00 HOUSE BILL NO. 193 01 "An Act relating to representation by a legislator or legislative employee of another 02 person in an administrative hearing; relating to charity events under the Legislative 03 Ethics Act; requiring compensation of public members of the Select Committee on 04 Legislative Ethics; exempting certain information from disclosure requirements of the 05 Legislative Ethics Act; relating to the selection of alternate members and the 06 participation of members and alternate members in formal proceedings of the Select 07 Committee on Legislative Ethics and its subcommittees; and defining 'constituent,' 08 'constituent service,' 'legislative purpose,' 'nonlegislative purpose,' and 'private benefit' 09 for the purposes of the Legislative Ethics Act." 10 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 11  * Section 1. AS 24.60.030(i) is amended to read: 12 (i) Except for supplying information requested by the hearing officer or the 01 individual, board, or commission with authority to make the final decision in the case, 02 or when responding to contacts initiated by the hearing officer or the individual, board, 03 or commission with authority to make the final decision in the case, a legislator or 04 legislative employee may not attempt to influence the outcome of an administrative 05 hearing by directly or indirectly contacting or attempting to contact the hearing officer 06 assigned to the hearing or the individual, board, or commission with authority to make 07 the final decision in the case unless the legislator or legislative employee is  08 representing another person in the case for compensation and subject to  09 AS 24.60.100  10 [(1) CONTACT IS MADE IN THE PRESENCE OF ALL PARTIES 11 TO THE HEARING OR THE PARTIES' REPRESENTATIVES AND THE 12 CONTACT IS MADE A PART OF THE RECORD; OR 13 (2) FACT AND SUBSTANCE OF THE CONTACT IS PROMPTLY 14 DISCLOSED BY THE LEGISLATOR OR LEGISLATIVE EMPLOYEE TO ALL 15 PARTIES TO THE HEARING AND THE CONTACT IS MADE A PART OF THE 16 RECORD]. 17  * Sec. 2. AS 24.60.080(a) is amended to read: 18 (a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, a legislator or legislative 19 employee may not 20 (1) solicit, accept, or receive, directly or indirectly, a gift worth $250 21 or more, whether in the form of money, services, a loan, travel, entertainment, 22 hospitality, promise, or other form, or gifts from the same person worth less than $250 23 that in a calendar year aggregate to $250 or more in value; 24 (2) solicit, accept, or receive a gift with any monetary value from a 25 lobbyist, an immediate family member of a lobbyist, or a person acting on behalf of a 26 lobbyist, except 27 (A) food or beverage for immediate consumption; 28 (B) a contribution to a charity event, [FROM ANY PERSON 29 AT ANY TIME, AND] tickets to [FOR] a charity event, and [AT ANY TIME, 30 EXCEPT THAT TICKETS TO OR] gifts received in connection with [AT] a 31 charity event; however, tickets to a charity event and gifts received in  01 connection with a charity event that are not included in the price of the  02 ticket [UNDER THIS SUBPARAGRAPH] are subject to the calendar year 03 limit on the value of gifts received by a legislator or legislative employee in (1) 04 of this subsection; in this subparagraph, "charity event" means an event the 05 proceeds of which go to a charitable organization with tax-free status under 26 06 U.S.C. 501(c)(3) and that the Alaska Legislative Council has approved in 07 advance; the tickets may entitle the bearer to admission to the event, to 08 entertainment, to food or beverages, or to other gifts or services in connection  09 with [INVOLVED IN] the charity event; 10 (C) a gift that is unconnected with the recipient's legislative 11 status and is from a member of the legislator's or legislative employee's 12 immediate family; 13 (D) a gift delivered on the premises of a state facility and 14 accepted on behalf of a recognized nonpolitical charitable organization; or 15 (E) a compassionate gift under AS 24.60.075. 16  * Sec. 3. AS 24.60.080(c) is amended to read: 17 (c) Notwithstanding (a)(1) of this section, it is not a violation of this section 18 for a person who is a legislator or legislative employee to accept 19 (1) hospitality, other than hospitality described in (4) of this 20 subsection, 21 (A) with incidental transportation at the residence of a person; 22 however, a vacation home located outside the state is not considered a 23 residence for the purposes of this subparagraph; or 24 (B) at a social event or meal; 25 (2) discounts that are available 26 (A) generally to the public or to a large class of persons to 27 which the person belongs; or 28 (B) when on official state business, but only if receipt of the 29 discount benefits the state; 30 (3) food or foodstuffs indigenous to the state that are shared generally 31 as a cultural or social norm; 01 (4) travel and hospitality primarily for the purpose of obtaining 02 information on matters of legislative concern; 03 (5) gifts from the immediate family of the person; in this paragraph, 04 "immediate family" means 05 (A) the spouse of the person; 06 (B) the person's domestic partner; 07 (C) a child, including a stepchild and an adoptive child, of the 08 person or of the person's domestic partner; 09 (D) a parent, sibling, grandparent, aunt, or uncle of the person; 10 (E) a parent, sibling, grandparent, aunt, or uncle of the person's 11 spouse or the person's domestic partner; and 12 (F) a stepparent, stepsister, stepbrother, step-grandparent, step- 13 aunt, or step-uncle of the person, the person's spouse, or the person's domestic 14 partner; 15 (6) gifts that are not connected with the recipient's legislative status; 16 (7) a discount for all or part of a legislative session, including time 17 immediately preceding or following the session, or other gift to welcome a legislator 18 or legislative employee who is employed on the personal staff of a legislator or by a 19 standing or special committee to the capital city or in recognition of the beginning of a 20 legislative session if the gift or discount is available generally to all legislators and the 21 personal staff of legislators and staff of standing and special committees; this 22 paragraph does not apply to legislative employees who are employed by the 23 Legislative Affairs Agency, the office of the chief clerk, the office of the senate 24 secretary, the legislative budget and audit committee, the office of victims' rights, or 25 the office of the ombudsman; 26 (8) a gift of legal services in a matter of legislative concern and a gift 27 of other services related to the provision of legal services in a matter of legislative 28 concern; 29 (9) a gift of transportation from a legislator or a legislative employee to 30 a legislator or a legislative employee if the transportation takes place in the state on or 31 in an aircraft, boat, motor vehicle, or other means of transport owned or under the 01 control of the donor; this paragraph does not apply to travel described in (4) of this 02 subsection or travel for political campaign purposes; or 03 (10) a contribution to a charity event from any person at any time, or a  04 ticket to a charity event from a person who is not a lobbyist, an immediate family  05 member of a lobbyist, or acting on behalf of a lobbyist; in this paragraph, "charity 06 event" has the meaning given in (a)(2)(B) of this section. 07  * Sec. 4. AS 24.60.080(d) is amended to read: 08 (d) A legislator or legislative employee who accepts a gift under (c)(4) of this  09 section that has a value of $250 or more or a ticket to a charity event under  10 (c)(10) of this section that has a value of $250 or more shall disclose to the committee, 11 within 30 days after receipt of the gift, the name and occupation of the donor and the 12 approximate value of the gift. A legislator or legislative employee who accepts a gift 13 under (c)(8) of this section that the recipient expects will have a value of $250 or more 14 in the calendar year shall disclose to the committee, within 30 days after receipt of the 15 gift, the name and occupation of the donor, a general description of the matter of 16 legislative concern with respect to which the gift is made, and the approximate value 17 of the gift. The committee shall maintain a public record of the disclosures it receives 18 relating to gifts under (c)(4), (c)(8), (c)(10), and (i) of this section and shall forward 19 the disclosures to the appropriate house for inclusion in the journal. The committee 20 shall forward to the Alaska Public Offices Commission copies of the disclosures 21 concerning gifts under (c)(4), (c)(8), (c)(10), and (i) of this section that it receives 22 from legislators and legislative directors. A legislator or legislative employee who 23 accepts a gift under (c)(6) of this section that has a value of $250 or more shall, within 24 30 days after receiving the gift, disclose to the committee the name and occupation of 25 the donor and a description of the gift. The committee shall maintain disclosures 26 relating to gifts under (c)(6) of this section as confidential records and may only use, 27 or permit a committee employee or contractor to use, a disclosure under (c)(6) of this 28 section in the investigation of a possible violation of this section or in a proceeding 29 under AS 24.60.170. If the disclosure under (c)(6) of this section becomes part of the 30 record of a proceeding under AS 24.60.170, the confidentiality provisions of that 31 section apply to the disclosure. 01  * Sec. 5. AS 24.60.105 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 02 (d) A person may refrain from making a disclosure that is required by this 03 chapter if making the disclosure would violate the United States Constitution, the 04 Constitution of the State of Alaska, or other state or federal law. However, at the 05 request of the committee or a person authorized to act on behalf of the committee, a 06 person who refrains from making a disclosure under this subsection shall provide the 07 committee with justification in writing, and the committee may review the written 08 justification to determine whether it is sufficient. 09  * Sec. 6. AS 24.60.130(f) is amended to read: 10 (f) The committee may contract for professional services and may employ 11 staff as it considers necessary. A committee employee, including a person who 12 provides personal services under a contract with the committee, may not be a 13 legislator, an elected or appointed official of a state or local governmental entity, an 14 officer of a political party, a candidate for public office, or a registered lobbyist. The 15 legislative council shall provide office space, equipment, and additional staff support 16 for the committee. The committee shall submit a budget for each fiscal year to the 17 finance committees of the legislature and shall annually submit an estimated budget to 18 the governor for information purposes in preparation of the state operating budget. 19 Public members of the committee shall receive [SERVE WITHOUT] compensation 20 of $150 a day while attending committee meetings and [FOR THEIR SERVICES, 21 BUT] are entitled to per diem and travel expenses authorized for boards and 22 commissions under AS 39.20.180. 23  * Sec. 7. AS 24.60.130(n) is amended to read: 24 (n) A member who participates at the commencement of a proceeding  25 under AS 24.60.170 shall participate for the duration of the proceeding unless  26 disqualified or unable to continue participating for any reason; however, 27 provision shall be made for service by alternate members on the committee or on  28 a subcommittee, as follows:  29 (1) when [WHEN] appointing members of the legislature to serve on 30 the committee, the speaker of the house or the president of the senate, as appropriate, 31 shall appoint an alternate member for each regular member; an [. AN] alternate must 01 have the same qualifications as the regular member for whom the alternate stands as 02 alternate and is subject to confirmation as required for the regular member; 03 (2) when selecting public members to serve on the committee, the  04 Chief Justice of the Alaska Supreme Court shall also select one alternate public  05 member; the alternate public member's selection is subject to ratification as  06 required for selection of the regular public members;  07 (3) if, except as to a proceeding under AS 24.60.170, [. IF] a regular 08 [LEGISLATIVE] member of the committee or a subcommittee is unable to 09 participate in [ATTEND] a meeting, the chair of the committee or a subcommittee 10 shall designate the regular member's alternate to participate [SERVE] in place of the 11 regular member at the meeting, and the designated alternate, unless for any reason  12 unable to participate, shall participate for the duration of that meeting; if 13 [SERVE UNLESS UNABLE TO SERVE FOR ANY REASON. IF] a regular 14 [LEGISLATIVE] member of the committee or a subcommittee is disqualified under 15 (h) of this section from participating in [SERVING ON THE COMMITTEE OR 16 THE SUBCOMMITTEE CONCERNING] a proceeding under AS 24.60.170 or if the 17 regular member is unable to participate [ATTEND], the chair of the committee or a 18 subcommittee shall designate the regular member's alternate to participate [SERVE] 19 in place of the regular member for the duration of [IN] the proceeding unless the 20 alternate is [ALSO] disqualified or is for any reason unable to participate; the 21 [FROM SERVING. THE] designation shall be treated as confidential to the same 22 extent that the identity of the subject of a complaint is required to be kept confidential. 23  * Sec. 8. AS 24.60.990(a) is amended by adding new paragraphs to read: 24 (17) "constituent" means a natural person to whom a legislator owes a 25 duty of representation in the legislature because the person resides in the legislator's 26 election district, is registered to vote in that district, or is a member of the immediate 27 family of a person who is registered to vote in that district; 28 (18) "constituent service" means assistance, including representation 29 other than legal representation and advice other than legal advice, that is provided by a 30 legislator or a legislator's staff to a constituent of the legislator; 31 (19) "legislative purpose" means a goal of a legislative action or a 01 constituent service that is a primary goal or, when measured against other goals of the 02 legislative action or constituent service, is a substantial goal; 03 (20) "nonlegislative purpose" means a purpose other than a legislative 04 purpose; 05 (21) "private benefit" means a benefit, other than a benefit to a 06 political party, that is personal to the recipient and does not have a legislative purpose 07 or that satisfies, in whole or in part, a person's substantial interest in legislative, 08 administrative, or political action under (b) of this section.