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Governor vetoes legislators on AGDC board
Gov. Bill Walker has vetoed Senate Bill 125, which would have added members of the Legislature to the Alaska Gasline Development Corp. board as non-voting members.
In his July 20 veto statement the governor cited Article 2, Section 5, of the Alaska Constitution which prohibits legislators from holding “any other office or position of profit under the United States or the State.”
This issue arose in committee discussions of the bill and two different legal opinions were offered.
A March 20 opinion from Assistant Attorney General Jerry Juday said legislative member on the AGDC board, even as non-voting members, would be unconstitutional because of the provision against holding dual office and because such appointments would violate the separation of powers doctrine.
A March 30 opinion from Emily Nauman, legislative counsel with the Legislative Affairs Agency Division of Legal and Research Services, said the bill “may violate” separation of powers and dual office holding provisions of the constitution, but said the issue of nonvoting members on executive branch boards “is unsettled.”
“The only sure resolution is a decision by the Alaska Supreme Court,” Nauman said.
Other memberships Legislators pointed to membership on a number of state boards and commissions, including the Alaska Aerospace Corp. board of directors, the Alaska Commission on Postsecondary Education and the Knik Arm Bridge & Toll Authority board of directors, among others.
In a statement after the governor’s veto, bill sponsor Sen. Mia Costello, R-Anchorage, said Walker’s veto “sends the wrong message to the industry, the Legislature and the public. The governor needs to share his vision for the gasline with Alaskans and not cut legislators out of closed door meetings.”
Senate President Kevin Meyer, R-Anchorage, said: “Having legislators serve on the AGDC board provides greater transparency, greater insight into the direction of this $65 billion project, and greater accountability as to how money is being spent.”
“The more we know, the more comfortable we can become with appropriating funds for the largest infrastructure project in North American history,” Meyer said.
- Petroleum News
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