In this Jan. 15, 2019 photo, Sen. Mike Shower, R-Wasilla, left, and Sen. Shelley Hughes, R-Palmer, relay a message to Gov. Michael J. Dunleavy in his Capitol office that the Senate is open and ready for business on the first day of the 31st Session of the Alaska Legislature. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire File)

In this Jan. 15, 2019 photo, Sen. Mike Shower, R-Wasilla, left, and Sen. Shelley Hughes, R-Palmer, relay a message to Gov. Michael J. Dunleavy in his Capitol office that the Senate is open and ready for business on the first day of the 31st Session of the Alaska Legislature. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire File)

Opinion: Pass Gov. Dunleavy’s constitutional amendments

They are the most important issue this legislative session.

  • By DICK RANDOLPH
  • Sunday, April 21, 2019 7:00am
  • Opinion

Here we go again. The difference this time, though, is we have a reasonable governor who is rationally trying to permanently resolve these reoccurring issues by enshrining them in the state constitution.

You’ll hear politicians, bureaucrats and special interests howling that this will restrict their ability to fund essential government services — nonsense. It will however provide discipline and require discussion with “We the People” to determine what essential services are, and how and by whom they should be efficiently provided.

To accomplish this, Gov. Mike Dunleavy has proposed three constitutional amendments. One would create a formula to put a cap on spending, another would require a vote of Alaskans to increase taxes, and finally, he would constitutionally guarantee the PFD.

I strongly support these amendments and urge every Alaskan who wants to put a lid on state government growth and preserve the PFD to get up off of your posteriors and go to work. You can help by aggressively encouraging your family and friends to do likewise. You can do this by becoming politically active on this one issue.

[Opinion: Creative solutions to Gov. Dunleavy’s bold vision for Alaska]

Passing Senate Joint Resolutions 4, 5 and 6 is the single most important issue our legislative representatives must pass this session. Your involvement is very critical, as it takes a two-thirds vote of each the House and Senate to pass them so we can vote on them in the next general election. That’s clearly a major challenge, but one we can and must do. Then all we have to do is to pass them with a majority vote and Alaska will be in a much better place.

Let’s briefly discuss each amendment.

First, the Permanent Fund is made up almost exclusively of royalty income — that is 12.5 percent of the value of the extracted oil. It is critically important to understand the royalty income rightly belongs to the people and should be distributed to them as equitably as possible, while the severance tax is rightly imposed by the state government and should be used to fund appropriate government services.

These are two distinctly different pots of money and should serve different purposes. Former Gov. Jay Hammond and I did not agree on the income tax repeal but we did agree that the royalty income does belong to the people directly. To quote Hammond in 1980 while discussing royalty income, “We are taking wealth that belongs to the people and making sure that at least some of it is funneled through their pockets instead of through their elected officials.”

[Opinion: Please, tax us!]

Hammond clearly understood that the dividend and ownership rights should be treated differently than tax revenue. He also strongly wanted a dividend provision in the original constitutional amendment establishing Permanent Fund legislation, but the Legislature would not go along so he had to drop it — too bad so sad.

It’s accurate to say that back in the 1980s, Hammond and I both wanted the PFD enshrined in the constitution. I still do and would like to think that he would also. Let’s do it now — we’ve waited long enough.

Next, a constitutional spending limit. This was approved in the early 1980s, but it was literally a joke. The Legislature was reacting to strong public opposition to their spending spree, and to pacify the peasants, they created a spending limit title, but they knew the formula was so high that it would never be activated. I was there and saw them literally joking and laughing about pulling a fast one on the people. Let’s pass the governor’s spending limit, which is calculated to work.

Lastly and very importantly, let’s constitutionally protect our right to vote on any new taxes. Many jurisdictions require voter approval on tax increases as it is a traditional American concept.

We can make this happen. Make your opinion known to one and all, particularly your legislators. Tell them you just want the opportunity to vote on them. Getting these three constitutional amendments passed through the Legislature is the most important issue before us this session.

Let’s just do it.


• Dick Randolph lives in Fairbanks. My Turns and Letters to the Editor represent the view of the author, not the view of the Juneau Empire.


More in Opinion

Web
Have something to say?

Here’s how to add your voice to the conversation.

Juneau Assembly members cast a 6-3 informal vote on Nov. 6 in favor of the city’s tourism director exploring a strategy for 2026 and beyond that results in fewer annual cruise visitors. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)
Opinion: Assembly vote to reduce cruise ships risks sending taxes even higher

During a Nov. 6 Committee of the Whole meeting, Assembly members voted… Continue reading

A by-mail ballot asks voters in 2020 to approve a measure calling for rank choice voting, which was approved. A petition is now circulating calling for another ballot measure to repeal rank choice. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire file photo)
Opinion: Failed election shows why Alaska should repeal ranked-choice voting

Most Americans just want elections where it’s easy to vote, hard to… Continue reading

Visitors take a selfie on the downtown cruise ship docks in July. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire file photo)
My Turn: Know who you’re sitting with at the table

As a professional who has sat at many a negotiating table, I… Continue reading

Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy delivers remarks at the Rolling Back Regulations to Help All Americans event Thursday, July 16, 2020, on the South Lawn of the White House. (Official White House Photo | Joyce N. Boghosian)
Opinion: A constitutional defense of the administrative state

In the summer of 2020, then-Vice President Mike Pence told an audience… Continue reading

Former Juneau Mayor Ken Koelsch in 2018. (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)
My Turn: Assembly needs to retreat

We might not be privy to what the Assembly’s agenda is, but… Continue reading

The Stikine River Flats area in the Tongass National Forest is viewed from a helicopter on July 19, 2021. The Stikine River flows from British Columbia to Southeast Alaska. It is one of the major transboundary rivers impacted by mines in British Columbia. (Photo by Alicia Stearns/U.S. Forest Service)
Opinion: Facing transboundary mining, Alaskans shouldn’t buy industry rhetoric

“Rest assured,” writes Michael Goehring, president of the British Columbia Mining Association,… Continue reading

(Juneau Empire File)
Letter: Attorney general’s letter to libraries are an abuse of office

Earlier this month Treg Taylor, Alaska’s attorney general, published a letter to… Continue reading

An aging outhouse overlooks Tenakee Inlet. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire File)
My Turn: Murkowski’s bill will dramatically change map of public land in Southeast Alaska

There has been very little reporting on federal legislation that would greatly… Continue reading

Most Read