April 13, 2010
Testimony delivered by Jason Brune, RDC Executive Director
Thank you Chairman French 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. I’ve also brought copies of today’s editorial that ran in the Anchorage Daily News that endorses both this legislation as well as your SB284. Personally, I’d like to thank you for your leadership on this important issue Senator French.
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. The framers of our constitution were wise to put the initiative process into our constitution. Interestingly, 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.
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.
This bill will also 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.
In conclusion, standards must be put in place to ensure a candid process and I applaud the House for overwhelmingly passing this bill. This is one of the most important bills to the state of Alaska and I urge your support of HB36. Thank you.
