HB 225: "An Act relating to election campaigns and legislative ethics; and providing for an effective date."
00HOUSE BILL NO. 225 01 "An Act relating to election campaigns and legislative ethics; and providing for 02 an effective date." 03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 * Section 1. AS 15.13.074(c), as repealed and reenacted by sec. 12, ch. 48, SLA 1996, is 05 amended to read: 06 (c) A person or group may not make a contribution 07 (1) to a candidate or an individual who files with the commission the 08 document necessary to permit that individual to incur certain election-related expenses 09 as authorized by AS 15.13.100 when the office is to be filled at a general election 10 before the date that is 18 months before the general election; 11 (2) to a candidate or an individual who files with the commission the 12 document necessary to permit that individual to incur certain election-related expenses 13 as authorized by AS 15.13.100 for an office that is to be filled at a special election or 14 municipal election before the date that is 18 months before the date of the regular
01 municipal election or that is before the date of the proclamation of the special election 02 at which the candidate or individual seeks election to public office; or 03 (3) to any candidate after the earlier of December 31 of the year of 04 the election or the 60th [LATER THAN THE 45TH] day 05 (A) after the date of a primary election if the candidate 06 (i) has been nominated at the primary election or is 07 running as a write-in candidate; and 08 (ii) is not opposed at the general election; 09 (B) after the date of the primary election if the candidate was 10 not nominated at the primary election; or 11 (C) after the date of the general election, or after the date of a 12 municipal or municipal runoff election, if the candidate was opposed at the 13 general, municipal, or municipal runoff election. 14 * Sec. 2. AS 24.60.030(a) is amended to read: 15 (a) A legislator or legislative employee may not 16 (1) solicit, agree to accept, or accept a benefit other than official 17 compensation for the performance of public duties; this paragraph may not be 18 construed to prohibit lawful solicitation for and acceptance of campaign contributions 19 or the acceptance of a lawful gratuity under AS 24.60.080; 20 (2) use public funds, facilities, equipment, services, or another 21 government asset or resource for a nonlegislative purpose, for involvement in or 22 support of or opposition to partisan political activity, or for the private benefit of either 23 the legislator, legislative employee, or another person; this paragraph does not prohibit 24 (A) limited use of state property and resources for personal 25 purposes if the use does not interfere with the performance of public duties and 26 either the cost or value related to the use is nominal or the legislator or 27 legislative employee reimburses the state for the cost of the use; 28 (B) the unlimited use of mailing lists, computer data, or other 29 information lawfully obtained from a government agency and available to the 30 general public for nonlegislative purposes; 31 (C) unlimited telephone , Internet, or facsimile use that does
01 not carry a special charge; 02 (D) the legislative council, notwithstanding AS 24.05.190, from 03 designating a public facility for unlimited use by legislators and legislative 04 employees for health or fitness purposes; when the council designates a facility 05 to be used by legislators and legislative employees for health or fitness 06 purposes, it shall adopt guidelines governing access to and use of the facility; 07 the guidelines may establish times in which use of the facility is limited to 08 specific groups; [OR] 09 (E) a legislator from unlimited use of [USING] the legislator's 10 private office in the capital city during a legislative session, and for the 10 11 [FIVE] days immediately before and the 10 [FIVE] days immediately after a 12 legislative session, for nonlegislative purposes if the use does not interfere with 13 the performance of public duties and if there is no cost to the state for the use 14 of the space and equipment, other than utility costs and minimal wear and tear, 15 or the legislator promptly reimburses the state for the cost; an office is 16 considered a legislator's private office under this subparagraph if it is the 17 primary space in the capital city reserved for use by the legislator, whether or 18 not it is shared with others; 19 (F) a legislator from unlimited use of legislative employees 20 to send out seasonal greeting cards; 21 (G) a legislator from using state resources to transport 22 computers or other office equipment owned by the legislator but used for 23 a state function; 24 (H) unlimited use by a legislator of photographs of that 25 legislator; 26 (I) unlimited use by a legislator of the Internet; or 27 (J) a legislator from soliciting, accepting, or receiving a gift 28 on behalf of a recognized, nonpolitical charitable organization in a state 29 facility; 30 (3) knowingly seek, accept, use, allocate, grant, or award public funds 31 for a purpose other than that approved by law, or make a false statement in connection
01 with a claim, request, or application for compensation, reimbursement, or travel 02 allowances from public funds; 03 (4) require a legislative employee to perform services for the private 04 benefit of the legislator or employee at any time, or allow a legislative employee to 05 perform services for the private benefit of a legislator or employee on government 06 time; it is not a violation of this paragraph if the services were performed in an 07 unusual or infrequent situation and the person's services were reasonably necessary to 08 permit the legislator or legislative employee to perform official duties; 09 (5) use or authorize the use of state funds, facilities, equipment, 10 services, or another government asset or resource for the purpose of political fund 11 raising or campaigning; this paragraph does not prohibit 12 (A) limited use of state property and resources for personal 13 purposes if the use does not interfere with the performance of public duties and 14 either the cost or value related to the use is nominal or the legislator or 15 legislative employee reimburses the state for the cost of the use; 16 (B) the unlimited use of mailing lists, computer data, or other 17 information lawfully obtained from a government agency and available to the 18 general public for nonlegislative purposes; 19 (C) unlimited telephone or facsimile use that does not carry a 20 special charge; 21 (D) unlimited storage or maintenance [STORING OR 22 MAINTAINING], consistent with (b) of this section, of election campaign 23 records in a legislator's office; [OR] 24 (E) a legislator from unlimited use of [USING] the legislator's 25 private office in the capital city during a legislative session, and for the 10 26 [FIVE] days immediately before and the 10 [FIVE] days immediately after a 27 legislative session, for nonlegislative purposes if the use does not interfere with 28 the performance of public duties and if there is no cost to the state for the use 29 of the space and equipment, other than utility costs and minimal wear and tear, 30 or the legislator promptly reimburses the state for the cost; an office is 31 considered a legislator's private office under this subparagraph if it is the
01 primary space in the capital city reserved for use by the legislator, whether or 02 not it is shared with others ; 03 (F) a legislator from unlimited use of legislative employees 04 to send out seasonal greeting cards; 05 (G) unlimited use by a legislator of photographs of that 06 legislator; 07 (H) unlimited use by a legislator of the Internet; or 08 (I) use of state property and resources, including staff time, 09 by a sponsor or co-sponsor of a ballot proposition to support that ballot 10 proposition, except that staff may not be used to raise funds to support the 11 ballot proposition . 12 * Sec. 3. Except as provided in sec. 4 of this Act, this Act takes effect immediately under 13 AS 01.10.070(c). 14 * Sec. 4. Section 1 of this Act takes effect on the effective date of sec. 3 of this Act or on 15 the date that, under sec. 34, ch. 48, SLA 1996, sec. 12, ch. 48, SLA 1996 takes effect, 16 whichever is later.