HB 489: "An Act relating to the exemption of charity events from regulation by the Alaska Public Offices Commission and to the treatment of charity events under the law governing legislative ethics; and providing for an effective date."
00 HOUSE BILL NO. 489 01 "An Act relating to the exemption of charity events from regulation by the Alaska 02 Public Offices Commission and to the treatment of charity events under the law 03 governing legislative ethics; and providing for an effective date." 04 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 05 * Section 1. AS 24.45.161(a) is amended to read: 06 (a) This chapter does not apply to 07 (1) an individual 08 (A) who lobbies without payment of compensation or other 09 consideration and makes no disbursement or expenditure for or on behalf of a 10 public official to influence legislative or administrative action other than to pay 11 the individual's reasonable personal travel and living expenses; and 12 (B) who limits lobbying activities to appearances before public 13 sessions of the legislature, or its committees or subcommittees, or to public 14 hearings or other public proceedings of state agencies;
01 (2) an elected or appointed state or municipal public officer or an 02 employee of the state or a municipality acting in an official capacity or within the 03 scope of employment; 04 (3) any newspaper or other periodical of general circulation, book 05 publisher, radio or television station (including an individual who owns, publishes, or 06 is employed by that newspaper or periodical, radio or television station) that publishes 07 news items, editorials, or other comments, or paid advertisements, that directly or 08 indirectly urge legislative or administrative action if the newspaper, periodical, book 09 publisher, radio or television station, or individual engages in no further or other 10 activities in connection with urging or advocating legislative or administrative action 11 other than to appear before public sessions of the legislature, or its committees or 12 subcommittees, or public hearings or other public proceedings of state agencies; 13 (4) a person who appears before the legislature or either house, or 14 standing, special, or interim committee, in response to an invitation issued under (c) of 15 this section; 16 (5) a fundraising event sponsored by or on behalf of a charity and 17 approved in advance by the Alaska Legislative Council. 18 * Sec. 2. AS 24.60.030(a) is amended to read: 19 (a) A legislator or legislative employee may not 20 (1) solicit, agree to accept, or accept a benefit other than official 21 compensation for the performance of public duties; this paragraph may not be 22 construed to prohibit lawful solicitation for and acceptance of campaign contributions, 23 solicitation or acceptance of contributions for a charity event approved in 24 advance by the Alaska Legislative Council, or the acceptance of a lawful gratuity 25 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 use of mailing lists, computer data, or other information 04 lawfully obtained from a government agency and available to the general 05 public for nonlegislative purposes; 06 (C) telephone or facsimile use that does not carry a special 07 charge; 08 (D) the legislative council, notwithstanding AS 24.05.190, 09 from designating a public facility for use by legislators and legislative 10 employees for health or fitness purposes; when the council designates a facility 11 to be used by legislators and legislative employees for health or fitness 12 purposes, it shall adopt guidelines governing access to and use of the facility; 13 the guidelines may establish times in which use of the facility is limited to 14 specific groups; 15 (E) a legislator from using the legislator's private office in the 16 capital city during a legislative session, and for the 10 days immediately before 17 and the 10 days immediately after a legislative session, for nonlegislative 18 purposes if the use does not interfere with the performance of public duties and 19 if there is no cost to the state for the use of the space and equipment, other than 20 utility costs and minimal wear and tear, or the legislator promptly reimburses 21 the state for the cost; an office is considered a legislator's private office under 22 this subparagraph if it is the primary space in the capital city reserved for use 23 by the legislator, whether or not it is shared with others; 24 (F) a legislator from use of legislative employees to prepare 25 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 used 28 for a state function; 29 (H) use by a legislator of photographs of that legislator; 30 (I) reasonable use of the Internet by a legislator or a legislative 31 employee except if the use is for election campaign purposes;
01 (J) a legislator from soliciting, accepting, or receiving a gift on 02 behalf of a recognized, nonpolitical charitable organization in a state facility; 03 or 04 (K) a legislator from sending any communication in the form of 05 a newsletter to the legislator's constituents, except a communication expressly 06 advocating the election or defeat of a candidate or a newsletter or material in a 07 newsletter that is clearly only for the private benefit of a legislator or a 08 legislative employee; 09 (L) full participation in a charity event approved in 10 advance by the Alaska Legislative Council; 11 (3) knowingly seek, accept, use, allocate, grant, or award public funds 12 for a purpose other than that approved by law, or make a false statement in connection 13 with a claim, request, or application for compensation, reimbursement, or travel 14 allowances from public funds; 15 (4) require a legislative employee to perform services for the private 16 benefit of the legislator or employee at any time, or allow a legislative employee to 17 perform services for the private benefit of a legislator or employee on government 18 time; it is not a violation of this paragraph if the services were performed in an 19 unusual or infrequent situation and the person's services were reasonably necessary to 20 permit the legislator or legislative employee to perform official duties; 21 (5) use or authorize the use of state funds, facilities, equipment, 22 services, or another government asset or resource for the purpose of political fund 23 raising or campaigning; this paragraph does not prohibit 24 (A) limited use of state property and resources for personal 25 purposes if the use does not interfere with the performance of public duties and 26 either the cost or value related to the use is nominal or the legislator or 27 legislative employee reimburses the state for the cost of the use; 28 (B) the use of mailing lists, computer data, or other information 29 lawfully obtained from a government agency and available to the general 30 public for nonlegislative purposes; 31 (C) telephone or facsimile use that does not carry a special
01 charge; 02 (D) storing or maintaining, consistent with (b) of this section, 03 election campaign records in a legislator's office; 04 (E) a legislator from using the legislator's private office in the 05 capital city during a legislative session, and for the 10 days immediately before 06 and the 10 days immediately after a legislative session, for nonlegislative 07 purposes if the use does not interfere with the performance of public duties and 08 if there is no cost to the state for the use of the space and equipment, other than 09 utility costs and minimal wear and tear, or the legislator promptly reimburses 10 the state for the cost; an office is considered a legislator's private office under 11 this subparagraph if it is the primary space in the capital city reserved for use 12 by the legislator, whether or not it is shared with others; or 13 (F) use by a legislator of photographs of that legislator. 14 * Sec. 3. AS 24.60.080(c) is amended to read: 15 (c) Notwithstanding (a) of this section, it is not a violation of this section for a 16 legislator or legislative employee to accept 17 (1) hospitality, other than hospitality described in (4) of this 18 subsection, 19 (A) with incidental transportation at the residence of a person; 20 however, a vacation home located outside the state is not considered a 21 residence for the purposes of this subparagraph; or 22 (B) at a social event or meal; 23 (2) discounts that are available 24 (A) generally to the public or to a large class of persons to 25 which the person belongs; or 26 (B) when on official state business, but only if receipt of the 27 discount benefits the state; 28 (3) food or foodstuffs indigenous to the state that are shared generally 29 as a cultural or social norm; 30 (4) travel and hospitality primarily for the purpose of obtaining 31 information on matters of legislative concern;
01 (5) gifts from the immediate family of the person; 02 (6) gifts that are not connected with the recipient's legislative status; 03 (7) a discount for all or part of a legislative session, including time 04 immediately preceding or following the session, or other gift to welcome a legislator 05 or legislative employee who is employed on the personal staff of a legislator or by a 06 standing or special committee to the capital city or in recognition of the beginning of a 07 legislative session if the gift or discount is available generally to all legislators and the 08 personal staff of legislators and staff of standing and special committees; this 09 paragraph does not apply to legislative employees who are employed by the 10 Legislative Affairs Agency, the office of the chief clerk, the office of the senate 11 secretary, the legislative budget and audit committee, or the office of the ombudsman; 12 (8) a gift of legal services in a matter of legislative concern and a gift 13 of other services related to the provision of legal services in a matter of legislative 14 concern; 15 (9) a gift of transportation from a legislator to a legislator if the 16 transportation takes place in the state on or in an aircraft, boat, motor vehicle, or other 17 means of transport owned or under the control of the donor; this paragraph does not 18 apply to travel described in (4) of this subsection or travel for political campaign 19 purposes; or 20 (10) a contribution to a charity event from any person or tickets 21 from a lobbyist for a charity event at any time, including during a legislative session, 22 except that tickets to or gifts received at a charity event under this paragraph, other 23 than contributions to a charity event, are subject to the calendar year limit on the 24 value of gifts received by a legislator or legislative employee in (a) of this section; in 25 this paragraph, "charity event" means an event the proceeds of which go to a 26 charitable organization with tax-free status under 26 U.S.C. 501(c)(3) and that the 27 Alaska Legislative Council has approved in advance; the tickets may entitle the bearer 28 to admission to the event, to entertainment, to food or beverages, or to other gifts or 29 services involved in the charity event. 30 * Sec. 4. This Act takes effect immediately under AS 01.10.070(c).