Legislature(2011 - 2012)CAPITOL 106
03/10/2011 08:00 AM House STATE AFFAIRS
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB161 | |
| HJR14 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | HB 161 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | HJR 14 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
HB 161-CERTAIN CANDIDATE INFO IS PUBLIC RECORD
8:08:20 AM
CHAIR LYNN announced that the first order of business was HOUSE
BILL NO. 161, "An Act requiring that all information in a
declaration of candidacy, letter of intent, or nominating
petition for a candidate for elective state executive and state
and national legislative office is open to public inspection."
CHAIR LYNN introduced HB 161 as sponsor. He talked about the
balance between a person's right to privacy and the Division of
Elections' need for voter information, such as the voter's name,
physical address, and mailing address. He opined that while
there are select groups of people who may want to keep their
physical address private, such as law enforcement officers and
victims and domestic or sexual abuse, the information given by
candidates running for office should be made public in the
interest of full disclosure.
8:12:03 AM
THOMAS REIKER, Staff, Representative Bob Lynn, Alaska State
Legislature, in response to Representative Seaton, said under HB
161, only the forms filed with the Division of Elections would
be made public; the bill would have no impact on federal
reporting requirements.
8:13:16 AM
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON asked if client and patient
confidentiality currently allowed would remain under HB 161.
8:14:33 AM
MR. REIKER said Alpheus Bullard of Legislative Legal and
Research Services assured him that HB 161 applies only to the
declaration of candidacy for political party candidates, the
filing notification and nominating petition for "no-party"
candidates, and the letter of intent for write-in candidates.
8:15:17 AM
REPRESENTATIVE PETERSEN asked if, under HB 161, candidates would
still be allowed to use a post office box address for their
campaign address.
CHAIR LYNN answered yes.
MR. REIKER added that reporting requirements would not be
changed under the proposed legislation.
8:16:35 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG offered his understanding that the
nomination petition is different from the filing notification
form. He named four of the latter: U.S. Congress, State
Senator or Representative, lieutenant governor, and governor.
He asked what the nominating petition process is, and how these
forms work, and where a person who is nominated by petition
would list his/her residence address.
8:17:58 AM
GAIL FENUMIAI, Director, Division of Elections, Office of the
Lieutenant Governor, directed attention to the form A19,
entitled, "State of Alaska Filing Notification Nominating
Petition Candidate for U.S. Congress," [included in the
committee packet], which she said is similar to other filing
forms [also included in the committee packet]. She pointed to
the middle section of the A19 form, which is for residency
information. She said the candidate has to file this form by
June 1 and file his/her signature by the primary election date.
8:18:59 AM
MS. FENUMIAI, in response to Representative Gruenberg, offered
her understanding that currently AS 15.07.195 applies to all
registered voters and candidates. In response to a follow-up
question, she clarified that both the Division of Elections and
the Department of Law have interpreted AS 15.07.195 to mean that
a candidate's registration information must remain private.
8:22:28 AM
MR. REIKER, in response to Representative Gruenberg, said the
bill sponsor had considered the issue of financial disclosure
and decided that the current requirements are acceptable;
therefore, the only change deemed necessary is the one currently
proposed in HB 161 that would require a candidate's residency
information to be made public.
8:23:01 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG said there is a legal case related to
the protection of privacy and another having to do with
constitutional protection of privacy.
8:23:18 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER asked the bill sponsor if he created HB
161 as a response to an existing problem.
8:23:31 AM
CHAIR LYNN replied that it has been a problem and could be in
the future. He related a situation when he requested the
physical address of an opponent and his request was denied.
8:24:33 AM
MR. REIKER said the sponsor is concerned about congressional
elections, because often in those elections the candidate's
residency is a contentious issue. Under HB 161, a person could
go to the physical address of a candidate in person to verify
it.
8:25:29 AM
MS. FENUMIAI, in response to Chair Lynn, said the party nominees
for Vice President and President come from the national
conventions, and the names of those candidates are forwarded to
the division. She stated that Presidential candidates can also
get their names on the ballot through a write-in candidacy
process, by filing as an independent candidate, for which he/she
has to gather signatures from a minimum of 1 percent of those
who voted in the preceding general election or file under a
limited political party status. In response to a follow-up
question, she offered her understanding that HB 161 would not
affect Presidential candidates. In response to Representative
Gruenberg, regarding the possible effect of HB 161 on municipal
candidates, said she is not familiar with the candidacy
requirements of all municipalities, and she offered her
understanding that municipal elections are governed both by
Title 25 and local ordinances.
8:27:19 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG ventured that the same policy should
apply to those running for local office.
8:27:38 AM
CHAIR LYNN said he had not thought about local elections.
8:27:55 AM
REPRESENTATIVE P. WILSON indicated that local economy may be
affected if HB 161 was amended to include municipal candidates.
8:28:18 AM
CHAIR LYNN suggested this issue could be considered in the
future after checking with the Alaska Municipal League.
8:28:50 AM
MS. FENUMIAI, in response to Representative Keller, said the
Republican National Committee and the Democratic National
Committee submit a signed certificate. In response to a follow-
up question, she stated her assumption that [matters pertaining
to those certificates] are not addressed in Alaska statutes.
8:29:30 AM
MS. FENUMIAI, in response to Chair Lynn, said the aforementioned
certificates list the physical addresses of the Vice
Presidential and Presidential nominees.
8:30:47 AM
CHAIR LYNN, after ascertaining that there was no one else who
wished to testify, closed public testimony.
8:30:55 AM
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON asked if any language in HB 161 would
contradict existing federal laws.
MS. FENUMIAI answered that she is not aware of any such
conflicts.
8:31:32 AM
MS. FENUMIAI, in response to Representative Petersen, said if
state law was stricter than federal law, as long as the state
law encompassed the federal law, the state law would apply. She
reiterated her understanding that HB 161 does not apply to Vice
Presidential and Presidential candidates.
8:32:28 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER moved to report HB 161 out of committee
with individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal
notes. There being no objection, HB 161 was reported out of the
House State Affairs Standing Committee.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| 01 HB 161.pdf |
HSTA 3/10/2011 8:00:00 AM |
HB 161 |
| 02 HB 161 Sponsor Statement.pdf |
HSTA 3/10/2011 8:00:00 AM |
HB 161 |
| 03 HSTA Hearing Minutes-Feb. 3, 2011 HB 161.pdf |
HSTA 3/10/2011 8:00:00 AM |
HB 161 |
| 04 Sample Candidacy Forms HB 161.pdf |
HSTA 3/10/2011 8:00:00 AM |
HB 161 |
| 05 HB161-OOG-DOE-3-3-11.pdf |
HSTA 3/10/2011 8:00:00 AM |
HB 161 |
| 01 HJR014A.PDF |
HSTA 3/10/2011 8:00:00 AM |
|
| 02 HJR 14 Sponsor Statement.pdf |
HSTA 3/10/2011 8:00:00 AM |
|
| 03 Sectional Analysis HJR 14.pdf |
HSTA 3/10/2011 8:00:00 AM |
|
| 04 Chenoweth Memorandum HJR 14.pdf |
HSTA 3/10/2011 8:00:00 AM |
|
| 05 Sections of the Alaska Constitution HJR 14.pdf |
HSTA 3/10/2011 8:00:00 AM |
|
| 06 HJR014-OOG-DOE-3-3-11.pdf |
HSTA 3/10/2011 8:00:00 AM |