Anchorage Daily News
Alaska voters will decide in 2012 whether local governments can give homeowners a bigger tax break by increasing property-tax exemptions. The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported the initiative sponsored by Fairbanks North Star Borough Assemblywoman Nadine Winters has been approved by the state and will appear on the ballot during the next primary election.
Supporters of an initiative to ban the use of public money for lobbying or campaigning acknowledge that Alaska regulators were requiring more financial disclosure before supporters withdrew. The main group in support of the initiative did not want to disclose its contributors. Last week, Clean Team Alaska suspended its campaign to get voters to approve the proposed law on the August statewide ballot. The group accused state executives of trying to sink the measure by inappropriately tinkering with the summary language that voters would see.
A group pushing for a ballot initiative that would create a law requiring parental notification for abortion says it has enough voter signatures and will hand-deliver its petitions today at the state Division of Elections. The state requires sponsors to get signatures from 10 percent of the people who voted in the last statewide general election, as well as 7 percent of the number from at least 30 of the state’s 40 legislative districts.
Both the Press and Dispatch today are looking into Republican-proposed legislation, sponsored mainly by House Majority Leader Kyle Johansen of Ketchikan, that would put more public accountability into the ballot initiative process. The bill would require full financial disclosure and public hearings during the initiative process, force petitioners to carry a copy of proposed legislation instead of a synopsis and prohibit paying them per signature collected.
Opponents of a ballot initiative designed to outlaw abortion in Alaska by declaring fetuses “legal persons” are challenging it in court. The Anchorage Daily News reports that the Alaska Civil Liberties Union is supporting the lawsuit challenging the ballot drive, which was filed last week by plaintiffs including Vic Fischer, a former Democratic legislator and delegate to the state constitutional convention.
Smokers in the capital city could soon be paying more for cigarettes. The Assembly Finance Committee voted 7-1 to let Juneau voters decide whether to raise city taxes on cigarettes from 30 cents a pack to $1.
Efforts are starting in Fairbanks to collect signatures for a statewide initiative that would expand the partial exemption on homeowners’ property taxes.
Citizens, do you think Alaska legislators should take away some of your power to write laws by voter initiative?
Rep. Kyle Johansen (R-Ketchikan) thinks so.
He has filed a bill making it much harder for citizens to get an initiative on the ballot. Anchorage Rep. Charisse Millett and Wrangell Rep. Peggy Wilson, both Republicans, have joined his effort.