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Session: State Capitol, Room 502 Juneau, AK 99801-1182 Phone: (907) 465-3424 Fax: (907) 465-3793 Send E-Mail Interim: 50 Front Street, Suite 203 Ketchikan, AK 99901 Phone: (907) 247-4672 Fax: (907) 225-7157 |
Measure Involves More of Alaska in Initiative Process
For Immediate Release: February 3, 2000
Contact: Kyle Johansen, Aide to Representative Bill Williams, at (907) 465-3424.
Juneau -- The Senate Judiciary committee moved HJR 7 and HB 45 out of committee on Wednesday. The measures, sponsored by Saxman Representative Bill Williams, would require broader geographic support of an issue before a ballot question is approved.
"A large number of Alaskans are being left out of the initiative process. People in Ketchikan, Kodiak, Nome, Sitka and Bethel just to name a few are excluded from the issue until the question is formed and on the ballot. This legislation will stimulate local conversation about these issues and provide feedback for a balanced question of statewide perspective." said Williams.
"I think we had a good discussion during the two Judiciary hearings. People are recognizing that there is a problem in the current system. We are a much different state today than when the Constitution was written in 1955. The Anchorage area population has exploded to over half the state total. Transportation and technology have made tremendous advances. The same issues addressed in HJR 7 were debated during the constitutional convention but the framers main concerns of access and transportation have been allayed through time." he continued.
Williams concluded, "The framers of the constitution could not predict specific changes but they built in a mechanism to adjust the document when needed, as in this case. We must keep the constitution consistent with the tremendous changes our state has experienced over 45 years."
House Bill 45 was amended as the request of the Lt. Governor to align State statutes with the United States Supreme Court decision of Buckley v. American Constitutional Law Foundation. "Buckley" found that signature gatherers did not have to be registered voters in the state or wear identification badges while gathering signatures. In addition, a Senate Concurrent Resolution was introduced to allow the title change needed for HB 45 to include the Buckley language.
The package of legislation, supported 35-4 last year in the House, now heads to the Senate Finance committee for consideration.