Legislature(2011 - 2012)CAPITOL 106
02/22/2011 08:00 AM House STATE AFFAIRS
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB74 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | HB 4 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| += | HB 74 | TELECONFERENCED | |
HB 74-INFO ON MATTERS IN ELECTION PAMPHLET
8:04:13 AM
CHAIR LYNN announced that the only order of business was HOUSE
BILL NO. 74, "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 and to information that must be provided before
the issuance of state general obligation bonds is submitted to
the voters for ratification; and providing for an effective
date."
[Before the committee was the committee substitute (CS), Version
27-LS0008\O, Bullard, 2/16/11, adopted as a work draft on
2/17/11.]
8:04:30 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER moved to adopt the committee substitute
(CS) for HB 74, Version 27-LS0008\U, Bullard, 2/21/11, as a work
draft. There being no objection, Version U was before the
committee.
8:04:51 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG, as sponsor of HB 74, reviewed the
changes made in Version U. First, on page 3, lines 24-26, the
date for submission of material for the general election
pamphlet was changed from July 22 to the day following the
primary election. Next, on page 4, line 1, the date for
submission of material for the primary election pamphlet was
changed from June 1 to June 2. Representative Gruenberg relayed
that the director of the Division of Elections said those were
the latest dates that could still work. The next change, he
said, on page 4, lines 1-2, is that the date for submission for
material for a special election is set by the lieutenant
governor, because a special election could be called at any
time. Another change, on page 5, lines 11-14, is a new Section
9, which requires that the report on state public debt, created
in AS 37.07.045, be published on the state's web site. He
related that that necessitated a change in the title, which is
found on page 1, lines 4-5.
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG said the next change, on page 6, line
4, [in Section 11], is to remove primary elections from the
requirement to post a notice for bond issues, because bond
issues are never on primary election ballots. He noted that
another change, [also in Section 11], pertains to [paragraph
(1), page 6, lines 12-13, which read as follows]:
(1) the current general obligation
[TOTAL] bonded indebtedness of the state and the
effect of the proposed bonding on that indebtedness;
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG said the words "and other", which
appeared in Version O following "general obligation", were
deleted from Version U. He explained, "The reason is because
the disclosure is of general obligation bonds; not all other
bonded indebtedness is set out. We simply are going to be
referencing the state's web site, and people can look at the
other indebtedness to find that and get the bond report."
Representative Gruenberg then directed attention to a new
Section 7, added to Version U, [on page 6, lines 27-30], which
read as follows:
(7) a brief description of the report
relating to the state's bonded debt prepared by the
Department of Revenue under AS 37.07.045 and the
Internet address where the full report is available to
the public under AS 37.07.045(b).
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG emphasized the importance of directing
the public to the Internet for further information, because not
everything can be published in the election pamphlet.
8:11:41 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG moved to adopt Amendment 1, labeled 27-
LS0008\U.1, Bullard, 2/21/11, which read as follows:
Page 3, line 18, through page 4, line 5:
Delete all material and insert:
"* Sec. 4. AS 15.58.030(b) is amended to read:
(b) An [NO LATER THAN JULY 22 OF A YEAR IN WHICH
A STATE GENERAL ELECTION WILL BE HELD, AN] individual
who becomes a candidate for the office of United
States senator, United States representative,
governor, lieutenant governor, state senator, or state
representative under AS 15.25.030 or 15.25.180 may
file with the lieutenant governor a photograph and a
statement advocating the candidacy. For a primary
election, the photograph and statement shall be filed
with the lieutenant governor not later than June 2.
For the general election, the photograph and statement
shall be filed with the lieutenant governor not later
than the day following the date of the primary
election, except that an [AN] individual who becomes a
candidate for the office of United States senator,
United States representative, governor, lieutenant
governor, state senator, or state representative by
party petition filed under AS 15.25.110 may file with
the lieutenant governor a photograph and a statement
advocating the candidacy within 10 days of becoming a
candidate. For a special election, the photograph and
statement shall be filed by a date specified by the
lieutenant governor. A candidate whose photograph and
statement appeared in the primary election pamphlet
may file a different photograph and statement to
appear in the general election pamphlet."
CHAIR LYNN objected for discussion purposes.
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG said Amendment 1 reorders the sentences
in Section 4 to make them chronological.
8:12:35 AM
CHAIR LYNN removed his objection. There being no further
objection, Amendment 1 was adopted.
8:12:48 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER related that he had contacted [Legislative
Legal and Research Services] to find out the feasibility of
incorporating the issue of the state's unfunded liability with
legislation addressing bonded debt, and he was told that doing
so could be problematic. He said another issue he had inquired
about was general obligation bonds on the ballot. [Included in
the committee packet are two memorandums, dated 2/21/11, from
bill drafter Alpheus Bullard of Legislative Legal and Research
Services, written to Representative Keller in response to his
two concerns.]
8:13:46 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG expressed appreciation for
Representative Keller's valid concerns, but explained that he
had asked Representative Keller to address the issue of unfunded
liability in a separate bill.
8:15:37 AM
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON, referring to the memorandum from Mr.
Bullard to Representative Keller, dated 2/21/11, which addresses
the issue of general obligation bonds on the ballot, directed
attention to the first sentence on the second page, in which Mr.
Bullard writes that the inclusion of the would "primary" in
Section 10 of the bill "does not serve to alter the elections at
which a [general obligation] bond may appear." He asked
Representative Gruenberg if the word "primary" had been removed
from that section in Version U.
The committee took a brief at-ease.
8:16:40 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG offered his understanding that the word
"primary" had been removed in Version U.
8:20:21 AM
ALPHEUS BULLARD, Attorney, Legislative Legal and Research
Services, Legislative Affairs Agency, Alaska State Legislature,
confirmed that is correct.
8:21:00 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG, in response to a question from
Representative Wilson, reiterated that Representative Keller
would not be offering an amendment to include the issue of
unfunded liability in HB 74, but concurred with Representative
Wilson that it is a subject in need of attention.
REPRESENTATIVE P. WILSON expressed concern that if the issue of
unfunded liability is not addressed before HB 74 goes into
effect, then "this is going to leave this question up in the
air."
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG opined that the issue of the unfunded
liability would take considerable time to address, and he
expressed his hope that HB 74 would not be delayed.
CHAIR LYNN remarked upon the effect of adding issues to bills.
He then summarized the intent of HB 74.
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG indicated that he would support the
crafting of an amendment that incorporates the unfunded
liability issue into HB 74, if it could be done without delaying
the process in a 90-day session. In response to Representative
Wilson, he clarified that the issue has never been in the bill.
8:24:48 AM
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON referred to a memorandum in the committee
packet, from Mr. Bullard to Representative Gruenberg, dated
2/21/11, in which Mr. Bullard wrote that the language in Section
10 "is likely to be interpreted as including more than general
obligation bonded indebtedness." He noted that the memorandum
referred to Version O, and asked whether the statement holds
true for Version U.
8:26:42 AM
MR. BULLARD responded that [with the adoption of Amendment 1],
"and other" was removed, and it is clear that the remaining
language pertains only to general obligation bond indebtedness.
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG echoed Mr. Bullard's explanation.
8:29:23 AM
REPRESENTATIVE PETERSEN directed attention to language on page
4, line 1, which states that the deadline for candidates to
submit their photographs and statements for a primary election
would be "not later than June 2". He noted that sometimes the
filing deadline falls on a weekend and is pushed forward to the
next business day, and he asked if an adjustment is needed.
8:30:41 AM
GAIL FENUMIAI, Director, Division of Elections, Office of the
Lieutenant Governor, offered her understanding that if the
filing deadline falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or state or federal
holiday, it would move to Monday at 5 p.m. She suggested the
committee may wish to amend the language in Version U to
accommodate that. In response to Chair Lynn, she said such an
occurrence will happen in 2012.
MR. BULLARD, in response to Representative Gruenberg, said he
sees no legal issue with such an amendment.
8:33:02 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG moved to adopt Amendment 2, as follows:
Page 4, line 1:
Delete "June 2"
Insert "the day following the filing deadline"
8:33:31 AM
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON objected to ask if the same amendment
would be made on page 3, line 25.
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG said he does not think that is
necessary.
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON removed his objection.
MS. FENUMIAI confirmed that the wording does not need to be
changed on page 3, line 25, because that language relates to the
primary election, which is always on a Tuesday.
8:36:25 AM
MS. FENUMIAI, in response to Representative Gruenberg, said she
had consulted with the division's two full-time staff members in
charge of the primary and general election pamphlets who felt
strongly that because there is such a tight timeline, to push
the deadlines out a week would be detrimental and perhaps
jeopardize the division's ability to publish the information on
time as required by statute. In response to the chair, she
offered her understanding that when the candidates' statements
are sent to them for editing, those candidates may look for
typographical errors and misspellings, but may not rewrite the
statement at that point.
8:38:32 AM
CHAIR LYNN, after ascertaining that there was no one who wished
to testify, closed public testimony.
8:38:46 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER stated that although he would not stand in
the way of the proposed legislation, he would hold back on
giving it a ["do pass"], because he said he would like more time
to consider whether the bill could be further improved. In
response to the chair, he confirmed that he is considering an
amendment that could be given to the bill sponsor to present to
the House Finance Committee.
8:39:37 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER moved to report CSHB 74, Version 27-
LS0008\U, Bullard, 2/21/11, [as amended], out of committee with
individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal notes.
There being no objection, CSHB 74(STA) was reported out of the
House State Affairs Standing Committee.