The state Senate is considering House legislation that would restructure the 18-year-old ferry system advisory board, taking away the governor’s authority to appoint all of the members.
House Bill 63 passed that body unanimously May 5, moving next to the Senate.
The governor, however, does not believe a key provision of the legislation is legal. He had proposed his own restructuring bill that did not relinquish appointment authority for members to the board.
Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s bill also would continue the provision in law that a governor can remove board members at any time, while the House measure would protect members from removal except when their term ends.
The House bill designates that the speaker of the House and the Senate president each would appoint two members of the new nine-person board, with the governor naming the other members. Under existing law, the governor names all 12 members of the panel.
The governor’s office told CoastAlaska public radio last week that allowing lawmakers to appoint members to an executive board violates the separation of powers.
“The board appointment process contained in HB 63 is considered to be unconstitutional by the administration because it permits the presiding officers of the legislature to appoint members to an executive board,” Dunleavy spokesman Jeff Turner told CoastAlaska by email.
The Legislature’s own legal counsel raised the same issue in an April 6 memo to lawmakers, but said it may survive a legal challenge because the board is advisory, with no actual authority.
The bill would change the name of the Alaska Marine Transportation Advisory Board to the Alaska Marine Highway Operations Board, and instruct it to put together short- and long-term operating plans for the state fleet — which the Department of Transportation would be required to consider.
“This takes a step forward to reform the system,” Sitka Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, the bill sponsor, said during House discussion of the measure May 5. “My hope is a body that will provide direction” to ferry system management, avoiding politics
The representative acknowledged the restructured board “will not fix all of the ferry system’s woes,” which have included reduced services due to deep budget cuts, the age of the fleet and frequent mechanical breakdowns of the vessels.
Eliminating the provision that allows every new governor to change out the board could make a difference, Kreiss-Tomkins said, adding that it would help prevent “a rotating cast of characters” from advising on long-term plans for the ferry system.
“We’re never going to wring all the politics out of it,” Juneau Sen. Jesse Kiehl said at a Senate Transportation Committee hearing April 8 on the governor’s bill. The Department of Transportation “is free to ignore” the board’s recommendations, Kiehl said.
Improving ferry operations has been a big issue for coastal lawmakers, including trying to add funding back to the system’s budget this session. The Legislature faces a May 19 adjournment deadline, leaving less than a week to move the bill through the Senate and work out any differences with the House.
The governor’s bill is still under consideration in the Senate, and both the House and the Senate would have to adopt the same measure for the legislation to move to the governor for signature or veto.
Reader Comments(0)