HB 343: "An Act relating to political expenditures by corporations; and providing for an effective date."
00 HOUSE BILL NO. 343 01 "An Act relating to political expenditures by corporations; and providing for an 02 effective date." 03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 * Section 1. AS 10.06 is amended by adding a new section to article 12 to read: 05 Sec. 10.06.940. Political expenditures. (a) A corporation may only use money 06 or other property of the corporation in connection with a political expenditure if the 07 shareholders of the corporation at an annual or special meeting of the shareholders, by 08 an affirmative vote of a majority of all votes entitled to be cast, 09 (1) authorize in advance the total amount of money or property that 10 may be used for all political expenditures during a specific fiscal year of the 11 corporation; and 12 (2) direct that the money or property be used for one or more specific 13 (A) candidates; 14 (B) political parties' candidates;
01 (C) political parties; 02 (D) entities exempt from taxation under 26 U.S.C. 501(c)(4) or 03 (6) (Internal Revenue Code); or 04 (E) questions. 05 (b) Within 48 hours after making a political expenditure under this section, the 06 corporation shall give notice of the political expenditure and include the amount, 07 recipient, date, and purpose of the political expenditure by 08 (1) electronic transmission of the notice to each shareholder that has 09 requested notice; and 10 (2) posting the notice on the corporation's Internet website if the 11 corporation maintains a website. 12 (c) The annual report of the corporation must contain a list of all political 13 expenditures made by the corporation during the reporting period, including the 14 amount, recipient, date, and purpose of each political expenditure. 15 (d) A violation of this section shall be considered a breach of a fiduciary duty 16 of the officers or directors who authorized the expenditure. Officers or directors who 17 use money or property of the corporation in connection with a political expenditure 18 without first obtaining the authorization of shareholders under (a) of this section shall 19 be jointly and severally liable in an action brought in a court of competent jurisdiction 20 to a shareholder or class of shareholders for the amount of the expenditure. 21 (e) The attorney general may bring an action against a person who violates 22 this section to obtain one or more of the following remedies: 23 (1) a temporary restraining order; 24 (2) a temporary or permanent injunction; 25 (3) a civil penalty not to exceed 26 (A) three times the amount of the political expenditure made in 27 violation of (a) of this section; or 28 (B) $5,000 for any other violation of this section; 29 (4) a declaratory judgment; 30 (5) rescission; 31 (6) restitution; and
01 (7) any other appropriate relief provided by law or in equity. 02 (f) In this section, "political expenditure" means a contribution, gift, transfer, 03 disbursement, or promise of money or a thing of value to promote or assist in the 04 promotion of the success or defeat of a candidate, political party, or question in any 05 state or federal election. 06 * Sec. 2. This Act takes effect October 1, 2016.