Legislature(2021 - 2022)
07/13/2022 10:00 AM Senate LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
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ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
JULY 13, 2022
10:00 AM
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Sara Hannan, Chair
Senator Lora Reinbold, Vice Chair
Representative Matt Claman
Representative Bryce Edgmon
Representative Louise Stutes
Representative Cathy Tilton
Representative Chris Tuck
Senator Lyman Hoffman
Senator Shelley Hughes (alternate)
Senator Peter Micciche
Senator Mike Shower
Senator Bert Stedman
MEMBERS ABSENT
Representative Neal Foster
Senator Click Bishop
Senator Gary Stevens
OTHER MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative David Eastman
Representative Kevin McCabe
Representative Tom McKay
Senator Jesse Kiehl
AGENDA
APPROVAL OF AGENDA
COMMITTEE BUSINESS EXECUTIVE SESSION
SPEAKER REGISTER
Jessica Geary, Executive Director, Legislative Affairs
Agency (LAA)
I. Call to Order
10:05 AM
CHAIR HANNAN called the Legislative Council meeting to order at
10:05am in the Denali Room at the Anchorage Legislative Office
Building. Present at the call were Representatives Claman,
Hannan, Stutes, Tilton, Tuck; Senators Hoffman, Hughes,
Micciche, Reinbold, Shower, Stedman.
Eleven members present at the call.
Representative Edgmon joined the meeting at 10:22am.
II. Approval of Agenda
10:06:42 AM
VICE CHAIR REINBOLD moved and asked unanimous consent that
Legislative Council approve the agenda as presented.
The agenda was approved without objection.
III. Committee Business Executive Session
a. Matters Relating to Legislator Social Media Accounts
10:08:07 AM
VICE CHAIR REINBOLD moved and asked unanimous consent that
Legislative Council go into Executive Session under Uniform Rule
22(B)(1), discussion of matters, the immediate knowledge of
which would adversely affect the finances of a government unit
and 22(B)(3), discussion of a matter that may, by law, be
required to be confidential. The following individuals may
remain in the room or online for the Executive Session: Jessica
Geary, Sant? Lesh, Megan Wallace, Emily Nauman, Alex Foote,
Angela Stephl, any legislators not on Legislative Council, and
any staff of Legislative Council members.
10:08:54 AM
A roll call vote was taken.
YEAS: Representatives Claman, Hannan, Stutes, Tilton, Tuck;
Senators Hoffman, Hughes, Micciche, Reinbold, Shower, Stedman.
NAYS: None.
The motion passed 11-0.
10:09:38 AM
Council went into Executive Session.
1:04:34 PM
Council came out of Executive Session.
1:04:46 PM
A roll call vote was taken to establish a quorum.
Representatives Edgmon, Hannan, Stutes, Tilton, Tuck; Senators
Hughes, Micciche, Reinbold, Shower, Stedman.
Ten members present.
CHAIR HANNAN asked Ms. Geary to speak about the working draft
on Legislative Council's Social Media Policy.
JESSICA GEARY, Executive Director of the Legislative Affairs
Agency (LAA), said that Legislative Council was tasked with
updating the Social Media Guidelines. These guidelines were last
updated September 2011, much has changed in the world of social
media, and the Select Committee on Legislative Ethics
recommended that the policy be updated, specifically pertaining
to comments. LAA reached out to the National Conference of State
Legislatures, Council of State Governments, and administrators
in other states for information on what legislatures have social
media policies and how they handle legislative social media
activity. LAA modeled the working draft under consideration
after the Colorado Legislature's social media policy.
She said in essence there is no requirement for a legislator to
have a social media account, either official or personal;
however, if a legislator chooses to have a personal social media
account, it is recommended to not post about legislative matters
on that personal account because it could open that page up to
scrutiny and may be considered a government account or limited
public forum. In other words, personal and legislative social
media pages should be kept separate. She said to mitigate the
risk that a personal account will be interpreted as an official
account, legislators should maintain the highest privacy
settings, not make a personal account available to the public,
and designate it as a personal accountnot public or official.
A personal account should not have the appearance of an official
or public account, should not include official email addresses,
and should not ask for feedback about legislative matters.
Ms. Geary said that if a legislator chooses to have an official
account, the recommendation is that they consider it more of a
bulletin board account where they post information, but do not
allow dialogue which does not allow for a public forum. If a
legislator chooses to use a social media page as an official
account and allows people to engage regardless of what is being
written, whether it is hateful or defamatory, the recommendation
is to not delete, block, or hide. She said, everything goes or
nothing goesis the safest way to avoid risk of litigation.
Ms. Geary said if a member is sued based on information on their
social media page, the courts will apply different tests and
this is the safest recommendation. She directed members'
attention to a warning contained in the policy that if a
legislators use of a social media account does not adhere to
the recommendations outlined above, the legislator assumes all
risks and responsibilities for any litigation that results from
that choice. She stated that she and Legal Services Director
Megan Wallace were available for questions.
VICE CHAIR REINBOLD expressed concerns about constitutional
rights for privacy and freedom of speech, that she believes
there needs to be decorum on social media platforms and has many
questions about those platforms.
REPRESENTATIVE EDGMON stated that the policy should include
definitions for an official account and "personal account" to
delineate the difference, as well as legislative matters, for
which no definition exists in statute as far as he is aware, and
which may mean something different in the area of social media.
He also wanted clarity on the definition of legislative staff.
He further suggested that the policy be edited to delete the
sentence that states it is not a requirement for a legislator
to have a social media account, as legislators already know
that.
MS. GEARY thanked Representative Edgmon for his suggestions and
agreed that defining some of the terms would help make the policy
clearer and lead to less confusion.
SENATOR HUGHES stated that the policy needs work, and she is not
ready to approve it. She does not agree with the limits placed
on personal accounts and feels she would be enabling criminal
action by not blocking certain comments, such as violent
threats, on social media, and that it would be a liability to
the Legislature to leave some comments up. She also stated that
some legislators need to have access to the comments to connect
with their constituents, which could be an equal protection
issue, and the all or nothing policy is not feasible. She
suggested there be a warning system in place for commenters
before blocking them on social media.
CHAIR HANNAN reminded the committee that this is a working draft.
SENATOR HUGHES thanked the committee for the work that has been
done, but stated that those working on it do not have the social
media experience that she has and that she believes there needs
to be input from legislators.
CHAIR HANNAN agreed that they will be taking notes and
considering legislators feedback about the policy.
VICE CHAIR REINBOLD said she agreed with the comments of
Representative Edgmon and Senator Hughes and cannot approve this
policy in its current draft form. She does not believe that the
Legislative Ethics Committee should be creating this policy but
that it should be the legislators.
IV. ADJOURN
1:29:29 PM
CHAIR HANNAN said with nothing further to come before Council,
the meeting is adjourned.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| 2022.06.27 Working Draft--Social Media Policy LEGAL REVIEWED.pdf |
JLEC 7/13/2022 10:00:00 AM |