Alaska Legislative Council v. Knowles

OPINION

EASTAUGH, Justice.

I. INTRODUCTION

Governor Tony Knowles, invoking the governor's constitutionally granted power to veto "items" in appropriation bills, struck descriptive language from five appropriations the Alaska legislature enacted in' 1997. Were the vetoes constitutionally invalid, as the superior court declared, either because the vetoed passages were not "items" or because the governor did not adequately explain his vetoes?1 And if the vetoes were invalid, were the struck passages nonetheless invalid, as the superior court held, because they violated the constitution's…