Pubdate: Wed, 08 Oct 2003
Source: Peninsula Clarion (AK)
Copyright: 2003 Peninsula Clarion, a Division of Morris Communications
Contact:  http://www.peninsulaclarion.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1826
Author: Loren Leman
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/props.htm (Ballot Initiatives)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
Note: Lt. Gov. Loren Leman is a Republican who was elected to his current 
office last November.

SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT ON STATE'S INITIATIVE PROCESS

The citizen initiative is an important part of Alaska's political system. 
It allows people to write and approve certain laws without going through 
the Legislature.

As lieutenant governor, it is my responsibility to oversee the processing 
of initiatives from the time applications are filed until they appear, if 
qualified, on the ballot. I believe it is very important that Alaskans 
understand the process, especially because of charges that have recently 
been made.

I forward initiative applications to the De-partment of Law for a legal 
review of their form and subject. An application in "proper form" is one 
that meets the requirements of the law. If the subject is consistent with 
our Constitution, the Department of Law will recommend that I approve the 
application. The legal analysis of the proposed law may be fairly simple or 
lengthy and complex, depending on the subject.

On Sept. 23, Anchorage Superior Court Judge John Suddock released his 
decision in Hinterberger v. State of Alaska, and soon headlines like "Pot 
Prop may appear on '04 ballot" were on the front page of many newspapers. 
Judge Suddock ruled that my denial of some signatures in support of the 
petition to legalize marijuana based on "reporting glitches" was in error 
and ordered the Division of Elections to count many of the disqualified 
signatures.

I based my decision on Alaska statutes and regulations, as recommended by 
the Department of Law. I do not have the luxury of being able to decide 
which laws are important and which ones are not. Reasonable people can 
disagree on the facts, but Judge Suddock's comment about the actions of the 
division in not pointing out earlier errors that petition circulators were 
making should be put in context.

The last signatures for this initiative were submitted on Nov. 14, 2002. I 
took office on Dec. 2, after which I named a new director of the Division 
of Elections, Laura Glaiser. She is carrying out my vision for elections: 
impartial, secure, efficient and accurate.

In another development, on Oct. 2, Rep. Harry Crawford's piece appeared 
with the headline "Voters should fill vacant Senate seats." He and Reps. 
Eric Croft and David Guttenberg filed their second application on that 
subject Sept. 4. He states that the application has been referred to 
Attorney General Gregg Renkes' office, "where it now lies in peril of being 
delayed to death." He did not mention that he and the other representatives 
filed an earlier application on Aug. 6 for a similar initiative petition. 
Then, as now, he and his supporters were calling on me publicly to approve 
their application quickly, because "the initiative is simple and obviously 
legal."

The attorney general's review found that their initiative did not include a 
vital ingredient -- it did not repeal existing law that provides for 
appointment of a Senate replacement by the governor. A shallow, rushed 
review and approval of the initiative application might have let a flawed 
proposal appear on the ballot. I advised the sponsors of this, they 
withdrew their application and resubmitted a corrected version.

On Oct. 5, another widely distributed editorial contributed to the 
confusion with the opinion that initiative review under this administration 
has a "case of the slows." One of the examples cited is that an initiative 
on protecting your permanent fund dividend took 137 days for legal review.

The fact is, this application was submitted to former Attorney General 
Bruce Bothelo on Sept. 12, 2002. He held it for 81 days and left it for the 
new administration to make a decision. Other reviews under his tenure as 
attorney general took 91 days (marijuana legalization, 2001), 105 days 
(family land entitlement, 1999) and 108 days (election of governor by 
majority, 2000).

The citizen initiative is your tool to use. I have acted promptly on all of 
the initiative applications I have received since becoming lieutenant 
governor. I promise to continue to do so, with wise counsel from the 
Division of Elections and Department of Law.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom