Legislature(2019 - 2020)BUTROVICH 205
02/25/2020 03:30 PM Senate STATE AFFAIRS
Note: the audio ![]()
and video ![]()
recordings are distinct records and are obtained from different sources. As such there may be key differences between the two. The audio recordings are captured by our records offices as the official record of the meeting and will have more accurate timestamps. Use the icons to switch between them.
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SJR14 | |
| HB56 | |
| SB101 | |
| HB109 | |
| SB169 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | SJR 14 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | HB 56 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | SB 101 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 109 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | SJR 18 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| += | SB 169 | TELECONFERENCED | |
SJR 14-CONST. AM: VOTES NEEDED FOR VETO OVERRIDE
3:33:34 PM
CHAIR REVAK announced the consideration of SENATE JOINT
RESOLUTION NO. 14, Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of
the State of Alaska relating to actions upon veto.
3:34:05 PM
SENATOR JOHN COGHILL, speaking as sponsor of SJR 14, said this
is a balance of power issue. The Constitution of the State of
Alaska is meant to protect the voice of both the majority and
the minority in the legislature, but it was always contemplated
that the voice of the people would have a chance to rule. Last
year for the first time he can recall, the governor and a
minority of the legislature was able to throttle the voice of a
significant majority of the people of Alaska. He brought SJR 14
forward on that account.
3:36:05 PM
SHAWN AYERS, Staff, Senator John Coghill, Alaska State
Legislature, Juneau, Alaska, read the following sponsor
statement for SJR 14:
SJR 14 lowers the threshold for overriding the
governor's veto of appropriations to two-thirds of the
membership of the legislature. This sets the standard
for veto overrides of appropriations in line with the
existing threshold for non-appropriation vetoes and
mirrors the majority of other states in the nation.
The Constitution of Alaska gives the governor more
power than any other state. He appoints his cabinet,
the Attorney General, Boards and Commissions, Judges
and the Board of Regents and appoints two members of
the redistricting board. Few state constitutions grant
as much authority to the governor as Alaska does. This
is because most of the other constitutions were
written with a history of tyrannical or corrupt
executives in mind.
Alaska is the only state or territory in the United
States that requires three-fourths of the
legislature's membership vote to override
appropriation bill vetoes.
It is essential that the constitutionally granted
separation of powers between legislative and executive
branches be beneficially rebalanced.
3:37:22 PM
SENATOR COGHILL said the sponsor statement points out that
Alaska is the only state in the union that has a three-quarter
vote threshold in the constitution to override a governor's veto
on appropriations. The Constitutional Convention minutes
indicate that the delegates wanted a very strong executive which
was appropriate at the time when Alaska needed a strong voice to
talk to the federal government. He emphasized that SJR 14 does
not diminish the power of the governor. It does reduce the very
high three-quarter's vote threshold to override appropriation
vetoes that demonstrably throttled a significant voice of the
people last year. He opined that a two-thirds threshold to
override a governor's appropriation veto is still very high.
3:41:41 PM
CHAIR REVAK found no questions and stated he would hold SJR 14
for future consideration.