Dear Friends,

I am seeking your opinions on various issues facing the 22nd State Legislature. This questionnaire has been sent to my current Senate District L constituents (Muldoon, Eagle River, Fort Richardson) and to those constituents in what may be my new Senate District I (Eagle River, Elmendorf AFB, Fort Richardson, Government Hill). Your opinions are very important to me in order to better represent you in Juneau. Please complete the questionnaire by March 1, 2002. Participants will receive tabulated results.

Thank you for your participation.

Questions

Glenn Highway Speed Limit

Should the Glenn Highway speed limit be lowered from 65 MPH to 55 MPH from October 1st to April 1st?

Yes
No

Selective Service

All males upon reaching 18 years old are required to register with Selective Service, but in Alaska approximately 14% do not register.

Should registering with Selective Service be required before receiving the Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend?

Yes
No

Defense and U.S. Military

President Bush's plans for a new Pacific Region Missile Defense Initiative call for increased missile defense activities located in Alaska. Specific proposals include a test site at Fort Greely, construction of X-Band radar on Shemya Island and increased test launches from the Alaska Aerospace Development Corporation's launch site on Kodiak Island.

Do you support or oppose these increased missile defense initiatives for Alaska?

Support
Oppose

Congress has authorized a new round of military base closures and directed that a Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC) be appointed to conduct the closure process in 2005. Communities across the country are beginning to develop strategies and hire consultants to keep their bases off the closure list.

Should the Alaska Legislature's Joint Armed Services Committee develop and fund a program to protect Alaska's military installations from being closed?

Yes
No

Ballot Initiatives

Various citizens' groups have been collecting signatures to place certain issues before the voters to approve. Depending on the ability of these groups to collect a minimum of 28,782 registered voters' signatures by January 14, 2002 and certification by the State Division of Elections, the following initiatives may appear in the 2002 elections.

Legislative Move

This initiative would move all legislative sessions from Juneau to the Mat-Su Borough. If the facilities for legislative sessions cannot be found in the Mat-Su Borough, these legislative sessions would be held in Anchorage until facilities are available in the Mat-Su Borough?

Should this initiative become law?

Yes
No

Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline

This initiative would create the Alaska Natural Gas Development Authority as a public corporation of the state of Alaska. This Authority would acquire and condition North Slope natural gas and construct a pipeline to transport natural gas. Power of the Authority would include buying property, taking it by eminent domain and to issue state tax-exempt revenue bonds. The gasline route would be from Prudhoe Bay to Prince William Sound with spur lines from Glenallen to the Southcentral Alaska gas distribution grid. The Authority would operate and maintain the gas pipeline, ship gas, and market the gas.

Should this initiative become law?

Yes
No

Alaska's Minimum Wage

This initiative would increase Alaska's minimum wage from $5.65 to $7.15 per hour, starting on January 1st, 2003. Each year after that, the minimum wage for Alaska would be adjusted by the state using the Consumer Price Index for Anchorage. If the annual adjustment for inflation of the minimum wage is less than $1 over the federal minimum wage, Alaska's wage would be set at $1 over the federal wage.

Should this initiative become law?

Yes
No

Eligibility for PFD

This initiative would allow Alaskans who are serving in the federal Pearce Corps to be eligible for the Permanent Fund Dividend.

Should this initiative become law?

Yes
No

Marijuana

This initiative would decriminalize and regulate the use of marijuana in the state of Alaska.

Should this initiative become law?

Yes
No

Hate

Do you think hatred in Alaska is a serious, somewhat serious, or not so serious problem.

serious
somewhat serious
not so serious

Navigable Waters in Alaska

A lawsuit known as "Katie John" sought to exercise subsistence rights for Rural Alaskans on the Copper River within Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. The lawsuit contended that "public lands" to which subsistence rights apply under ANILCA (Alaska National Lands Conservation Act) federal law, also includes all navigable waters in Alaska. Others contended that all navigable waters in the state fall under the state of Alaska's jurisdiction. The U.S. 9th District Circuit Court of Appeals, based in San Francisco, ruled in favor of federal jurisdiction and against state jurisdiction. The U.S. Supreme Court overruled some 80% of decisions made by the U.S. 9th District Circuit Court of Appeals.

Early in 2001, the Governor indicated that he would appeal the U.S. 9th Circuit decision to the U.S. Supreme Court. Later in the autumn he chose not to appeal.

Should the Governor have appealed or not appealed the U.S. 9th Circuit Court decision to the U.S. Supreme Court?

should have appealed
should not have appealed

Budget

The governor's proposed state budget for Fiscal Year '03 (as of 12/28/01) is $2.6 billion from general funds, an increase of $161 million over the '02 budget. At this level, and assuming an average price of oil at $18 per barrel, the state will be spending approximately $1.2 billion more than it is taking in. This shortfall will be taken from the Constitutiona Budget Reserve (CBR) which currently has a balance of $2.9 billion. At this rate of spending, the CBR will be empty in 2004.

Do you support of oppose the following governor's increases?

In addition to the proposed budget above, the governor plans to introduce separate budget bills for the following items.

Do you support or oppose the following governor's increases?

Maintaining contact with my neighbors and constituents is very important to me. If you provide your e-mail address I will send you the final results to this survey.

What is your name?

What is your physical address?

How many individuals live in your household?