SA39 would amend HB76, which extends the COVID-19 public health disaster emergency declared by the Governor on January 15, 2021, to include the following provisions: the Governor may not declare a disaster emergency unless authorized by a majority vote of the Legislature; and the Legislature may terminate a disaster emergency by a majority vote.
The Senate failed to pass SA39 on April 28, 2021, by a vote of 4 to 16. We have assigned pluses to the yeas because Article II, Section 1, of the Alaska Constitution vests lawmaking power in the Senate and the House of Representatives, not the Governor. Each state, under Article IV, Section 4, of the U.S. Constitution, is guaranteed a republican form of government, which requires a limitation and separation of powers.