SB 14-MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS    1:35:34 PM   CHAIR GARY STEVENS announced the first order of business to be SB 14, which is a bill that he introduced last year, but that didn't make it through the process after it was amended. Several boroughs have requested the legislation, which is intended to help local governments avoid costly special initiative and referendum elections because these types of elections are expensive and tend to have low voter turnout. SB 14 gives communities the option of waiting until the next regular election or proceeding with a special election if they choose to do so. 1:36:58 PM SB 14 doesn't apply to home rule municipalities and the Alaska Municipal League, Fairbanks North Star Borough, Kenai Peninsula Borough, Mat-Su Borough, Ketchikan Gateway Borough, the City of Juneau and several other communities have expressed support for the bill. CHAIR GARY STEVENS noted that Mrs. Murphy from Kenai was largely responsible for the bill. MRS. LINDA MURPHY, Kenai Peninsula Borough clerk, thanked Senator Gary Stevens for introducing the bill and said that the chair had given a good explanation of the bill. She emphasized that special elections can be very expensive to a community. Because they aren't budgeted items, each time there is a special election, a supplemental appropriation is necessary. She urged members to move the bill and remarked that she was hopeful it wouldn't get held up with unrelated amendments as happened last year. MONA LISA DREXLER, Fairbanks North Star Borough clerk, spoke with the approval of her assembly in support of SB 14 stating that it's a priority for her borough. She reported that in Alaska there are about 140 municipalities that must follow Title 29 on special elections. About 21 municipalities are home rule communities and the bill would not affect them. 1:39:58 PM In closing she said, "But whether you're a municipality that has a population base of 340 people, such as Elum, or 86,500, such as the Fairbanks North Star Borough, a special election is costly, timely and traditionally the turnout is very low." LAURIE SICA, City and Borough of Juneau (CBJ) clerk, stated that Juneau is a home rule municipality so they follow their own rules for elections. 1:41:09 PM She reported that the mayor was not interested in changing the CBJ code unless this change is made at the state level, but she would very much like SB 14 to pass because in the last two years CBJ had two special elections and each cost about $35,000. Although she didn't believe the assembly would have put the issues on a regular ballot because they were timely, she anticipates another issue for special election in 2005 that is not timely. 1:42:12 PM CHAIR GARY STEVENS said the only criticism he's heard on the bill is some saying that it takes power out of the peoples' hands. However, the local borough assembly or council can decide whether the issue is timely enough to hold a special election. If not, they would have the option of waiting until the regular election. He asked whether she thought that was agreeable. MS. SICA replied it does make it a more political decision at the assembly, but they certainly weigh the timeliness of issues and they are elected to serve the public. SENATOR JOHNNY ELLIS noted that he is new to the committee and was unfamiliar with the issues that came up last year that caused the bill to fail. SENATOR GARY STEVENS said an amendment was made that brought in the Anchorage elections, which resulted in the bill being sidetracked. "Other than that, I think the bill would have moved right on through without any problem," he said. SENATOR ELLIS said he remembers the blowup SENATOR THOMAS WAGONER announced that he might amend the bill. He explained that he likes the fact that Washington State requires a 60 percent voter turnout for special elections or the election isn't certified. This forces issues to be carried over to a regular election whenever possible so that a majority of the people decide on the issue. As a result, there are very few special elections that promote special interest issues. He said he would look into the matter further. 1:45:14 PM SENATOR GARY STEVENS agreed that special elections frequently have a smaller turnout than regular elections. He said that working for increased voter turnout is part of the rationale behind SB 14. 1:46:14 PM SENATOR GARY STEVENS asked whether there were further comments, questions or concerns. He said the motion before the committee was to approve, with the attached fiscal note, and asked if there was objection. SENATOR ELLIS asked whether it was a motion to move the bill from committee with individual recommendations. SENATOR GARY STEVENS asked Senator Wagoner to restate his motion. SENATOR WAGONER motioned to move SB 14 from committee with individual recommendations and attached zero fiscal note. SENATOR ELLIS asked if an amendment might be offered at another stage of the process. SENATOR WAGONER said yes, he'd have to study the matter further and talk with legislative legal to determine whether there was a constitutional question. SENATOR ELLIS asked if this might not be the appropriate committee to consider the amendment particularly since this is the only committee of referral. SENATOR GARY STEVENS agreed that this was the only committee that would hear the bill. SENATOR WAGONER said he could amend the bill on the floor and assured members that he wouldn't ambush the chair or the committee. SENATOR ELLIS pointed out that although he wouldn't intend to do so, committee work conducted on the floor could be problematic. SENATOR WAGONER said it's up to the chair. SENATOR ELLIS asked how quickly he could prepare the amendment. SENATOR WAGONER said he'd have his staff contact Tam Cook in legislative legal to discuss the possibilities. SENATOR ELLIS stated that if there were another committee of referral it would be reasonable to move the bill since the bill presented no problems in the original form. He assured members that he had no reason to block the bill, but he thought the CRA Committee should consider the amendment if it could be done expeditiously. SENATOR GARY STEVENS said he understood, but he wasn't sure the suggested amendment would fit within SB 14. 1:48:26 PM SENATOR WAGONER said people that run municipal governments frequently have an agenda to bring up special elections and this wouldn't keep them from using that authority to further their agenda. The taxpayers would lose and his amendment would address that. SENATOR GARY STEVENS said he was willing to hold the bill. SENATOR WAGONER said that was agreeable. SENATOR ELLIS thanked the chair and said this was the only committee that the public could weigh in on the idea and that was all he asked. SENATOR GARY STEVENS announced he would hold SB 14 in committee.