The man who caused so much trouble in August is at it again.
Ray Metcalfe, who launched the unsuccessful referendum to repeal the Alaska oil production-tax overhaul known as Senate Bill 21, has received approval from the state to begin collecting signatures for a new initiative, this one designed to prevent corruption.
The initiative proposes criminal penalties for public officials who give "competitive advantages" or steer appropriations to close associates, such as family, employers, business partners or campaign contributors. Anyone who induces a public official to commit such an act would also be subject to the same criminal penalty, a class A felony.
If the law had been on the books during the 2013 Legislature, lawmakers who worked for oil companies yet still voted to pass the tax rewrite would have been violating the law, Metcalfe said.
"Think of it as a Christmas present," Metcalfe said of the initiative, adding that signature gatherers should soon be on the streets across the state.
"When you were in third grade, your teacher told you of a government that made its decisions based on the merits of the issue. It could still happen," he said.
Currently, Alaska's "citizen legislature," with most lawmakers employed in other full-time work, generally requires that members vote even if they have a conflict of interest. Rules require lawmakers to declare conflicts, but only unanimous approval by the House or Senate can allow the legislator to abstain from voting.
Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell certified the initiative application on Nov. 26. A letter from Treadwell to Metcalfe said he had taken the proper steps, including gathering signatures of enough qualified sponsors -- 146 -- to receive signature booklets.
Treadwell was replaced on Monday by Byron Mallott.
The signature booklets should be available any day, launching a one-year signature gathering process, Metcalfe said.
He will need to gather 28,545 qualified signatures, or 10 percent of the number of voters in the Nov. 4 general election.
The prime sponsors are Metcalfe, Anchorage trial attorney Hal Gazaway and Thomas Schulz, a retired Alaska judge living in Ketchikan, Metcalfe said.
Ballot Measure 1 touched off a massive battle with the state's largest oil producers, which funneled millions of dollars into campaign efforts to stop it. It failed in the Aug. 19 primary election.
Metcalfe said he's dubbing his new initiative "The Bribery Stops Here Inc." The incorporated group is simply renamed from the "Stop the Giveaway" group that had fought SB 21, he said.
That effort ended with a little more than $2,000 in the bank that can be rolled over to help pay for the new signature-gathering effort, Metcalfe said.