State Feed: Alaska

Alaska: Parental notification passes in Alaska

TrevorF — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 11:48:41 -0400

Alaskans on Tuesday approved a controversial voter initiative requiring parents to be notified before their teen age 17 and younger receives an abortion. Ballot Measure 2 was one of the most fiercely contested items in the primary election, with total spending by both sides combined nearing $1 million. Tuesday’s vote marks the first time Alaska voters confronted the abortion issue at the polls.

Read the story from The Miami Herald

Alaska: Parental notification will go to voters

TrevorF — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 17:38:04 -0400

Alaska voters will decide Tuesday whether a parent or guardian must be notified if a pregnant girl under 18 seeks an abortion. A second ballot measure seeks to ban municipal governments and school districts from spending public money to lobby.

Read the story from MSN Money

Alaska: Measure 1 group fined for missing spending report submission

TrevorF — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 13:54:57 -0400

The group behind Ballot Measure 1, Clean Team Alaska, and one of its largest financial backers have been fined by the Alaska Public Offices Commission. Ballot Measure 1 is an initiative that would prohibit the use of public funds to lobby or campaign, and also prohibit holders of government contracts and family members from making political contributions. Clean Team Alaska closed its doors in June, after Lt. Gov. Craig Campbell changed the language of the ballot initiative.

Read the story from KTUU 2

Alaska: Transparency issue on the ballot

TrevorF — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 11:04:54 -0400

In Alaska, a state that has had more than its share of political scandals, it’s no surprise that an initiative aimed at cleaning up government made it onto the ballot this year. What’s surprising is how many respected groups have lined up against it. Opponents of Proposition 1 include the AARP, the Alaska Municipal League and associations of police and firefighters. Both the state chamber of commerce and the AFL-CIO agree that the measure shouldn’t pass.

Alaska: Financial disclosure sought by regulators

TrevorF — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 16:24:35 -0400

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.

Alaska: Disclosure requirements for initiatives signed into law

TrevorF — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 13:52:53 -0400

According to the Juneau Empire on Sunday, Gov. Sean Parnell has signed off on House Bill 36, which sets new financial disclosure requirements for ballot initiative campaigns and gives new duties concerning initiatives to the lieutenant governor’s office.

Read the story from the Alaska Dispatch

Alaska: School board opposes anti-corruption initiative

TrevorF — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 11:34:49 -0400

The Anchorage School Board voted Monday to oppose the anti-corruption initiative expected on the ballot this August. School Board President John Steiner says the initiative would make it harder for the district to explain its concerns and needs to lawmakers because it would bar, in part, government from paying lobbying groups.

Read the story from KTUU 2

Alaska: Abortion notification measure will be on ballot

TrevorF — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 11:10:07 -0400

The state Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that an initiative requiring parental notification for minors seeking an abortion will be on the August primary ballot. Planned Parenthood had argued that more than 36,000 voters who signed the initiative petition failed to receive key information on sign-up sheets, for example that physicians could be charged and imprisoned if they failed to properly inform a parent.

Read the story from the Juneau Empire

Alaska: Group says measure is actually a restriction on participation in government

TrevorF — Fri, 14 May 2010 12:32:38 -0400

A ballot measure facing Alaska voters in August claims to be opposed to corruption, but Alaska Municipal League’s Kathie Wasserman says it is actually an attack on citizen participation in their government. Wasserman told the Juneau Chamber of Commerce Thursday that a ballot measure deemed the “anti-corruption” initiative isn’t what it appears. “This initiative sounds on the outside like something we’d all back,” she said.

Read the story from the Juneau Empire

Alaska: Judge removes self from abortion initiative ruling

TrevorF — Thu, 13 May 2010 11:10:47 -0400

According to the Anchorage Daily News, Alaska Supreme Court Justice Morgan Christen has decided to remove herself from a position to decide on the lawsuit to invalidate a ballot initiative that would require doctors to notify parents if their minor child seeks an abortion. Years ago, Christen had served on the board of Planned Parenthood, the group that brought the suit, and The Alaska Family Council, an anti-abortion group, sent out e-mail alerts telling its members to contact judicial officials and object to an alleged conflict of interest. A “barrage” of messages ensued.

Alaska: Rally on ballot initiative held in Fairbanks

TrevorF — Mon, 03 May 2010 10:35:04 -0400

A statewide ballot initiative is getting some attention from Fairbanks politicians and union leaders who are opposed to it. A rally was held Saturday at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers headquarters in Fairbanks to oppose Ballot Measure 1. The ballot initiative aims to tighten restrictions on campaign contributions and publicly funded lobbyists. Opponents say it goes too far, impeding free-speech rights and important government functions.

Read the story from KTUU 2

Alaska Legislature Adjourns, Sure to Ding Initiative Rights on the Way Out

Brandon — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 09:47:15 -0400

As the 26th Alaska Legislature wrapped up its 2010 session late Sunday night, making it harder for citizens to use the state’s already-restricted initiative process was at the front of lawmakers’ minds.

Alaska: Bill requires public hearings for ballot initiatives

TrevorF — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 17:06:29 -0400

Alaskans can find out who’s financing ballot initiative organizers far sooner under a bill the Legislature passed late Sunday. Rep. Kyle Johansen’s bill now goes to Gov. Sean Parnell. The Ketchikan Republican says past initiative campaigns had been heavily financed by out-of-state interests. They didn’t have to report their finances until after the question had been certified for the ballot.

Read the story from KTUU 2

Alaska: Ballot initiative financing bill moves to House floor

TrevorF — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 15:31:28 -0400

A campaign finance disclosure bill for those organizing and influencing Alaska ballot initiatives is headed to the House floor. The House Finance Committee passed Rep. Kyle Johansen’s bill Tuesday. Current law requires disclosures, but a Johansen aide says that’s after a process that can take up to a year and includes having the ballot question’s language certified and cleared by the attorney general; signatures gathered and the measure approved for the ballot.

Read the story from KTUU 2

Alaska: Challenge to abortion initiative fails

TrevorF — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 13:48:53 -0400

According to the Anchorage Daily News, a Superior Court judge has ruled against the legal challenge filed by Planned Parenthood of Alaska against a ballot initiative that would require doctors to notify a parent if a daughter under the age of 18 is seeking an abortion. The challenge was based on a previous Alaska Supreme Court decision that an earlier parental notification law violated patients’ right to privacy. Although the court decided this new initiative (set to go on the Aug.

Alaska: Rewrite of abortion initiative ordered

TrevorF — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 10:47:04 -0400

An Alaska judge has ordered the lieutenant governor to rewrite ballot language for a proposed abortion initiative. But Superior Court Judge Frank Pfiffner stopped short of ordering the measure be kept off the ballot this year. Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest and ACLU of Alaska argued the language used in circulating petitions for the parental consent initiative was misleading.

Read the story from KTUU 2

Bill Would Restrict Process in Alaska

TrevorF — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 16:14:19 -0500

In Alaska, House Bill 36 says it will make the state’s initiative process more transparent and open. It always seems that when those two words start flying out of the mouths of government officials the results will be anything but open and transparent.

Alaska: New bill would restrict the process

TrevorF — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 12:33:43 -0500

A bill that could change the ballot initiative process in Alaska is making its way through the legislature. House Bill 36 was the topic of discussion at the Anchorage Chamber’s Make it Monday forum this week. Industry leaders spoke in favor of the bill that claims to create an open and transparent process, but opponents say it would make it harder for individual Alaskans to enact legislation that concerns them.

Read the story from KTUU 2

Alaska: Legislature may overturn session limit approved by voters

TrevorF — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 10:23:24 -0500

A legislative task force says the 90-day limit imposed by Alaska voters on how long the Legislature can be in session is too short and should be overturned by lawmakers. The new report cites reasons ranging from legislators saying they aren’t getting enough sleep to complaining they don’t get to talk enough with their constituents over the three months. The report is from a subcommittee appointed in the state House to study the impact of the shortened session. It’s led by Homer Republican Rep. Paul Seaton and includes Rep. Max Gruenberg, D-Anchorage, and Rep. Bryce Edgmon, D-Dillingham.

Alaska: Secession initiative rejected by court

TrevorF — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 11:17:45 -0500

The Alaska Supreme Court again blocked a ballot initiative aimed at getting Alaska residents to vote to secede from the United States. Scott Kohlhaas first tried in 2003 to get a ballot initiative asking Alaska voters if they wanted the state to secede from the union. The lieutenant governor refused to place the initiative on the ballot, and the superior and supreme courts agreed that the effort was unconstitutional.

Read the story from the Courthouse News Service