Legislature(2005 - 2006)CAPITOL 106
05/05/2005 08:00 AM House STATE AFFAIRS
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB28 | |
| SB172 | |
| HB176 | |
| HB273 | |
| SB132 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | HB 28 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | SB 172 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 176 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | HB 273 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | SB 132 | TELECONFERENCED | |
SB 172-INITIATIVE/REFERENDUM BALLOT SUMMARY 8:26:57 AM CHAIR SEATON announced that the next order of business was SENATE BILL NO. 172, "An Act relating to the presentation of initiatives and referenda on the ballot." 8:26:59 AM JOE BALASH, Staff to Senator Gene Therriault, Alaska State Legislature, on behalf of Senator Therriault, sponsor, paraphrased the sponsor statement, which read as follows: AS 15.45.180(a) currently provides that once an initiative petition is certified as containing the number of valid signatures required for placement on the ballot, the lieutenant governor shall prepare both a ballot title and a proposition for the election ballot. The same mechanism applies at AS 15.45.410(a) for referenda. Under existing law, the ballot title must indicate the "general subject of the proposition," and may not exceed six words. The proposition must give a "true and impartial summary" of the proposed law, in not more than 100 words. With the increasing complexity of laws being proposed by initiative, it is difficult to provide an accurate description of the contents of a proposed law in only six words. Likewise, the Legislature is currently taking on more controversial and complex legislation that some voter groups may attempt to overturn through use of the referendum. The current word length limitations on ballot titles contributes to the likelihood that voters will not fully understand the scope and effect of initiative propositions and referenda that are placed before them. Allowing the lieutenant governor up to 25 words for the ballot title will provide the opportunity for a more accurate description of the contents of the proposed law. 8:30:25 AM REPRESENTATIVE GATTO asked how long the lieutenant governor has to act on a ballot title and proposition that has been given to him/her. 8:30:57 AM MR. BALASH said he doesn't know. 8:31:08 AM CHAIR SEATON offered his understanding that there is no time frame currently, but there may be an amendment to address that issue. He asked Mr. Balash if he has seen the amendments. 8:31:42 AM MR. BALASH said he has recently seen an amendment [later named Amendment 1], which read as follows [original punctuation provided]: After line 8 insert a new subsection to read: AS 15.45.180(c) "The lieutenant governor shall submit the ballot title and proposition to the director not later than 30 days after the date of the adjournment of the first regular legislative session convened after the petition is filed" MR. BALASH said, "On it's face it makes sense," considering the timeframe in which the petition circulators have to get the signatures turned back in to the lieutenant governor. 8:32:16 AM CHAIR SEATON reviewed that an initiative petition has to be filed "before," in order to give the legislature time to enact substantially similar legislation. If the legislature adopts such legislation, then the proposition doesn't go forward; if it does not, then the lieutenant governor prepares the language that will go on the ballot within a certain time frame. He indicated that [Amendment 1] would give a timeframe, without which "time can get pushed back." 8:33:20 AM REPRESENTATIVE GARDNER asked: "If there is legislative session after the petition is filed and a substantially similar law passes, what is the timeline and who determines whether it's substantially similar?" 8:33:41 AM CHAIR SEATON offered his understanding that that's determined by the lieutenant governor, and by the courts if there is a challenge. He noted that there have been some challenges in the past. 8:33:50 AM REPRESENTATIVE LYNN noted that there are two potential amendments in the committee packet, and he asked for a comparison of the two. 8:34:11 AM MR. BALASH referred to the other amendment in the committee packet [later named Amendment 2], which read as follows [original punctuation provided]: After line 14 insert a new subsection to read: AS 15.45.410(c) "The lieutenant governor shall submit the ballot title and proposition to the director not later than 60 days after the date the petition is filed." MR. BALASH explained that would be [60 days] from the date that the petition is filed with the lieutenant governor. He offered an example whereby session began on January [10], which meant that petitions had to be turned in to the lieutenant governor before the gavel fell on January 10. Sixty days after that, regardless of whether or not the lieutenant governor has actually certified that the signatures are "equal in number to that required," he/she would have to come up with the ballot title and language. He concluded, "So, in this case we would be talking about the difference between ... approximately March 10 and, hopefully, June 10." 8:35:25 AM CHAIR SEATON clarified that the amendments would modify two different sections; therefore, they are not conflicting amendments. 8:36:05 AM REPRESENTATIVE GATTO moved to adopt Amendment 1 [text provided previously]. There being no objection, Amendment 1 was adopted. 8:36:57 AM REPRESENTATIVE GATTO moved to adopt Amendment 2 [text provided previously]. There being no objection, Amendment 2 was adopted. 8:37:46 AM CHAIR SEATON, after ascertaining that there was no one to testify on SB 172, closed public testimony. 8:37:51 AM REPRESENTATIVE RAMRAS moved to report SB 172, as amended, out of committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal note. There being no objection, HCS SB 172(STA) was reported out of the House State Affairs Standing Committee.
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