newsminer.com

Lawmakers are hitting a hurdle in their effort to get some expert advice on TransCanada's gas pipeline proposal. The Legislative Budget and Audit Committee, which is in charge of hiring consultants, agreed last month to spend $100,000 to have someone assess the financial wherewithal of the major companies involved in the gas line debate. But when the committee asked different financial houses if they could do the work, a long list said no, apparently because they're already working for Gov. Sarah Palin.

According to committee staffer Cheryl Sutton, UBS, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, Citigroup, and JP Morgan were all contacted, but ended up being conflicted. "None of them were able to perform work for us because of their ongoing relationship with the state," she wrote in an e-mail to committee members. The search is still on.

This morning, the committee agreed to purchase a report on the pipeline system in western Canada and get an analysis on gas-to-liquids technology, according to Sen. Gene Therriault of North Pole, a committee member.