ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Alaska lawmakers are looking for a bigger building in Anchorage for additional office and meeting space.

The Anchorage Daily News reports the Legislative Council has asked staffers to collect cost estimates for two downtown sites under consideration.

Many lawmakers use the leased Anchorage space when they're not in Juneau.

Senate President Gary Stevens says lawmakers need more offices and better parking. But Anchorage Republican Rep. Mike Hawker says legislators should stay in the current building and make tenant improvements.

Any Legislative Council decision to pursue a new building would need a vote of the full Legislature to appropriate money.

The Anchorage legislative offices are a hub of activity when lawmakers aren't in session. Several legislators from outside the area have offices there, as do lawmakers representing Anchorage and the Mat-Su area. Hearings are common in the building.

"I think the current building we're in has outgrown its usefulness," Anchorage Republican Rep. Bob Lynn said.

Lynn said pressure for space will only grow as legislative districts are redrawn after the 2010 census, and again in the census 10 years later. He said that will likely increase the number of legislators from the Anchorage area and they will need the office space.

The Legislative Council sought proposals from landowners interested in providing space and received about a dozen.

The Legislature last year talked about constructing a complex in Anchorage that would also include court system offices. An $86 million estimate helped kill that idea.