HB 36: "An Act prohibiting initiatives that are substantially similar to those that failed within the previous two years; relating to financial disclosure reporting dates for persons, groups, and nongroup entities that expend money in support of or in opposition to initiatives, initiative information contained in election pamphlets, initiative petitions, initiative petition circulators, and public hearings for initiatives; and requiring a standing committee of the legislature to consider initiatives scheduled for appearance on the election ballot."
00 HOUSE BILL NO. 36 01 "An Act prohibiting initiatives that are substantially similar to those that failed within 02 the previous two years; relating to financial disclosure reporting dates for persons, 03 groups, and nongroup entities that expend money in support of or in opposition to 04 initiatives, initiative information contained in election pamphlets, initiative petitions, 05 initiative petition circulators, and public hearings for initiatives; and requiring a 06 standing committee of the legislature to consider initiatives scheduled for appearance on 07 the election ballot." 08 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 09 * Section 1. AS 15.13.110(e) is amended to read: 10 (e) A group formed to sponsor [AN INITIATIVE,] a referendum or a recall 11 shall report 30 days after its first filing with the lieutenant governor. Thereafter, each 12 group shall report within 10 days after the end of each calendar quarter on the 13 contributions received and expenditures made during the preceding calendar quarter
01 until reports are due under (a) of this section. 02 * Sec. 2. AS 15.13.110 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 03 (g) An initiative committee, person, group, or nongroup entity receiving 04 contributions exceeding $500 or making expenditures exceeding $500 in a calendar 05 year in support of or in opposition to an initiative shall report within 10 days after the 06 end of each calendar quarter on the contributions received and expenditures made 07 during the preceding calendar quarter until reports are due under (a) and (b) of this 08 section. If the report is a first report, it must cover the period beginning on the day an 09 application is filed under AS 15.45.020 and ending three days before the due date of 10 the report. 11 * Sec. 3. AS 15.45.010 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 12 (b) An initiative may not be proposed that is substantially similar to an 13 initiative appearing on the ballot during the previous two years that did not receive a 14 majority of votes in favor of its adoption. 15 * Sec. 4. AS 15.45.090(a) is amended to read: 16 (a) If the application is certified, the lieutenant governor shall prepare a 17 sufficient number of sequentially numbered petitions to allow full circulation 18 throughout the state. Each petition must contain 19 (1) a copy of the proposed bill [IF THE NUMBER OF WORDS 20 INCLUDED IN BOTH THE FORMAL AND SUBSTANTIVE PROVISIONS OF 21 THE BILL IS 500 OR LESS]; 22 (2) an impartial summary of the subject matter of the bill; 23 (3) a statement of minimum costs to the state associated with 24 certification of the initiative application and review of the initiative petition, excluding 25 legal costs to the state and the costs to the state of any challenge to the validity of the 26 petition; 27 (4) an estimate of the cost to the state of implementing the proposed 28 law; 29 (5) the statement of warning prescribed in AS 15.45.100; 30 (6) sufficient space for the printed name, a numerical identifier, the 31 signature, the date of signature, and the address of each person signing the petition;
01 and 02 (7) other specifications prescribed by the lieutenant governor to ensure 03 proper handling and control. 04 * Sec. 5. AS 15.45.110(c) is amended to read: 05 (c) A circulator may not receive payment or agree to receive payment [THAT 06 IS GREATER THAN $1 A SIGNATURE], and a person or an organization may not 07 pay or agree to pay an amount, based on the number of registered voters who 08 signed the petition. Nothing in this subsection prohibits a person or an 09 organization from employing a circulator and: 10 (1) paying an hourly wage or salary; 11 (2) establishing either express or implied minimum signature 12 requirements for the circulator; 13 (3) terminating the petition circulator's employment if the 14 circulator fails to meet certain productivity requirements; or 15 (4) paying discretionary bonuses based on reliability, longevity, 16 and productivity [THAT IS GREATER THAN $1 A SIGNATURE, FOR THE 17 COLLECTION OF SIGNATURES ON A PETITION]. 18 * Sec. 6. AS 15.45.110 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 19 (g) A circulator may not concurrently solicit signatures for more than one 20 petition. 21 * Sec. 7. AS 15.45.130 is amended to read: 22 Sec. 15.45.130. Certification of circulator. Before being filed, each petition 23 shall be certified by an affidavit by the person who personally circulated the petition. 24 In determining the sufficiency of the petition, the lieutenant governor may not count 25 subscriptions on petitions not properly certified at the time of filing or corrected before 26 the subscriptions are counted. The affidavit must state in substance 27 (1) that the person signing the affidavit meets the residency, age, and 28 citizenship qualifications for circulating a petition under AS 15.45.105; 29 (2) that the person is the only circulator of that petition; 30 (3) that the signatures were made in the circulator's actual presence; 31 (4) that, to the best of the circulator's knowledge, the signatures are the
01 signatures of the persons whose names they purport to be; 02 (5) that, to the best of the circulator's knowledge, the signatures are of 03 persons who were qualified voters on the date of signature; 04 (6) that the circulator has not entered into an agreement with a person 05 or organization in violation of AS 15.45.110(c); and 06 (7) that the circulator has not violated AS 15.45.110(d) or (g) with 07 respect to that petition [; AND 08 (8) WHETHER THE CIRCULATOR HAS RECEIVED PAYMENT 09 OR AGREED TO RECEIVE PAYMENT FOR THE COLLECTION OF 10 SIGNATURES ON THE PETITION, AND, IF SO, THE NAME OF EACH PERSON 11 OR ORGANIZATION THAT HAS PAID OR AGREED TO PAY THE 12 CIRCULATOR FOR COLLECTION OF SIGNATURES ON THE PETITION]. 13 * Sec. 8. AS 15.45 is amended by adding a new section to read: 14 Sec. 15.45.135. Public hearings. The sponsors shall hold public hearings in at 15 least 30 house districts within one year after the application is certified by the 16 lieutenant governor under AS 15.45.070. 17 * Sec. 9. AS 15.58.010 is amended to read: 18 Sec. 15.58.010. Election pamphlet. Before each state general election, and 19 before each state primary or special election at which a ballot proposition is scheduled 20 to appear on the ballot, the lieutenant governor shall prepare, publish, and mail at least 21 one election pamphlet to each household identified from the official registration list. 22 The pamphlet shall be prepared on a regional basis as determined by the lieutenant 23 governor. 24 * Sec. 10. AS 15.58.020(b) is amended to read: 25 (b) Each primary or special election pamphlet shall contain only the 26 information specified in (a)(6) and (a)(9) of this section for each ballot measure 27 scheduled to appear on the primary election ballot. 28 * Sec. 11. AS 15.58.060 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 29 (d) The qualified voters designated as sponsors of an initiative under 30 AS 15.45.060 shall pay to the lieutenant governor the printing costs, including the cost 31 of printing the full text of the initiative in election pamphlets, as required under
01 AS 15.58.020(a)(6)(A) and AS 15.58.020(b). 02 * Sec. 12. AS 24.05 is amended by adding a new section to article 4 to read: 03 Sec. 24.05.186. Review of initiatives certified by the lieutenant governor by 04 standing committees of the legislature. (a) A standing committee of the legislature 05 shall consider an initiative that the lieutenant governor has determined was properly 06 filed under AS 15.45.160. 07 (b) A standing committee shall conduct reviews under this section within 30 08 days after the convening of the legislative session preceding the statewide election at 09 which the initiative proposition must appear on the election ballot under 10 AS 15.45.190. 11 * Sec. 13. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 12 read: 13 APPLICABILITY. This Act applies to an initiative for which the application was filed 14 with the lieutenant governor under AS 15.45.020 on or after the effective date of this Act.