Repealing SB21 – The Fight Begins
Alaska Founding Father Vic Fischer, former Anchorage Assemblywoman Jane Angvik and Jack Roderick, author of the oil history book “Crude Dreams,” appeared in the shadow of the building that holds the Lt. Governor’s office – the Robert Atwood Building to call for the repeal of the controversial Senat Bill 21.
The countdown for the referendum has already started. Over 30,000 signatures (10% of the votes cast in 2012) are needed within 90 days after the bill left the Senate, which was last Sunday, the 14th.
Vic Fischer called the bill unconstitutional, and said that the founders looked to statehood, “to get away from absentee control of Alaska’s resources.”
After a short press conference, Mr. Fischer and several others took the 370 referendum signatures to the Lt. Governor’s office in the Atwood Building. The three prime sponsors are Vic Fischer, Bella Hammond, and Jim Whitaker.
Unfortunately, there was a slight problem – the office had never taken referendum signatures before, and claimed that they needed to be sent to the Juneau office. At first the receptionist refused to accept the papers because she didn’t know the procedure and wasn’t able to produce an official receipt for the $100 filing fee, but after a call to Juneau a special exception was made and a hand-written note was created, dictated by Ray Metcalfe. [Watch the video of the uncomfortable stand-off at the bottom of the post.]
Watch the video of Mr. Fischer calling on Alaskans to sign the petition and repeal SB21.
Procedural issues already cause problems for the referendum effort.
Photo of the Handwritten receipt.
Sec. 15.45.020. Filing application.
An initiative is proposed by filing an application with the lieutenant governor. A deposit of $100 must accompany the application. This deposit shall be retained if a petition is not properly filed. If a petition is properly filed, the deposit shall be refunded.
So the light gov has a fancy front desk and a unqualified person sitting there?
That needs to demand training for what is required by law of the LT. Gov.
Clearly someone has to demand training, because Mead isn’t doing his job.
Quick someone send Mead the statues of what’s required of his office.
How embarrassing for that girl. It ain’t her fault, it is her bosses fault.
With billions in our treasury, you’d think ….
I more than willing to sign a friend of the petition-petition(sorta like an amicus brief) if it would help “86” rwnj. Hell,all of you have my permission to sign my name early and often. Just be sure to use lower case letters.
I live remote. How can I get my name on that petition?
https://www.facebook.com/VoteYesRepealTheGiveaway
Go here.
Ask them.
The initial signatures required to file the referendum have already been collected and submitted with the petition.
These folks will be able to help you sign when the actual qualifying-for-ballot signatures are being collected.
Go Alaska!
Rained all day Wednesday,snowed all Thursday,rain tonight and snow Mon. and Tuesday. You will get your stuff planted before me. Early planted onions look awful. Glad to get moisture.Trust you feel better (at least in spirit) than yesterday.
We got over 40 deg and sun today! Some beds still frozen , some thawed and warm enough to plant.
Dang, dang, dang on the lil onions. Dang.
5-6 hours playing in the dirt has done wonders for my spirit if not my back 🙂
plums showing already on the tree, planted chili peppers today, as well as a bunch of annuals for front yard, green beans about a ft tall, and tomatoes STILL blossoming away. 2nd crop of lemons starting to show, and still have a ton of them… anyone know a reciepe for candied lemon peel?
http://tinyurl.com/c2opc22
Not sure how this will work.
Works just fine. Ask and ye shall receive. I will gladly trade this years cold for your coons from last year.
The petitions will be circulated statewide.
We need 3/4 of the House Districts represented in this.
100% would send an even stronger message.
SB21 is the most egregious display of legislative corruption ever. I thank Mr Fisher,Mrs hammond ,Mr Whitaker. For standing up. I am proud to stand with you.
We need to be sure folks from as many districts as possible stand with us.
There are requirements for minimums of signatures as relates to percentages of actual votes in last state election . We have to get this circulated across the whole state.
Will the signature gatherers be certified somehow to keep them honest? I can see opponents to this collecting signatures and simply not turning them in!
We’ll need to pay attention as this works it way through the process.
Lt Gov office, upon certification of referendum as legit, must follow some rules :
Sec. 15.45.320. Preparation of petition.
(a) The lieutenant governor shall prepare a sufficient number of sequentially numbered petitions to allow full circulation throughout the state. Each petition must contain (1) a copy of the act to be referred if the number of words included in both the formal and substantive provisions of the act is 500 or less;
(2) the statement of approval or rejection;
(3) a statement of minimum costs to the state associated with certification of the referendum application and review of the referendum petition, excluding legal costs to the state and the costs to the state of any challenge to the validity of the petition;
(4) an estimate of the cost to the state of voter approval or rejection of the act;
(5) an impartial summary of the subject matter of the act;
(6) the statement of warning prescribed in AS 15.45.330 ;
(7) sufficient space for the printed name, a numerical identifier, the signature, the date of signature, and the address of each person signing the petition; and
(8) other specifications prescribed by the lieutenant governor to ensure proper handling and control.
(b) Upon request of the referendum committee, the lieutenant governor shall report to the committee the number of persons who voted in the preceding general election.
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http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/folioproxy.asp?url=http://wwwjnu01.legis.state.ak.us/cgi-bin/folioisa.dll/stattx10/query=*/doc/{@7514}?next
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If you click through to Section 15.45.360 you’ll see there are some checks on circulators and as the copies are sequentially numbered there is some built in accountability which extends beyond petitioners’ own management of materials.
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Is it just me or does anyone else see the hilarity of a (4 ) ?
Is there a time limit placed on the Lt Gov for when these provisions must be met and the signature pages must get into the hands of the people disputing the law? (I have visions of the pages getting to the collectors on, oh, about day 84 of the 90-day ‘window’…it is, after all, Alaska and the rwnjs in control, that we’re talking about.) beth.
beth- Lt Gov can take up to 60 days for certification of an initiative, 7 days for referendum.
After signatures are collected and petition is turned in, Lt Gov has 60 days to determine if petition is properly filed. Seven day clock is ticking 🙂
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Article 02. REFERENDUM
Sec. 15.45.300. Time of review of application for certification.
Within seven calendar days after the date the application is received, the lieutenant governor shall review the application and shall either certify it or notify the referendum committee of the grounds for denial.
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Sec. 15.45.370. Filing of petition.
The sponsors may file the petition
(1) only if it is signed by qualified voters
(2) only within 90 days after the adjournment of the legislative session at which the act was passed; and
(A) equal in number to 10 percent of those who voted in the preceding general election;
(B) resident in at least three-fourths of the house districts of the state; and
(C) who, in each of the house districts described in (B) of this paragraph, are equal in number to at least seven percent of those who voted in the preceding general election in the house district.
Sec. 15.45.380. Review of petition.
Within not more than 60 days of the date the petition was filed, the lieutenant governor shall review the petition and shall notify the committee whether the petition was properly or was improperly filed and at which election the proposition shall be placed on the ballot.
Thanks for the info, Pi. ‘pups can Always count on you! You rock!
And now, a couple more questions…
Being, at times, a terribly literal person (specifically, when I read the written word for its precise meaning), I’m wondering about the wording of Sec. 15.45.380: Review of petition. In particular, the part that reads: “…and at which election the proposition shall be placed on the ballot.”
In my reading of the entire sentence, it doesn’t matter if Lt Gov finds the petition “properly filed” or not, really, all LG has to do is notify the petitioners of what he has determined. BUT, the bottom line is: the proposition (in this case, the proposition put forward by the petitioners that SB21 be repealed) SHALL BE placed on the ballot simply because it has been filed; Lt Gov must consequently notify the petitioners of when that (repeal) ballot/voting will take place.
I know that’s not the intent of the section, but it sure does ‘read’ that way, to me. Am I missing something? Or might petitioners cite that section to ‘get around’ all the ‘folderol’ of Sec. 15.45.320. Preparation of petition? beth.
PS — What’s that betting outfit in the UK…you know, the one that takes odds on everything and anything? I’m a thinking a bet placed on the Lt Gov dragging his feet until 6-days and 22-hours for getting the paperwork back to the sponsors, might not yield too bad a return on the money, at this point, (considering his –and the administration’s– thoroughly invested lap-doggishness, and all,,,) 😉 b.
beth-
determination of “properly filed” includes verification of signatures as from those eligible to sign, numbers of signatures from districts and whether they add up to the legal minimum and the like , so properly filed does matter and is a necessary part of the process.
That properly/improperly filed line IS confusing with the “and at which election the proposition shall be placed on the ballot.” though. 🙂
Thanks, our dear Pi.
Funny how the *intent* of the section doesn’t match the words of it, though. Probably would be better if the words “if determined the filing was improper, the LT Gov will notify the petitioners of the reasoning for the determination; if determined the filing was proper, the Lt Gov will notify the petitioners at which election the proposition shall be placed on the ballot” were in that section, instead. Because, to me at least, as it reads now…
Again, thanks for the info, Alaska Pi. I Greatly appreciate it. beth.
You are to be commended for civility and non-violence,too still yet. I hope this is the last time I remind you of your violent nature as noted by Troll last week. OTOH-mikey might like to be abused verbally,so please keep that in mind.
mike from iowa – your comment had me guffaw-ing! (Very difficult to explain to DS2 sitting in the adjacent chair, though…) I shall keep your, ahem, ‘penchant’ in mind, and see what I can do for you. I ain’t the Queen of Viloence for nuthin’, you know. 😉 beth.
So…where can we sign?
The petitions will be circulated statewide.
Guess the procedure was unfamilar to them as it’s one they haven’t perverted yet..