HB 393: "An Act relating to political contributions; and relating to the Select Committee on Legislative Ethics and the Legislative Ethics Act."
00 HOUSE BILL NO. 393 01 "An Act relating to political contributions; and relating to the Select Committee on 02 Legislative Ethics and the Legislative Ethics Act." 03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 * Section 1. AS 15.13.074 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 05 (j) Notwithstanding (g) of this section, an individual required to register as a 06 lobbyist under AS 24.45 may not, at any time the individual is subject to the 07 registration requirement under AS 24.45 and for one year thereafter, make a 08 contribution to a candidate for the legislature or to a group that makes expenditures or 09 receives contributions 10 (1) with the authorization or consent, express or implied, or under the 11 control, direct or indirect, of 12 (A) a member of the legislature, including a former member of 13 the legislature who was a member of the legislature at any time during the 14 preceding 365-day period;
01 (B) a legislative employee, including a former legislative 02 employee who was employed by the legislature at any time during the 03 preceding 365-day period; 04 (C) a person in the immediate family of a member of the 05 legislature under (A) of this paragraph; 06 (D) a person in the immediate family of a legislative employee 07 under (B) of this paragraph; or 08 (E) an individual who files for election to the state legislature 09 or campaigns as a write-in candidate for the state legislature; and 10 (2) to influence the outcome of an election under this chapter. 11 * Sec. 2. AS 24.20.100 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 12 (b) The Select Committee on Legislative Ethics established under AS 24.60 13 may use legal services provided by staff of the Legislative Affairs Agency under 14 AS 24.60.150(a)(5) during that committee's meetings in executive session and for 15 matters and proceedings related to those meetings. A request for services by the 16 committee is confidential. 17 * Sec. 3. AS 24.60.020(b) is amended to read: 18 (b) The provisions of this chapter specifically supersede the provisions of the 19 common law relating to legislative conflict of interest that may apply to a member of 20 the legislature or a legislative employee. This chapter does not supersede the 21 uniform rules adopted by the Alaska State Legislature, and does not supersede or 22 repeal provisions of the criminal laws of the state. This chapter does not exempt a 23 person from applicable provisions of another law unless the law is expressly 24 superseded or incompatibly inconsistent with the specific provisions of this chapter. 25 * Sec. 4. AS 24.60.037(e) is amended to read: 26 (e) In a matter [CASES] where there is a conflict [ARE CONFLICTS] 27 between the open meetings [THESE] guidelines established in this section and the 28 uniform rules adopted by the Alaska State Legislature, the uniform rules prevail. 29 30 * Sec. 5. AS 24.60.130(c) is amended to read: 31 (c) The chief justice of the Alaska Supreme Court shall select public
01 members under (b) of this section who, as a group, represent a diversity of 02 professions and geographic regions. Not [NO] more than 03 (1) one public member may be employed by the state or a political 04 subdivision of the state; 05 (2) one public member may be a former legislator; and 06 (3) [NO MORE THAN] two public members [OF THE 07 COMMITTEE] may be members of the same political party. 08 * Sec. 6. AS 24.60.131(a) is amended to read: 09 (a) When appointing members of the legislature to serve on the committee 10 under AS 24.60.130(b), the speaker of the house of representatives or the president of 11 the senate, as appropriate, shall appoint an alternate member for each regular member. 12 The alternate member shall have the same qualifications for appointment to the 13 committee as the regular member for whom the alternate stands as alternate. The 14 alternate member's appointment is subject to confirmation as required for appointment 15 of the regular member. An alternate member may attend all committee and 16 subcommittee meetings and hearings to the same extent as the regular member 17 for whom the person serves as an alternate. However, except as otherwise 18 provided under this section, the alternate may not vote. If the regular member is 19 absent and the alternate member is present, the alternate shall vote in place of 20 the regular member. The alternate may not vote in place of a regular member if 21 the alternate is disqualified from voting under 24.60.130(h). 22 * Sec. 7. AS 24.60.131(d) is amended to read: 23 (d) If a regular member of the committee or a subcommittee or an alternate 24 member appointed under (a) or (b) of this section participates at the commencement of 25 a proceeding under AS 24.60.170, the member shall participate for the duration of the 26 proceeding unless the member is disqualified under AS 24.60.130(h) or is unable to 27 continue participating. If a regular [THE PARTICIPATING] member is disqualified 28 under AS 24.60.130(h) or becomes unable to participate, the chair of the committee or 29 subcommittee that holds the proceeding shall designate the member's alternate, and 30 promptly notify the alternate of that designation, to participate in place of the 31 member for the duration of the proceeding unless the alternate is disqualified or is
01 unable to participate. If both a regular legislative member and that member's 02 alternate appointed under (a) of this section are disqualified under 03 AS 24.60.130(h), the chair of the committee or subcommittee that holds the 04 proceeding shall designate the alternate member appointed under (e) of this 05 section to participate in the proceeding and shall promptly notify the alternate 06 member appointed under (e) of this section of that designation. 07 * Sec. 8. AS 24.60.131(e) is amended to read: 08 (e) If both a regular legislative member and that member's alternate appointed 09 under (a) of this section are not available to participate at the commencement of a 10 proceeding under AS 24.60.170 because they are disqualified under AS 24.60.130(h), 11 the presiding officer of the house in which the two members serve shall appoint from 12 that house an alternate [AND DESIGNATE THAT ALTERNATE] to participate in 13 the proceeding; however, if the two members who are not available to participate are 14 not members of the majority organizational caucus, the leader of the minority 15 organizational caucus with the greatest number of members shall appoint from that 16 house an alternate [AND DESIGNATE THAT ALTERNATE] to participate in the 17 proceeding. 18 * Sec. 9. AS 24.60.150(a) is amended to read: 19 (a) The committee shall 20 (1) adopt procedures to facilitate the receipt of inquiries and prompt 21 rendition of its opinions; 22 (2) publish annual summaries of decisions and advisory opinions with 23 sufficient deletions in the summaries to prevent disclosing the identity of the persons 24 involved in the decisions or opinions that have remained confidential; 25 (3) publish legislative ethics materials, including an annually updated 26 handbook on standards of ethical conduct and a bimonthly legislative newsletter, to 27 help educate legislators, legislative employees, and public members of the committee 28 on the subject of legislative ethics; 29 (4) within 10 days of the first day of each regular session of the 30 legislature and at other times determined by the committee, administer two types of 31 legislative ethics courses that teach means of compliance with this chapter and are
01 designed to give an understanding of this chapter's purpose under AS 24.60.010; one 02 course, for returning legislators, legislative employees, or public members of the 03 committee, must refresh knowledge and review compliance issues; a separate course 04 shall be designed to give first-time legislators, legislative employees, or public 05 members of the committee a fundamental understanding of this chapter and how to 06 comply with it; 07 (5) when the committee meets in executive session, require that a 08 lawyer employed by the Legislative Affairs Agency attend to advise the 09 committee, unless all persons attending the executive session waive that 10 requirement. 11 * Sec. 10. AS 24.60.160(b) is amended to read: 12 (b) An opinion issued under this section is binding on the committee in any 13 subsequent proceedings concerning the facts and circumstances [OF THE] particular 14 to the matter [CASE] unless material facts were omitted or misstated in the request 15 for the advisory opinion. An opinion issued under this section must be issued with 16 [SUFFICIENT] deletions or other modifications that are sufficient to prevent 17 disclosing the identity of the person or persons involved. Advisory opinion requests, 18 discussions, and deliberations are confidential [,] unless the requester and anyone 19 [ELSE] named in the request who is covered by this chapter waive [WAIVES] 20 confidentiality. The committee's final vote on the advisory opinion is a public record.