Legislature(2009 - 2010)BELTZ 105 (TSBldg)
03/02/2010 09:00 AM Senate STATE AFFAIRS
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB190 | |
| SB284 | |
| HJR16 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | SB 190 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | SB 284 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | HJR 16 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
SB 284-CAMPAIGN EXPENDITURES
9:26:38 AM
CHAIR MENARD announced the next order of business to come before
the committee would be SB 284.
SENATOR FRENCH, sponsor of SB 284, read the following sponsor
statement:
In the wake of the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling,
Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the
Senate Judiciary Committee has worked to determine the
changes to Alaska's elections laws that will be
needed. Corporations have been banned from
participating in Alaska's elections prior to this
ruling. This means many of Alaska's laws regarding
disclosure and disclaimers simply do not apply to
corporations making independent expenditures to
support or oppose specific candidates in elections.
Testimony from Legislative Legal Services attorneys
and from the Alaska Department of Law indicated that
changes would be needed to Alaska's campaign laws, and
this bill was subsequently drafted to address the
concerns raised by the attorneys and by committee
members.
Senate Bill 284 amends state election laws to clarify
that corporations are covered by all applicable
reporting requirements. It expands communication
identification requirements to ensure accurate
reporting of top contributors, to require the approval
of the content by the principal officer of the
corporation, and to require statements in each
communication that its content has not authorized or
approved by the candidate. It also speeds reporting
requirements for communications expenditures in the
last nine days of the election so that expenditures
over $250 must be reported within 24 hours.
Recent opinion surveys show broad disapproval by
Americans across party lines for the decision reached
by the U.S. Supreme Court. In order to retain
Alaskan's trust in our system it is vital that
legislation be passed this year to ensure that
corporations spending money to influence elections are
at least required to disclose it in a timely fashion.
I urge you to support Senate Bill 284.
SENATOR MEYER said the U.S. Supreme Court ruling pertained to
corporations and unions. He asked why Senator French only
addressed corporations in his sponsor statement.
SENATOR FRENCH replied that was inadvertent. SB 284 defaults to
a definition of 'person' which under Alaska law encompasses
individuals, candidates, groups, non-group entities,
corporations and unions. The intent is to bring all players
under the same set of laws and rules.
9:30:03 AM
CHAIR MENARD asked how other states are reacting to the U.S.
Supreme Court ruling.
SENATOR FRENCH replied that states are hurrying to adopt new
disclosure and disclaimer laws prior to upcoming elections.
Alaska's Attorney General (AG) has issued an opinion that
largely endorses many requirements that SB 284 puts into place.
SB 284 has two main points: disclosure and disclaimer.
Disclosure means reporting to the Alaska Public Offices
Commission (APOC) what one is taking in and spending. Disclaimer
means putting a message on the communication itself saying who
paid for it. Under SB 284, the top five contributors to a group
that paid for a communication would have to list their
contributions.
9:32:17 AM
SENATOR MEYER asked if SB 284 would affect all corporations,
regardless of size.
SENATOR FRENCH replied yes.
SENATOR MEYER asked what the disclosure requirements are for the
corporations.
SENATOR FRENCH replied that on page 3, lines 7-12 require
disclosure of the candidate or the title of the ballot
proposition being supported or opposed and the name and address
of each officer or director, when applicable. On page 3,
paragraph 5, beginning on line 14, requires the name, address
and principal occupation and employer of an individual
contributor. If it is a group, non-group entity or corporation,
the name and address of the contributor and the name and address
of each officer and director of the contributor is required.
9:34:38 AM
SENATOR MEYER asked about the requirement for each officer and
director on Page 3, line 11. He provided an example of Carrs
Safeway contributing to a campaign to pass school bonds and
asked if Carrs Safeway would have to list all directors and
officers nationwide or just in Alaska.
SENATOR FRENCH replied that Carrs Safeway would have to list the
officers and directors of whatever subdivision gave the money.
He provided another example using BP. Whichever entity of BP
"writes the check", such as BP Alaska, BP National or BP
International, must list its directors and officers.
SENATOR MEYER asked how SB 284 would apply to unions.
SENATOR FRENCH replied that the U.S. Supreme Court decision and
SB 284 do not effect contributions to candidates. The Supreme
Court decision opened up independent expenditures for and
against candidates by corporations and unions. Corporations
still cannot give any candidate money but can support or oppose
candidates independently on TV, in print or radio.
SENATOR MEYER asked if there is a dollar amount.
SENATOR FRENCH responded no.
SENATOR MEYER asked what the Teamsters, for example, need to
disclose if they want to support a candidate.
SENATOR FRENCH replied that the Teamsters would have to disclose
the name and address of each officer and director of the entity
that wrote the check; for example, Teamsters Alaska Local 959.
9:37:46 AM
SENATOR MEYER asked Senator French to explain page 3, lines 13-
17, about the aggregate amount not exceeding $100. He asked why
all contributions, regardless of amount, aren't required to be
disclosed.
SENATOR FRENCH replied that the report of contributions must
contain the aggregate amount of all contributions made to the
person. For all contributions that exceed $100, the report must
include the date of the contribution and the amount contributed
by each contributor. An individual contributor's name, address,
principal occupation and employer must be listed. If a
corporation is contributing, the name and address of each
officer and director is required.
SENATOR MEYER said currently candidates can disclose all
contributions.
SENATOR FRENCH said candidates have to disclose all the
contributions and the name. Some candidates voluntarily add the
occupation and employer for all contributions and others wait
until the threshold is hit.
SENATOR MEYER asked if Senator French thinks SB 284 tracks the
current process.
SENATOR FRENCH replied yes.
SENATOR PASKVAN referred to page 3, paragraph 5, lines 13-17 and
asked for confirmation that a legal entity, such as a
corporation, would be required to divulge whether the employees
of that corporation are contributing or if the president alone
is utilizing its general funds.
9:40:56 AM
SENATOR FRENCH replied that Senator Paskvan's analysis was
correct.
SENATOR MEYER referred to Section 11 of SB 284 on page 5, line
23 which says "include a statement from the principal officer
approving the communication". He asked what Senator French
envisions as far as a statement from the principal officer.
SENATOR FRENCH responded that people are familiar with a
statement following a TV ad, such as, "I am Senator So-and-so,
and I approve this ad." He said the intention of SB 284 is to
make certain that voters hear from the principal officer or the
person bringing the advertisement forth.
SENATOR MEYER asked if a corporation's local presiding officer
in Alaska would be at the end of a TV ad or, for example, the
president of Conoco Phillips in Houston.
SENATOR FRENCH replied with an example: If Exxon Alaska made the
ad, Marty Massey would make the statement; if it's Exxon USA or
Exxon Global, whoever rules that particular domain would make
the statement. The same applies for unions. It helps establish
accountability.
SENATOR MEYER said he does not disagree but more than likely the
money came from Houston, London or Ohio. Corporations are so big
that you can get lost in the maze.
9:43:54 AM
SENATOR FRENCH said Senator Meyer is anticipating some of the
difficulties of the new landscape and SB 284 will not stay its
present form for long before more changes will be needed.
However, something needs to get on the books.
SENATOR MEYER said he feels full disclosure is always best.
CHAIR MENARD said she is concerned about the requirement that a
board of directors must report all names and asked if officers
and secretaries must be named.
SENATOR FRENCH replied yes.
CHAIR MENARD said doing so could be cumbersome. She asked if the
recording criteria for corporations is identical to the
statutory requirements for other non-corporate groups.
SENATOR FRENCH said the intention is to make them all equal.
9:45:51 AM
MARILYN RUSSELL, President, League of Women Voters - Alaska
(LWV) said LWV supports SB 284. The goals of a campaign system
should be: to ensure the public's right to know, to combat
corruption and undue influence, to enable candidates to compete
more equitably and to promote citizen participation in the
political process. The LWV was disappointed in the recent U.S.
Supreme Court decision and polls show that eight in ten
Americans oppose the decision to allow corporate political
spending. Alaska's campaign laws must be amended, before the
upcoming primary and general elections, to require full
disclosure of campaign contributions by corporations and labor
unions which are currently not covered under existing laws
regarding disclosure and disclaimer. Citizens should know who is
spending money supporting or opposing candidates and ballot
issues. The information should be available with the campaign
communication itself.
9:48:06 AM
MATT WALLACE, Executive Director, Alaska Public Interest
Research Group (AKPIRG) said getting something on the books to
mitigate undue spending in upcoming campaigns and elections is
critical. AKPIRG is encouraged to see that SB 284 would require
the same type of disclosure for independent corporate and union
spending that is currently required for campaign contributions
to candidates. AKPIRG wants citizens to know who is paying for
attack ads. AKPRIG supports decreasing the influence of big
money in politics, leveling the playing field, and giving
citizens a voice in the political process. AKPIRG is in strong
support of SB 284.
9:50:47 AM
JOHN PTACIN, Attorney, Department of Law, said his main client
is the Alaska Public Offices Commission (APOC). He said Alaska
may not prohibit independent expenditures attenuated to
political speech outright. That changes the landscape of the
law. Currently some disclosure and disclaimer laws do apply to
corporations, labor unions and companies attempting to make an
independent expenditure in a candidate election. Other laws do
not apply because when legislation was passed, the legislature
did not contemplate corporations and labor unions making
independent expenditures in candidate elections. An AG
memorandum, issued about 10 days ago, determined that the true
source of funds is an issue for corporations, labor unions and
companies making independent expenditures in candidate
elections.
9:53:26 AM
SENATOR FRENCH asked Mr. Ptacin if anything in SB 284 is
inconsistent with the opinion put out by the AG's office.
MR. PTACIN replied that he does not find any inconsistencies
between SB 284 and the AG's memo.
CHAIR MENARD closed public testimony.
SENATOR PASKVAN said Senator French should be commended because
the change in the legal landscape following the January 2010
U.S. Supreme Court decision leaves potential for inequities in
the upcoming election. A legal entity such as a corporation or
union should stay out of the political debate if they don't want
to disclose or disclaim. Citizens have a right to know and SB
284 should be passed.
SENATOR MEYER said he agrees with Senator Paskvan. His only
concern is that SB 284 needs some cleanup so that unions or
corporations know the rules if they want to participate in the
passage of school bonds, for example.
9:56:11 AM
SENATOR MEYER moved to report SB 284 from committee with
individual recommendations and attached fiscal note(s). There
being no objection, the motion carried.
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