00 CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 355(JUD) 01 "An Act relating to the membership of, and member qualifications for, the Alaska 02 Public Offices Commission; relating to candidate forums and contributions in state 03 election campaigns; and providing for an effective date." 04 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 05  * Section 1. AS 15.13.020(a) is amended to read: 06 (a) There is created in the Department of Administration the Alaska Public 07 Offices Commission consisting of five voting members and two nonvoting advisory  08 members. The governor shall appoint all members of the commission in the manner 09 prescribed in (b) and (c) of this section, subject to confirmation by a majority of the 10 legislature meeting in joint session. 11  * Sec. 2. AS 15.13.020(a), as amended by sec. 1 of this Act, is amended to read: 12 (a) There is created in the Department of Administration the Alaska Public 13 Offices Commission consisting of five [VOTING] members [AND TWO 14 NONVOTING ADVISORY MEMBERS]. The governor shall appoint all members of 01 the commission in the manner prescribed in (b) and (c) of this section, subject to 02 confirmation by a majority of the legislature meeting in joint session. 03  * Sec. 3. AS 15.13.020(b) is amended to read: 04 (b) The governor shall appoint three [TWO] members of each of the two 05 political parties whose candidate for governor received the highest number of votes in 06 the most recent preceding general election at which a governor was elected. Two  07 appointed members of each political party shall be voting members of the  08 commission, and one appointed member from each political party shall be a  09 nonvoting advisory member with extensive experience in the financing of political  10 campaigns and compliance with disclosure and reporting requirements. The two 11 voting member appointees from each of these two parties shall be chosen from a list 12 of four names to be submitted by the central committee of each party. The nonvoting  13 advisory member appointee from each party shall be chosen from a list of three  14 names submitted by the central committee of each party. All names submitted by  15 the central committee of each party, whether for voting or nonvoting positions,  16 shall be of persons with experience working on political campaigns and the  17 reporting requirements of this chapter.  18  * Sec. 4. AS 15.13.020(b), as amended by sec. 3 of this Act, is amended to read: 19 (b) The governor shall appoint two [THREE] members of each of the two 20 political parties whose candidate for governor received the highest number of votes in 21 the most recent preceding general election at which a governor was elected. [TWO 22 APPOINTED MEMBERS OF EACH POLITICAL PARTY SHALL BE VOTING 23 MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION, AND ONE APPOINTED MEMBER FROM 24 EACH POLITICAL PARTY SHALL BE A NONVOTING ADVISORY MEMBER 25 WITH EXTENSIVE EXPERIENCE IN THE FINANCING OF POLITICAL 26 CAMPAIGNS AND COMPLIANCE WITH DISCLOSURE AND REPORTING 27 REQUIREMENTS.] The two [VOTING MEMBER] appointees from each of these 28 two parties shall be chosen from a list of four names to be submitted by the central 29 committee of each party. [THE NONVOTING ADVISORY MEMBER APPOINTEE 30 FROM EACH PARTY SHALL BE CHOSEN FROM A LIST OF THREE NAMES 31 SUBMITTED BY THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF EACH PARTY.] All names 01 submitted by the central committee of each party [, WHETHER FOR VOTING OR 02 NONVOTING POSITIONS,] shall be of persons with experience working on political 03 campaigns and the reporting requirements of this chapter. 04  * Sec. 5. AS 15.13.020(c) is amended to read: 05 (c) The four voting members selected under (b) of this section shall, by a 06 majority vote, nominate to the governor an individual to serve as the seventh [FIFTH] 07 member of the commission, who shall be a voting member. The governor shall either 08 appoint the nominee to the commission, or shall reject the nominee and request those 09 four members to nominate another individual to serve as the seventh [FIFTH] member 10 of the commission. 11  * Sec. 6. AS 15.13.020(c), as amended by sec. 5 of this Act, is amended to read: 12 (c) The four [VOTING] members selected under (b) of this section shall, by a 13 majority vote, nominate to the governor an individual to serve as the fifth 14 [SEVENTH] member of the commission [, WHO SHALL BE A VOTING 15 MEMBER]. The governor shall either appoint the nominee to the commission, or shall 16 reject the nominee and request those four members to nominate another individual to 17 serve as the fifth [SEVENTH] member of the commission. 18  * Sec. 7. AS 15.13.020(d) is amended to read: 19 (d) Members of the commission serve staggered terms of five years, or until a 20 successor is appointed and qualifies. The terms of no two voting members who are 21 members of the same political party may expire in consecutive years. A member may 22 not serve more than one term. However, a person appointed to fill the unexpired term 23 of a predecessor may be appointed to a successive full five-year term. 24  * Sec. 8. AS 15.13.020(d), as amended by sec. 7 of this Act, is amended to read: 25 (d) Members of the commission serve staggered terms of five years, or until a 26 successor is appointed and qualifies. The terms of no two [VOTING] members who 27 are members of the same political party may expire in consecutive years. A member 28 may not serve more than one term. However, a person appointed to fill the unexpired 29 term of a predecessor may be appointed to a successive full five-year term. 30  * Sec. 9. AS 15.13.020(g) is amended to read: 31 (g) The voting members of the commission shall elect a chairperson. Three 01 voting members of the commission constitute a quorum. A vacancy does not impair 02 the powers of the remaining members to exercise all of the powers of the commission. 03  * Sec. 10. AS 15.13.020(g), as amended by sec. 9 of this Act, is amended to read: 04 (g) The [VOTING] members [OF THE COMMISSION] shall elect a 05 chairperson. Three [VOTING] members of the commission constitute a quorum. A 06 vacancy does not impair the powers of the remaining members to exercise all of the 07 powers of the commission. 08  * Sec. 11. AS 15.13.150 is amended to read: 09 Sec. 15.13.150. Election educational activities not prohibited. This chapter 10 does not prohibit a person from engaging in educational election-related 11 communications and activities, including 12 (1) the publication of the date and location of an election; 13 (2) the education of students about voting and elections; 14 (3) the sponsorship of [OPEN] candidate debate forums open to the  15 public; 16 (4) participation in get-out-the-vote or voter registration drives that do 17 not favor a particular candidate, political party, or political position; 18 (5) the dissemination of the views of all candidates running for a 19 particular office. 20  * Sec. 12. AS 15.13.400(4) is amended to read: 21 (4) "contribution" 22 (A) means a purchase, payment, promise or obligation to pay, 23 loan or loan guarantee, deposit or gift of money, goods, or services for which 24 charge is ordinarily made, and includes the payment by a person other than a 25 candidate or political party, or compensation for the personal services of 26 another person, that is rendered to the candidate or political party, and that is 27 made for the purpose of 28 (i) influencing the nomination or election of a 29 candidate; 30 (ii) influencing a ballot proposition or question; or 31 (iii) supporting or opposing an initiative proposal 01 application filed with the lieutenant governor under AS 15.45.020; 02 (B) does not include 03 (i) services provided without compensation by 04 individuals volunteering a portion or all of their time on behalf of a 05 political party, candidate, or ballot proposition or question; 06 (ii) ordinary hospitality in a home; 07 (iii) two or fewer mass mailings before each election by 08 each political party describing the party's slate of candidates for 09 election, which may include photographs, biographies, and information 10 about the party's candidates; 11 (iv) the results of a poll limited to issues and not 12 mentioning any candidate, unless the poll was requested by or designed 13 primarily to benefit the candidate; 14 (v) any communication in the form of a newsletter from 15 a legislator to the legislator's constituents, except a communication 16 expressly advocating the election or defeat of a candidate or a 17 newsletter or material in a newsletter that is clearly only for the private 18 benefit of a legislator or a legislative employee; [OR] 19 (vi) a fundraising list provided without compensation 20 by one candidate or political party to a candidate or political party; or  21 (vii) an opportunity to participate in a candidate  22 forum provided to a candidate without compensation to the  23 candidate by another person and for which a candidate is not  24 ordinarily charged; 25  * Sec. 13. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 26 read: 27 MEMBERS OF THE ALASKA PUBLIC OFFICES COMMISSION; TRANSITION; 28 STAGGERED TERMS. Notwithstanding AS 15.13.020, as amended by secs. 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 29 of this Act, a member of the commission serving on the effective date of sec. 1 of this Act 30 remains in office for the duration of the term to which appointed and confirmed. Within 90 31 days after the effective date of sec. 1 of this Act, the central committee of each of the two 01 political parties whose candidates for governor received the highest number of votes in the 02 most recent preceding election at which a governor was elected shall submit to the governor a 03 list of three nominees for the two additional nonvoting seats on the commission. The governor 04 shall appoint one nonvoting member to a three-year term and one nonvoting member to a 05 five-year term. The governor shall specify the term of each of the nonvoting members 06 appointed subject to this section. 07  * Sec. 14. Sections 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 of this Act take effect five years from the effective date 08 of sec. 1 of this Act.