Alaska Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom on Friday approved two ballot measures and barred another from entering the process of collecting signatures.
The proposed measures would place new financial limits on political campaigns as well as grant various rights to employees, including compulsory sick leave as well as a raise in the minimum wage and the option to refuse employers-mandated religious or political education.
The measure was rejected because it could have stopped the state from supplying primary elections that are party-specific, just as the state was doing prior to when voters adopted Alaska’s ranked choice election system for 2020.
To be eligible for the next elections The two passed measures must collect signatures from at least 26,000 Alaskans living in at minimum three-quarters of Alaska House districts before the Alaska Legislature begins its session in January.
Backstops for open-primary do not pass the legal test
The people who backed the measure hoped to use it as a buffer to ensure non-partisan primary elections in the event that the current system of Alaska’s elections is removed, but in an analysis of legality it was determined that the Alaska Department of Law said that the measure violated the constitutional prohibition for ballot initiatives that distribute funds or other resources.
“It could restrict the ability of the legislature to allocate funds to partisan primaries or similar procedures in the coming years,” according to the report, “so it makes an appropriated expenditure in violation of limitations on subject matter of initiatives.”
The second ballot measure that will be disqualified in this election on legal reasons. Dahlstrom had to disqualify a limit on term lengths measure earlier in the month.
The former Alaska Attorney General Bruce Botelho, a Juneau Democrat was among the co-sponsors of the primary-elections measure that was rejected and suggested that the sponsors are not likely to contest the decision.
“While I haven’t examined the law of the case in the event that it is found to be in line with the decision, I believe we’ll be able to accept the decision,” he said.
Attorney Scott Kendall, hired on contract by various organizations and organizations, wrote all three ballot measures. He said it’s “unknown” what the state judges would make their decisions on the issue if the governor’s decision to disqualify the lieutenant governor was challenged in court but it’s “a difficult decision.”
The sponsors will meet on September. 23 to take the final decision on whether or not to file a court contest, Botelho said.
If they don’t face a challenge, the supporters are expected to concentrate their efforts on trying to stop the current push to abolish Alaska’s open primary and ranked-choice voting system.
The repeal effort is coordinated by sponsors of a separate ballot measure that is almost reached the point of collecting signatures.
Art Mathias, one of the main leaders of the repeal campaign, stated that his group distributed around 1,000 petition booklets in the first quarter of this year, and is currently gathering the books to be tabulated.
The 350 books they’ve received thus far include around 30,000 signatures, which could be enough to get the repeal bill before voters in the coming year.
The law of the state requires that signatures be distributed across the state. Mathias explained that after all booklets are returned, the organizers will decide whether additional signature gathering is required.
Mathias The group has been identified in allegations of campaign finance that are being investigated by state regulators. However, these complaints aren’t expected to hinder the group’s progress towards the next election.
The process of collecting signatures is set to begin soon for new limits on the amount of campaign money
One of the two bills that was approved by Dahlstrom will set restrictions on the size of donations made to Alaska candidates for the Alaskan legislature..
Alaska has been unable to impose limit on the amount of money spent by candidates until 2021 after the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck the previous limits of Alaska following a lawsuit filed by Republican activists.
A three-judge panel found that the limits of the state were too low to be in violation of the First Amendment, but it suggested that greater limits could be constitutionally acceptable.
The state decided not to contest the decision, and the 2022 general elections took place without restriction which allowed candidates to receive enormous sums of money through wealthy contributors.
The Alaska Legislature has so in the past in the past failed to pass legislation that includes new limits, triggering the idea of limiting donations to campaigns through a ballot measure.
If the new law is approved, citizens could make donations of up to $2,000 for individual candidates, and as much as $5,000 for political parties in each election cycle of two years. The limit will be re-adjusted every 10 years to reflect increasing inflation.
The limit for individuals would be giving $4,000 to a joint governor-lieutenant governor’s campaign. There would be greater donation limits for election-related groups and political corporations.
The previous state’s limits on contributions to campaigns were passed on a ballot with 73% of voters in the primary, and supporters of the new initiative believe they will receive the same response by voters next time.
“I do not think that we can say with certainty that there’s a problem in obtaining signatures prior to the Legislature begins on January 1,” Botelho said. Botelho He is the person behind this initiative and the one that was rejected as a primary-election measure.
Another supporter of the bill is Rep. Calvin Schrage, I-Anchorage who has proposed an act to finance campaigns within the State House.
If the bill, or something similar to it, were to be made law prior to the next election that could cancel the necessity of a ballot initiative.
“Our wish is that this will provide an additional reason in the Legislature to consider Schrage’s bill.” Botelho said.
Supporters will have until the beginning on January 1st to collect the signatures needed to get the measure before voters in 2024’s fall.
Increase in minimum wage and obligatory sick leave are approved
The second bill that was approved by Dahlstrom on Friday aims to gradually increase the minimum wage for state workers by increasing it to $13 an hour by July 1st, 2025. Then, it will rise to 14 years later, and $15 on July 1, 2027.
The wage will be adjusted upward to account for inflation following this. Alaska is already equipped with an auto-inflation adjustment mechanism and the this the year’s wage minimum is predicted to be approximately $11.73 per hour.
After the increase, the minimum wage for the state will be less than the minimum wage for living in the state that is estimated to be more than $20 per hour.
A different provision in the proposed ballot measure will oblige employers to provide employees an hour’s paid sick time for every 30 hours of are employed.
Small-sized companies’ employees could take as much as 40 hours obligatory leave. Employees who work for larger firms can save up to 56 hours.
Employers would also be banned from forcing workers to attend compulsory religious or political training. There will be some exceptions for religious workers.
Ed Flanagan is a former director for the Alaska Department of Labor and the sponsor of the new law.
“It’s kind of a labor-related month for September in the United States, which means we’ll be going out,” he said, noting that he’ll be receiving blank petitions very soon.
“We’re quite certain that we’ll be able to get signatures before the date,” he said.
Flanagan was among the main sponsors of the successful 2014 campaign to raise the minimum wage in Alaska. The increase, which was proposed as the ballot measure, garnered the backing of 69 percent of the voters who participated.
The drive for a new minimum wage hike is coordinated in part by Better Jobs for Alaska, which is funded primarily with the Sixteen Thirty Fund, a progressive organization that is based within Washington, D.C.
9 years ago, Flanagan and colleagues needed six months to collect signatures to support an increase in minimum wage. This time they’ll be given just more than three months. Flanagan predicted that he’ll find a company that is paid to collect signatures as well as volunteers.
“This will be a much smoother operation than what I experienced last decade,” the man said.
The story first appeared in Alaska Beacon and is republished here with permission.
