CSHB 368(FIN) am: "An Act amending the Legislative Ethics Act to modify the limitation on political fund raising by legislators and legislative employees during legislative sessions, to allow legislators and legislative employees to accept certain gifts from lobbyists, to clarify the Legislative Ethics Act as it relates to legislative volunteers and educational trainees, to reduce the frequency of publication of summaries by the Select Committee on Legislative Ethics, and to revise procedures and fines related to the late filing of disclosures required by the Legislative Ethics Act."
00 CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 368(FIN) am 01 "An Act amending the Legislative Ethics Act to modify the limitation on political fund 02 raising by legislators and legislative employees during legislative sessions, to allow 03 legislators and legislative employees to accept certain gifts from lobbyists, to clarify the 04 Legislative Ethics Act as it relates to legislative volunteers and educational trainees, to 05 reduce the frequency of publication of summaries by the Select Committee on 06 Legislative Ethics, and to revise procedures and fines related to the late filing of 07 disclosures required by the Legislative Ethics Act." 08 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 09 * Section 1. AS 24.60.031(a) is amended to read: 10 (a) A legislator or legislative employee may not 11 (1) on a day when either house of the legislature is in regular or special 12 session, solicit or accept a contribution or a promise or pledge to make a contribution 13 for a campaign for the state legislature; however, a legislator or legislative employee
01 may, except in the capital city or in the municipality in which the legislature is 02 convened in special session if the municipality is other than the capital city, solicit 03 or accept a contribution, promise, or pledge for a campaign for the state legislature 04 that occurs during the 90 days immediately preceding an election; 05 (2) accept money from an event held on a day when either house of the 06 legislature is in regular or special session if a substantial purpose of the event is to 07 raise money on behalf of the member or legislative employee for state legislative 08 political purposes; however, this paragraph does not prohibit a legislator or legislative 09 employee from accepting money from an event held in a place other than the capital 10 city or in the municipality in which the legislature is convened in special session if 11 the municipality is other than the capital city, during the 90 days immediately 12 preceding an election; or 13 (3) in a campaign for the state legislature, expend money that was 14 raised on a day when either house of the legislature was in a legislative session by or 15 on behalf of a legislator under a declaration of candidacy or a general letter of intent to 16 become a candidate for public office; however, this paragraph does not apply to 17 money raised in a place other than the capital city or in the municipality in which 18 the legislature is convened in special session if the municipality is other than the 19 capital city, during the 90 days immediately preceding an election. 20 * Sec. 2. AS 24.60.031 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 21 (c) This section does not prohibit a legislator from soliciting or accepting a 22 contribution or making campaign expenditures during a special session held during the 23 90 days immediately preceding an election if the district for which the legislator has 24 filed for office is in the municipality where the special session occurs. 25 * Sec. 3. AS 24.60.080(a) is amended to read: 26 (a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, a legislator or legislative 27 employee may not 28 (1) solicit, accept, or receive, directly or indirectly, a gift worth $250 29 or more, whether in the form of money, services, a loan, travel, entertainment, 30 hospitality, promise, or other form, or gifts from the same person worth less than $250 31 that in a calendar year aggregate to $250 or more in value;
01 (2) solicit, accept, or receive a gift with any monetary value from a 02 lobbyist, an immediate family member of a lobbyist, or a person acting on behalf of a 03 lobbyist, except 04 (A) food or beverage for immediate consumption; [OR] 05 (B) a contribution to a charity event from any person at any 06 time, and tickets for a charity event at any time, except that tickets to or gifts 07 received at a charity event under this subparagraph are subject to the calendar 08 year limit on the value of gifts received by a legislator or legislative employee 09 in (1) of this subsection; in this subparagraph, "charity event" means an event 10 the proceeds of which go to a charitable organization with tax-free status under 11 26 U.S.C. 501(c)(3) and that the Alaska Legislative Council has approved in 12 advance; the tickets may entitle the bearer to admission to the event, to 13 entertainment, to food or beverages, or to other gifts or services involved in the 14 charity event; 15 (C) a gift that is unconnected with the recipient's legislative 16 status and is from a member of the legislator's or legislative employee's 17 immediate family; 18 (D) a gift delivered on the premises of a state facility and 19 accepted on behalf of a recognized nonpolitical charitable organization; or 20 (E) a compassionate gift under AS 24.60.075. 21 * Sec. 4. AS 24.60.080(h) is amended to read: 22 (h) A legislator, a legislative committee other than the Select Committee on 23 Legislative Ethics, or a legislative agency may accept a gift of (1) volunteer services 24 for legislative purposes so long as the person making the gift of services is not 25 receiving compensation from another source for the services, or (2) the services of a 26 trainee who is participating in an educational program approved by the committee if 27 the services are used for legislative purposes. The committee shall approve training 28 under a program of the University of Alaska and training under 29 U.S.C. 2801 - 2945 29 (Workforce Investment Act of 1998). [A LEGISLATIVE VOLUNTEER OR 30 EDUCATIONAL TRAINEE SHALL BE CONSIDERED TO BE A LEGISLATIVE 31 EMPLOYEE FOR PURPOSES OF COMPLIANCE WITH THIS SECTION,
01 AS 24.60.030 - 24.60.039, 24.60.060, 24.60.085, 24.60.158 - 24.60.170, 24.60.176, 02 AND 24.60.178. IF A PERSON BELIEVES THAT A LEGISLATIVE VOLUNTEER 03 OR EDUCATIONAL TRAINEE HAS VIOLATED THE PROVISIONS OF ONE OF 04 THOSE SECTIONS, THE PERSON MAY FILE A COMPLAINT UNDER 05 AS 24.60.170. THE PROVISIONS OF AS 24.60.170 APPLY TO THE 06 PROCEEDING.] 07 * Sec. 5. AS 24.60.080 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 08 (l) A legislative volunteer or educational trainee shall be considered to be a 09 legislative employee for purposes of compliance with this section, AS 24.60.030 - 10 24.60.039, 24.60.060, 24.60.085, 24.60.158 - 24.60.170, 24.60.176, and 24.60.178. If 11 a person believes that a legislative volunteer or educational trainee has violated the 12 provisions of one of those sections, the person may file a complaint under 13 AS 24.60.170. The provisions of AS 24.60.170 apply to the proceeding. 14 * Sec. 6. AS 24.60.150(a) is amended to read: 15 (a) The committee shall 16 (1) adopt procedures to facilitate the receipt of inquiries and prompt 17 rendition of its opinions; 18 (2) publish annual [SEMI-ANNUAL] summaries of decisions and 19 advisory opinions with sufficient deletions in the summaries to prevent disclosing the 20 identity of the persons involved in the decisions or opinions that have remained 21 confidential; 22 (3) publish legislative ethics materials, including an annually updated 23 handbook on standards of ethical conduct and a bimonthly legislative newsletter, to 24 help educate legislators, legislative employees, and public members of the committee 25 on the subject of legislative ethics; 26 (4) within 10 days of the first day of each regular session of the 27 legislature and at other times determined by the committee, administer two types of 28 legislative ethics courses that teach means of compliance with this chapter and are 29 designed to give an understanding of this chapter's purpose under AS 24.60.010; one 30 course, for returning legislators, legislative employees, or public members of the 31 committee, shall refresh knowledge and review compliance issues; a separate course
01 shall be designed to give first-time legislators, legislative employees, or public 02 members of the committee a fundamental understanding of this chapter and how to 03 comply with it. 04 * Sec. 7. AS 24.60.260(c) is amended to read: 05 (c) The committee may impose a fine on a person who files a disclosure after 06 a deadline set by this chapter. The amount of the fine imposed under this subsection 07 may not exceed $2 for each day to a maximum of $100 for each [DISCLOSURE FOR 08 A] late filing unless the committee determines that the late filing was inadvertent 09 or willful. If [DISCLOSURE. HOWEVER, IF] the committee finds that a late filing 10 was inadvertent, the maximum fine the committee may impose under this subsection is 11 $25. If the committee determines that the late filing was willful, the amount of the 12 fine imposed under this subsection may be $100 for each day but may not exceed 13 a maximum of $2,500.