August 9, 2018 — The Alaska Supreme Court on Wednesday approved the Stand for Salmon ballot initiative for November’s statewide election, but not before deleting some provisions that violate the Alaska Constitution.
The decision marks only the second time in state history that the Supreme Court has used its power to delete portions of a ballot initiative in order to certify the rest.
“We conclude that the initiative would encroach on the discretion over allocation decisions delegated to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game by the legislature, and that the initiative as written therefore effects an unconstitutional appropriation,” the judges wrote in their ruling, “But we conclude that the problematic sections may be severed from the remainder of the initiative.”
Supreme Court judge Daniel Winfree offered a partial dissent, disagreeing with how much should have been deleted by the court.
The ruling is the latest success for ballot measure proponents, who have been consistently opposed by the State of Alaska and a multimillion-dollar ‘vote no’ effort. Since the measure was suggested in May 2017, state attorneys have raised objections to its scope, which they view as overly broad and a violation of the Alaska Constitution. The Constitution allows ballot measures, but it prohibits those measures from making appropriations of money or resources. After an abortive first attempt, backers withdrew their measure and rewrote it. Despite that, the Alaska Department of Law said it was unconstitutional, and Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott refused to certify it for the ballot.
The state argued that the initiative’s eight pages of dense text create legislation that effectively allocates state waters for fisheries, excluding other development that might affect rivers, streams and lakes. Proponents challenged that ruling in Alaska Superior Court, and in October 2017, Judge Mark Rindner ruled against the state, saying the measure did not amount to an appropriation.