Industries back bill that would change ballot initiative process

February 23, 2010

Ralph Samuels, with Holland America Cruises, says the bill is all about transparency. (Dan Carpenter/KTUU-DT)

by Lori Tipton
Monday, February 22, 2010

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- 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.

At the luncheon, industry leaders with oil and gas, mining and cruising gathered to talk about their support for the bill, which would make changes to ballot initiatives.

"Everything gets distilled down to who has the cutest bumper sticker," said Ralph Samuels, with Holland America Cruise Line.

The bill would hold guidelines similar to those imposed upon elected officials.

During the process to get an initiative on the ballot, individuals and groups who financially contribute to initiative campaigns would be required to disclose who they are and how much they spend.

Also, the bill would mandate that initiative sponsors hold eight public hearings, two in each judicial district of the state.

And HB 36 would make it illegal for initiative circulators to be paid on a per-signature basis. Currently, petitioners are paid $1 per signature. The bill would allow petitioners to be paid per hour or per bonus or salary.

Petitioners would also have to carry a full copy of the ballot initiative on them, instead of a 500-word summary.

"I think that disclosure is the biggest thing so that everybody knows who's trying to influence the election from day one. The moment you start gathering signatures, you want to know whether it be a business group, an environmental group, a labor group," Samuels said.

In 2006 the cruise industry fought hard against a ballot initiative to impose a head tax per passenger.

The voters approved it, but Samuels says most people weren't well-informed beforehand.

"It was sold as a $50 head tax and people argued back and forth upon that, but it changed, big changes in the regulatory environment on wastewater discharge it had some disclosure requirements, the contractual arrangements that you have with vendors and that goes into the public eye," Samuels said.

Responsible Cruising in Alaska, which sponsored the ballot initiative to impose the head tax, says this bill would make it significantly harder for Alaskans to get initiatives on the ballot.

"This is just a vindictive measure to try to kill off initiatives," said Joe Geldhof with RCA.

"House Bill 36 in its current form would substantially erode the ability of Alaskans to directly enact legislation that concerns them," Geldhof said.

The bill is currently being heard in the House Finance Committee.

If approved by that committee, the bill will then go to the House floor, and if passed there, on to the Senate.

Contact Lori Tipton at ltipton@ktuu.com

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