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.