(Fairbanks) - A bipartisan group of Alaska lawmakers have banded together in a legal effort to stop Gov. Frank Murkowski from signing the proposed natural gas pipeline contract.

Several members of the Legislative Council agreed to sue the governor based on Sen. Ralph Seekins (R - Fairbanks) conversations with Gov. Murkowski. Legislative Council is the committee tasked with running the legislature during the interim.

Sen. Seekins chaired the Senate Special Committee on Natural Gas Development during this year's two special sessions and joined the lawsuit. He asked Gov. Murkowski twice if he planned on signing the contract without legislative approval.

"The governor said both times he was strongly considering it and that he may sign it in the near future. I urged him to leave it for the next governor because the draft contract has serious flaws and both the public and the legislature want significant changes made. The entire process for getting a gas pipeline is threatened by his potential unilateral action. We didn't want to take this step but we felt we had to because he's still threatening to sign it and we have to take that threat seriously," said Sen. Seekins.

Sen. Gene Therriault (R - North Pole), Sen. Gary Wilken (R- Fairbanks), Sen. Tom Wagoner (R - Kenai), Sen. Bettye Davis (D - Anchorage), Rep. John Coghill (R- North Pole), Rep. Max Gruenberg (D - Anchorage) and House Speaker John Harris (R - Valdez) all agreed to join the lawsuit.

A hearing on the lawsuit will be held in Fairbanks on Thursday, November 2nd at 2:00 pm.

For more information, contact Brian Hove at 907.378.3274.

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