CSHB 74(STA): "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, to information that must be provided before the issuance of state general obligation bonds is submitted to the voters for ratification, and to the publication of a report relating to state bonded debt; and providing for an effective date."
00 CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 74(STA) 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, to information that must be provided before the issuance of 04 state general obligation bonds is submitted to the voters for ratification, and to the 05 publication of a report relating to state bonded debt; and providing for an effective 06 date." 07 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 08 * Section 1. AS 15.58.010 is amended to read: 09 Sec. 15.58.010. Election pamphlet. Before each state primary, general, 10 [ELECTION, AND BEFORE EACH STATE PRIMARY] or special election [AT 11 WHICH A BALLOT PROPOSITION IS SCHEDULED TO APPEAR ON THE 12 BALLOT], the lieutenant governor shall prepare, publish, and mail [AT LEAST] one 13 election pamphlet to each household identified from the official registration list. The
01 pamphlet shall be prepared on a regional basis as determined by the lieutenant 02 governor. 03 * Sec. 2. AS 15.58.020(a) is amended to read: 04 (a) Each general election pamphlet must contain 05 (1) photographs and campaign statements submitted by eligible 06 candidates for elective office in the region; 07 (2) information and recommendations filed under AS 15.58.050 on 08 judicial officers subject to a retention election in the region; 09 (3) a map of the house district or districts of the region; 10 (4) sample ballots for house districts of the region; 11 (5) an absentee ballot application; 12 (6) for each ballot proposition submitted to the voters by initiative or 13 referendum petition or by the legislature, 14 (A) the full text of the proposition specifying constitutional or 15 statutory provisions proposed to be affected; 16 (B) the ballot title and the summary of the proposition prepared 17 by the director or by the lieutenant governor; 18 (C) a statement of the costs to the state of implementing the law 19 proposed in an initiative, or of voter approval or rejection of the act that is the 20 subject of a referendum; 21 (D) a neutral summary of the proposition prepared by the 22 Legislative Affairs Agency; 23 (E) statements submitted that advocate voter approval or 24 rejection of the proposition not to exceed 500 words; 25 (7) for each bond question, a statement of the scope of each project as 26 it appears in the bond authorization and the notice prepared under AS 37.15.015(a); 27 (8) a maximum of two pages of material submitted by each political 28 party; 29 (9) additional information on voting procedures that the lieutenant 30 governor considers necessary; 31 (10) for the question whether a constitutional convention shall be
01 called, 02 (A) a full statement of the question placed on the ballot; 03 (B) statements not to exceed 500 words that advocate voter 04 approval or rejection of the question; 05 (11) under AS 37.13.170, the Alaska permanent fund annual income 06 statement and balance sheet for the two fiscal years preceding the publication of the 07 election pamphlet; 08 (12) under AS 15.10.090, notice of 09 (A) the establishment or abolition of a precinct; 10 (B) the designation, abolition, or modification of precinct 11 boundaries; and 12 (C) a change in the location of a polling place. 13 * Sec. 3. AS 15.58.020(b) is repealed and reenacted to read: 14 (b) Each primary or special election pamphlet must contain the information 15 specified in (a)(1) of this section for each candidate scheduled to appear on the ballot 16 and the information specified in (a)(6) of this section for each ballot proposition, as 17 well as the information specified in (a)(3) - (5), (7), (9), and (12) of this section. 18 * Sec. 4. AS 15.58.030(b) is amended to read: 19 (b) An [NO LATER THAN JULY 22 OF A YEAR IN WHICH A STATE 20 GENERAL ELECTION WILL BE HELD, AN] individual who becomes a candidate 21 for the office of United States senator, United States representative, governor, 22 lieutenant governor, state senator, or state representative under AS 15.25.030 or 23 15.25.180 may file with the lieutenant governor a photograph and a statement 24 advocating the candidacy. For a primary election, the photograph and statement 25 shall be filed with the lieutenant governor not later than the day following the 26 date of the filing deadline for a declaration of candidacy under AS 15.25.040. For 27 the general election, the photograph and statement shall be filed with the 28 lieutenant governor not later than the day following the date of the primary 29 election, except that an [AN] individual who becomes a candidate for the office of 30 United States senator, United States representative, governor, lieutenant governor, 31 state senator, or state representative by party petition filed under AS 15.25.110 may
01 file with the lieutenant governor a photograph and a statement advocating the 02 candidacy within 10 days of becoming a candidate. For a special election, the 03 photograph and statement shall be filed by a date specified by the lieutenant 04 governor. A candidate whose photograph and statement appeared in the primary 05 election pamphlet may file a different photograph and statement to appear in the 06 general election pamphlet. 07 * Sec. 5. AS 15.58.060(a) is amended to read: 08 (a) Each [GENERAL ELECTION] candidate shall pay to the lieutenant 09 governor at the time of filing material under this chapter the following: 10 (1) President or Vice-President of the United States, United States 11 senator, United States representative, governor, lieutenant governor, supreme court 12 justice, and court of appeals judge, $300 each; 13 (2) superior court judge and district court judge, $150 each; 14 (3) state senator and state representative, $100 each. 15 * Sec. 6. AS 15.58.080(a) is amended to read: 16 (a) Not less than 22 days before each primary or [THE] general election, the 17 lieutenant governor shall mail to each household identified from the official 18 registration list [EVERY REGISTERED VOTER] one copy of the pamphlet 19 prepared for the region in which the household is located. The pamphlet for a 20 special election shall be mailed as soon as practicable before the election [VOTER 21 RESIDES]. Additional pamphlets may be obtained from the director, the office of the 22 lieutenant governor, and the area election offices. 23 * Sec. 7. AS 15.58.080 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 24 (c) All information contained in an election pamphlet for a primary, general, 25 or special election shall be published on the division's Internet website not later than 26 the date the election pamphlet is mailed to registered voters under (a) of this section. 27 * Sec. 8. AS 24.08.037 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 28 (b) In addition to the fiscal note requirements of AS 24.08.035 and the 29 requirements of (a) of this section, before a bill authorizing the issuance of state 30 general obligation bonds is referred to the rules committee, there shall be attached to 31 the bill a statement with the following information:
01 (1) the current general obligation and other bonded indebtedness of the 02 state and the effect of the proposed bonding on that indebtedness; 03 (2) the average cost of the annual debt service on the current general 04 obligation bonded indebtedness and the effect of the proposed bonding on the average 05 cost of the annual debt service; 06 (3) the amount of state general obligation debt principal that could be 07 issued and paid for from the Alaska debt retirement fund (AS 37.15.011); 08 (4) the estimated debt service requirements for the bond issue proposed 09 under the bill; 10 (5) whether the bond issue proposed under the bill will be repaid with 11 amounts from the Alaska debt retirement fund (AS 37.15.011). 12 * Sec. 9. AS 37.07.045 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 13 (b) The Department of Revenue shall publish, and make available to the 14 public, the report prepared under (a) of this section on the department's Internet 15 website. 16 * Sec. 10. AS 37.13.170 is amended to read: 17 Sec. 37.13.170. Reports and publications. By September 30 of each year, the 18 board shall publish a report of the fund for distribution to the governor and the public. 19 The board shall notify the legislature that the report is available. The report shall be 20 written in easily understandable language. The report must include financial 21 statements audited by independent outside auditors, a statement of the amount of 22 money received by the fund from each investment during the period covered, a 23 statement of investments of the fund including an appraisal at market value, a 24 description of fund investment activity during the period covered by the report, a 25 comparison of the fund performance with the intended goals contained in 26 AS 37.13.020, an examination of the effect of the investment criteria of this chapter on 27 the fund portfolio with recommendations of any needed changes, and any other 28 information the board believes would be of interest to the governor, the legislature, 29 and the public. The annual income statement and balance sheet of the fund shall be 30 published in at least one newspaper in each judicial district. The income statement and 31 balance sheet for the two fiscal years preceding the publication of the general election
01 pamphlet under AS 15.58 shall be included in that pamphlet. 02 * Sec. 11. AS 37.15.015(a) is amended to read: 03 (a) Before an election in which a general obligation bond issue is offered 04 for ratification, the state bond committee shall prepare a notice for inclusion in 05 the election pamphlet. Before a general or special election in which a bond issue is 06 offered for ratification, the state bond committee shall publish a notice [OF 07 EXISTING STATE BONDED INDEBTEDNESS] at least once a week for three 08 consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in each of the four judicial 09 districts of the state. The first notice shall be published at least 20 days before the date 10 of the election. The notice shall also be included on the state Internet website as 11 soon as it is prepared by the state bond committee. A notice prepared under this 12 subsection must contain 13 (1) the current general obligation [TOTAL] bonded indebtedness of 14 the state and the effect of the proposed bonding on that indebtedness; 15 (2) the average cost of the annual debt service on the current general 16 obligation bonded indebtedness and the effect of the proposed bonding on the 17 average cost of the annual debt service; 18 (3) the [PROJECTED] amount of state general obligation debt 19 principal that could be issued and paid for from the Alaska debt retirement fund 20 (AS 37.15.011); 21 (4) the estimated debt service requirements for the bond issue offered 22 for ratification; [AND] 23 (5) whether the bond issue offered for ratification will be repaid with 24 amounts from the Alaska debt retirement fund (AS 37.15.011); 25 (6) a brief description of each capital project, its location, and, in 26 dollars, that portion of the total bond issue offered for ratification to be allocated 27 to the project; and 28 (7) a brief description of the report relating to the state's bonded 29 debt prepared by the Department of Revenue under AS 37.07.045 and the 30 Internet address where the full report is available to the public under
01 AS 37.07.045(b). 02 * Sec. 12. AS 15.15.040(b) is repealed. 03 * Sec. 13. This Act takes effect January 1, 2012.