This could be a late night for the House Resources Committee.

Co-chairman Craig Johnson, R-Anchorage, said the nine members will meet until they move Gov. Sean Parnell's oil tax break bill, up till 9 p.m.

Whatever it takes, he said. Chances are the members will fall into a five-four vote, but whether in favor or opposed is up in the air. The committee has been prone to that kind of uncertainty this year.

This is the sixth House Resources hearing on the bill. The committee has a backlog of major bills (more than 50 right now), and a reputation this session as a black hole from which legislation may never resurface. In fairness, the topics are huge -- from oil and gas taxes to fisheries -- and divisive.

Part of the problem is a partisan divide plus a couple wild cards, a setup that's driven unusual alliances on some bills already. Co-chairs Johnson and Mark Neuman, R-Wasilla, stick solidly to Republican mantras, supporting industry and tax breaks. They're joined by another Republican, Kurt Olson of Kenai. At the opposite end of the spectrum are Democrats David Guttenberg, Scott Kawasaki and Chris Tuck, who repeatedly ask for proof tax breaks are going to turn out any guaranteed results, and resist any additional gives for the industry -- especially without requiring Alaska jobs.

And in the middle are Bryce Edgmon, a Dillingham Democrat who caucuses with the House's Republican majority, and Republicans Peggy Wilson of Wrangell and Paul Seaton of Homer -- both of whom can sway depending on the issue and seem unbound by partisan allegiances.

Those showed in full color a couple weeks ago during a hearing on Johnson's own bill to change oil taxes. Seaton moved to table the bill, and the four Dems joined him -- effectively rolling the chair, Johnson, and killing the bill.

As for Johnson's bill, which would have gone even further on behalf of the industry? That's dead, he said. Gone for good, at least this year.

As if an eight-hour meeting weren't difficult enough, the committee has started things off with an initial hearing of a bill that would "decouple," in legislative parlance, oil and gas taxes before an open season starts May 1. Proponent Sen. Bert Stedman, R-Sitka, said the bill is imperative to protect billions due the state treasury once gas starts to flow through a big pipeline, but there are plenty of House lawmakers who remain unconvinced.