Legislature(2021 - 2022)GRUENBERG 120
05/03/2022 03:00 PM House STATE AFFAIRS
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB66 | |
| SB25 | |
| HB309 | |
| HB31 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | HB 66 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | SB 25 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 309 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 31 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
HB 309-APOC; CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS/REPORTING
4:52:15 PM
CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS announced that the next order of business
would be HOUSE BILL NO. 309, "An Act exempting candidates for
municipal office and municipal office holders in municipalities
with a population of 15,000 or less from financial or business
interest reporting requirements; relating to campaign finance
reporting by certain groups; and providing for an effective
date." [Before the committee was CSHB 309(CRA).]
4:52:52 PM
REPRESENTATIVE CLAMAN moved to adopt the proposed committee
substitute (CS) for HB 309, Version 32-LS0540\O, Bullard,
5/2/22, as the working draft.
CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS objected for the purpose of discussion.
4:53:14 PM
CLAIR GROSS, Staff, Representative Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins,
Alaska State Legislature, on behalf of Representative Kreiss-
Tomkins, provided a summary of changes in the proposed CS,
("Version O"), for CSHB 309(CRA).
4:59:15 PM
REPRESENTATIVE EASTMAN directed attention to Section 8. He
asked whether subsection (c) applied to paper records, or
whether they were handled separately.
CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS shared his understanding that the public
official financial disclosures (POFDs) submitted by a broader
subset of public officials, such as judicial officers, division
directors, et cetera, were not posted on the website. Instead,
those POFDs were kept on file and available by request. He
asked Ms. Hebdon whether that was accurate.
5:01:24 PM
HEATHER HEBDON, Executive Director, Alaska Public Offices
Commission (APOC), Department of Administration, confirmed that
Section 8 indicated that filings submitted through the
electronic filing system would be made available to the public;
however, she was unsure whether it would impact previous
statements that had been filed on paper. Paper statements, she
said, applied to municipal officers that Version O sought to
exempt. She reiterated that currently, not all electronically
filed POFDs were readily available to the public, as APOC had
chosen to publish certain statements on its website, such as
candidates, seated legislators, the governor, and the lieutenant
governor.
REPRESENTATIVE EASTMAN sought to clarify which POFDs were
published online and which POFDs were made available upon
request.
MS. HEBDON shared her understanding that Section 8 contemplated
paper POFDs received by municipal officers who were not required
to file electronically; however, portions of Version O sought to
exempt municipal officers from filing regardless of the method.
Should the bill pass in its current form, she understood that
paper statements would no longer be received. She added that
per Version O, all electronically filed POFDs would be made
available to the public via the commission's Internet website.
5:05:39 PM
CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS sought to confirm that according to page 6,
line 13 of Version O, all POFDs for elected public officials or
candidates for elective office must be available online.
5:06:32 PM
ALPHEUS BULLARD, Attorney, Legislative Legal Services,
Legislative Affairs Agency (LAA), confirmed that the Chair
Kreiss-Tomkin's summary was accurate.
CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS expressed his desire to reconcile the
inconsistencies in Ms. Hebdon's answer to Representative
Eastman's question. He invited her to provide additional
comment to resolve any confusion.
MS. HEBDON expressed her belief that there was no confusion.
She reiterated her understanding that Version O was directing
APOC to publish all POFDs of candidates for elected office, as
well as elected public officials.
5:07:44 PM
REPRESENTATIVE EASTMAN asked whether that would include
candidates for elected office in the past six years and
candidates for municipal office, which may not have been
published online in the past.
MS. HEBDON deferred to the bill sponsor. She was unsure whether
the bill was retroactive.
CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS indicated that the commission would be
responsible for interpreting Section 8 in the most practicable
way. He suggested that if it were administratively onerous to
apply the provision to past years' POFDs, it "wouldn't be a big
deal." He emphasized that his intent was to reform the system
moving forward.
5:09:19 PM
REPRESENTATIVE VANCE asked whether it was necessary to include
language that would affirmatively "grandfather in" POFDs that
were submitted prior to the effective date of the proposed
legislation.
MR. BULLARD shared his understanding that Section 8 of Version O
would require the commission to make POFDs including those
filed in the last six years - accessible to the public online.
CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS asked whether retroactive application would
be possible.
MS. HEBDON acknowledged that retroactive application would
require more work; however, she pointed out that most POFDs were
already filed electronically. She shared her belief that the
programming could be accomplished behind the scenes through the
commission's internal programmer. She noted that her preference
would be for the application of Section 8 to be from the
effective date forward.
5:12:33 PM
CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS expressed his interest in pursuing an
amendment to that effect.
REPRESENTATIVE EASTMAN inquired about the distinction between
elected officials who were no longer elected officials and
candidates who were no longer candidates.
MR. BULLARD agreed that the section could be further clarified.
5:13:50 PM
CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS removed his objection to the motion to
adopt the proposed CS for HB 309, Version 32-LS0540\O, Bullard,
5/2/22, as the working document. There being no further
objection, Version O was before the committee.
REPRESENTATIVE VANCE proposed that Section 8 should be
conceptually amended if the chair was amenable.
5:14:56 PM
The committee took a brief at-ease.
5:16:08 PM
REPRESENTATIVE VANCE moved to adopt Conceptual Amendment 1 to HB
309, Version O, such that "beginning July 1, 2022" would be
inserted on page 6, line 16, after the first occurrence of the
word "years".
CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS objected for purposes of discussion.
REPRESENTATIVE VANCE clarified that should the conceptual
amendment pass, Section 8 [lines 14-16] would read: "The
commission shall keep a report filed under this chapter on file
for six years beginning July 1, 2022."
CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS asked Mr. Bullard whether the conceptual
amendment would suffice in terms of style and drafting
guidelines given the allowance to make conforming changes.
MR. BULLARD said he was unable to hear Conceptual Amendment 1.
He recommended that the best way to propose a conceptual
amendment was to explain what the committee wanted it to do and
leave the drafting of language to Legislative Legal Services.
5:18:34 PM
REPRESENTATIVE VANCE withdrew Conceptual Amendment 1. She moved
to adopt Conceptual Amendment 2 to Version O, such that
"beginning July 1, 2022" would be inserted on page 6, line 16,
after the first occurrence of the word "years".
CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS objected for the purpose of discussion to
specify that the intent was for Section 8 to apply after the
effective date of the bill, thereby removing any retroactivity.
CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS asked Mr. Bullard whether the discussion
regarding Conceptual Amendment 2 was sufficiently clear for
Legislative Legal Services to draft the language accordingly.
MR. BULLARD confirmed that the intent was clear.
5:20:41 PM
CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS removed his objection to the motion to
adopt Conceptual Amendment 2 to Version O. There being no
further objection, Conceptual Amendment 2 was adopted.
5:20:58 PM
REPRESENTATIVE EASTMAN recalled a function of the search feature
that no longer existed. He asked how difficult it would be to
create a function for searching and sharing single transactions
via a generated link for members of the public.
MS. HEBDON asked when the ability to share permanent links to
each transaction was available.
REPRESENTATIVE EASTMAN answered in 2008.
MS. HEBDON explained that a different database was used in 2008,
adding that the data was never migrated to the new system. She
shared her belief that the two systems were not compatible.
REPRESENTATIVE EASTMAN asked how difficult it would be to build
that functionality into the current system.
MS. HEBDON did not know the answer.
5:25:53 PM
REPRESENTATIVE CLAMAN moved to report CSHB 309, Version 32-
LS0540\O, Bullard, 5/2/22, as amended, out of committee with
individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal notes.
There being no objection, CSHB 309(STA) was reported out of the
House State Affairs Standing Committee.