HCS SB 313(FIN): "An Act relating to sponsor certification of initiative petitions; relating to sponsor identification during petition circulation; relating to the voidability of an initiated law; placing limitations on the compensation that may be paid to sponsors of initiative petitions; prohibiting payments to persons who sign or refrain from signing initiative petitions; and repealing procedures for filing a supplementary initiative petition."
00HOUSE CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 313(FIN) 01 "An Act relating to sponsor certification of initiative petitions; relating to sponsor 02 identification during petition circulation; relating to the voidability of an initiated 03 law; placing limitations on the compensation that may be paid to sponsors of 04 initiative petitions; prohibiting payments to persons who sign or refrain from 05 signing initiative petitions; and repealing procedures for filing a supplementary 06 initiative petition." 07 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 08 * Section 1. AS 15.45.090 is amended to read: 09 Sec. 15.45.090. Preparation of petition. If the application is certified, the 10 lieutenant governor shall prescribe the form of and prepare petitions containing (1) a 11 copy of the proposed bill [,] if the number of words included in both the formal and 12 substantive provisions of the bill is 500 or less, (2) an impartial summary of the 13 subject matter of the bill, (3) the warning prescribed in AS 15.45.100, (4) sufficient 14 space for signature and address, [AND] (5) sufficient space at the bottom of each
01 page for the information required by AS 15.45.130(8), and (6) other specifications 02 prescribed by the lieutenant governor to assure proper handling and control. Petitions, 03 for purposes of circulation, shall be prepared by the lieutenant governor in a number 04 reasonably calculated to allow full circulation throughout the state. The lieutenant 05 governor shall number each petition and shall keep a record of the petition delivered 06 to each sponsor. Upon request of the committee, the lieutenant governor shall report 07 the number of persons who voted in the preceding general election. 08 * Sec. 2. AS 15.45.110 is amended by adding new subsections to read: 09 (b) A sponsor shall display identification containing the sponsor's name when 10 circulating a petition. 11 (c) A sponsor may not receive payment or agree to receive payment that is 12 greater than $1 a signature, and a person or an organization may not pay or agree to 13 pay an amount that is greater than $1 a signature, for the collection of signatures on 14 a petition. 15 (d) A person or organization may not knowingly pay, offer to pay, or cause 16 to be paid money or other valuable thing to a person to sign or refrain from signing 17 a petition. 18 (e) A person or organization that violates (b) - (d) of this section is guilty of 19 a class B misdemeanor. 20 (f) In this section, 21 (1) "organization" has the meaning given in AS 11.81.900; 22 (2) "other valuable thing" has the meaning given in AS 15.56.030(d); 23 (3) "person" has the meaning given in AS 11.81.900. 24 * Sec. 3. AS 15.45.130 is amended to read: 25 Sec. 15.45.130. Certification of sponsor. Before being filed, each petition 26 shall be certified by an affidavit by the sponsor who personally circulated the petition. 27 The affidavit must [SHALL] state in substance that (1) the person signing the affidavit 28 is a sponsor, (2) the person is the only circulator of that petition, (3) the signatures 29 were made in the sponsor's actual presence, [AND] (4) to the best of the sponsor's 30 knowledge, the signatures are those of the persons whose names they purport to be , 31 (5) the signatures are of persons who were qualified voters on the date of
01 signature, (6) the person has not entered into an agreement with a person or 02 organization in violation of AS 15.45.110(c), (7) the person has not violated 03 AS 15.45.110(d) with respect to that petition, and (8) the sponsor prominently 04 placed, in the space provided under AS 15.45.090(5) before circulation of the 05 petition, in bold capital letters, the sponsor's name and, if the sponsor has 06 received payment or agreed to receive payment for the collection of signatures on 07 the petition, the name of each person or organization that has paid or agreed to 08 pay the sponsor for collection of signatures on the petition . In determining the 09 sufficiency of the petition, the lieutenant governor may not count subscriptions on 10 petitions not properly certified. 11 * Sec. 4. AS 15.45.190 is amended to read: 12 Sec. 15.45.190. Placing proposition on ballot. The lieutenant governor shall 13 direct the director to place the ballot title and proposition on the election ballot of the 14 first statewide general, special, or primary election that is held after 15 (1) the petition has [AND ANY SUPPLEMENTARY PETITION 16 HAVE] been filed ; [,] 17 (2) a legislative session has convened and adjourned ; [,] and 18 (3) a period of 120 days has expired since the adjournment of the 19 legislative session. 20 * Sec. 5. AS 15.45.240 is amended to read: 21 Sec. 15.45.240. Judicial review. Any person aggrieved by a determination 22 made by the lieutenant governor under AS 15.45.010 - 15.45.220 [AS 15.45.010 - 23 15.45.230] may bring an action in the superior court to have the determination 24 reviewed within 30 days of the date on which notice of the determination was given. 25 * Sec. 6. AS 15.56.090(a) is amended to read: 26 (a) A person commits the crime of improper subscription to petition if the 27 person 28 (1) signs a name other than the person's own to a petition proposing an 29 initiative, referendum, recall, or nomination of a candidate for state or local office; 30 (2) knowingly signs more than once for the same proposition, question, 31 or candidate at one election; [OR]
01 (3) signs a petition proposing an initiative, referendum, recall, or 02 nomination of a candidate for state or local office, while knowingly not being a 03 qualified voter ; or 04 (4) solicits, accepts, or agrees to accept money or other valuable 05 thing in exchange for signing or refraining from signing a petition proposing an 06 initiative; in this paragraph, "other valuable thing" has the meaning given in 07 AS 15.56.030(d) . 08 * Sec. 7. AS 15.45.170 and 15.45.230 are repealed. 09 * Sec. 8. APPLICABILITY. (a) AS 15.45.110(b), as enacted by sec. 2 of this Act, applies 10 only to sponsors of petitions that arise from an initiative application that is certified under 11 AS 15.45.070 on or after the effective date of this Act. 12 (b) AS 15.45.110(c) - (f), as enacted by sec. 2 of this Act, apply only to agreements 13 entered into, payments under agreements entered into, and offers made on or after the effective 14 date of this Act. 15 (c) AS 15.45.130, as amended by sec. 3 of this Act, applies only to affidavits required 16 for filing of a petition that is certified under AS 15.45.070 on or after the effective date of this 17 Act. 18 (d) AS 15.56.090(a), as amended by sec. 6 of this Act, applies only to solicitations, 19 acceptances, or agreements made on or after the effective date of this Act. 20 (e) The amendment to AS 15.45.190 made by sec. 4 of this Act and the repeal of 21 AS 15.45.170 made by sec. 7 of this Act apply only to petitions that arise from an initiative 22 application that is certified under AS 15.45.070 on or after the effective date of this Act. 23 (f) The amendment to AS 15.45.240 made by sec. 5 of this Act and the repeal of 24 AS 15.45.230 made by sec. 7 of this Act apply only to initiatives that arise from an initiative 25 application that is certified under AS 15.45.070 on or after the effective date of this Act.