00 HOUSE BILL NO. 359 01 "An Act relating to election pamphlets; relating to information that must be provided 02 for a bill under consideration by the legislature that authorizes the issuance of state 03 general obligation bonds, to information that must be provided before the issuance of 04 state general obligation bonds is submitted to the voters for ratification, and to the 05 publication of a report relating to state bonded debt; and providing for an effective 06 date." 07 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 08  * Section 1. AS 15.58.020 is amended to read: 09 Sec. 15.58.020. Contents of pamphlet. (a) Each general election pamphlet 10 must contain 11 (1) photographs and campaign statements submitted by eligible 12 candidates for elective office in the region; 13 (2) information and recommendations filed under AS 15.58.050 on 01 judicial officers subject to a retention election in the region; 02 (3) a map of the house district or districts of the region; 03 (4) sample ballots for house districts of the region; 04 (5) an absentee ballot application; 05 (6) for each ballot proposition submitted to the voters by initiative or 06 referendum petition or by the legislature, 07 (A) the full text of the proposition specifying constitutional or 08 statutory provisions proposed to be affected; 09 (B) the ballot title and the summary of the proposition prepared 10 by the director or by the lieutenant governor; 11 (C) a statement of the costs to the state of implementing the law 12 proposed in an initiative, or of voter approval or rejection of the act that is the 13 subject of a referendum; 14 (D) a neutral summary of the proposition prepared by the 15 Legislative Affairs Agency; 16 (E) statements submitted that advocate voter approval or 17 rejection of the proposition not to exceed 500 words; 18 (7) for each bond question, a statement of the scope of each project as 19 it appears in the bond authorization and the notice prepared under AS 37.15.015(a); 20 (8) a maximum of two pages of material submitted by each political 21 party; 22 (9) additional information on voting procedures that the lieutenant 23 governor considers necessary; 24 (10) for the question whether a constitutional convention shall be 25 called, 26 (A) a full statement of the question placed on the ballot; 27 (B) statements not to exceed 500 words that advocate voter 28 approval or rejection of the question; 29 (11) under AS 37.13.170, the Alaska permanent fund annual income 30 statement and balance sheet for the two fiscal years preceding the publication of the 31 election pamphlet; 01 (12) under AS 15.10.090, notice of 02 (A) the establishment or abolition of a precinct; 03 (B) the designation, abolition, or modification of precinct 04 boundaries; and 05 (C) a change in the location of a polling place. 06 (b) Each primary, special, or special runoff election pamphlet shall contain 07 only the information specified in (a)(6) and (a)(9) of this section for each ballot 08 measure and the information specified in (a)(7) of this section for each bond  09 question scheduled to appear on the primary, special, or special runoff election ballot. 10  * Sec. 2. AS 24.08.037 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 11 (b) In addition to the fiscal note requirements of AS 24.08.035 and the 12 requirements of (a) of this section, before a bill authorizing the issuance of state 13 general obligation bonds is referred to the rules committee, there shall be attached to 14 the bill a statement with the following information: 15 (1) the current general obligation and other bonded indebtedness of the 16 state and the effect of the proposed bonding on that indebtedness; 17 (2) the average cost of the annual debt service on the current general 18 obligation bonded indebtedness and the effect of the proposed bonding on the average 19 cost of the annual debt service; 20 (3) the amount of state general obligation debt principal that could be 21 issued and paid for from the Alaska debt retirement fund (AS 37.15.011); 22 (4) the estimated debt service requirements for the bond issue proposed 23 under the bill; 24 (5) whether the bond issue proposed under the bill will be repaid with 25 amounts from the Alaska debt retirement fund (AS 37.15.011). 26  * Sec. 3. AS 37.07.045 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 27 (b) The Department of Revenue shall publish, and make available to the 28 public, the report prepared under (a) of this section on the department's Internet 29 website. 30  * Sec. 4. AS 37.13.170 is amended to read: 31 Sec. 37.13.170. Reports and publications. By September 30 of each year, the 01 board shall publish a report of the fund for distribution to the governor and the public. 02 The board shall notify the legislature that the report is available. The report shall be 03 written in easily understandable language. The report must include financial 04 statements audited by independent outside auditors, a statement of the amount of 05 money received by the fund from each investment during the period covered, a 06 statement of investments of the fund including an appraisal at market value, a 07 description of fund investment activity during the period covered by the report, a 08 comparison of the fund performance with the intended goals contained in 09 AS 37.13.020, an examination of the effect of the investment criteria of this chapter on 10 the fund portfolio with recommendations of any needed changes, and any other 11 information the board believes would be of interest to the governor, the legislature, 12 and the public. The annual income statement and balance sheet of the fund shall be 13 published in at least one newspaper in each judicial district. The income statement and 14 balance sheet for the two fiscal years preceding the publication of the general election 15 pamphlet under AS 15.58 shall be included in that pamphlet. 16  * Sec. 5. AS 37.15.015(a) is amended to read: 17 (a) Before an election in which a general obligation bond issue is offered  18 for ratification, the state bond committee shall prepare a notice for inclusion in  19 the election pamphlet. Before an [A GENERAL OR SPECIAL] election in which a 20 bond issue is offered for ratification, the state bond committee shall publish a notice 21 [OF EXISTING STATE BONDED INDEBTEDNESS] at least once a week for three 22 consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in each of the four judicial 23 districts of the state. The first notice shall be published at least 20 days before the date 24 of the election. The notice shall also be included on the state Internet website as  25 soon as it is prepared by the state bond committee. A notice prepared under this  26 subsection must contain 27 (1) the current general obligation [TOTAL] bonded indebtedness of 28 the state and the effect of the proposed bonding on that indebtedness; 29 (2) the average cost of the annual debt service on the current general  30 obligation bonded indebtedness and the effect of the proposed bonding on the  31 average cost of the annual debt service; 01 (3) the [PROJECTED] amount of state general obligation debt 02 principal that could be issued and paid for from the Alaska debt retirement fund 03 (AS 37.15.011); 04 (4) the estimated debt service requirements for the bond issue offered 05 for ratification; [AND] 06 (5) whether the bond issue offered for ratification will be repaid with 07 amounts from the Alaska debt retirement fund (AS 37.15.011);  08 (6) a brief description of each capital project, its location, and, in  09 dollars, that portion of the total bond issue offered for ratification to be allocated  10 to the project; and  11 (7) a brief description of the report relating to the state's bonded  12 debt prepared by the Department of Revenue under AS 37.07.045 and the  13 Internet address where the full report is available to the public under  14 AS 37.07.045(b). 15  * Sec. 6. This Act takes effect January 1, 2015.