Convened

The election may have left the balance of power in Washington basically unchanged, but the lame duck Congress, which convened this week, may turn out to be not so lame, and the outlook for natural gas interests on Capitol Hill is good, according to Regina Hopper, CEO of America’s Natural Gas Alliance (ANGA).

The election may have left the balance of power in Washington basically unchanged, but the lame duck Congress, which convened this week, may turn out to be not so lame, and the outlook for natural gas interests on Capitol Hill is good, according to Regina Hopper, CEO of America’s Natural Gas Alliance (ANGA).

The election may have left the balance of power in Washington basically unchanged, but the lame duck Congress, which convened this week, may turn out to be not so lame, and the outlook for natural gas interests on Capitol Hill is good, according to Regina Hopper, CEO of America’s Natural Gas Alliance (ANGA).

West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin appears poised to call a special session of the legislature in mid-December to discuss, and hopefully pass, a compromise Marcellus Shale regulatory reform bill.

A committee of West Virginia legislators has finalized a compromise Marcellus Shale regulatory reform bill and is urging Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin to call a special session for its passage.

A panel of West Virginia lawmakers approved three amendments to a draft Marcellus Shale regulatory reform bill on Monday, recommending that the state expand the public notice and comment period over drilling activities and change the way it hires natural gas well inspectors.

The West Virginia Legislature is unlikely to draft legislation on Marcellus Shale regulatory reform before the end of the year, according to a state senator with a key role in the process.

The California Legislature convened Monday in special session in Sacramento to deal with the state’s fiscal crisis that prompted Gov. Gray Davis to propose $10.2 billion in a combination of mid-fiscal year budget cuts and other savings. The state operates on a July-to-July fiscal year, and is facing a $21 to $30 billion deficit for the next fiscal year, 2003-04. Davis called the proposed cuts “severe” and likely difficult to implement midway through the fiscal year, but he said the state faces an “extraordinary challenge and no program will be held harmless.” State lawmakers, particularly members of his majority Democratic Party in each house, are expected to resist cuts in services to the needy. The legislature, which Davis called into two concurrent special sessions in 2001 to deal with the state’s energy crisis, will have to fashion legislation to implement the governor’s proposed cuts or come up with other ways to address the revenue shortfall that is principally due to the continuing economic downturn, particularly the decline in the dot-come sector that fueled large tax windfalls to the state in the late 1990s through mid-2000. Details of the governor’s proposed budget cuts are posted on the California finance department’s web site (www.dof.ca.gov).