Legislature(2011 - 2012)BUTROVICH 205
04/13/2012 09:00 AM Senate STATE AFFAIRS
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB347 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | HB 347 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE STATE AFFAIRS STANDING COMMITTEE
April 13, 2012
9:05 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Bill Wielechowski, Chair
Senator Joe Paskvan, Vice Chair
Senator Albert Kookesh
Senator Kevin Meyer
Senator Cathy Giessel
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 347(JUD) am
"An Act prohibiting the use of municipal funds to support or
oppose an initiative proposal filed with the lieutenant governor
or to circulate a petition for a statewide ballot initiative
without approval by municipal voters at an election; relating to
the reporting of certain expenditures; and providing for an
effective date."
- HEARD AND HELD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: HB 347
SHORT TITLE: USE OF MUNICIPAL FUNDS FOR INITIATIVES
SPONSOR(s): REPRESENTATIVE(s) OLSON
02/22/12 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
02/22/12 (H) STA, JUD
03/22/12 (H) STA AT 8:00 AM CAPITOL 106
03/22/12 (H) Moved Out of Committee
03/22/12 (H) MINUTE(STA)
03/23/12 (H) STA RPT 3DP 2DNP 1NR
03/23/12 (H) DP: JOHANSEN, KELLER, LYNN
03/23/12 (H) DNP: PETERSEN, SEATON
03/23/12 (H) NR: P.WILSON
04/02/12 (H) JUD AT 1:00 PM CAPITOL 120
04/02/12 (H) Moved CSHB 347(JUD) Out of Committee
04/02/12 (H) MINUTE(JUD)
04/03/12 (H) JUD RPT CS(JUD) NT 4DP 2NR
04/03/12 (H) DP: LYNN, KELLER, PRUITT, THOMPSON
04/03/12 (H) NR: GRUENBERG, HOLMES
04/11/12 (H) TRANSMITTED TO (S)
04/11/12 (H) VERSION: CSHB 347(JUD) AM
04/12/12 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
04/12/12 (S) STA, JUD
04/13/12 (S) STA AT 9:00 AM BUTROVICH 205
WITNESS REGISTER
ANNA LATHAM, Staff
Representative Kurt Olson
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Introduced HB 347 on behalf of the sponsor.
KATHY WASSERMAN,
Alaska Municipal League (AML)
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in opposition to HB 347.
BRUCE BOTHELO, Mayor
City and Borough of Juneau, and
Chair
Alaska Sea Party
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in opposition to HB 347.
ACTION NARRATIVE
9:05:38 AM
CHAIR BILL WIELECHOWSKI called the Senate State Affairs Standing
Committee meeting to order at 9:05 a.m. Present at the call to
order were Senators Giessel, Paskvan, and Chair Wielechowski.
HB 347-USE OF MUNICIPAL FUNDS FOR INITIATIVES
Chair Wielechowski announced that the first bill before the
committee would be HB 347, which would prohibit the use of
municipal funds to support or oppose an initiative. It is the
first hearing on the bill and is sponsored by Representative
Olson.
ANNA LATHAM, Staff, Representative Kurt Olson, introduced HB 347
on behalf of the sponsor. She explained that the bill is an Act
that prohibits the use of municipal funds to support or oppose
an initiative proposal filed with the Lieutenant Governor, or to
circulate a petition for a statewide ballot initiative, without
approval by municipal voters at an election, relating to the
reporting of certain expenditures and providing for an effective
date.
She provided a sectional analysis. Section 1 is amended to
include that expenditures authorized by municipal voters still
must be reported to the commission in the same manner as
individuals required to report under AS 15.13.040. Section 2
amends AS 15.13.145 and adds a new subsection to read that money
held by a municipality may be used to support or oppose an
initiative proposal filed with the Lieutenant Governor under AS
15.13.020, or to circulate a petition for a statewide
initiative, but only if the use of funds for that purpose has
been approved by municipal voters at an election. Section 3
provides an effective date of August 29, 2012.
She related that currently municipalities can spend thousands of
dollars on consultants and paid signature collectors to
influence outcome of the ballot initiative. She provided an
example of quarterly APOC reports from October through December
of 2011, which show that the North Slope Borough contributed
$25,000, the Bristol Bay Borough contributed $4,000, and the
City of Valdez contributed $5,000 to the Alaska Sea Party, the
group formed to restore coastal zone management. Although, these
aren't particularly large sums of money from municipalities,
it's the expenditure of public funds for special interest groups
that was the genesis of this bill.
MS. LATHAM continued to say that although voters may be in
support of the ballot initiative, they may not be in favor of
municipal funds being allocated to special interest groups to
finance that initiative as Alaska law currently allows.
She related that she requested information from legislative
research as to how many states had enacted legislation similar
to HB 347. The ensuing report showed that 14 out of 20 states
that were reviewed prohibited the use of public funds to support
or oppose an initiative altogether. She pointed out that HB 347
is far less restrictive and only prohibits municipal funds from
being spent on a statewide ballot initiative. Municipal ballot
initiatives would not be affected.
MS. LATHAM reported that at previous hearings, questions about
the constitutionality of the bill arose, particularly in regard
to the First Amendment. She maintained that HB 347 does not
infringe on municipalities' rights of free speech. Government
entities have no independent First Amendment rights. She said
that she has concurred with Legislative Legal and the Department
of Law that HB 347 is constitutional.
MS. LATHAM stated that the intent of HB 347 is to keep the
ballot initiative process fair and to ensure that the priorities
of the municipality are the same as the priorities of its
citizens. She thanked the committee for hearing the bill.
9:09:22 AM
CHAIR WIELECHOWSKI opened public testimony.
KATHY WASSERMAN, Alaska Municipal League (AML), testified in
opposition to HB 347. She said that AML has been opposed to the
bill from the beginning because it believes in protecting the
ability of municipalities to make their own decisions at the
local level. She opined that the municipalities have the right
to support an initiative. She stated that in state regulations
there is a requirement to have two ordinances held before money
is appropriated. These are publicly noticed hearings and a
chance for the public to comment.
She gave an example of the extreme cost of a special election in
Anchorage if the municipality were to follow the requirements of
the bill.
She credited Representative Olson for listening to AML's
concerns.
9:12:03 AM
BRUCE BOTHELO, Mayor, City and Borough of Juneau, and Chair,
Alaska Sea Party, testified in opposition to HB 347. He noted
that the sponsor stated that the focus of the bill is directed
at the action the Sea Party undertook last fall in their efforts
to restore coastal management to the state and the resulting
support by three communities for that act. The sponsor called
the municipalities' action to appropriate monies to support the
initiative, support for "special interests." Mayor Bothelo took
exception with that thinking. He said the effort to restore
coastal zone management was a result of organizations of which
all three municipalities are a part, the Alaska Municipal
League, and the Alaska Council of Mayors. He questioned if the
bill reflects unease with representative democracy in the sense
that elected officials were making decisions about how the
resources of the community, consistent with its charter, may be
expended. He suggested that the bill's model be applied to other
areas of representative democracy, such as corporations, so that
corporate monies cannot be spent without approval of the
shareholders. He maintained that the bill would prevent local
governments' participation in initiatives, due to the cost of
running elections for appropriations and the timing.
9:15:44 AM
CHAIR WIELECHOWSKI noted the arrival of Senators Meyer and
Kookesh.
SENATOR PASKVAN said he liked Mayor Bothelo's thought process of
extending the conditions of the bill to private corporations.
MS. LATHAM pointed out that the bill only affects statewide
ballot initiatives.
CHAIR WIELECHOWSKI asked if Ms. Latham liked Mayor Bothelo's
suggestion.
MS. LATHAM replied that the sponsor could consider it.
SENATOR PASKVAN asked if private corporations have free speech
rights under Citizen United. He asked if the bill would restrict
the free speech rights of municipalities.
MS. LATHAM replied that the bill needs more work in that area.
She offered to research that information.
9:18:04 AM
CHAIR WIELECHOWSKI recessed the meeting to the call of the
chair.
[The meeting was not reconvened and on 4/15/12 the State Affairs
Committee referral was waived.]
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| 01 HB0347A.pdf |
HSTA 3/22/2012 8:00:00 AM SSTA 4/13/2012 9:00:00 AM |
HB 347 |
| 02 HB 347 Sponsor Statement.pdf |
HSTA 3/22/2012 8:00:00 AM SSTA 4/13/2012 9:00:00 AM |
HB 347 |
| 03 HB347 Sectional Analysis.pdf |
HSTA 3/22/2012 8:00:00 AM SSTA 4/13/2012 9:00:00 AM |
HB 347 |
| 04 HB347 Legislative Research 3-9-2012.pdf |
HSTA 3/22/2012 8:00:00 AM SSTA 4/13/2012 9:00:00 AM |
HB 347 |
| 05 HB347-DCCED-DCRA-02-24-12.pdf |
HJUD 4/2/2012 1:00:00 PM HSTA 3/22/2012 8:00:00 AM SSTA 4/13/2012 9:00:00 AM |
HB 347 |
| HB 347 City of Homer comments.pdf |
HJUD 4/2/2012 1:00:00 PM SSTA 4/13/2012 9:00:00 AM |
HB 347 |
| HB 347 Dept of Law.pdf |
HJUD 4/2/2012 1:00:00 PM SSTA 4/13/2012 9:00:00 AM |
HB 347 |
| HB 347 Gruenberg memo.pdf |
HJUD 4/2/2012 1:00:00 PM SSTA 4/13/2012 9:00:00 AM |
HB 347 |