Alaska
The Kenai city council has approved $15,000 in taxpayer funds to fight an initiative placed on the ballot by city residents. Residents of the MAPS subdivision collected signatures to call a referendum on an ordinance that changed zoning laws to allow for increased development in their neighborhood.
Efforts are starting in Fairbanks to collect signatures for a statewide initiative that would expand the partial exemption on homeowners’ property taxes.
Crews are starting to collect signatures for a statewide initiative aimed at cutting homeowners’ property taxes. People working for the group have collected their first batch of signatures ”” 3,000 from the Anchorage area, said Eileen Cummings, a former Fairbanks assemblywoman who is helping lead the project. “So far, so good,” Cummings said.
If all works as planned, a new library and museum will be up and running in Seward by 2012. The new structure, which will be housed in the vicinity of Sixth Avenue and Adams Street, will stretch over 16,000 square feet. According to Seward Community Library director Patricia Linville, Seward has outgrown its current library, electronically and spatially.
The first of two public hearings on two possible ballot propositions are set for Tuesday’s Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly meeting. Should Ordinance 2009-31 pass, voters will be asked to decide whether the borough mayor should continue to run the administration — or merely serve as a figurehead.
The state’s top election official has certified two initiatives, one related to local property tax exemptions and the other about using public office to enrich oneself.
Gov. Sarah Palin says she’ll sign a petition aimed at letting Alaska voters decide whether girls under 18 should be required to notify their parents before getting abortions. Proponents will need just over 32,000 signatures to qualify the initiative for the 2010 ballot.
The 26th Alaska Legislature closed its session Sunday without passing House Bill 36. The bill would have required campaign finance reporting for initiative supporters and banned payment-per-signature.
Paying signature gatherers per-signature is the industry standard, even though critics claim that it invites fraud. Industry experts and ballot initiative rights supporters say that since initiative proponents only pay for valid signatures, it actually reduces fraud and increases productivity.
The Unites States Supreme Court denied Arizona’s request for an appeal in the case Nader v. Brewer. Last year the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Arizona’s law requiring petition circulators to be state residents. Thirteen other states had asked the high court to overturn the decistion. Similar laws in Ohio and Oklahoma were invalidated last year in the 6th and 10th Circuit Courts of Appeal.
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.
You have a statutory Initiative & Referendum process. Citizens can pass laws they write or suspend a statute passed by the Legislature by collecting enough petition signatures to place the statute on the statewide ballot for a decision by the voters. Unfortunately, voters do not yet enjoy any process for passing a constitutional amendment by Initiative.
Poll:
See the results of a poll on support for statewide initiative & referendum here.
Alaska became the 20th state to adopt a statewide initiative process
when it became a state in 1959. However, the procedure does not
include the right to make appropriations or amend the state constitution.
Proponents must first file an application and leave a
deposit with the Lieutenant Governor’s office. The deposit is $100 made
payable to the State of Alaska; it will be refunded if the petition is properly
filed and the measure is certified for the ballot. The application must
contain the signatures of 3 prime sponsors with a statement that they are
the initiative committee representing all sponsors. Proponents must also file
with the application a full copy of the proposed bill, and the signatures of
Date Initiative language can be submitted to the state: Any time.
Signatures are tied to vote of which office: Number of votes cast in the
general election prior to when the application was filed.
Next General election: 2010
Number of votes cast in last general election: 327,341 (2008)
Net number of signatures required: 10% of the number of votes cast in the
last general election. (32,734)