HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 5 Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the State of Alaska relating to initiative and referendum petitions. This was the first hearing for this bill in the Senate Finance Committee. Co-Chair Wilken stated this bill, sponsored by Representative Williams, "places before the voters a constitutional amendment that changes the signature requirements for initiative and referendum petitions." TIM BARRY, Staff to Representative Bill Williams, testified that currently, to place an initiative on the ballot, the Alaska State Constitution requires signatures equal to ten-percent of voters who voted in the most recent statewide general election from at least 27 of the 40 House districts. The amendment in this resolution would change the requirement for placing an initiative on the ballot. This resolution would require approval by a two-thirds plus one vote of both bodies of the Alaska State Legislature and a majority of the popular vote to bring the proposed amendment into law. Mr. Barry stated that this legislation is consistent with the intent of the authors of the Alaska State Constitution, referencing a document titled, "Additional Information for the Sponsor Statement for HB 31/HJR 5: Initiative and Referendum Petitions" [copy on file]. He stated that the authors of the Constitution wanted to ensure that initiatives received "a measure of support" throughout the State before being placed on the ballot. This legislation would fulfill that goal by amending the Constitution to reflect the current geographical distribution of the State of Alaska. Mr. Barry continued by referring to a report written by the National Conference of State Legislatures titled "Constitution of the State of Alaska"[copy on file], urging states to adopt geographical distribution requirements for initiative petition signatures such as that proposed by this resolution. He referred to statistical data on signature petitions, included in the "Initiative and Referendum Petitions" document. He proceeded to testify as follows. Of the ten initiatives that have been on the ballot since 1998, sponsors would have had to gather an average of 935 additional valid signatures to comply with this law. On these ten petitions sponsors gathered an average of 40,148 total signatures [when], in fact, the proposed legislation only requires signature gatherers to get signatures from as few as 2.4 percent, and at the most, 6.4 percent of registered voters in each district. Senator Bunde asked if the proposed resolution would reduce the overall number of signatures required to put an initiative on the ballot. Mr. Barry replied that this legislation would not change the total number of signatures required statewide for an initiative, but rather would require a greater number of signatures in each of the districts. Senator Bunde commented that although the election district he represents is one with a high population concentration and increasing growth, he supports this legislation. This resolution would increase public confidence in government by giving Alaskans assurance against paid petition gatherers soliciting signatures in heavily populated areas of the State. Co-Chair Wilken asked for a more thorough explanation of the initiative requirements. He requested that Mr. Barry go over a document titled "1997 Term Limits Pledge"[copy on file]. Mr. Barry explained, using the "1997 Term Limits Pledge" chart, the current requirements to place an initiative on the ballot versus the requirements of this resolution. Senator Olson asked whether this legislation has received any testimony in opposition or support from residents of rural Alaska. Mr. Barry replied that a significant amount of testimony from rural residents has been received in support of this bill. He could not recall any opposition voiced from rural residents. Senator Dyson spoke to the "unfortunate gradual shift" of political power to urban areas. He expressed regret that the State Senate districts were divided into geographical areas. He opposed the use of professional petition signature gatherers for ballot propositions. He supported this bill, particularly in relation to issues affecting rural residents, as it would return some power to rural areas. Senator Dyson offered a motion to report the bill from Committee with individual recommendations and accompanying fiscal note. There was no objection and HJR 5 MOVED from Committee with fiscal note #1 for $1,500 from the Office of the Governor.