03/10/2011 08:00 AM House STATE AFFAIRS
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB161 | |
| HJR14 | |
| Adjourn |
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | HB 161 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | HJR 14 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE STATE AFFAIRS STANDING COMMITTEE
March 10, 2011
8:07 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Bob Lynn, Chair
Representative Wes Keller, Vice Chair
Representative Paul Seaton
Representative Peggy Wilson
Representative Max Gruenberg
Representative Pete Petersen
MEMBERS ABSENT
Representative Kyle Johansen
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
HOUSE BILL NO. 161
"An Act requiring that all information in a declaration of
candidacy, letter of intent, or nominating petition for a
candidate for elective state executive and state and national
legislative office is open to public inspection."
- MOVED OUT OF COMMITTEE
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 14
Proposing amendments to the Constitution of the State of Alaska
to correct obsolete references to the office of secretary of
state by substituting references to the office of lieutenant
governor.
- MOVED OUT OF COMMITTEE
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: HB 161
SHORT TITLE: CERTAIN CANDIDATE INFO IS PUBLIC RECORD
SPONSOR(s): REPRESENTATIVE(s) LYNN
02/18/11 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
02/18/11 (H) STA, JUD
03/10/11 (H) STA AT 8:00 AM CAPITOL 106
BILL: HJR 14
SHORT TITLE: CONST AM: SEC. OF STATE REFERENCES
SPONSOR(s): REPRESENTATIVE(s) GRUENBERG
01/21/11 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
01/21/11 (H) STA, JUD, FIN
03/10/11 (H) STA AT 8:00 AM CAPITOL 106
WITNESS REGISTER
THOMAS REIKER, Staff
Representative Bob Lynn
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Answered questions during the hearing on HB
161, on behalf of Representative Lynn, sponsor.
GAIL FENUMIAI, Director
Division of Elections
Office of the Lieutenant Governor
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Answered questions during the hearing on HB
161.
TED MADSEN, Staff
Representative Max Gruenberg
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented HJR 14 on behalf of
Representative Gruenberg, sponsor.
ACTION NARRATIVE
8:07:35 AM
CHAIR BOB LYNN called the House State Affairs Standing Committee
meeting to order at 8:07 a.m. Representatives Lynn, Petersen,
Gruenberg, Keller, Seaton, and P. Wilson were present at the
call to order.
HB 161-CERTAIN CANDIDATE INFO IS PUBLIC RECORD
8:08:20 AM
CHAIR LYNN announced that the first order of business was HOUSE
BILL NO. 161, "An Act requiring that all information in a
declaration of candidacy, letter of intent, or nominating
petition for a candidate for elective state executive and state
and national legislative office is open to public inspection."
CHAIR LYNN introduced HB 161 as sponsor. He talked about the
balance between a person's right to privacy and the Division of
Elections' need for voter information, such as the voter's name,
physical address, and mailing address. He opined that while
there are select groups of people who may want to keep their
physical address private, such as law enforcement officers and
victims and domestic or sexual abuse, the information given by
candidates running for office should be made public in the
interest of full disclosure.
8:12:03 AM
THOMAS REIKER, Staff, Representative Bob Lynn, Alaska State
Legislature, in response to Representative Seaton, said under HB
161, only the forms filed with the Division of Elections would
be made public; the bill would have no impact on federal
reporting requirements.
8:13:16 AM
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON asked if client and patient
confidentiality currently allowed would remain under HB 161.
8:14:33 AM
MR. REIKER said Alpheus Bullard of Legislative Legal and
Research Services assured him that HB 161 applies only to the
declaration of candidacy for political party candidates, the
filing notification and nominating petition for "no-party"
candidates, and the letter of intent for write-in candidates.
8:15:17 AM
REPRESENTATIVE PETERSEN asked if, under HB 161, candidates would
still be allowed to use a post office box address for their
campaign address.
CHAIR LYNN answered yes.
MR. REIKER added that reporting requirements would not be
changed under the proposed legislation.
8:16:35 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG offered his understanding that the
nomination petition is different from the filing notification
form. He named four of the latter: U.S. Congress, State
Senator or Representative, lieutenant governor, and governor.
He asked what the nominating petition process is, and how these
forms work, and where a person who is nominated by petition
would list his/her residence address.
8:17:58 AM
GAIL FENUMIAI, Director, Division of Elections, Office of the
Lieutenant Governor, directed attention to the form A19,
entitled, "State of Alaska Filing Notification Nominating
Petition Candidate for U.S. Congress," [included in the
committee packet], which she said is similar to other filing
forms [also included in the committee packet]. She pointed to
the middle section of the A19 form, which is for residency
information. She said the candidate has to file this form by
June 1 and file his/her signature by the primary election date.
8:18:59 AM
MS. FENUMIAI, in response to Representative Gruenberg, offered
her understanding that currently AS 15.07.195 applies to all
registered voters and candidates. In response to a follow-up
question, she clarified that both the Division of Elections and
the Department of Law have interpreted AS 15.07.195 to mean that
a candidate's registration information must remain private.
8:22:28 AM
MR. REIKER, in response to Representative Gruenberg, said the
bill sponsor had considered the issue of financial disclosure
and decided that the current requirements are acceptable;
therefore, the only change deemed necessary is the one currently
proposed in HB 161 that would require a candidate's residency
information to be made public.
8:23:01 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG said there is a legal case related to
the protection of privacy and another having to do with
constitutional protection of privacy.
8:23:18 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER asked the bill sponsor if he created HB
161 as a response to an existing problem.
8:23:31 AM
CHAIR LYNN replied that it has been a problem and could be in
the future. He related a situation when he requested the
physical address of an opponent and his request was denied.
8:24:33 AM
MR. REIKER said the sponsor is concerned about congressional
elections, because often in those elections the candidate's
residency is a contentious issue. Under HB 161, a person could
go to the physical address of a candidate in person to verify
it.
8:25:29 AM
MS. FENUMIAI, in response to Chair Lynn, said the party nominees
for Vice President and President come from the national
conventions, and the names of those candidates are forwarded to
the division. She stated that Presidential candidates can also
get their names on the ballot through a write-in candidacy
process, by filing as an independent candidate, for which he/she
has to gather signatures from a minimum of 1 percent of those
who voted in the preceding general election or file under a
limited political party status. In response to a follow-up
question, she offered her understanding that HB 161 would not
affect Presidential candidates. In response to Representative
Gruenberg, regarding the possible effect of HB 161 on municipal
candidates, said she is not familiar with the candidacy
requirements of all municipalities, and she offered her
understanding that municipal elections are governed both by
Title 25 and local ordinances.
8:27:19 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG ventured that the same policy should
apply to those running for local office.
8:27:38 AM
CHAIR LYNN said he had not thought about local elections.
8:27:55 AM
REPRESENTATIVE P. WILSON indicated that local economy may be
affected if HB 161 was amended to include municipal candidates.
8:28:18 AM
CHAIR LYNN suggested this issue could be considered in the
future after checking with the Alaska Municipal League.
8:28:50 AM
MS. FENUMIAI, in response to Representative Keller, said the
Republican National Committee and the Democratic National
Committee submit a signed certificate. In response to a follow-
up question, she stated her assumption that [matters pertaining
to those certificates] are not addressed in Alaska statutes.
8:29:30 AM
MS. FENUMIAI, in response to Chair Lynn, said the aforementioned
certificates list the physical addresses of the Vice
Presidential and Presidential nominees.
8:30:47 AM
CHAIR LYNN, after ascertaining that there was no one else who
wished to testify, closed public testimony.
8:30:55 AM
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON asked if any language in HB 161 would
contradict existing federal laws.
MS. FENUMIAI answered that she is not aware of any such
conflicts.
8:31:32 AM
MS. FENUMIAI, in response to Representative Petersen, said if
state law was stricter than federal law, as long as the state
law encompassed the federal law, the state law would apply. She
reiterated her understanding that HB 161 does not apply to Vice
Presidential and Presidential candidates.
8:32:28 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER moved to report HB 161 out of committee
with individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal
notes. There being no objection, HB 161 was reported out of the
House State Affairs Standing Committee.
HJR 14-CONST AM: SEC. OF STATE REFERENCES
8:32:50 AM
CHAIR LYNN announced that the final order of business was HOUSE
JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 14, Proposing amendments to the
Constitution of the State of Alaska to correct obsolete
references to the office of secretary of state by substituting
references to the office of lieutenant governor.
8:33:20 AM
The committee took an at-ease from 8:33 a.m. to 8:35 a.m.
8:35:21 AM
TED MADSEN, Staff, Representative Max Gruenberg, Alaska State
Legislature, presented HJR 14 on behalf of Representative
Gruenberg, sponsor. He explained that in 1970, the public voted
in support of amending the Constitution of the State of Alaska
so that the term "secretary of state" was changed to "lieutenant
governor"; however, two references to secretary of state were
overlooked [in Article II, Section 5, and in Article III,
Section 25], and HJR 14 would correct that oversight.
8:36:21 AM
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON noted that Article II, Section 5, of the
Constitution of the State of Alaska addresses disqualifications.
He referred to a sentence within Section 5, which read as
follows:
During the term for which elected and for one year
thereafter, no legislator may be nominated, elected,
or appointed to any other office or position of profit
which has been created, or the salary or emoluments of
which have been increased, while he was a member.
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON asked about per diems received by those
serving on, for example, legislative task forces.
8:37:15 AM
MR. MADSEN said he is not an expert in matters of the
Constitution of the State of Alaska, and he highlighted that the
purpose of the proposed resolution is only to change the
remaining references to secretary of state, so that they read
lieutenant governor.
8:37:34 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG offered his understanding that
Representative Seaton's query is addressed in a legal case
related to Nick Begich.
8:38:02 AM
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON said he has no objection to the name
change proposed in the bill, but was curious about the matter
related to position of profit.
8:38:33 AM
REPRESENTATIVE P. WILSON offered her belief that the purpose of
a per diem is to cover expenses; therefore, it is not considered
profit.
8:39:02 AM
REPRESENTATIVE PETERSEN concurred.
8:39:09 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER observed that the resolution is not
mandatory in making the Constitution of the State of Alaska
understood, but is more of a housekeeping matter.
8:39:37 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG, in response to Representative Seaton's
previous remark, read the annotations to Article II, Section 5.
8:41:02 AM
CHAIR LYNN asked if there was anyone else who wished to testify.
8:41:19 AM
MR. MADSEN, in response to Representative Keller's observation,
said in case law "secretary of state" is understood to mean
"lieutenant governor"; however, he said the correction proposed
in HJR 14 would uphold the reputation of the Constitution of the
State of Alaska as being one of the best state constitutions in
the country.
8:41:50 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER expressed his appreciation of the narrow
resolution title.
8:41:58 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER moved to report HJR 14 out of committee
with individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal
notes. There being no objection, HJR 14 was reported out of the
House State Affairs Standing Committee.
8:42:48 AM
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
State Affairs Standing Committee meeting was adjourned at 8:42
a.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| 01 HB 161.pdf |
HSTA 3/10/2011 8:00:00 AM |
HB 161 |
| 02 HB 161 Sponsor Statement.pdf |
HSTA 3/10/2011 8:00:00 AM |
HB 161 |
| 03 HSTA Hearing Minutes-Feb. 3, 2011 HB 161.pdf |
HSTA 3/10/2011 8:00:00 AM |
HB 161 |
| 04 Sample Candidacy Forms HB 161.pdf |
HSTA 3/10/2011 8:00:00 AM |
HB 161 |
| 05 HB161-OOG-DOE-3-3-11.pdf |
HSTA 3/10/2011 8:00:00 AM |
HB 161 |
| 01 HJR014A.PDF |
HSTA 3/10/2011 8:00:00 AM |
|
| 02 HJR 14 Sponsor Statement.pdf |
HSTA 3/10/2011 8:00:00 AM |
|
| 03 Sectional Analysis HJR 14.pdf |
HSTA 3/10/2011 8:00:00 AM |
|
| 04 Chenoweth Memorandum HJR 14.pdf |
HSTA 3/10/2011 8:00:00 AM |
|
| 05 Sections of the Alaska Constitution HJR 14.pdf |
HSTA 3/10/2011 8:00:00 AM |
|
| 06 HJR014-OOG-DOE-3-3-11.pdf |
HSTA 3/10/2011 8:00:00 AM |