For more detailed information, visit the Alaska Division of Elections Web site.
n Ballot Measure 1 would establish an Alaska Gaming Commission, a seven-member panel within the Department of Revenue that would oversee gaming operations in Alaska. It would have the authority to make contracts, adopt regulations, and investigate and enforce gaming laws, and conceivably could authorize new gambling opportunities in Alaska such as lotteries and casino games. A director would supervise gaming activities and enforce charitable gaming laws. The initiative would exempt gaming adopted under the new law from criminal prohibitions against gambling.
Proponents say a commission that would ensure fair oversight and would not, by itself, increase gambling in Alaska. It would combine under one agency game monitoring, law enforcement and prosecutions now handled by the departments of Revenue, Public Safety and Law.
Opponents say the measure would put in the hands of a few appointed individuals the power to authorize future gaming activities in Alaska, with little incentive to weigh the negative impacts of gambling on society.
n Ballot Measure 2 would amend state law to ban shooting or assisting in shooting a free-ranging wolf, wolverine or grizzly bear the same day that a person has been airborne. Airborne predator control could be permitted by the Board of Game if it was determined control was necessary. The commissioner of Fish and Game would have to determine a biological emergency existed and that no feasible solution other than airborne control was possible. Fish and Game would conduct such control hunts.
Proponents say the measure would restore a prohibition passed by an initiative in 1996, but later overturned by the Legislature. They argue the reasonable approach to predator control would be used in serious cases, but not on an ongoing basis to artificially inflate game populations to satisfy a growing number of hunters. It would protect subsistence hunting.
Opponents say Ballot Measure 2 would place a permanent ban on the state's aerial predator management program, which is strictly a game-management tool that is used on a limited basis to restore moose and caribou populations. Opponents say the definition of "emergency" is so restrictive that it would hamper predator control efforts.
n Ballot Measure 3 would provide public funding for campaigns by creating a voluntary program. It would set out criteria candidates must meet to qualify for the program, which would provide those candidates with state funds if they agree to limits on campaign fundraising and spending. Known as the Alaska Clean Elections Act, the ballot measure is 24 pages long and details how the program would be managed.
Proponents say the measure would let Alaskans take back control of their government from big money and special interests, adding that political corruption has cost the state billions in lost revenues, and that corruption would continue as long as politicians must raise huge sums of private money.
Opponents argue taxpayer funding of campaigns would not reduce corruption or the influence of special interest groups. Nor would it make lawmakers more accountable. It would, they say, vastly increase the cost of political campaigns. Special interest groups could skirt restrictions under the proposed rules. Opponents say the measure amounts to nothing more than "an incumbent protection act" that reduces political speech.
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Homer Alaska - News -
Story last updated at
1:25 PM on
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Gaming, airborne shooting, public funding of campaigns also on ballot
By HAL SPENCE
Morris News Service - Alaska
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