2025-07-30                     Senate Journal                      Page 1414
SB 183                                                                                                                        
Letter dated June 11 was received:                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
Dear President Stevens:                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
Under the authority vested in me by Article II, Section 15, of the                                                              
Alaska Constitution, I have vetoed the following bill:                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
         SENATE BILL NO. 183 "An Act relating to                                                                                
         hindering the Legislative Budget and Audit                                                                             
         Committee; relating to the powers of the Legislative                                                                   
         Budget and Audit Committee and the legislative audit                                                                   
         division; and providing for an effective date."                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
SB?183 would enact a sweeping and likely unconstitutional delegation                                                            
of legislative authority to the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee                                                          
(LB&A) and the Legislative Auditor, compelling executive-branch                                                                 
agencies to assemble, generate, and furnish information in whatever                                                             
form the Committee demands and under threat of criminal sanction                                                                
and mandatory dismissal. The Alaska Supreme Court has long held                                                                 
that a grant by the Legislature of a sweeping discretionary mandate                                                             
without guidance or limitation is an unconstitutional delegation of                                                             
legislative power.                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
Article?IX, Section?14 of the Alaska Constitution authorizes an auditor                                                         
to "conduct post-audits as prescribed by law" and to report findings to                                                         
the Legislature and the Governor. The Alaska Constitution does not                                                              
grant to the Auditor or to LB&A discretion to command the activities                                                            
of the executive branch by ordering state agency employees to produce                                                           

2025-07-30                     Senate Journal                      Page 1415
work product at their whim and under threat of criminal sanction, nor                                                           
may the Legislature delegate such an expansive and unchecked                                                                    
authority.                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
Sincerely,                                                                                                                      
/s/                                                                                                                             
Mike Dunleavy                                                                                                                   
Governor