Public Funding of Campaigns Initiative Fails Legal Test

Press Release from the Lt. Govenor's Office - Sean Parnell

July 19, 2007, Anchorage, Alaska – Lieutenant Governor Sean Parnell denied certification today of an initiative application related to state government financing of campaigns. The initiative also proposed amending the oil and gas production tax to levy and collect a surcharge on oil as a source of funding.

According to Lieutenant Governor Parnell, “The initiative did not meet the legal requirements for making it onto the ballot. Alaska law requires that initiatives be limited to a single topic and, as this particular initiative addressed both public funding of campaigns and taxation of oil companies, the application itself was faulty and could not be certified.”

Lieutenant Governor Parnell’s decision was supported by an Alaska Department of Law legal opinion, dated July 18, 2007, which concluded that, under AS 15.45.040(1), “the single-subject violation occurs because [the initiative] creates a publicly financed system of campaign finance and it imposes a surcharge on oil production. Because the bill violates the single subject rule, the bill is not in proper form.”

The lieutenant governor’s decision may be appealed within 30 days. Please note that this decision pertains only to the initiative application regarding state government financing of campaigns submitted on May 29, 2007. A subsequent initiative application regarding state government financing of campaigns was submitted on July 13, 2007 and is still under review by the Office of the Lieutenant Governor.

The Department of Law’s legal opinion is available online at http://ltgov.state.ak.us/PDFs/07COGA%20DLAW%20Opinion.pdf

The lieutenant governor’s letter to the initiative’s sponsors is available at http://ltgov.state.ak.us/PDFs/07coga%20application%20denial%20ltr%20signed.pdf

The Division of Elections memorandum is available online at http://ltgov.state.ak.us/PDFs/07COGAelections.pdf