Legislature(2007 - 2008)BELTZ 211
04/10/2008 10:00 AM Senate STATE AFFAIRS
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB368 | |
| HJR41 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | HB 368 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | HJR 41 | TELECONFERENCED | |
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE STATE AFFAIRS STANDING COMMITTEE
April 10, 2008
10:16 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Lesil McGuire, Chair
Senator Gary Stevens, Vice Chair
Senator Hollis French
Senator Lyda Green
Senator Con Bunde
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 368(FIN) am
"An Act amending the Legislative Ethics Act to modify the
limitation on political fund raising by legislators and
legislative employees during legislative sessions, to allow
legislators and legislative employees to accept certain gifts
from lobbyists, to clarify the Legislative Ethics Act as it
relates to legislative volunteers and educational trainees, to
reduce the frequency of publication of summaries by the Select
Committee on Legislative Ethics, and to revise procedures and
fines related to the late filing of disclosures required by the
Legislative Ethics Act."
MOVED SCS CSHB 368(STA) OUT OF COMMITTEE
CS FOR HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 41(RLS)
Urging the United States Congress to repeal sec. 511 of P.L.
109-222 (Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act of
2005).
MOVED CSHJR 41 (RLS) OUT OF COMMITTEE
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: HB 368
SHORT TITLE: ETHICS: LEGISLATIVE & GOV/LT GOV
SPONSOR(S): STATE AFFAIRS
02/19/08 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
02/19/08 (H) STA, JUD, FIN
02/26/08 (H) STA AT 8:00 AM CAPITOL 106
02/26/08 (H) Moved CSHB 368(STA) Out of Committee
02/26/08 (H) MINUTE(STA)
02/27/08 (H) STA RPT CS(STA) NT 3DP 4NR
02/27/08 (H) DP: ROSES, GRUENBERG, LYNN
02/27/08 (H) NR: JOHNSON, JOHANSEN, COGHILL, DOLL
03/19/08 (H) JUD AT 1:00 PM CAPITOL 120
03/19/08 (H) Heard & Held
03/19/08 (H) MINUTE(JUD)
03/26/08 (H) JUD AT 1:00 PM CAPITOL 120
03/26/08 (H) Moved CSHB 368(JUD) Out of Committee
03/26/08 (H) MINUTE(JUD)
03/27/08 (H) JUD RPT CS(JUD) NT 4DP 3NR
03/27/08 (H) DP: GRUENBERG, LYNN, HOLMES, RAMRAS
03/27/08 (H) NR: COGHILL, DAHLSTROM, SAMUELS
03/31/08 (H) FIN AT 1:30 PM HOUSE FINANCE 519
03/31/08 (H) Heard & Held
03/31/08 (H) MINUTE(FIN)
04/02/08 (H) FIN AT 8:30 AM HOUSE FINANCE 519
04/02/08 (H) Moved CSHB 368(FIN) Out of Committee
04/02/08 (H) MINUTE(FIN)
04/03/08 (H) FIN RPT CS(FIN) NT 7DP 2NR 1AM
04/03/08 (H) DP: HAWKER, CRAWFORD, JOULE, KELLY,
NELSON, GARA, MEYER
04/03/08 (H) NR: STOLTZE, CHENAULT
04/03/08 (H) AM: THOMAS
04/05/08 (H) TRANSMITTED TO (S)
04/05/08 (H) VERSION: CSHB 368(FIN) AM
04/06/08 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
04/06/08 (S) STA
04/08/08 (S) STA AT 9:00 AM BELTZ 211
04/08/08 (S) Scheduled But Not Heard
04/09/08 (S) STA AT 9:00 AM BELTZ 211
04/09/08 (S) -- Rescheduled from 04/08/08 --
04/10/08 (S) STA AT 10:00 AM BELTZ 211
BILL: HJR 41
SHORT TITLE: REPEAL OF SEC. 511 OF P.L. 109-222
SPONSOR(S): RULES
04/07/08 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
04/07/08 (H) RLS
04/08/08 (H) RLS AT 4:00 PM CAPITOL 120
04/08/08 (H) Moved CSHJR 41(RLS) Out of Committee
04/08/08 (H) MINUTE(RLS)
04/09/08 (H) RLS RPT CS(RLS) 5DP
04/09/08 (H) DP: KERTTULA, JOHNSON, FAIRCLOUGH,
SAMUELS, COGHILL
04/09/08 (H) TRANSMITTED TO (S)
04/09/08 (H) VERSION: CSHJR 41(RLS)
04/09/08 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
04/09/08 (S) STA
04/10/08 (S) STA AT 10:00 AM BELTZ 211
WITNESS REGISTER
JOYCE ANDERSON, Administrator
Select Committee on Legislative Ethics
Juneau AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Answered questions regarding HB 368.
DENEEN TUCK, Staff
to Representative Max Gruenberg
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented HJR 41.
KIM GARNERO, Director
Division of Finance
Department of Administration
Juneau AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented HJR 41.
ACTION NARRATIVE
CHAIR LESIL MCGUIRE called the Senate State Affairs Standing
Committee meeting to order at 10:16:55 AM. Senators Bunde,
Stevens, French, and McGuire were present at the call to order.
Senator Green arrived later. The meeting is a continuation from
yesterday.
HB 368-ETHICS: LEGISLATIVE & GOV/LT GOV
10:17:35 AM
CHAIR MCGUIRE announced the consideration of HB 368. [CSHB
368(FIN) AM was before the committee.] She asked Ms. Anderson to
tell the committee what this bill needs to accomplish.
JOYCE ANDERSON, Administrator, Select Committee on Legislative
Ethics, said Sections 1 and 2 of Version N.a were deleted by an
amendment at the previous hearing. Section 3 is the gift
statute, and her committee recommends relaxing it for immediate
family members "because of the strict prohibition last year
regarding gifts from lobbyists -- even immediate family members
of legislative staffers were not allowed to receive a gift from
their spouse or their sibling or parent. And so the ethics
committee made a recommendation that that is an unintended
consequence, and so we're recommending [it] be changed."
10:18:51 AM
SENATOR FRENCH asked, "Does that pertain to just those spouses
and immediate family members who are lobbyists, or all family
members?"
MS. ANDERSON said it pertains to just those spouses who are
lobbyists. "Lobbyist spouses or immediate family members, which
would be a parent/child and siblings. Also, since legislators
are not allowed, by statute last year, to have a spouse who is a
[registered lobbyist], they were not included in this."
CHAIR MCGUIRE said, "We haven't done anything to change the old
rule that you can give gifts to each other within a family unit
with no lobbyist, so long as they are not intended to influence
you." "This is simply for the case of a member that has an
immediate family member who's a lobbyist?"
MS. ANDERSON said that is correct. Section 4 refers to interns
and volunteers, "and all we did in that section was split the
two; there's absolutely no language change at all." Section 5 is
the split of Section 4 and 5. Section 6 changes the summaries of
public decisions, which have to do with complaints and advisory
opinions from a semiannual publication to an annual one. The
committee has not published semiannual reports since 2001, "so
it is a change to just make it to current practice." Section 7
was recommended by the committee to add a third fine structure.
There is one fine of $2.00 per day up to a maximum of $100.00
for a late disclosure, and a $25.00 fine for an inadvertent late
disclosure. "The ethics committee is suggesting that there be a
very hefty fine when there is a willful late disclosure." That
will go to $100.00 per day and up to a maximum of $2,500.00. It
is based on an experience from last year.
10:21:48 AM
CHAIR MCGUIRE said Amendment 1 deleted portions of the bill that
are in HB 305. She withdrew Amendment 2 from the prior meeting.
SENATOR STEVENS asked about the definition of willful.
MS. ANDERSON said there is a definition in statute. A former
legislator refused to file the end-of-service disclosures. He
refused a certified letter. He signed for the second one, and
said he would not file the disclosures. The committee issued a
fine, and he will not pay it. He hung up on her. Because the
maximum fine was only $100.00 for each fine, the Attorney
General's office will not follow up because it is not over
$500.00. The ethics committee feels there needs to be some teeth
in the ethics law for those leaving.
10:24:36 AM
SENATOR FRENCH moved to report CSHB 368(FIN), as amended, from
committee with individual recommendations and attached fiscal
note(s). There being no objection, SCS CSHB 368(STA) moved out
of committee.
The committee took an at-ease at 10:25:28 AM.
HJR 41-REPEAL OF SEC. 511 OF P.L. 109-222
10:27:51 AM
CHAIR MCGUIRE announced the consideration of HJR 41.[Before the
committee was CSHJR 41(RLS).]
DENEEN TUCK, Staff to Representative Max Gruenberg, Alaska State
Legislature, said the Fairbanks mayor alerted them that there
were strong implications to Section 511 of the Tax Increase
Prevention and Reconciliation Act. This provision was added by
Congress in 2005. If it remains in law in 2011, the state will
start withholding an extra 3 percent from vendors to pay to the
federal government for Alaska communities that make more than
$100 million on goods and services. It would cost the city of
Anchorage $250,000 to start replacing the system, and then it
would cost them from $100,000 to $200,000 per year to operate
it. Anchorage would have to hire another person. It will take
away procurement cards. She provided a handout estimating a cost
of $6.2 billion.
10:30:05 AM
KIM GARNERO, Director, Division of Finance, Department of
Administration, said that figure is nationwide for all state,
federal, and local governments.
MS. TUCK said it could cost the state quite a bit of money.
SENATOR FRENCH asked who might be opposed to this.
MS. TUCK said only federal people. The cities, universities, and
school districts are in support of it.
SENATOR FRENCH asked if there are any resolutions.
MS. TUCK said she has emails. The only resolution was a draft
and it came from the Fairbanks mayor.
10:31:51 AM
MS. GARNERO said she is a member of the National Association of
State Auditors, Controllers, and Treasurers. It represents all
50 states and passed a resolution in 2006 to repeal this federal
law.
SENATOR GREEN moved to report HJR 41 from committee with
individual recommendations and attached fiscal note(s). There
being no objection, CSHJR 41(RLS) passed out of committee.
There being no further business to come before the committee,
Chair McGuire adjourned the meeting at 10:32:39 AM.
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