1994-07-15                     House Journal                      Page 4525
HB 347                                                                       
The following letter dated June 29, 1994, was received:                        
                                                                               
                                                                               
"Dear Speaker Barnes:                                                          
                                                                               
Under the authority of art. II, sec. 15, of the Alaska Constitution, I         
have vetoed the following bill:                                                
                                                                               
SENATE CS FOR CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 347 (STA) am S                            
"An Act relating to long-term plans of certain state agencies and             
recommendations regarding elimination of duplication in state                  
agency functions."                                                             
                                                                               
                                                                               
This bill would have required the principal departments of the                 
executive branch to develop long-term plans, which would be reviewed           
by the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee and the Office of                
Management and Budget.  A final, single long-term plan would be                
compiled by the Office of Management and Budget.                               
                                                                               
                                                                               
While many of the ideas in the legislation are good ones, I do not             
believe that they need to be set in statute.  As a matter of fact, I am        
signing today an administrative order that preserves the valuable points       
made in the legislation while preserving the proper roles of the               
executive and legislative branches of government.                              
                                                                               
                                                                               
The legislation confuses the lines of responsibility in the executive          
branch.  The Alaska Constitution requires that the heads of principal          
departments be confirmed by the Legislature.  These department heads           
report directly to the Governor.  This legislation appears to require          
those department heads to defend their long-term plans before the              
Legislative Budget and Audit Committee.  This confuses the traditional         
roles between the executive and legislative branches.                          
                                                                               
                                                                               
Any Governor can--and should--require state departments to conduct             
long-term planning.  But to lock these requirements in statute hampers         
the flexibility that a Governor needs to meet the special problems of          
                                                                               

1994-07-15                     House Journal                      Page 4526
HB 347                                                                       
any particular time.  There are already a great many strong planning           
programs in place and to statutorily establish another layer of planning,      
would be to create unnecessary confusion and incur unnecessary                 
expense.  This administrative order will put in place a process which          
includes appropriate input from the public and the Legislature in long-        
term planning and in measuring the effectiveness of state government           
services.                                                                      
                                                                               
									Sincerely,                                                            
									/s/                                                                   
									Walter J. Hickel                                                      
									Governor"