February 8, 2010
Testimony delivered by Jason Brune, RDC Executive Director
Thank you Chairman Stoltze, Chairman Hawker, and members of the committee.
For the record, my name is Jason Brune and I am the executive director of the
Resource Development Council. I appreciate the opportunity to testify today in
support of HB36.
This bill is one of RDC’s top priorities and I won’t speak for other organizations,
but I know it ranks high on most other state business associations’ lists.
Although we sometimes may question the appropriateness and the role of the
petition process as a means of governing, RDC appreciates the democratic rights
of Alaskans to change state law through the initiative process. However, as we
have seen over the last several years, a number of proposed initiatives have
been brought forward that do not have the best interest of the state nor its people
in mind. Furthermore, tactics are often used in the signature gathering process
that mislead the public and misconstrue the issues and impacts at play.
RDC believes that openness and transparency must be at the forefront of good
government.
I’m happy that Representative Crawford and former Representative Croft brought
up the framers of our constitution. Indeed, Vic Fischer, one of the 55 delegates
to the Alaska Constitutional Convention and a previous ballot initiative sponsor,
spoke at the 2008 RDC Conference about the initiative process. “Believe it or
not, I was one of the people who voted against the article on the initiative
because, I argued strenuously at that time, that the initiative is a device that
lends itself most to special interests – to groups that want to get something that
they cannot get through the Legislature.” Mr. Fischer’s words were quite
profound, and we have witnessed those special interests embracing the initiative
process over the last decade. In just the past five years the Alaska business
community has been the target of numerous punitive ballot initiatives pushed by
anti-business and environmental interest groups unable to accomplish their goals
through the legislative process.
Gov. Sean Parnell also expressed his support for initiative reform at this year’s
RDC Conference. “Ballot initiatives are powerful tools to change public policy –
and the campaigns behind them are super-funded and super-charged. Alaska’s
voters deserve to know what interests and dollars are behind those campaigns.
For these reasons, you can count on my support for ballot initiative reform. In my
view, that reform should focus on financial disclosure. The right to see the money
behind the campaigns is the very least Alaskans should expect.”
This bill will require both public and legislative hearings for initiatives. This is a
good idea. The process each of you as legislators go through to pass laws is
extremely thorough. Unintended consequences of a piece of legislation are
usually vetted through the numerous committee hearings, public testimony, and
floor debates that a bill requires.
Each of you who generously give of your time to make laws for this great state
are required to disclose how you raise money and how you spend money. Why
shouldn’t we hold those who are attempting to change state law through the
initiative process to that same standard? And, why wouldn’t we make them
disclose the source of their funds while they are collecting 30,000 plus signatures
statewide. This openness and transparency will bring into the light of day the
agendas, hidden or not, of the initiative sponsors.
In response to Rep. Thomas’ and Rep. Kelly’s questions and Chip Toma’s
statements, RDC would actively oppose an amendment that prohibits or limits“outside” contributions to this process. There are a large number of these so
called “outside” companies that invest in Alaska and employ hard working
Alaskans be it in the oil and gas sector, mining, fisheries, tourism, you name it.
By doing business in Alaska, they demonstrate that they have a dog in this fight
and they should be allowed to participate in the process.
I’d also like to respond to Representative Crawford that there is no requirement
that you have to pay signature gatherers. But, if you’re going to, it seems the
right thing to do to make sure they are paid a fair wage.
In conclusion, standards must be put in place to ensure a candid process and we
applaud the bill’s author and co-sponsors for introducing the bill. This is one of
the most important bills to my members and to the state of Alaska. I urge your
support of HB36.
