SECTION NEWS

Public Finance Committee Developments

A compelling public finance program has taken shape this winter for Anchorage in June. At the meeting, co-sponsored by the Alaska Bar, this session on Friday morning will build on a couple of current and connected controversial topics unique to the 49th State. Centered around legal ownership and financial structuring issues, the facts reach out across a broad practice spectrum, including land use, contracting, environmental protection, liability, homeland security, and planning. And their effects will bear on the state’s economy and polity for generations, perhaps fashioning new national models. The subjects are tapping and moving Alaska’s vast oil and gas resources to market, one completed and one in the works. Is yesterday’s solution right for tomorrow?

First on the program is a presentation of the Alaska Permanent Fund, established at the time of the building of the initial Trans-Alaska Pipeline to transport liquid petroleum from vast reserves in the Prudhoe Bay area and written into the Alaska Constitution. An unusual fiscal animal, the Fund effectively turns on its head the common relationship between a state’s fisc and its citizens’ purses, providing an ongoing substantial flow of oil-related fees directly into the pockets of each living Alaskan. Established in the 1970s, some thirty years later the Fund now raises questions of constitutional inviolability in times of state fiscal stress. Mike Burns, president of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation in Juneau, will show us how the fund was set up, how it functions under state law, and its record of distribution of benefits directly to the people. Cliff Groh, attorney for the City and Borough of Sitka, will offer observations on the Fund’s establishment and operation and outline legal issues being debated in today’s governmental and business communities.

Second on the program is the current controversy surrounding building, organizing, owning, and financing a huge new pipeline to bring natural gas from Prudhoe Bay into the “Lower Forty-Eight.” At costs approaching $20 billion, financing sources under discussion include state revenue bonding, corporate investment, developer construction, and some combination of these in public–private partnership. It also involves interesting intersections of state and federal legal issues. At stake are environmental, land use, and economic development issues, along with the long-lasting effects on the budgets and bank accounts of the state and its citizens. This discussion will be led by Ken Vassar of the Anchorage firm of Birch, Horton, Bittner and Cherot. He will be joined by executives from the Alaska Railroad Corporation and the Alaska Natural Gas Development Authority, who have hands on responsibility for shaping alternatives for implementation.

Moderators will be national bond and underwriting practitioners and Committee Chair Steve Weinstein. These are live issues on today’s agenda in the state capital and throughout Alaska, being brought in front of our group by key people at the core of things. This affords an opportunity to hear first-hand how major public financing choices can impact other significant areas of state and local governance concern and practice.

Nominating Committee Appointed

At the Midyear Meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah, Section Chair Terrence S. Welch, with the approval of the Section’s Executive Committee, named the following members to the Nominating Committee:

Thomas E. Roberts, Chair
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
336/758-5724

Philip A. Erikson
East Lansing, Michigan
517/333-6598

Larry C. Ethridge
Louisville, Kentucky
502/583-7400

Lora A. Lucero
Albuquerque, New Mexico
505/247-0844

Peter S. Olson
Hartford, Connecticut
860/275-8200

At the Annual Meeting in August, the Nominating Committee will submit the names of nominees for Section Officers, Council, and Delegate to the ABA House of Delegates for the 2005–06 Association year. Section members who would like to suggest potential nominees should contact Thomas E. Roberts, Wake Forest University, Worrell Professional Center, 1834 Wake Forest Road, Winston-Salem, NC 27109-7206, 336/758-5724, e-mail troberts@law.wfu.edu, or any other member of the Nominating Committee by May 1, 2005.

Land Use Committee
By Thomas G. Pelham, Committee Chair

The Land Use Committee is having another active year. As Committee chair, it has been a pleasure to work with Andrew Gowder and Lora Lucero, the vice-chairs for programs, and Paul Wilson, the vice-chair for reports. Under their leadership, the Committee will be sponsoring a number of educational programs and producing reports for presentation at the Spring Meeting and for publication in The Urban Lawyer.

At the Section’s Spring Meeting in Anchorage, Alaska, on June 2–5, 2005, the Committee will present its annual program on Hot Topics and Land Use and Planning Law. In addition, the Committee will co-sponsor a program with the Section’s Environmental Law Committee on the case of Alaska v. United States, which is pending in the U.S. Supreme Court. The case concerns ownership of lands underlying Glacier Bay.

For the Annual Meeting in Chicago, in August 2005, the Committee has been working with the Real Property Section and our Section’s Condemnation Law Committee to prepare a program centered around two other pending U.S. Supreme Court cases involving takings and eminent domain issues. Also, the Committee is engaged in discussions about possible teleconferences involving these two cases immediately after decisions have been rendered by the Court.

Paul Wilson, the vice-chair for reports, is again overseeing the preparation of the Land Use Subcommittee Reports. These reports, which serve as the basis for the Committee’s annual Hot Topics program at the Spring Meeting, will be published in The Urban Lawyer. We have increased the number of subcommittees this year, which should result in an increased number of committee reports covering many facets of land use law. The Committee leadership is exploring the possibility of a book proposal on New Urbanism/traditional neighborhood development. During the coming months, the Committee will continue discussions regarding the feasibility of the project and the task of identifying authors for the book.

The Committee welcomes the active participation of all of its members, as well as members of the Section. Attending the Committee’s annual business meeting in Chicago in August is an excellent way to become involved in the Committee’s activities. In the meantime, if you have an interest in participating in the Committee’s affairs, please contact Tom Pelham (tpelham@fowlerwhite.com), Andrew Gowder (WAG @wiselaw.com), Lora Lucero (loralucero@aol.com), or Paul Wilson (pwilson@mintz.com).

22nd Biennial Congress on the Law of the World
September 4–10, 2005

Continuing its mission of promoting world peace through the rule of law, the World Jurist Association is proud to announce the details of its upcoming 22nd Biennial Congress on the Law of the World, to be held Sunday, September 4, through Saturday, September 10, 2005, in Beijing and Shanghai, China.

Delegates will hold their meetings and panel sessions in some of the most important facilities in China. While in Beijing, the Congress will convene at the Great Hall of the People. Meeting rooms at the Great Hall reflect the styles and cultures of each Chinese province, autonomous region, and municipality. In Shanghai, delegates will meet at the International Convention Center, a landmark, state-of-the-art facility along the Shanghai skyline that has hosted numerous world leaders and international conferences.

The Congress program encompasses a wide variety of timely legal topics and events sure to promote a lively discussion and exchange of ideas. Of particular importance is a special Chief Justice Panel that will include participation of chief justices from around the world.

Other highlights will include a variety of economic and financial topics, human rights, issues relating to municipalities, alternative dispute resolution, judicial resources, legal education, family law, public health, and many others. Speakers will include some of the most respected experts in their fields.

For program and travel details, as well as registration information on this exciting and historic Congress, please visit the World Jurist Association website, www.worldjurist.org. Or contact the WJA at its general e-mail of wja@world jurist.org. Information is also available on the IMLA website at www.imla.org/conference/index.html.