stevens is the son of U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, the powerful chair of the Senate Commerce Committee and the body’s president pro tem. The younger Stevens is president of the state senate and currently faces a recall on allegations of corruption in office. The elder Stevens’ role in securing congressional approval of the Alaska rider in the transportation bill is unknown.