Legislature(2015 - 2016)CAPITOL 106
02/05/2015 08:00 AM House STATE AFFAIRS
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB35 | |
| HB13 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | HB 35 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | HB 13 | TELECONFERENCED | |
HB 13-ELECTION PAMPHLETS AND ABSENTEE BALLOTS
8:47:35 AM
CHAIR LYNN announced that the final order of business was HOUSE
BILL NO. 13, "An Act requiring notice of the postage required to
mail an absentee ballot on the envelope provided by the division
of elections for returning an absentee ballot; and repealing the
authority to include certain material from a political party in
the election pamphlet."
8:47:54 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER moved to adopt the proposed committee (CS)
substitute Version 29-LS0091\E, Bullard, 2/3/15, as a work
draft.
8:48:10 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG objected for the purpose of discussion.
8:48:20 AM
REPRESENTATIVE LES GARA, Alaska State Legislature, as joint
prime sponsor, presented HB 13. He acknowledged Chair Lynn as
the other joint prime sponsor. He said the state election
pamphlet allows each political party up to two pages in the
election pamphlet, at a cost of $600 per page, which he said is
a nominal fee that covers the cost of printing and publishing
those pages. Typically, those pages have been used to state the
party's position; however, in the 2014 election, an attack
advertisement ("ad") was placed for the first time. He said he
thinks that depending upon who the chairs of political parties
are in the future, Alaska can expect to see that course of
conduct on a regular basis. He said this is a non-partisan
issue. Representative Gara said there are plenty of attack ads
on television and radio during the election season, but he does
not think they should be funded by the state in the election
pamphlet, which he characterized as "more of an information
guide."
8:50:11 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GARA said Version E would delete language in law
that allows parties to buy two pages in the election pamphlet.
He said, in that the fee goes to the publication and
distribution of the pamphlets, the Division of Elections would
not lose money. He said neither he nor Chair Lynn want to make
this issue partisan.
8:52:00 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GARA referred to language [of Section 1 of the
original bill version], which would have required the division
to print how much postage is necessary to mail a ballot back to
the Division of Elections on the return envelope. He explained
that the cost is often more than just one stamp, and the United
States Post Office (USPS) normally delivers those ballots, but
then the division must pay for the underpaid postage. However,
he said that part of the bill has been dropped in Version E,
because the joint prime sponsors feel that the issue could be
addressed within the division.
8:53:59 AM
REPRESENTATIVE LYNN said he thinks the proposed legislation is
good. He stated his assumption that probably 95 percent of all
candidates purchase two pages in the election pamphlet on which
to publish their biographies and political platform. He called
this good advertising, because he opined that people pay more
attention to the election pamphlet than they do to junk mail.
He offered his understanding that a candidate can "say almost
anything."
8:55:24 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER said the bill makes him uncomfortable. He
said Representative Gara implied that the state subsidized the
ads from political parties, but he said that the ad states
clearly which party has paid for it. He asked whether
Representative Gara was saying that the disclaimers are a lie or
implying that the value of the ad was "a whole lot more" than
$600.
REPRESENTATIVE GARA clarified what he had meant to say was that
the cost of the election pamphlet on the whole is more than the
fees charged to publish it; therefore, the state loses a little
money. He said Chair Lynn is correct that the voters rely on
the election pamphlet as an informational pamphlet and the
question is whether attack ads should be included.
8:57:10 AM
CHAIR LYNN interjected that he does not see the proposed
legislation as prohibiting attack ads, but as prohibiting an ad
by a political party, whether it is an attack or not. He said
an ad may be seen as an attack in the eyes of the beholder, but
not by someone else.
REPRESENTATIVE GARA said that is correct. He said the proposed
legislation is not intended to define what an attack is, but
will take out the section that allows parties to pay for those
two pages, now that it has been seen how they can be used
[negatively], perhaps by all parties.
8:58:00 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER opined that debate and interaction between
the parties are beneficial. He asked whether there are other
publications in the state that sell ads because there may be
further implications. He stated that he does not see the real
advantage of avoiding conflict and interaction.
8:59:15 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GARA said this would not be a slippery slope
because "this is the only publication where we want this rule to
apply." He offered his understanding that there is no other
state-funded publication that is as relied upon as the election
pamphlet, and said he thinks the public has a distaste for
negative ads.
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER suggested that some senior centers
subsidized by the state may have fliers or newspapers that are
published.
9:00:00 AM
REPRESENTATIVE STUTES cited the bill title, which read: "An Act
repealing the authority to include certain material from a
political party in the election pamphlet." She asked whether
the intent of HB 13 was to exempt all ads from political
parties, or just certain ads.
REPRESENTATIVE GARA answered that current law allows political
parties to purchase up to two pages in the election pamphlet.
He noted that the law is contained in the statutes listed [on
page 1, line 4, of Version E]. Those three statutes would be
removed under HB 13; therefore, political parties would be
barred from taking out ad space. He added that candidates would
still be allowed to advertise. He said candidates are not
allowed to attack their opponents when they issue a personal
statement; that is a guideline from the division.
9:01:24 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GARA, in response to Representative Keller, said
no one else can buy an ad in the pamphlet. In response to Chair
Lynn, he said a candidate cannot buy an ad; he/she only can buy
space for a position statement. He offered further details
regarding the restrictions on the candidates' position
statements.
CHAIR LYNN asked for confirmation that what he puts in the
election campaign to further his own campaign is not considered
to be an ad.
REPRESENTATIVE GARA answered that that is a statement regulated
by the Division of Elections; it includes a statement of so many
words, a photo, a biography, and a web site. Further, the
division allows a "pro" and a "con" on the propositions. There
are no graphics or "ugly pictures of the other side" allowed.
9:04:00 AM
PAMELA GOODE stated that she agrees with the joint-prime sponsor
regarding the ads in the back [of the election pamphlet]. She
said she noticed that those ads were restricted to political
parties; political groups could not utilize them. She posited
that is a way the state is subsidizing political parties and not
groups. Further, she said when candidates participate in the
pamphlet they are clearly notified that they cannot attack
opponents; there are guidelines by which they must abide.
9:05:27 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG directed attention to AS 15.58.060,
which sets forth the charges, and he observed that the statute
was last amended 18 years ago. He said the amount it costs a
state representative to have his/her name published in the
pamphlet is only $100, and he would like to know what the
inflation has been in that time, and he suggested that a small
increase in the amount charged may be in order.
9:07:00 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GARA said the candidate filing fee is $100, a
political party is charged $600 per page, and there are some
other non-legislative candidates that pay $300. He said he does
not know the inflation rate, but reiterated that the fees
collected do not entirely cover the cost of producing the
election pamphlet.
9:08:09 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG mentioned that most races are won in
the primary because most districts are one-party districts. He
said, unfortunately, candidate pages are not allowed in the
primary election pamphlet so the public cannot learn about the
candidate, only about the ballot propositions.
CHAIR LYNN asked whether Representative Gruenberg was
considering an amendment to the bill because the subject was
off-topic.
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG said he was considering one.
REPRESENTATIVE GARA replied that although he understands the
idea, adding candidate information to primary election pamphlets
would cost even more money. He said he does not think this is
the right year to introduce that idea given the budget deficit.
CHAIR LYNN indicated he did not want to bring that topic into
discussion.
9:10:12 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER asked Representative Gara whether he knew
how much savings there would be with four less pages to print.
REPRESENTATIVE GARA offered his understanding that the $600 per
page cost roughly equals the cost of the printing and
publication of those pages; therefore, "it's a wash."
9:11:09 AM
GAIL FENUMIAI, Director, Division of Elections, Office of the
Lieutenant Governor, in response to Chair Lynn, stated that the
division would implement the statutes at the will of the
committee. She said she was pleased that Section 1 was removed
from the original bill version, resulting in Version E, because
it would have been problematic for the division. She relayed
that the division does provide a notice in the packet to the
voters identifying how much postage is required to return the
voter ballot back to the division. In response to Chair Lynn,
she confirmed that the division wants all ballots to be counted,
and stated that the USPS does not return a ballot for
insufficient postage and the division bears the cost, but that
happens infrequently. In response to another question, she said
the cost to the division to cover insufficient postage is
nominal.
9:13:02 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG asked Ms. Fenumiai what the rate of
inflation would have been since 1996.
MS. FENUMIAI answered she does not know. To a follow-up
question, she said she did not have the cost of monies that were
received from the 2014 pamphlet, but could look up that
information. Nevertheless, she said, the total cost of the
General Election pamphlet for 2014 was $256,090, which included
printing, postage, staff travel, and a temporary worker to
assist with the publication of the pamphlet.
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG said last year the legislature passed a
law that put this biographical information in the primary on
line, and asked whether that law had been implemented.
MS. FENUMIAI answered yes. She said the division provides any
candidate information on the division's web site at least two
weeks before the primary election.
9:14:47 AM
CHAIR LYNN asked whether the information put on line by the
division includes the political party advertisements.
MS. FENUMIAI answered that the entire pamphlet is available on
line.
9:15:01 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG questioned whether there may be a
significant number of people who do not have access to the
Internet and, thus, only have access to the printed document.
MS. FENUMIAI said she did not know. In response to a follow-up
question, she said she did not know whether that information is
attainable.
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG, in response to Chair Lynn, said he
thinks his questions are germane to the subject matter.
9:16:05 AM
CHAIR LYNN, after ascertaining that no one further wished to
testify, closed public testimony on HB 13.
9:16:51 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER requested that the committee hold HB 13 in
order to have the consideration of several members he observed
were missing.
9:17:13 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG removed his objection to the motion to
adopt Version E. [There being no further objection, Version E
was before the committee.]
9:17:39 AM
CHAIR LYNN announced that HB 13 was held over.