Legislature(2023 - 2024)
11/12/2024 09:00 AM House ETH
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ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SELECT COMMITTEE ON LEGISLATIVE ETHICS
NOVEMBER 12, 2024
12:00 PM
FULL COMMITTEE MEETING
12:01:35 PM
1. CALL THE MEETING TO ORDER:
Chair Deb Fancher called together the Full Committee
meeting of November 12, 2024, at 12:01 PM. She directed
Administrator Kevin Reeve to conduct roll call.
Roll Call
Senator David Wilson
Senator Donny Olson
Representative Mike Prax
Representative Sara Hannan
Skip Cook
Conner Thomas
Chair Deb Fancher
Jerry McBeath
With eight members present, there was a quorum to conduct
business.
Others
Administrator Kevin Reeve
Jacqueline Yeagle
12:02:48 PM
2. UPDATE ON PUBLIC COMMITTEE MEMBER APPOINTMENTS
Chair Deb Fancher said public members are appointed for a
three year term by the chief justice of the Alaska Supreme
Court. Conner Thomas's appointment expires in 2025, and he
has expressed his willingness and desire to continue as a
member of the Ethics Committee. Chair Fancher added there
is an alternate public member vacancy, and she encouraged
anyone interested to apply.
12:03:54 PM
3. APPROVAL OF AGENDA
Chair Deb Fancher entertained a motion to approve the
agenda.
Conner Thomas proposed moving items from the executive
session agenda to the public agenda:
b. Legislative changes update
c. Election of officers at January meeting
e. Public member announcement process changes
f. Intern in office
g. Engagement
h. Electronic binders
i. 2025 Committee appointments for the elected members
Chair Deb Fancher explained that executive session is
intended for only two or three types of discussion as
outlined in AS 25.60.160; Uniform Rule 22(b); and the Rules
of Procedure Section 5. The items Conner Thomas proposed
moving to public session do not qualify for executive
session.
Chair Deb Fancher entertained discussion or objections to
moving the items to public session.
Representative Sara Hannan asked where in the agenda the
items would move.
Chair Deb Fancher replied that the items would go after
item 6d in the staff report.
There was no other discussion and no objections. The
committee approved the modified agenda.
12:07:05 PM
4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
a. Chair Deb Fancher entertained approval of the
February 16, 2024, Full committee meeting minutes.
There were no objections. The committee approved the
minutes.
12:07:40 PM
5. PUBLIC COMMENT
Chair Deb Fancher opened the meeting to public comment.
After handing each of the committee members a document, Dr.
Theresa Obermeyer said she is working on an initiative in
support of Alaska electing the attorney general. Alaska is
the only state that does not have an American Bar
Association accredited law school and the only state that
has no elected office holder who is required to be a member
of the Alaska Bar Association. She asked the committee
members to review the information she provided.
12:12:23 PM
6. CHAIR/STAFF REPORT
a. Staff Reports of Informal Advice
Administrator Kevin Reeve introduced the staff report and
invited questions or comments about the report.
Committee members offered minor spelling and grammar edits.
Jerry McBeath inquired why it would not be a conflict of
interest for a legislator to allow use of their government
office in the filming of a documentary for a non-profit
group. Jacqueline Yeagle replied using a legislative office
in the manner described is not a conflict of interest.
Senator David Wilson concurred. Representative Sara Hannan
noted that the relevant facts were that the office was not
used for campaign purposes and the film would not be
released until after the election.
b. Revised Complaint Form
Administrator Kevin Reeve noted the committee had requested
the changes. He asked the committee to review the changes
and offer comments or questions. There was no discussion.
The revised complaint form was approved.
c. COGEL Conference Update
Five individuals plan to attend the 2024 COGEL conference.
Registration fees have been paid. All attendees should be
making travel arrangements.
d. 2025 Ethics Training Update
Administrator Kevin Reeve reviewed the planned training
dates, noting the date at the end of January coincides with
a training opportunity for committee members. The January
17 training for continuing staff is in person only.
12:32:05 PM
7. STATE BENEFIT AND LOAN PROGRAM REVIEW
Chair Deb Fancher explained that every year the committee
approves changes to the list of state benefit and loan
programs that require disclosure. There are no additions or
deletions proposed for 2025, however, the Department of
Natural Resources moved eight of the programs from the
Economic Development Division to the Division of
Investments.
Conner Thomas confirmed his understanding that the programs
would stay on the list, only listed under a different the
division within the department. Chair Deb Fancher affirmed
Conner Thomas's understanding.
Representative Sara Hannan suggested that Kevin Reeve alert
legislators and staff to the division change during
training to avoid copying and pasting incorrect information
on disclosures.
12:35:05 PM
Chair Deb Fancher returned to the executive session agenda
items that were moved to public session.
b. Legislative changes update
Senator David Wilson reported Senator Löki Tobin would take
the lead on future ethics legislation changes. He predicted
Dan Wayne's return to Legislative Legal will prove helpful
in the legislation change process.
c. Election of officers at January meeting
Administrator Kevin Reeve reminded the committee that chair
positions would rotate with the new session in January.
e. Public member announcement process changes
Administrator Kevin Reeve proposed changes to the public
member vacancy recruitment process in order to increase
interest in serving. He directed the committee to the
changes to the draft vacancy announcement, including a
change that emphasizes how the alternate public member
duties and functions differ from those of the regular
public members.
Administrator Kevin Reeve added the current chief justice
is retiring on January 14, 2025, and the office has been
working with his successor, Susan Carney, to arrange for a
committee appointment letter to be sent during the first
week of next session.
Representative Sara Hannan asked, given the timing of Chief
Justice Maassen's retirement and the start of Chief Justice
Carney's term, if they could end up nominating different
public members. Kevin Reeve replied that he is working with
both chief justices to ensure an uncomplicated nomination
process.
Senator David Wilson noted it is common for the chief
justice to send the letter of nomination to the speaker of
the house and the senate president in the first week of
session.
Jerry McBeath asked how the vacancy positions are
advertised. Deb Fancher replied that the vacancy
announcements were sent to all legislators and legislative
staff. Legislators are asked to share the vacancy notice in
their own newsletters.
Representative Sara Hannan suggested re-sending the request
to legislators as they may have not sent newsletters during
the campaign period. Chair Deb Fancher added that the
vacancy announcement might also be included in the next
Ethics Committee Advisor. In addition to the vacancy
announcement, she also advised including planned training
dates and updates to the state benefit and loan programs.
12:49:46 PM
f. Intern in office
Administrator Kevin Reeve addressed the backlog of work in
the office. He recommended hiring an intern to help the
office catch up with filing, records keeping, and other
office tasks. An intern would benefit by getting exposure
to the legislature and the Ethics Committee in particular.
Senator David Wilson moved to allow Kevin Reeve to explore
the intern option. Chair Deb Fancher entertained
discussion.
Jerry McBeath expressed concern about the nature of the
work the intern would do, given the confidentiality aspects
of the work, the qualifications required that would be
required of the intern, and what the compensation would be
in terms of [school] credit. He proposed Kevin Reeve
consider the committee's questions and report his findings
to the committee in January.
Representative Sara Hannan wondered if the office has
capacity to teach an intern or if it would be more
beneficial to temporarily hire or contract with someone.
Chair Deb Fancher asked if there were objections to the
administrator's exploration for an additional person in the
office. There were no objections.
1:01:45 PM
g. Engagement
Administrator Kevin Reeve noted there were a number of
misconceptions about the committee. He proposed increasing
public engagement to educate the public and also working
with media outlets to support their journalistic integrity.
He reported he had recently worked with a media outlet for
that purpose and his efforts seem to have been fruitful. He
asked the committee if they wanted him to continue his
pursuits in this area.
Representative Sara Hannan cautioned that general public
engagement may be contradictory at the same time as
legislators are considering changes to the Ethics Act. Deb
Fancher generally agreed and added that educating the
legislators and legislative employees about the committee
still has value. She added she and Joyce Anderson had
presented to a couple of community groups and those
presentations were well received.
Representative Mike Prax advised designing the ethics
webpage for a public audience.
Senator David Wilson agreed with Representative Sara Hannan
that public education about the committee will happen
naturally as the ethics legislation changes work their way
through the legislative bodies. He noted that the Office of
Victim Advocacy also struggles with public perception
issues and he suggested working together with them may
prove valuable.
1:08:30 PM
Jerry McBeath opined it is a civic education problem and he
agrees with Representative Sara Hannan that public
education about the committee needs to be focused and in a
way that makes sense.
Chair Deb Fancher entertained committee discussion about
offering a lunch and learn.
Conner Thomas wondered if there would be interest in a
lunch and learn given time constraints in Juneau.
Representative Sara Hannan stated that lunch and learns are
restricted from promoting legislation and would have to be
scheduled prior to the introduction of new legislation.
Representative Mike Prax urged the committee to make the
web page the priority. He argued it should be a one-stop
shop for a viewer to glean what the committee is about.
Chair Deb Fancher suggested the possibility of expanding
ethics training to include information from the existing
lunch and learn power point along with some of the answers
to questions asked about the committee.
Senator David Wilson suggested exploring options at KTOO
for raising the profile of community organizations.
1:13:35 PM
h. Electronic binders
Administrator Kevin Reeve proposed sending preliminary
meeting packets electronically to committee members and
having paper copies of the documents at the meeting.
Senator David Wilson indicated he was fine with the idea
but cautioned using password protection.
Deb Fancher asked if using password protection would
require public members to use a legislative email address.
Administrator Kevin Reeve offered to get more information
about password protection and speculated Deb Fancher's
concern was surmountable.
Representative Sara Hannan asked Senator David Wilson if he
proposed only password protecting executive session
documents.
Jerry McBeath protested the cost of printing his own
packet.
Skip Cook suggested going to the local LIO to print it out.
Representative Sara Hannan asked if some members could
still receive a packet in the mail.
Administrator Kevin Reeve said he will inquire how members
want to receive their packets for each meeting.
i. 2025 Committee appointments for the elected members
Administrator Kevin Reeve reminded legislators of the
importance that legislative member appointments occur prior
to the January 30 meeting. He reported he would be
contacting the senate president and the house speaker with
a reminder.
Representative Sara Hannan asked if legislators serve until
a replacement is appointed. She said all committee
assignments are generally done at the same time if the
bodies are organized
Administrator Kevin Reeve asked if there is anything to do
to move along the process.
Representative Sara Hannan replied that it all depends on
whether both bodies are organized. Internal dynamics have
delayed organizing the house in recent past years
1:22:52 PM
8. Chair Deb Fancher entertained a motion to go into
EXECUTIVE SESSION to discuss matters which by law must
remain confidential under AS 24.60.160, Uniform Rule
22(b) regarding executive sessions, and Rules of
Procedure Section 5: Executive Sessions and discussion of
matters, the immediate knowledge of which would adversely
affect the finances of a governmental unit, and
discussion of subjects that tend to prejudice the
reputation and character of a person.
Senator David Wilson so moved. There were no objections.
The committee moved into executive session.
1:23:52 PM
9. EXECUTIVE SESSION
2:22:04 PM
10. PUBLIC SESSION
Chair Deb Fancher re-opened public session and entertained
a motion to draft a letter to Ombudsman Kate Burkhart
regarding a complaint.
Representative Sara Hannan so moved. Chair Deb Fancher
entertained objections. There were none. The motion passed.
11. OTHER BUSINESS
12. ADJOURN
Chair Deb Fancher entertained a motion to adjourn. Skip
Cook so moved. There were no objections. The meeting
adjourned at 2:23 PM.
2:23:34 PM
ADJOURN
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