History of Initiative & Referendum in Alaska

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This article was significantly based on an article published by the Initiative & Referendum Institute and is used with their permission. Some portions of this article may have been adapted from Wikipedia, and information on the page may need to be updated.

The History of Initiative & Referendum in Alaska began in 1959 when it became the 20th state to adopt a statewide initiative process. Alaska's law allows for indirect initiated state statutes and for a veto referendum (to overturn laws passed by the Alaska State Legislature). However, Alaska voters do not have the right to make appropriations or amend the state constitution.

In the Alaska Constitution, Article XI reads, "The people may propose and enact laws by the initiative, and approve or reject acts of the legislature by referendum."

Using the initiative process to relocate the state capital

Alaska Capitol, still in Juneau

Citizens have used the initiative process five times in order to attempt to relocate the capital from Juneau to Anchorage. In 1974, voters approved an initiative to relocate the state capitol. Without an appropriation, this decision could be implemented only if the legislature acted. Since the legislature failed to respond, voters passed another initiative in 1978, this time requiring the state government to determine the cost of relocation and stipulating that any bond issue to finance that cost be subject to voter approval. The bond issue went to the voters in 1980, but they rejected it, resulting in Juneau remaining the state capital, despite its great distance from the major population center of Anchorage.

Unicameral advisory vote

In 1972, Alaskans voted in favor of an Advisory Vote on a Unicameral Legislature. The vote was approved, but the legislature declined to place the requested constitutional amendment on the ballot for a statewide vote.

Abolishing the state income tax

An initiative sponsored by the Libertarian Party to abolish the state personal income tax qualified for the November 1980 ballot. The initiative was enacted by the legislature on September 25 of that year, making it unnecessary for voter approval.

Use of veto referendum in Alaska

See also: List of veto referenda in Alaska

Alaskan voters have turned to the veto referendum process four times. The first occasion was in 1968, with the Voter Registration Referendum. The second was in 1975, with the Legislative Compensation Referendum, the third was the Land-and-Shoot Referendum in 2000 and the fourth was in 2014 with the Oil Tax Cuts Referendum.

State legislature actions regarding the initiative and referendum process

In 2004, the Alaska House of Representatives passed legislation which added a distribution requirement so that signatures must be obtained from residents in at least three-quarters of the House Districts in Alaska. Additionally, the legislation stated that the signatures gathered in each district must equal at least 7% percent of the number of people who voted in the most recent general election.

"I've been working on getting this kind of an amendment passed for more than six years. The initiative process has not been working the way the framers of our constitution intended it to do. Alaska must not fall prey to the kind of ballot-box lawmaking that has hamstrung governments in places like California and Oregon," said Rep. Bill Williams, who proposed the legislation.

See also

• Laws governing the initiative process in Alaska

External links

• Alaska Election Results 1960-present

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