SCS CSHB 368(STA): "An Act relating to allowing legislators and legislative employees to accept certain gifts from lobbyists, to clarifying the Legislative Ethics Act as it relates to legislative volunteers and educational trainees, to reducing the frequency of publication of summaries by the Select Committee on Legislative Ethics, and to revising procedures and fines related to the late filing of disclosures required by the Legislative Ethics Act."
00 SENATE CS FOR CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 368(STA) 01 "An Act relating to allowing legislators and legislative employees to accept certain gifts 02 from lobbyists, to clarifying the Legislative Ethics Act as it relates to legislative 03 volunteers and educational trainees, to reducing the frequency of publication of 04 summaries by the Select Committee on Legislative Ethics, and to revising procedures 05 and fines related to the late filing of disclosures required by the Legislative Ethics Act." 06 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 07 * Section 1. AS 24.60.080(a) is amended to read: 08 (a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, a legislator or legislative 09 employee may not 10 (1) solicit, accept, or receive, directly or indirectly, a gift worth $250 11 or more, whether in the form of money, services, a loan, travel, entertainment, 12 hospitality, promise, or other form, or gifts from the same person worth less than $250 13 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. 2. 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. 3. 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. 4. 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. 5. 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.