On March 31, the Alaska State Senate passed Senate Joint Resolution 2, an act aimed at reducing the number of votes needed for a budget-related veto override.
The measure passed the Senate 14-6. The only members to vote against it were the more conservative Republican block consisting of Senators Rob Yundt, Cathy Tilton, Robert Myers, George Rauscher, James Kaufman and Mike Cronk.
The five Republicans, who have caucused with Democrats to form a ruling majority, all voted with Democrats for the resolution. This included Gary Stevens, Bert Stedman, Kelly Merrick, Cathy Giessel and Jesse Bjorkman all voted with the Democrats to pass the bill.
The resolution is now headed to the State House, where it would require a two-thirds majority vote in order to be put on the ballot as a proposed constitutional amendment that would be decided by voters this year.
Following the Senate vote, the Republican minority caucus issued a warning, claiming the resolution would damage the balance of power championed by the Alaska Constitution.
“Currently, a three-quarter majority vote is required to override budget and tax vetoes by the governor,” the GOP minority noted. “Senate Joint Resolution 2 would reduce the number of required votes to two-thirds of the Legislature.”
They added that, unlike other state legislatures – including Congress, the Alaska Constitution does not explicitly limit the power of the Legislature.
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“As a result, our legislature is one of the most powerful and influential in the country with very few Constitutional checks and balances,” the GOP minority stated. “The Governor’s notorious ‘red pen’ is one of the few tools the Executive Branch has to curb the State Legislature’s wide-reaching power.”
Senate Minority Leader Mike Cronk (R – Tok / Northway) cautioned against changing the system, as designed in the State Constitution.
“The framers of our Constitution saw the wisdom in giving the governor considerable power to reduce state spending,” he said. “The fiscal override threshold is high for a reason.”
The GOP minority characterized SJR 2 as a “short-sighted and retaliatory push from the Democrat-led Majority Caucus and is a transparent statement of their will to power.”
In recent years, Democrats have expressed frustration due to Governor Mike Dunleavy’s decisions to veto Democrat-led tax increases, along with proposed budget increases.
