Politics

These 2 initiatives will go before Alaska voters this year – unless the Supreme Court blocks 1

Two citizens initiatives are set to appear on the ballot this year after state election officials approved them this week, though the Alaska Supreme Court could still block one from a vote.

The Alaska Division of Elections said backers of both initiatives — one to promote government ethics and quicker budgeting, and another to protect salmon habitat — gathered the minimum 32,000 signatures from supporters required to place the questions on the ballot.

Voters will decide on them in either the August primary election or the November general election, depending on when the Legislature adjourns its annual session. (The Alaska Constitution requires at least four months to elapse between the end of the session and votes on initiatives.)

The salmon habitat boosters gathered 42,000 signatures, while supporters of the other initiative gathered 41,000. Both efforts paid signature gatherers to help hit the required threshold.

The government accountability initiative is certain to appear on the ballot this year. It's sponsored by two legislators and an Anchorage activist and does not appear to have any organized opposition, though one sitting Republican House member criticized it in a recent opinion piece.

The initiative's provisions include cutting off legislators' daily expense payments if they're more than a month late passing a budget. It would also bar them from allowing lobbyists to buy them meals, and would restrict lawmakers' foreign travel.

The salmon initiative would rewrite the state's system of permitting for projects that affect fish habitat, and boost protections. Its sponsors cite potential threats to salmon habitat like the proposed Pebble mine, as well as dormant projects like the Chuitna coal mine near Cook Inlet and the dam on the Susitna River.

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Critics, who have organized a group called Stand for Alaska, say the proposal would stifle big development projects and public infrastructure upgrades.

Before the salmon habitat initiative can appear on the ballot, it will have to survive a challenge before the Alaska Supreme Court.

The elections division initially rejected the initiative, saying it violated a constitutional ban on using initiatives to appropriate state assets — in this case, by proposing to appropriate water for fish habitat and not development.

The initiative's supporters won a lower court case appealing the denial. The state then took the case to the Alaska Supreme Court.

The two sides are scheduled to argue the case before the Supreme Court justices April 26, according to the state court system.

Nathaniel Herz

Anchorage-based independent journalist Nathaniel Herz has been a reporter in Alaska for nearly a decade, with stints at the Anchorage Daily News and Alaska Public Media. Read his newsletter, Northern Journal, at natherz.substack.com

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