January 30, 2003
Thursday - 2:15 pm

Anchorage - Lieutenant Governor Loren Leman today notified the sponsors of an initiative petition proposing various changes to the administration of the Alaska Permanent Fund that their petition was being rejected because it oversteps the constitutional limits of initiatives.

Leman said the Department of Law had provided him with a legal opinion stating that the initiative would require amendments to the state's Constitution and affect the Legislature's power to appropriate funds, neither of which is allowed in a ballot initiative.

The initiative would have required a majority of voters in a statewide election to approve expenditure of any Permanent Fund earnings for "general government purposes," restricting the Legislature's constitutional ability to appropriate funds. While the Fund's principal cannot be spent without amending the Constitution, the Fund's earnings are available for appropriation by the Legislature with a simple majority vote.

The primary sponsors of the initiative listed on the original application are Uwe Kalenka of Anchorage, James Jacobson of Kodiak and former Governor Jay Hammond of Port Alsworth.

Source of News Release:

Office of the Lt. Governor
Web Site

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