While waiting for a new version of a gas tax bill, members of the Senate Finance Committee are tackling a handful of pending bills.

The Finance committees are generally the last proving ground for bills other committees have vetted, before a floor vote - at least, for those bills involving fiscal impacts to the state.

Up this morning before Senate Finance:

* SB 266, which would increase the maximum available to victims of violent crimes. The previous cap for emergency help- $1,500 - was set in 1975. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Joe Thomas, D-Fairbanks, would take that up to $3,500.

* SJR 21 would let voters decide this fall whether to increase the number of legislatures. The measure is offering in response to major changes anticipated when the state re-draws election districts next spring, once census data is in. The proposal would increase the number of senators from 20 to 24, and the number of representatives from 40 to 48. That could be important for rural areas - in Southeast and in the Bush, which are at risk of losing representation as Southcentral gains.

* SB 144 would allow the state's game board to waive or reduce a $500 fee for musk oxen hunting tags for in-state and subsistence hunters. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Donny Olson, D-Nome, also would make in-state and subsistence hunters eligible for more than one permit per year. In a statement, Olson said that would boost the chances of successfully taking a musk oxen.

* Several bills are up that deal with prescription drug benefits for Pioneers homes; traumatic brain injuries; and Medicaid.

*And, SB 226, requested by Gov. Sean Parnell's administration, would pave the way for the state to issue certificates of participation to get started on a couple of his capital project priorities - a Life Sciences building at University of Alaska Fairbanks, a new crime lab in Anchorage.