Juneau -- Senate Republican Majority members issued the following statement regarding the governor's attempt to amend Alaska's constitution to add a rural preference for subsistence.

We view the resolution as a step backward from the progress that was made last year.

Governor Knowles announced that he would introduce the constitutional amendment, with no requirement for changes to ANILCA, in a simple attempt to gain credit for appearing to take the lead on this issue. Subsistence is a very complicated issue and no member in our Senate Majority caucus is willing to change our constitution without some concessions in federal law. Anything else would be irresponsible and unreasonable.

Although we have disagreed with members of our congressional delegation over how to solve this problem, some compromise with changes to federal law has always been a critical element of any plan. Even the governor's own task force members included substantial changes to ANILCA in their recommendations.

The Senate passed a subsistence package last year including required changes to ANILCA, a lawsuit challenging the federal government's authority to require a rural preference, and a constitutional amendment. Any constitutional amendment that doesn't contemplate, at a minimum, these considerations, will not garner the necessary votes to pass the Senate.