From Sean Cockerham in Juneau ---

Legislative leaders are meeting with Gov. Sarah Palin tomorrow (Thursday) and hope to get a sense of how much of the federal economic stimulus money she might veto if they accept it. (UPDATE -- Sounds like the governor will be in Anchorage and the lawmakers will have to settle for meeting with her legislative director, Jerry Gallagher, instead.)

Meanwhile, state senators filed a bill today that would create a statewide building energy code. It is designed to qualify Alaska for a $29 million slice of the economic stimulus money Palin didn't accept, saying the requirement to adopt a code means “these types of funds are not sensible for Alaska.”

The bill is sponsored by the co-chairs of the Senate Resources Committee, Republican Sen. Lesil McGuire and Democratic Sen. Bill Wielechowski. The code would only apply to communities with more than 2,500 people. Structures without plumbing or central heating would be exempt.

You can read the bill here. It basically says new and renovated residential buildings must meet the energy efficiency standards that are set out in the International Energy Conservation Code. Commercial buildings would have to meet the code that is set by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers.

Anchorage already has an energy code that would meet the requirements of the bill and Fairbanks does for residential structures, according to Wielechowski’s office. Ketchikan is also planning to adopt a code. Structures built by the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation meet the energy efficiency requirements as well.

Anchorage Republican Sen. McGuire said that “over time, any additional costs of building energy efficient homes are recouped, and exceeded, by energy savings.”

But Palin’s opposition to accepting federal money that mandates a statewide energy code raises the likelihood that she would veto the money.

There's less than a month left in the legislative session but it's not necessary for the Legislature to pass the bill now in order to qualify for the funds. The state would have eight years to adopt such codes.