03/07/2017 03:30 PM Senate STATE AFFAIRS

            SCR 1-UNIFORM RULES: ABSTAIN FROM VOTING                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
4:16:14 PM                                                                                                                    
CHAIR DUNLEAVY called  the committee back to  order and announced                                                               
the consideration of SCR 1.                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
4:16:48 PM                                                                                                                    
SENATOR BERTA GARDNER, Alaska  State Legislature, Juneau, Alaska,                                                               
sponsor of  SCR 1,  set forth that  SCR 1 can  be described  by a                                                               
quote from "To  Kill a Mockingbird," "The one  thing that doesn't                                                               
abide by majority rule is a person's conscience."                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
She said  the Legislature  relies on Uniform  Rule 34(b)  when it                                                               
comes  to  conflict  of interest  for  legislators'  voting.  She                                                               
summarized  that Uniform  Rule 34(b)  says a  member can  ask for                                                               
unanimous consent that  he or she be excused  from voting because                                                               
they have  a conflict of  interest and then the  member describes                                                               
their conflict  of interest. She explained  that theoretically if                                                               
nobody objects,  the person is  allowed not to vote.  She pointed                                                               
out that  in her years  in the  Legislature, someone in  the body                                                               
has always  objected and  the presiding  officer says  the person                                                               
must vote.                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
She noted that  the conflict of interest rule  has regularly been                                                               
an issue with  the public. She disclosed that there  have been 13                                                               
bills and  resolutions that  have tried to  address the  issue of                                                               
conflict of interest  in voting since 2007 and  none have passed.                                                               
She  revealed that  she  has  addressed a  variety  of ideas  and                                                               
talked to  legislators, but  she has not  found a  good solution.                                                               
She said  the bottom line is  a person's conscious should  be the                                                               
guide.                                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
She explained that  SCR 1 proposes to simply require  that when a                                                               
person stands  up and  asks to be  excused for  voting, describes                                                               
the conflict  of interest and  somebody objects, all  three parts                                                               
become  part of  the record.  She noted  that she  has claimed  a                                                               
conflict of  interest on things that  she knew were not  really a                                                               
conflict of interest; however, she  pointed out that nobody wants                                                               
to be accused  of failing to disclose. She detailed  that she has                                                               
claimed a conflict of interest  regarding real estate because her                                                               
daughter sells  real estate  as well as  claiming a  conflict for                                                               
her son-in-law  because he works  for an oil company.  She opined                                                               
that legislators tend to over-disclose to "cover our bases."                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR  GARDNER  set forth  that  she  is  trying to  solve  the                                                               
conflict of interest problem so that  when a person has a genuine                                                               
conflict  there ultimately  is  a  path. She  said  she wants  to                                                               
change the culture  because the culture is to  always make people                                                               
vote.  She asserted  that  a person's  conscious  should hold  if                                                               
there really is a conflict of interest.                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
She  stated  that SCR  1  is  a clear  proposal  to  just make  a                                                               
conflict of  interest part of  the record. She remarked  that the                                                               
resolution is  a "sunshine measure"  that is not complex  or hard                                                               
to understand.                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
4:20:13 PM                                                                                                                    
SENATOR  COGHILL   thanked  Senator  Gardner  for   tackling  the                                                               
conflict of interest  issue and stated that the  subject has been                                                               
a  conundrum   for  many   years.  He   agreed  that   putting  a                                                               
legislator's conflict of interest on the record is a good idea.                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
He stated  that the final  sentence has  some good parts  and bad                                                               
parts:                                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
     Upon a member's request to  be excused from voting, the                                                                    
     clerk  or secretary  shall record  in  the journal  the                                                                    
     member requesting to be excused,  the stated reason for                                                                    
     the request,  and, if  an objection  to the  request is                                                                    
     made, the member or members who objected.                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
He said SCR 1  is one good way of saying that  if a legislator is                                                               
going  to   declare  a  conflict   of  interest,  at   least  the                                                               
declaration will be  a matter of record. He expressed  that he is                                                               
grateful   that  Senator   Gardner   "wondered   out  into   this                                                               
territory."                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR GARDNER  replied that  her resolution  is, "Just  the toe                                                               
into the deep water."                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR  GIESSEL  asked if  the  committee  could hear  from  Mr.                                                               
Anderson  from   Legislative  Ethics  and  noted   that  she  was                                                               
interested in his opinion on the legislation.                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
4:21:29 PM                                                                                                                    
JERRY   ANDERSON,   Administrator,   The  Select   Committee   on                                                               
Legislative  Ethics, Alaska  State  Legislature, Juneau,  Alaska,                                                               
explained that the  SCR 1 is from the Uniform  Rules and not from                                                               
the  Legislative   Ethics  Act  itself.  He   detailed  that  the                                                               
Legislative Ethics  Act statute references the  Uniform Rules and                                                               
that is the only connection with the Legislative Ethics Act.                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
4:22:40 PM                                                                                                                    
SAMANTHA  HARRIS,  Staff,  Senator Berta  Gardner,  Alaska  State                                                               
Legislature,  Juneau, Alaska,  explained  that  Mr. Anderson  was                                                               
asked  to be  available if  the committee's  conversation entered                                                               
the  Legislature's ethics  laws. She  pointed out  that there  is                                                               
some  documentation  that occurs  when  a  legislator declares  a                                                               
conflict, but  the nature  of the conflict  is not  recorded, and                                                               
the practice is  that if multiple objections are  made the record                                                               
will  just say,  "objections were  made." She  added that  if the                                                               
Senate secretary  or chief clerk  can discern who  the legislator                                                               
was  that objected,  on occasion  they will  record who  made the                                                               
objection, but the act is not always the practice.                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
She disclosed  that legislative research was  unable to determine                                                               
any instance  in the Alaska Legislature's  history when unanimous                                                               
consent was  given for a  declaration of a conflict  of interest.                                                               
She  added that  the  National Conference  of State  Legislatures                                                               
provided a  summary of voting  recusal provisions and in  the end                                                               
the summation was  unable to identify any other  state that dealt                                                               
with conflict of interest declarations  as Alaska where unanimous                                                               
consent was required.                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
MS. HARRIS  summarized that SCR 1  seeks to put more  conflict of                                                               
interest declarations on the record as a matter of transparency.                                                                
                                                                                                                                
4:25:00 PM                                                                                                                    
CHAIR DUNLEAVY held SCR 1 in committee.