Enrolled HB 333: Relating to candidate forums and contributions in state election campaigns; relating to the disposition of certain unused campaign contributions; and relating to public office expense term accounts and public office expense term account reserves.
00Enrolled HB 333 01 Relating to candidate forums and contributions in state election campaigns; relating to the 02 disposition of certain unused campaign contributions; and relating to public office expense 03 term accounts and public office expense term account reserves. 04 _______________ 05 * Section 1. AS 15.13.116(a) is amended to read: 06 (a) A candidate who, after the date of the general, special, municipal, or 07 municipal runoff election or after the date the candidate withdraws as a candidate, 08 whichever comes first, holds unused campaign contributions shall distribute the 09 amount held on February 1 for a general election or within 90 days after a special 10 election. The distribution may only be made to 11 (1) pay bills incurred for expenditures reasonably related to the 12 campaign and the winding up of the affairs of the campaign, including a victory or 13 thank you party, thank you advertisements, and thank you gifts to campaign 14 employees and volunteers, and to pay expenditures associated with post-election fund
01 raising that may be needed to raise funds to pay off campaign debts; 02 (2) make donations, without condition, to 03 (A) a political party; 04 (B) the state's general fund; 05 (C) a municipality of the state; or 06 (D) the federal government; 07 (3) make donations, without condition, to organizations qualified as 08 charitable organizations under 26 U.S.C. 501(c)(3) if the organization is not controlled 09 by the candidate or a member of the candidate's immediate family; 10 (4) repay loans from the candidate to the candidate's own campaign 11 under AS 15.13.078(b); 12 (5) repay contributions to contributors, but only if repayment of the 13 contribution is made pro rata in approximate proportion to the contributions made 14 using one of the following, as the candidate determines: 15 (A) to all contributors; 16 (B) to contributors who have contributed most recently; or 17 (C) to contributors who have made larger contributions; 18 (6) establish a fund for, and from that fund to pay, attorney fees or 19 costs incurred in the prosecution or defense of an administrative or civil judicial action 20 that directly concerns a challenge to the victory or defeat of the candidate in the 21 election; 22 (7) transfer all or a portion of the unused campaign contributions to an 23 account for a future election campaign; a transfer under this paragraph is limited to 24 (A) $50,000, if the transfer is made by a candidate for governor 25 or lieutenant governor; 26 (B) $10,000, if the transfer is made by a candidate for the state 27 senate; 28 (C) $5,000, if the transfer is made by a candidate for the state 29 house of representatives; and 30 (D) $5,000, if the transfer is made by a candidate for an office 31 not described in (A) - (C) of this paragraph;
01 (8) transfer all or a portion of the unused campaign contributions to a 02 public office expense term account [OR TO A PUBLIC OFFICE EXPENSE TERM 03 ACCOUNT RESERVE IN ACCORDANCE WITH (d) OF THIS SECTION]; a 04 transfer under this paragraph is subject to the following: 05 (A) the authority to transfer is limited to candidates who are 06 elected to the state legislature; 07 (B) the public office expense term account established under 08 this paragraph may be used only for expenses associated with the candidate's 09 serving as a member of the legislature; 10 (C) all amounts expended from the public office expense term 11 account shall be annually accounted for under AS 15.13.110(a)(4); [AND] 12 (D) a transfer under this paragraph is limited to $5,000 13 multiplied by the number of years in the term to which the candidate is elected 14 plus any accumulated interest; and 15 (E) unused campaign contributions transferred under this 16 paragraph must be disposed of as provided in (2), (3), or (5) of this 17 subsection at the end of the term of office immediately following the 18 campaign for which the contributions were received; and 19 (9) transfer all or a portion of the unused campaign contributions to a 20 municipal office account; a transfer under this paragraph is subject to the following: 21 (A) the authority to transfer is limited to candidates who are 22 elected to municipal office, including a municipal school board; 23 (B) the municipal office account established under this 24 paragraph may be used only for expenses associated with the candidate's 25 serving as mayor or as a member of the assembly, city council, or school 26 board; 27 (C) all amounts expended from the municipal office account 28 shall be annually accounted for under AS 15.13.110(a)(4); [AND] 29 (D) a transfer under this paragraph is limited to $5,000; and 30 (E) unused campaign contributions transferred under this 31 paragraph must be disposed of as provided in (2), (3), or (5) of this
01 subsection at the end of the term of office immediately following the 02 campaign for which the contributions were received. 03 * Sec. 2. AS 15.13.150 is amended to read: 04 Sec. 15.13.150. Election educational activities not prohibited. This chapter 05 does not prohibit a person from engaging in educational election-related 06 communications and activities, including 07 (1) the publication of the date and location of an election; 08 (2) the education of students about voting and elections; 09 (3) the sponsorship of [OPEN] candidate debate forums open to the 10 public; 11 (4) participation in get-out-the-vote or voter registration drives that do 12 not favor a particular candidate, political party, or political position; 13 (5) the dissemination of the views of all candidates running for a 14 particular office. 15 * Sec. 3. AS 15.13.400(4) is amended to read: 16 (4) "contribution" 17 (A) means a purchase, payment, promise or obligation to pay, 18 loan or loan guarantee, deposit or gift of money, goods, or services for which 19 charge is ordinarily made, and includes the payment by a person other than a 20 candidate or political party, or compensation for the personal services of 21 another person, that is rendered to the candidate or political party, and that is 22 made for the purpose of 23 (i) influencing the nomination or election of a 24 candidate; 25 (ii) influencing a ballot proposition or question; or 26 (iii) supporting or opposing an initiative proposal 27 application filed with the lieutenant governor under AS 15.45.020; 28 (B) does not include 29 (i) services provided without compensation by 30 individuals volunteering a portion or all of their time on behalf of a 31 political party, candidate, or ballot proposition or question;
01 (ii) ordinary hospitality in a home; 02 (iii) two or fewer mass mailings before each election by 03 each political party describing the party's slate of candidates for 04 election, which may include photographs, biographies, and information 05 about the party's candidates; 06 (iv) the results of a poll limited to issues and not 07 mentioning any candidate, unless the poll was requested by or designed 08 primarily to benefit the candidate; 09 (v) any communication in the form of a newsletter from 10 a legislator to the legislator's constituents, except a communication 11 expressly advocating the election or defeat of a candidate or a 12 newsletter or material in a newsletter that is clearly only for the private 13 benefit of a legislator or a legislative employee; [OR] 14 (vi) a fundraising list provided without compensation 15 by one candidate or political party to a candidate or political party; or 16 (vii) an opportunity to participate in a candidate 17 forum provided to a candidate without compensation to the 18 candidate by another person and for which a candidate is not 19 ordinarily charged; 20 * Sec. 4. AS 15.13.116(d) is repealed. 21 * Sec. 5. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 22 read: 23 TRANSITIONAL PROVISION. A candidate for the state legislature who was elected 24 to the state legislature before the effective date of this Act and who holds funds in a public 25 office expense term account reserve shall transfer those funds to a public office expense term 26 account before January 1, 2013.