HB 74: "An Act relating to election pamphlets; relating to information that must be provided for a bill under consideration by the legislature that authorizes the issuance of state general obligation bonds and to information that must be provided before the issuance of state general obligation bonds is submitted to the voters for ratification; and providing for an effective date."
00 HOUSE BILL NO. 74 01 "An Act relating to election pamphlets; relating to information that must be provided 02 for a bill under consideration by the legislature that authorizes the issuance of state 03 general obligation bonds and to information that must be provided before the issuance 04 of state general obligation bonds is submitted to the voters for ratification; and 05 providing for an effective date." 06 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 07 * Section 1. AS 15.58.010 is amended to read: 08 Sec. 15.58.010. Election pamphlet. Before each state primary, general, 09 [ELECTION, AND BEFORE EACH STATE PRIMARY] or special election [AT 10 WHICH A BALLOT PROPOSITION IS SCHEDULED TO APPEAR ON THE 11 BALLOT], the lieutenant governor shall prepare, publish, and mail at least one 12 election pamphlet to every registered voter [EACH HOUSEHOLD IDENTIFIED 13 FROM THE OFFICIAL REGISTRATION LIST]. The pamphlet shall be prepared on
01 a regional basis as determined by the lieutenant governor. 02 * Sec. 2. AS 15.58.020(a) is amended to read: 03 (a) Each general election pamphlet must contain 04 (1) photographs and campaign statements submitted by eligible 05 candidates for elective office in the region; 06 (2) information and recommendations filed under AS 15.58.050 on 07 judicial officers subject to a retention election in the region; 08 (3) a map of the house district or districts of the region; 09 (4) sample ballots for house districts of the region; 10 (5) an absentee ballot application; 11 (6) for each ballot proposition submitted to the voters by initiative or 12 referendum petition or by the legislature, 13 (A) the full text of the proposition specifying constitutional or 14 statutory provisions proposed to be affected; 15 (B) the ballot title and the summary of the proposition prepared 16 by the director or by the lieutenant governor; 17 (C) a statement of the costs to the state of implementing the law 18 proposed in an initiative, or of voter approval or rejection of the act that is the 19 subject of a referendum; 20 (D) a neutral summary of the proposition prepared by the 21 Legislative Affairs Agency; 22 (E) statements submitted that advocate voter approval or 23 rejection of the proposition not to exceed 500 words; 24 (7) for each bond question, a statement of the scope of each project as 25 it appears in the bond authorization and the notice prepared under AS 37.15.015(a); 26 (8) a maximum of two pages of material submitted by each political 27 party; 28 (9) additional information on voting procedures that the lieutenant 29 governor considers necessary; 30 (10) for the question whether a constitutional convention shall be 31 called,
01 (A) a full statement of the question placed on the ballot; 02 (B) statements not to exceed 500 words that advocate voter 03 approval or rejection of the question; 04 (11) under AS 37.13.170, the Alaska permanent fund annual income 05 statement and balance sheet for the two fiscal years preceding the publication of the 06 election pamphlet; 07 (12) under AS 15.10.090, notice of 08 (A) the establishment or abolition of a precinct; 09 (B) the designation, abolition, or modification of precinct 10 boundaries; and 11 (C) a change in the location of a polling place. 12 * Sec. 3. AS 15.58.020(b) is repealed and reenacted to read: 13 (b) Each primary or special election pamphlet must contain the information 14 specified in (a)(1) of this section for each candidate scheduled to appear on the ballot 15 and the information specified in (a)(6) of this section for each ballot proposition, as 16 well as the information specified in (a)(3) - (5), (7), (9), and (12) of this section. 17 * Sec. 4. AS 15.58.030(b) is amended to read: 18 (b) An [NO LATER THAN JULY 22 OF A YEAR IN WHICH A STATE 19 GENERAL ELECTION WILL BE HELD, AN] individual who becomes a candidate 20 for the office of United States senator, United States representative, governor, 21 lieutenant governor, state senator, or state representative under AS 15.25.030 or 22 15.25.180 may file with the lieutenant governor a photograph and a statement 23 advocating the candidacy. For the general election, the photograph and statement 24 shall be filed with the lieutenant governor not later than July 22, except that an 25 [AN] individual who becomes a candidate for the office of United States senator, 26 United States representative, governor, lieutenant governor, state senator, or state 27 representative by party petition filed under AS 15.25.110 may file with the lieutenant 28 governor a photograph and a statement advocating the candidacy within 10 days of 29 becoming a candidate. For a primary election, the photograph and statement shall 30 be filed with the lieutenant governor not later than June 1. For a special election, 31 the photograph and statement shall be filed by a date specified by the lieutenant
01 governor. A candidate whose photograph and statement appeared in the primary 02 election pamphlet may file a different photograph and statement to appear in the 03 general election pamphlet. 04 * Sec. 5. AS 15.58.060(a) is amended to read: 05 (a) Each [GENERAL ELECTION] candidate shall pay to the lieutenant 06 governor at the time of filing material under this chapter the following: 07 (1) President or Vice-President of the United States, United States 08 senator, United States representative, governor, lieutenant governor, supreme court 09 justice, and court of appeals judge, $300 each; 10 (2) superior court judge and district court judge, $150 each; 11 (3) state senator and state representative, $100 each. 12 * Sec. 6. AS 15.58.080(a) is amended to read: 13 (a) Not less than 22 days before each primary or [THE] general election, the 14 lieutenant governor shall mail to every registered voter one copy of the pamphlet 15 prepared for the region in which the voter resides. The pamphlet for a special 16 election shall be mailed as soon as practicable before the election. Additional 17 pamphlets may be obtained from the director, the office of the lieutenant governor, 18 and the area election offices. 19 * Sec. 7. AS 15.58.080 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 20 (c) All information contained in an election pamphlet for a primary, general, 21 or special election shall be published on the division's Internet website not later than 22 the date the election pamphlet is mailed to registered voters under (a) of this section. 23 * Sec. 8. AS 24.08.037 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 24 (b) In addition to the fiscal note requirements of AS 24.08.035 and the 25 requirements of (a) of this section, before a bill authorizing the issuance of state 26 general obligation bonds is referred to the rules committee, there shall be attached to 27 the bill a statement with the following information: 28 (1) the current general obligation and other bonded indebtedness of the 29 state and the effect of the proposed bonding on that indebtedness; 30 (2) the average cost of the annual debt service on the current general 31 obligation bonded indebtedness and the effect of the proposed bonding on the average
01 cost of the annual debt service; 02 (3) the amount of state general obligation debt principal that could be 03 issued and paid for from the Alaska debt retirement fund (AS 37.15.011); 04 (4) the estimated debt service requirements for the bond issue proposed 05 under the bill; 06 (5) whether the bond issue proposed under the bill will be repaid with 07 amounts from the Alaska debt retirement fund (AS 37.15.011). 08 * Sec. 9. AS 37.13.170 is amended to read: 09 Sec. 37.13.170. Reports and publications. By September 30 of each year, the 10 board shall publish a report of the fund for distribution to the governor and the public. 11 The board shall notify the legislature that the report is available. The report shall be 12 written in easily understandable language. The report must include financial 13 statements audited by independent outside auditors, a statement of the amount of 14 money received by the fund from each investment during the period covered, a 15 statement of investments of the fund including an appraisal at market value, a 16 description of fund investment activity during the period covered by the report, a 17 comparison of the fund performance with the intended goals contained in 18 AS 37.13.020, an examination of the effect of the investment criteria of this chapter on 19 the fund portfolio with recommendations of any needed changes, and any other 20 information the board believes would be of interest to the governor, the legislature, 21 and the public. The annual income statement and balance sheet of the fund shall be 22 published in at least one newspaper in each judicial district. The income statement and 23 balance sheet for the two fiscal years preceding the publication of the general election 24 pamphlet under AS 15.58 shall be included in that pamphlet. 25 * Sec. 10. AS 37.15.015(a) is amended to read: 26 (a) Before an election in which a general obligation bond issue is offered 27 for ratification, the state bond committee shall prepare a notice for inclusion in 28 the election pamphlet. Before a primary, general, or special election in which a bond 29 issue is offered for ratification, the state bond committee shall publish a notice [OF 30 EXISTING STATE BONDED INDEBTEDNESS] at least once a week for three 31 consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in each of the four judicial
01 districts of the state. The first notice shall be published at least 20 days before the date 02 of the election. The notice shall also be included on the state Internet website as 03 soon as it is prepared by the state bond committee. A notice prepared under this 04 subsection must contain 05 (1) the current general obligation and other [TOTAL] bonded 06 indebtedness of the state and the effect of the proposed bonding on that 07 indebtedness; 08 (2) the average cost of the annual debt service on the current general 09 obligation bonded indebtedness and the effect of the proposed bonding on the 10 average cost of the annual debt service; 11 (3) the [PROJECTED] amount of state general obligation debt 12 principal that could be issued and paid for from the Alaska debt retirement fund 13 (AS 37.15.011); 14 (4) the estimated debt service requirements for the bond issue offered 15 for ratification; [AND] 16 (5) whether the bond issue offered for ratification will be repaid with 17 amounts from the Alaska debt retirement fund (AS 37.15.011); and 18 (6) a brief description of each capital project, its location, and, in 19 dollars, that portion of the total bond issue offered for ratification to be allocated 20 to the project. 21 * Sec. 11. AS 15.15.040(b) is repealed. 22 * Sec. 12. This Act takes effect January 1, 2012.