ANCHORAGE - U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens has helped pass legislation related to a dispute between his son, state Sen. Ben Stevens, and Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich over control of federal transportation spending in Anchorage.
The elder Sen. Stevens, chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, inserted a provision into the recently approved transportation bill that says state legislators may serve on city transportation boards that manage the federal highway money.
The Anchorage Metropolitan Area Transportation Solutions board and its counterpart in Fairbanks decide how to spend federal money for roads, pathways and programs to thin traffic in their respective cities.
Mayor Mark Begich and two city assembly members now form a majority on the five-member committee in Anchorage. The other two members are the state commissioners of environmental conservation and transportation, or people they designate.
The city had sued to block a state law sponsored by Ben Stevens, president of the state Senate, that would add two nonvoting state legislators and two citizens to the five-member body, diluting the influence of local government representatives.
Sen. Ben Stevens, R-Anchorage, has said the bill to add members to AMATS was intended to help the Legislature and the committee cooperate better.
"It doesn't give any real power to the legislators," he said earlier this year. "It's to get us to have a better understanding so we can promote and defend the Anchorage program."
Sen. Stevens was not available for comment this week, his staff told the Anchorage Daily News.
Sen. Ted Stevens added the provision to federal law after talking to his son and some legislators in Hawaii, said his spokeswoman, Courtney Boone.
Sen. Stevens was concerned about the welfare of those legislators who serve on the Hawaii committees should Anchorage's lawsuit succeed, said Boone.
The elder Stevens crafted the provision to only apply to Alaska and Hawaii because "we knew it was an issue in Alaska and Hawaii," Boone said.
Anchorage City Attorney Fred Boness said he doesn't think the federal law will affect the city's legal case. The city argues that AMATS is formed under a joint state-local agreement, so the state cannot reorganize the committee unless the city agrees.
"If this is an attempt by Ben Stevens to somehow validate what he's done to date, he's failed," Boness said.
Delania Hardy, director of the national Association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations, said the city transportation planning boards were created to give local governments a say in federal transportation projects for their areas.
"The bottom line is it really should be guided by the elected local officials," she said.
