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Title : Amending the Alaska Constitution: Ask Yourself Who Benefits?
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Amending the Alaska Constitution: Ask Yourself Who Benefits?

From November 8, 1955 through February 6, 1956, 55 delegates to the Alaska Constitutional Convention convened at Constitution Hall on the campus of the University of Alaska near Fairbanks to draft what would become a model State constitution and the driving force behind statehood three years later. A complete record of the proceedings is contained in this 3,987 page PDF, which documents every minute of the delegates' debate throughout the extensive drafting project.

The delegates drew on other state constitutions and scholarship to create a governing document that was highly progressive for its time, and at the forefront of constitutional thought. The guiding principles were a strong executive and legislative branch, and a unified judiciary. Amendment of the Constitution requires a two-thirds vote of each house of the legislature, followed by ratification by the voters at the next general election.

Here is a list of the 28 times the Alaska Constitution has been amended, the years of amendment, and the subject of those amendments:

1966

• Alaska Residence Requirement to Vote for President (1966)

1968

• Alaska Compensation of Judicial Qualifications Commission (1968)
• Alaska Judicial Qualifications Amendment (1968)

1970

• Alaska Lieutenant Governor/Secretary of State Amendment (1970)
• Alaska Chief Justice Election by Supreme Court (1970)
• Alaska Term of Office Judicial System Administrator (1970)
• Alaska English Eliminated as Voting Requirement (1970)
• Alaska Voting Age Amendment (1970)

1972

• Alaska Prohibition of Sexual Discrimination (1972)
• Alaska Right of Privacy (1972)
• Alaska Residency Requirement for Voting (1972)
• Alaska Limited Entry Fisheries (1972)
• Alaska Borough Assemblies (1972)

1974

• Alaska Votes on Constitutional Amendments (1974)

1976

• Alaska Veto of Bills Amendment (1976)
• Alaska Permanent Fund Amendment (1976)

1982

• Alaska Commission on Judicial Qualifications Amendment (1982)
• Alaska Authorization to Issue Veterans’ Housing Bonds Amendment (1982)
• Alaska Limitation on State Budget Appropriations Amendment (1982)

1988

• Alaska Residence Preference Amendment (1988)

1990

• Alaska Budget Reserve Amendment (1990)

1994

• Alaska Right to Bear Arms, Measure 1 (1994)
• Alaska Rights for Crime Victims, Measure 2 (1994)

1996

• Alaska Statehood Act, Measure 1 (1996)

1998

• Alaska Marriage Amendment, Measure 2 (1998)
• Alaska Reapportionment Board, Measure 3 (1998)

2004

• Alaska Distribution Requirement for Initiatives, Measure 1 (2004)

2006

• Alaska 90-Day Legislative Session, Ballot Measure 1 (2006)

This is a fairly small number of amendments, given the youth of the state and the general structure of our constitution. Amending the constitution is "not an easy thing to do" (Statement of Delegate Taylor, ACC Minutes at 2517), and for good reason: because the Constitution was so carefully considered, amending it should be a serious undertaking.

Which brings us to the current Governor's three proposed constitutional amendments intended to limit the legislature's spending power. The first would lock down the PFD payout formula; the second would limit the legislature's power of appropriation; and the third would require all new taxes or tax increases to be approved by both the legislature and a popular vote.

Make no mistake: these are drastic changes to the constitutional framework of public financing meant to benefit corporate interests by transferring public assets to private pockets. As Dermot Cole wrote shortly after the election, the Governor's "special adviser on constitutional amendments" thinks our constitution is "awful" and reflective of a "socialist economic system" meant to appease "east coast lawyers," when in fact it was drafted by 55 Alaskans who simply wanted Alaska and its people to reap the benefits of statehood.

Every time a constitutional amendment is proposed, you need to ask yourself who really benefits and what is motivating the amendment: is it the People of Alaska, for whom the document was written? Or is it the Koch Brothers? 

Beware those who would amend our constitution to enrich themselves. They simply do not have Alaskans' best interests at heart.

Thus Article Amending the Alaska Constitution: Ask Yourself Who Benefits?

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