00 CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 225(JUD) 01 "An Act relating to election campaigns and legislative ethics; and providing for 02 an effective date." 03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 * Section 1. AS 15.13.074(c), as repealed and reenacted by sec. 12, ch. 48, SLA 1996, is 05 amended to read: 06  (c) A person or group may not make a contribution 07  (1) to a candidate or an individual who files with the commission the 08 document necessary to permit that individual to incur certain election-related expenses 09 as authorized by AS 15.13.100 when the office is to be filled at a general election 10 before the date that is 18 months before the general election; 11  (2) to a candidate or an individual who files with the commission the 12 document necessary to permit that individual to incur certain election-related expenses 13 as authorized by AS 15.13.100 for an office that is to be filled at a special election or 14 municipal election before the date that is 18 months before the date of the regular 01 municipal election or that is before the date of the proclamation of the special election 02 at which the candidate or individual seeks election to public office; or 03  (3) to any candidate  after the earlier of December 31 of the year of 04 the election or the 60th [LATER THAN THE 45TH] day 05  (A) after the date of a primary election if the candidate 06  (i) has been nominated at the primary election or is 07 running as a write-in candidate; and 08  (ii) is not opposed at the general election; 09  (B) after the date of the primary election if the candidate was 10 not nominated at the primary election; or 11  (C) after the date of the general election, or after the date of a 12 municipal or municipal runoff election, if the candidate was opposed at the 13 general, municipal, or municipal runoff election. 14 * Sec. 2. AS 15.13.145(b) is amended to read: 15  (b) Money held by an entity identified in (a)(1) - (3) of this section may be 16 used to influence the outcome of an election concerning a ballot proposition or 17 question  if the use is permitted under AS 24.60.030(a)(5)(H) or  [, BUT ONLY] if 18 the funds have been specifically appropriated for that purpose by a state law or a 19 municipal ordinance. 20 * Sec. 3. AS 24.60.030(a) is amended to read: 21  (a) A legislator or legislative employee may not 22  (1) solicit, agree to accept, or accept a benefit other than official 23 compensation for the performance of public duties; this paragraph may not be 24 construed to prohibit lawful solicitation for and acceptance of campaign contributions 25 or the acceptance of a lawful gratuity under AS 24.60.080; 26  (2) use public funds, facilities, equipment, services, or another 27 government asset or resource for a nonlegislative purpose, for involvement in or 28 support of or opposition to partisan political activity, or for the private benefit of either 29 the legislator, legislative employee, or another person; this paragraph does not prohibit 30  (A) limited use of state property and resources for personal 31 purposes if the use does not interfere with the performance of public duties and 01 either the cost or value related to the use is nominal or the legislator or 02 legislative employee reimburses the state for the cost of the use; 03  (B) the unlimited use of mailing lists, computer data, or other 04 information lawfully obtained from a government agency and available to the 05 general public for nonlegislative purposes; 06  (C) unlimited telephone or facsimile use that does not carry a 07 special charge; 08  (D) the legislative council, notwithstanding AS 24.05.190, from 09 designating a public facility for use by legislators and legislative employees for 10 health or fitness purposes; when the council designates a facility to be used by 11 legislators and legislative employees for health or fitness purposes, it shall 12 adopt guidelines governing access to and use of the facility; the guidelines may 13 establish times in which use of the facility is limited to specific groups; [OR] 14  (E) a legislator from using the legislator's private office in the 15 capital city during a legislative session, and for the  10  [FIVE] days 16 immediately before and the  10  [FIVE] days immediately after a legislative 17 session, for nonlegislative purposes if the use does not interfere with the 18 performance of public duties and if there is no cost to the state for the use of 19 the space and equipment, other than utility costs and minimal wear and tear, 20 or the legislator promptly reimburses the state for the cost; an office is 21 considered a legislator's private office under this subparagraph if it is the 22 primary space in the capital city reserved for use by the legislator, whether or 23 not it is shared with others; 24   (F) a legislator from unlimited use of legislative employees 25 to prepare and send out seasonal greeting cards; 26  (G) a legislator from using state resources to transport 27 computers or other office equipment owned by the legislator but primarily 28 used for a state function; 29  (H) unlimited use by a legislator of photographs of that 30 legislator; 31  (I) reasonable use of the Internet by a legislator or a 01 legislative employee except if the use is for election campaign purposes; or 02  (J) a legislator from soliciting, accepting, or receiving a gift 03 on behalf of a recognized, nonpolitical charitable organization in a state 04 facility;  05  (3) knowingly seek, accept, use, allocate, grant, or award public funds 06 for a purpose other than that approved by law, or make a false statement in connection 07 with a claim, request, or application for compensation, reimbursement, or travel 08 allowances from public funds; 09  (4) require a legislative employee to perform services for the private 10 benefit of the legislator or employee at any time, or allow a legislative employee to 11 perform services for the private benefit of a legislator or employee on government 12 time; it is not a violation of this paragraph if the services were performed in an 13 unusual or infrequent situation and the person's services were reasonably necessary to 14 permit the legislator or legislative employee to perform official duties; 15  (5) use or authorize the use of state funds, facilities, equipment, 16 services, or another government asset or resource for the purpose of political fund 17 raising or campaigning; this paragraph does not prohibit 18  (A) limited use of state property and resources for personal 19 purposes if the use does not interfere with the performance of public duties and 20 either the cost or value related to the use is nominal or the legislator or 21 legislative employee reimburses the state for the cost of the use; 22  (B) the  unlimited  use of mailing lists, computer data, or other 23 information lawfully obtained from a government agency and available to the 24 general public for nonlegislative purposes; 25  (C) telephone or facsimile use that does not carry a special 26 charge; 27  (D)  unlimited storage or maintenance  [STORING OR 28 MAINTAINING], consistent with (b) of this section,  of  election campaign 29 records in a legislator's office; [OR] 30  (E) a legislator from using the legislator's private office in the 31 capital city during a legislative session, and for the  10  [FIVE] days 01 immediately before and the  10  [FIVE] days immediately after a legislative 02 session, for nonlegislative purposes if the use does not interfere with the 03 performance of public duties and if there is no cost to the state for the use of 04 the space and equipment, other than utility costs and minimal wear and tear, 05 or the legislator promptly reimburses the state for the cost; an office is 06 considered a legislator's private office under this subparagraph if it is the 07 primary space in the capital city reserved for use by the legislator, whether or 08 not it is shared with others ; 09  (F) unlimited use by a legislator of photographs of that 10 legislator; 11  (G) reasonable use of the Internet by a legislator or a 12 legislative employee except if the use is for election campaign purposes; or 13  (H) use of governmental resources, including paid staff time, 14 to support or oppose a proposed initiative or an amendment to the state 15 or federal constitution; a legislator or legislative employee may support or 16 oppose a proposed initiative or constitutional amendment; however, a 17 legislator or legislative employee may not use governmental resources to 18 solicit contributions for or gather signatures on an initiative petition; a 19 legislative employee may not, on government time, accept or receive 20 contributions relating to a proposed constitutional amendment or initiative . 21 * Sec. 4. Except as provided in sec. 5 of this Act, this Act takes effect December 1, 1999. 22 * Sec. 5. Section 1 of this Act takes effect on the later of 23 (1) immediately under AS 01.10.070(c); or 24 (2) the date that, under sec. 34, ch. 48, SLA 1996, sec. 12, ch. 48, SLA 1996 25 takes effect.