Latest news with #HJR11
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Alaska Legislature rejects call for Canada as 51st state, opposes ‘restrictive trade measures'
A marker for the U.S.-Canadian border sits between Skagway, Alaska, and Stikine Region, British Columbia. (Photo by) Both chambers of the Alaska Legislature have approved a resolution stating its support for Canadian independence and opposing 'restrictive trade measures or tolls' that would affect commerce between Alaska and Canada. House Joint Resolution 11, which would be sent to President Donald Trump, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and other top officials in both countries, implicitly rejects Trump's call to make Canada the 51st state in the United States. 'Alaska recognizes the importance of a strong and sovereign nation of Canada and firmly supports Canada's right to self-determination, national security, and economic independence,' the resolution states in part. The Alaska Senate approved that language in a 13-6 vote on Monday with one lawmaker excused absent. The state House voted 33-4 on March 24 to approve a slightly different version. Resolutions are statements of opinion by the Legislature and not subject to a governor's veto. The resolution will return to the House for a concurrence vote before becoming final. Rep. Chuck Kopp, R-Anchorage and the resolution's sponsor, said he believes there is good support in the House for the amended language. The Senate's vote came a day before Trump met Carney at the White House and declined to back down from claims that Canada should be 'the 51st state.' The Trump administration has prepared a large number of tariffs against Canadian imports, and the Canadian government has preemptively enacted retaliatory measures. In British Columbia, the government has introduced legislation that could lead to tolls on traffic traveling between Alaska and the Lower 48. In floor debate, Senate Majority Leader Cathy Giessel, R-Anchorage, noted the amount of trade that goes across the border between Alaska and Canada. 'The purpose of HJR 11 is to remind Alaskans that we have an important relationship with Canadians, those shared values of Arctic partners, our relationship as good neighbors, and keeping our partnership with Canada alive isn't just good policy, it's critical to the way we live,' she said. Parts of Alaska are unconnected to each other without a trip through Canada. Fresh produce, dairy products and other perishable goods are shipped to Alaska via Canada. Alaska Natives and Canadian First Nations are connected across the border, the resolution notes, and even the region's sports teams compete together. The resolution observes that curling teams in Whitehorse and Fairbanks have been playing against each other for decades. All of the votes against the resolution came from members of the Senate's Republican minority caucus. Senate Minority Leader Mike Shower, R-Wasilla, alleged that the resolution is more about speaking against Trump than speaking in support of Canada. The resolution 'is kind of a slap in a certain direction,' he said. He suggested that if Alaska is serious about improving relations with Canada, it should consider reviving the state's liaison program, which used to have an Alaska delegate communicating with Canada and a Canadian in Alaska to work on cross-border issues. Sen. Mike Cronk, R-Tok, represents a broad district that abuts the Canadian border along the Alaska Highway. He supports Trump and opposed the resolution. 'This really doesn't change anything,' he said of the resolution. 'We still respect each other, we still support each other, and the resolution is not going to change that.' 'It's just poking at Trump,' said Sen. James Kaufman, R-Anchorage, after the vote. He said Canada isn't pulling its weight in NATO, and that's reason for concern. 'If you look at their contributions to defense, they're lagging way behind,' he said. Sen. Jesse Kiehl, D-Juneau, represents northern Southeast Alaska, including the towns of Skagway and Haines, which are connected by road to Canada but not to the rest of Alaska. 'My constituents are asking for it,' he said of the resolution. 'When there are conflicts going on, when someone else has issues, and it starts to impact the relationships we do have, have long had, it's worth it for us to reaffirm those relationships, to reach back out and say the close ties we've always had are good. We should continue them, because there's real damage going on right now,' he said. He gave an example: Over the winter, a restaurant in Haines burned down. Its owner later told Kiehl that they had good news from their insurance company and would get a full payout. 'I said, 'Wonderful. Are you going to rebuild?' And the answer was, 'No.'' Kiehl said. The owner said that customers from Canada had represented a significant portion of their income, and with Canadians shunning Alaska, it wasn't worth reopening. Sen. Bert Stedman, R-Sitka, represents the town of Hyder, which is almost split in two by the Canadian border. Hyder's children go to school in Stewart, British Columbia. Its residents shop in Stewart. He voted in support of the resolution and said that 'the boys in Washington, D.C.,' might be seeing problems with Canada, but he's not. 'We're not having problems with our border here,' he said. In an emailed statement, Yukon Premier Ranj Pillai congratulated the Alaska Legislature for its action. 'The Yukon and Alaska benefit from strong people-to-people connections, close economic ties, and a shared appreciation for the realities of life in the North. Yukoners appreciate the efforts by the Alaska legislature to ensure that these important cross-border connections are understood by federal leaders on both sides of the Canada-US border,' he wrote. 'While Canadians will always stand up for our sovereignty, our economy, and our way of life, we hope that Americans will continue to come visit the Yukon and experience all that our incredible territory has to offer.' Murray Lundberg, a Yukon resident and member of the Order of Yukon, is an outspoken critic of Trump on social media and said the resolution is unlikely to help matters because Canadians remain scared of their treatment by American border guards. 'It's not a minority opinion, and I don't know why it's not being mentioned more. People are soft-pedaling around this, and it's a big issue,' he said. In March, a Yukon-born woman was imprisoned by Immigration and Customs Enforcement for two weeks in squalid facilities before being released with no charges filed. 'I love visiting Skagway and Haines, but you know, it's just not going to happen,' Lundberg said. 'Friends do not convince friends to put themselves in a dangerous situation. So I really object to (messages like the resolution) because that's what it is. That's not what a friend would do.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Alaska House asks for cooldown in Trump-triggered US-Canada trade dispute
House Majority Leader Chuck Kopp, R-Anchorage, speaks on Monday, March 24, 2025, in favor of House Joint Resolution 11. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon) The Alaska House of Representatives is asking the Trump administration and Canadian government to step back from a brewing trade war. In a 33-4 vote Monday, the House approved a resolution saying that state lawmakers oppose 'restrictive trade measures or tolls that would harm the unique relationship between Canada and Alaska or negatively affect our integrated economies.' If approved by the Alaska Senate, the resolution would be sent to national officials in both the United States and Canada. Monday's vote comes amid continued threats by the Trump administration against the government of Canada, including claims that Canada should be 'the 51st state.' The Trump administration has prepared a large number of tariffs against Canadian imports, and the Canadian government has preemptively enacted retaliatory measures. In British Columbia, the government has introduced legislation that could lead to tolls on traffic traveling between Alaska and the Lower 48. 'In a time when there's much global uncertainty, Alaska is speaking with the voice that is — in one sense pleading between our two greatest powers, our government — the United States — and the Canadian government, to come together, to work together amicably, to resolve the tariff situation in a way that shows the respect for territorial sovereignty of both nations, and in a way that recognizes how urgently we need this relationship,' said House Majority Leader Chuck Kopp, R-Anchorage. Alaska annually exports almost $600 million in goods to Canada while importing more than $750 million from the country, the resolution states. At least 20,300 Alaska jobs rely on ties to Canada, it says. Rep. Andi Story, D-Juneau, noted that Alaska and Canada have social and cultural ties that predate the creation of either country, with Indigenous communities stretching across what is now an international border. 'If we take care to acknowledge — if we continue to exercise mutual respect, support and cooperation, we can more easily resolve the disputes that might arise, and continue to enjoy the manifest benefits of our relationship between Alaska and our good neighbor, Canada,' said Rep. Dan Saddler, R-Eagle River. None of the lawmakers who voted against the resolution spoke on the House floor about their decision. After the vote, Rep. Bill Elam, R-Nikiski and one of the 'no' voters, said he didn't think it was appropriate for a state legislature to be dabbling in foreign affairs. HJR 11 has not yet been set for a hearing in the Senate; a similarly written companion resolution is in the Senate Rules Committee. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
The weighted vote — or veto
Pronghorn antelope roam near Rome in eastern Oregon. Two proposed constitutional amendments before the Legislature would give rural residents more power to determine which initiatives make the ballot. (Photo by Laura Tesler/Oregon Capital Chronicle) The premise behind two constitutional amendments proposed by Republican lawmakers is that it's too easy to place an initiative on the ballot in Oregon. Buried inside that premise is that idea that some Oregonians' clout in the initiative process should count more than for others. Both House Joint Resolution 3 and HJR 11 aim to change the number of petition signatures needed for initiative backers to win a spot on the ballot. Now, Oregonians who want to pass laws at the ballot need to gather valid signatures from 6% of the total number of votes cast for governor during the last gubernatorial election — just more than 88,000 signatures. The threshold for citizen-initiated constitutional amendments is higher at 8%, or nearly 118,000 signatures. HJR 11 would raise the initiative requirement from 6% to 8% — increasing the requirement by a third — and require the signatures be 'divided equally' among Oregon's six congressional districts. For citizen-proposed constitutional amendments, the requirement would rise from 8% to 10%. HJR 3 would require initiative backers to collect signatures from 6% of voters in each of Oregon's 36 counties — an even more difficult mark to reach in a politically polarized state. A March 10 hearing on both measures showed widespread opposition and, at the Legislature at least, limited support. HJR 11 drew 104 testimony submissions, with just 24 in support (and two neutral). For HJR 3, 78 witnesses submitted testimony — all in opposition. The level of criticism shouldn't surprise, given Oregon's historical background with ballot issues. Oregon was one of the first states to adopt the idea of developing legislation or constitution changes directly to the public. Throughout the state's history, voters have decided 881 ballot issues (almost a quarter of them related to taxes), but reaching the ballot has been no guarantor of passage. Fewer than half (411) of the measures won voter approval, which has evidently given no one a slam dunk at the polls. The argument that it's too easy to place an issue on the ballot might have some currency if the number of initiatives on the ballot has been exploding. But it hasn't: In fact, the number continues to fall. After a large number of initiatives presented shortly after the method was started, the number of initiatives slumped in the mid-20th century, then grew in its latter third, to 92 ballot issues in the 1970s, 73 in the 1980s and 105 in the 1990s. Then, in this century, the number has fallen steadily, from 86 in the 2000s, to 39 in the 2010s and just 13 so far in this decade. Besides that, significant numbers of ballot issue campaigns fall short of the ballot qualification even under current rules. The stronger support for these new resolutions — at least to judge from the amount of supportive testimony received — seems not to be for raising the overall petition signature level, but rather ensuring that every county provides significant support for it. Sen. Todd Nash, R-Enterprise, argued for example: 'This should be more representative from all of Oregon to gather those signatures. Right now, we're not seeing that shape up that way. It's coming from one concentrated area.' Eastern Oregon rancher Katie Baltzor said many ballot initiatives, 'are crafted by extreme groups that have a specific agenda that would be harmful to specific livelihoods, such as ours. Many conservative and moderate Eastern Oregonians feel they do not have a voice in the legislative or initiative process. It is too easy for these groups to gather all the signatures they need for a ballot initiative by going to a highly populated area.' Some of this ties into the Greater Idaho protest, or the idea that eastern Oregonians aren't being adequately heard in Salem — and there's a good argument that they sometimes aren't. In Idaho, because of legislative action, rural votes do count more because of per-county signature requirements, which have reduced the number of initiatives that hit the ballot. That, of course, has come at the expense of urban and suburban dwellers. The core problem the Oregon initiative limitation backers have is simply the large number of people in the more urban and suburban areas, mostly in the Willamette Valley: They're outvoted. The only way around that is to weigh some votes (or petition signatures) more heavily than others. Dan Meek of the Independent Party of Oregon offered an analogy: 'If HJR 11 is a good idea, then let's apply it to votes in the Oregon Legislature: In order to pass, a bill must be approved by members of the Legislature representing every CD. If the 10 state representatives and 5 state senators who represent districts within any of the 6 CDs do not provide majority votes in favor of a bill, then the bill fails. Thus, representatives and senators within each CD get to veto every bill. That is equivalent to the system proposed by HJR 11.' People cast votes, and make other decisions in state politics. Land acreage doesn't. Most likely, the Oregon Legislature will factor in those directions when it comes to these two resolutions. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
