Legislature(1995 - 1996)
03/26/1996 03:35 PM Senate STA
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
SENATE STATE AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
March 26, 1996
3:35 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Bert Sharp, Chairman
Senator Randy Phillips, Vice-Chairman
Senator Loren Leman
Senator Jim Duncan
Senator Dave Donley
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
SENATE BILL NO. 273
"An Act relating to Native handicrafts and other articles made in
the state."
SENATE BILL NO. 141
"An Act relating to legislative ethics; and providing for an
effective date."
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 25
Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the State of Alaska
limiting the rights of prisoners to those required under the
Constitution of the United States.
SB 231 (TITLE INSURANCE) was scheduled, but not taken up on this
date.
SB 275 (STATE PROCUREMENT PRACTICES & PROCEDURES) was scheduled,
but not taken up on this date.
PREVIOUS SENATE COMMITTEE ACTION
SB 273 - No previous senate committee action.
SB 141 - See State Affairs minutes dated 4/20/95, 4/27/95, 1/30/96,
2/6/96, and 2/27/96.
SJR 25 - No previous senate committee action.
WITNESS REGISTER
Senator Georgianna Lincoln
State Capitol, Juneau, AK 99801-1182¶(907)465-3732
POSITION STATEMENT: prime sponsor of SB 273
Clement Ungott
Gambell, AK ¶(907)985-5112
POSITION STATEMENT: supports SB 273
Willie Hensley, Commissioner,
Department of Commerce & Economic Development
3601 C Street, #700, Anchorage, AK 99503-5934¶(907)269-8100
POSITION STATEMENT: supports SB 273
Angie Larson, Member
Native Arts & Crafts Task Force
205 E. Dimond, #514, Anchorage, AK 99515¶(907)248-2323
POSITION STATEMENT: supports SB 273
Teddy Mayac
10037 Marmot Circle, Anchorage, AK 99515¶(907)344-3004
POSITION STATEMENT: supports SB 273
Chuck McGee, Developmental Specialist
Division of Trade and Development
Department of Commerce & Economic Development
3601 C Street, #700, Anchorage, AK 99503-5934¶(907)269-8125
POSITION STATEMENT: supports SB 273
Senator Drue Pearce
State Capitol, Juneau, AK 99801-1182¶(907)465-4993
POSITION STATEMENT: testified on SB 141
ACTION NARRATIVE
TAPE 96-23, SIDE A
SB 273 NATIVE HANDICRAFTS & INSTATE PRODUCTS
Number 001
CHAIRMAN SHARP called the Senate State Affairs Committee to order
at 3:35 p.m. and brought up SB 273 as the first order of business
before the committee. He called Senator Lincoln to testify.
Number 030
SENATOR GEORGIANNA LINCOLN, prime sponsor of SB 273, informed the
committee that some of the native arts and crafts she brought to
the hearing are genuine, and some are not. SB 273 would require
sellers of native handicrafts with a retail value of over $100.00
to display a poster at least 11 inches by 17 inches. There has to
be a certificate of origin also. She noted that not even all of
the senators on the committee were able to correctly identify which
handicrafts she brought to the hearing were genuine, and which were
not. Senator Lincoln displayed handicrafts and explained which
ones were made in Alaska by Alaska Natives, and which were not.
She related some of the circumstances under which the non-genuine
articles were made. One man sold the rights to his name to a
company in Seattle that then has handicrafts manufactured in the
Philippines with that man's name on them. Some of the other
articles were made in the lower forty-eight and Bali. Senator
Lincoln stated the problem of mis-representation of whether
handicrafts are genuinely made in Alaska by Alaska Natives or not
is becoming more and more pronounced.
Number 160
SENATOR LINCOLN stated that presently, about 80% of the
$78,000,000.00 that was spent in 1994 on gifts and souvenirs is
questionable as to whether those gifts and souvenirs were even made
in Alaska. SB 273 would make those persons guilty of
counterfeiting or misrepresentation of Alaska Native handicrafts
liable for up to a $1,000.00 fine and or up to 90 days in jail.
CHAIRMAN SHARP asked if there were any questions for Senator
Lincoln at this time.
Number 186
SENATOR LEMAN asked what percent native a person would have to be
to qualify for this program, and does the work have to be produced
in Alaska?
SENATOR LINCOLN responded a person has to be at least one-fourth or
more Alaska Native Ancestry. That is defined within the bill. The
work does have to be produced in Alaska.
CHAIRMAN SHARP, hearing no further questions, stated the committee
would take testimony via teleconference.
Number 200
CLEMENT UNGOTT, testifying from Gambell, stated he is an eskimo who
was born and raised on St. Laurence Island, Gambell, Alaska. Mr.
Ungott stated he supports SB 273, because handicrafts are the only
source of income for his people. Inauthentic handicrafts have been
damaging to the native carvers, and Mr. Ungott has seen his own
work reproduced, but he doesn't know where it's occurring or who is
doing it.
Number 240
COMMISSIONER WILLIE HENSLEY, Department of Commerce & Economic
Development, testifying from Anchorage, stated the Silver Hand
Program has been part of state law since shortly after statehood.
Today there are about 530 Silver Hand artists enrolled in the
program, and 25 Silver Hand agents. SB 273 will help keep
fraudulent production of Alaska Native arts and crafts out of the
market place. He doesn't think it will solve the problem, but he
thinks it will be a big help. It will promote the sale and value
of authentically produced Native arts and crafts. It will also
help educate the public about the Silver Hand Program and the
certificate of origin. A large proportion of the items sold as
Native arts and crafts are considered to be fraudulent. Arts and
crafts represent a major portion of income for natives. The amount
of opportunity for rural villages will increase significantly if we
can reduce the fraudulent productions that are on the market. We
have an obligation to protect this market if we are serious about
stimulating private sector economic growth and independence for
rural Alaska. Commissioner Hensley thinks that dependance will
increase on this type of income. SB 273 would implement
recommendations made by the Native Arts & Crafts Task Force. The
idea would be not to use general funds for this program, but to
utilize program receipts to fund it. He urges support for SB 273.
Number 285
SENATOR LEMAN asked Commissioner Hensley where program receipts
would come from.
COMMISSIONER HENSLEY responded they would use private sector
contributions, federal grants, and private foundation funding for
the $18,000.00 fiscal note.
SENATOR LEMAN wondered if it would make sense to try to sell the
posters for several dollars apiece.
COMMISSIONER HENSLEY responded it was their inclination to provide
them to vendors.
Number 299
ANGIE LARSON, Member - Native Arts & Crafts Task Force, Alaska
Treasures, testifying from Anchorage, stated she's been a Native
arts and crafts wholesaler for 17 years. Her concern is that the
fraud in the industry is drowning genuine Alaska Native arts and
crafts to extinction. There are so many mass-produced Native style
products that the consumer cannot always tell the difference. It
is hard to compete with mass-produced products sold for half the
price. She asked committee members to support SB 273. This is not
a Native problem, it is an Alaskan problem.
Number 317
TEDDY MAYAC, testifying from Anchorage, stated he is an eskimo
ivory carver and has been associated with the Native arts and
crafts industry in Alaska for over 30 years. He supports SB 273.
He wants to see the termination of unethical practices which have
been initiated by unscrupulous dealers. These profiteers are using
Native Alaskan names, which are given names belonging only to each
craftsperson. These individuals are also copying Native Alaskan
styles without permission from the artist whose work they copy, and
often times mass produce. The counterfeit works most always under-
sell the authentic pieces, thereby undermining the whole
infrastructure of the Native Alaskan arts and crafts industry. Mr.
Mayac fully supports SB 273 because it strengthens the
disadvantaged position of the rural Alaskan craftspeople who, more
than any other artists, deserve protection to obtain fair market
prices for their works. In addition, the Native arts and crafts
industry is, for the most part, the only viable means of obtaining
income for a very high percentage of Native people in Alaska. SB
273 is long overdue; the State of Alaska is mandated to protect all
it's citizens. It is a beginning step towards fair treatment of
the Native Alaskans who depend on this industry to make a living.
Number 345
It is noted that Chuck McGee, a representative of the Silver Hands
Program within the Department of Commerce & Economic Development is
available on-line to answer questions.
SENATOR RANDY PHILLIPS asked Mr. McGee if he has a copy of the
bill.
MR. MCGEE responded he does.
SENATOR RANDY PHILLIPS asked him about the language on the last two
lines of page 2 "...all materials used to produce the handicraft
are legal for the buyer to possess in the United States." Can Mr.
McGee expound on that? Senator Phillips stated that several years
ago he was in the Canadian Arctic, and was given a walrus tie pin,
which he was not allowed to take out of Canada. He wondered if the
language on page 2 would affect foreign persons buying Alaskan
Native products. What about possession other than in the United
States?
MR. MCGEE thinks that would apply if the item was not legal to hold
in possession in the United States, then the buyer would not be
allowed to own that or take it out of the country. The Department
of Commerce & Economic Development provides to stores a booklet
that identifies all of the materials, particularly mammal parts,
that are legal for taking across international boundaries, as well
as taking out of Alaska. He stated that Ms. Larson has something
to add to that question.
Number 380
MS. LARSON stated she can explain that language. There are a lot
of questions and misunderstandings about walrus ivory and the
purchase of it, even from U.S. citizens. When tourists come to
Alaska, all they've heard about is elephant ivory. They know it's
illegal and the generalize all forms of ivory. So that was put in
the bill to clarify that it was ok for them to buy these materials.
SENATOR RANDY PHILLIPS stated that if you get ivory in another
country and bring it back to this country, you run into some
problems.
MS. LARSON replied that this only pertains to ivory purchased in
Alaska to clarify that it is ok.
SENATOR DONLEY asked what the rules are for purchase in Alaska.
MS. LARSON responded, Native made walrus ivory products can be sold
and purchased anywhere in the U.S. If it's pre-1972 ivory, there
are non-Natives who can use it, but it must carry a certain
warrantee with it.
CHAIRMAN SHARP asked about seal skins or articles made from seal.
MS. LARSON replied that articles made out of seal are ok in the
U.S., and most countries will accept that also, but it must be
Native made in Alaska.
CHAIRMAN SHARP stated he was in Canada and he bought what he
thought was a seal product. However, he was not allowed to bring
it back into the country in Fairbanks.
MS. LARSON responded there are a lot of politics between Canada and
the U.S. on these things. You can't take it their way, and they
can't take it our way. But that's another subject.
CHAIRMAN SHARP asked if there were any other questions on SB 273 by
committee members.
Number 410
SENATOR DONLEY made a motion to discharge SB 273 from the Senate
State Affairs Committee with individual recommendations.
CHAIRMAN SHARP, hearing no objection, stated SB 273 was discharged
from the Senate State Affairs Committee.
SENATOR LINCOLN informed committee members that the fraudulent
items she brought to the hearing today are on loan from the
Anchorage Museum, which is having an exhibit of counterfeit
products. These items were purchased by an undercover agent from
Anchorage stores that said the items were authentic Alaskan Native
made items.
SB 141 LEGISLATIVE ETHICS
Number 420
CHAIRMAN SHARP brought up SB 141 as the next order of business
before the Senate State Affairs Committee.
SENATOR DONLEY made a motion to adopt the "R" version committee
substitute for SB 141.
Number 435
CHAIRMAN SHARP, hearing no objection, stated the committee
substitute was adopted.
Number 470
SENATOR RANDY PHILLIPS made a motion to adopt amendment M.1 by
Phillips.
Amendment M.1:
Would create new Section 2, page 1. Prohibits spouses and
spousal equivalents of legislators from serving as legislative
lobbyists.
CHAIRMAN SHARP objected to the amendment. He asked if there was
any discussion.
SENATOR LEMAN made a motion to amend the amendment.
Amendment to amendment M.1:
Delete the term "spousal equivalent" and replace it with
whatever language the committee used before to replace that term.
The drafter can determine what that language should be.
CHAIRMAN SHARP stated he would speak to his objection to amendment
M.1. His objection is that the regulation for disclosure by
lobbyists, whether they be married to legislators or not, is very
detailed and very strict at the present time. Therefore, he does
not see reason to deny anyone from practicing a legal, highly
regulated trade.
Number 500
SENATOR RANDY PHILLIPS thinks the public sees legislative spouses
who are also lobbyists as a conflict of interest. By having it
totally banned, then there is no question in anyone's mind about
it.
CHAIRMAN SHARP asked if there is any objection to the amendment to
the amendment. Hearing none, the chairman stated amendment M.1 has
been amended.
CHAIRMAN SHARP asked if there were any other comments on the
amended amendment. The chairman asked that the role be called on
amendment M.1.
Amendment M.1 passed by a vote of 4 yeas, 1 nay. Voting for the
amendment are Senators Phillips, Leman, Duncan, and Donley. Voting
against the amendment is Senator Sharp.
Number 515
SENATOR DONLEY stated what he would like to do, instead of moving
amendment O.4 - he was working this afternoon on something he
thinks would better address that issue. He wants to clarify what
is meant by "public area". He proposed that after the language
"...government business." on page 4, line 17, add "offices of
individual legislators are not public areas for the purpose of this
section."
SENATOR LEMAN asked if that language was instead of amendment O.4.
SENATOR DONLEY replied it is offered instead of amendment O.4. So
we are actually adopting exactly what the committee asked for, we
are just clarifying the definition of "public area". Senator
Donley moved the amendment.
CHAIRMAN SHARP asked if there are objections to the amendment. We
will call it amendment O.4.
CHAIRMAN SHARP, hearing no objection, stated the amendment was
adopted.
Number 550
SENATOR DONLEY stated amendment O.3 would affect the language on
page 6, Section 7. His original amendment asked that some of the
descriptive words be deleted, because he did not think they were
consistent with the original purpose of the Ethics Act. Senator
Donley wants to modify his original amendment.
The amendment would read as follows:
Delete the word "minimal" on line 10, delete the words "short"
and "incidental" on line 14, and delete the last sentence on line
15, "Incidental political campaign activities shall be kept to a
minimum."
CHAIRMAN SHARP asked about the word "incidental" after the word
"minimal".
SENATOR DONLEY stated he would leave that one in, because he thinks
that is appropriate to the original intent. But the others go far
beyond what the original Ethics Act intended, and they're putting
their own interpretation into it, which he thinks is inconsistent.
SENATOR DONLEY made a motion that his amendment be adopted.
Number 575
SENATOR DONLEY stated he finds "minimal" to be a very difficult
standard. It is subjective and in the eye of the beholder. He
finds offensive the idea on line 14 that you can only answer a
short telephone call. It was always anticipated, especially on the
part of legislators, that telephone calls would not be limited.
SENATOR RANDY PHILLIPS asked, how about "incidental" telephone
calls, instead of "short"?
SENATOR DONLEY asked how does one control incoming telephone calls?
He asserted that you cannot control them.
SENATOR RANDY PHILLIPS stated, but you can ask the caller to call
another number.
SENATOR LEMAN stated that's how he handles political calls; he just
refers the caller to another phone number.
TAPE 96-23, SIDE B
SENATOR DONLEY thinks there was a very consistent philosophy
running through the Ethics Act, that the telephone calls were - it
doesn't cost the state anything, first of all. The idea that
someone has to have a short telephone call is ludicrous. What is
a short telephone call? "Short" is so subjective.
SENATOR RANDY PHILLIPS asked Senator Donley how he handled those
telephone calls before.
SENATOR DONLEY responded it will be different for different people
in different locations. Some people's legislative offices may be
far away from their homes. We have other lives as legislators, and
this is not an improper impact upon the state.
CHAIRMAN SHARP asked Senator Donley if he sees a difference between
"minimal" on line 10, and "minimum" on line 15.
SENATOR DONLEY stated he is proposing to take both those out.
CHAIRMAN SHARP asked if there are objections to the amendment.
SENATOR LEMAN objected. Senator Leman agrees that interpretation
difficulties produce some very ludicrous situations. He has seen
the APOC come up with some ludicrous interpretations of what he
sees as common-sense rules. But he hopes the legislative record is
clear here that is not what is intended in opposing amendment O.3.
CHAIRMAN SHARP asked that the role be called on amendment O.3.
Amendment O.3 passed by a vote of 4 yeas, 1 nay. Voting for the
amendment are Senators Sharp, Phillips, Duncan, and Donley. Voting
against the amendment is Senator Leman.
Number 535
CHAIRMAN SHARP brings up amendment O.7 as the next item before the
committee.
Amendment O.7:
Conceptual amendment; Legislator may not work for Executive
Branch, quasi-state agency, or university while holding public
office. Legislator may not provide any services, materials, or
supplies unless legislator goes through the state's procurement
code procedures regulating the competitive bidding process.
CHAIRMAN SHARP stated the amendment would clarify what legislators
could not do. Where that amendment would fit into the legislation
would be up to the drafter.
CHAIRMAN SHARP made a motion to adopt amendment O.7.
SENATOR DUNCAN objected to the amendment. He doesn't know of a
legislator who has ever worked for the executive branch or for a
state agency. He thinks that is already prohibited. Senator
Duncan disclosed that he would be directly impacted by this
amendment, if he understands the amendment. When the amendment
states "including the university" - for the last fifteen years he
has had individual contracts with the university system to teach a
course, which is a contract that is available to anyone in the
public who is qualified. It has gone through all the review and
everything and is a very minimal salary. It has been very
beneficial to the university though, to be able to use part-time
instructors. As he understands, this amendment would prohibit him
doing that. This activity has always been allowed in the past, and
has been discussed by the Ethics Committee. It is not a position
of high income, and the course is only offered if the enrollment is
high enough to pay the cost of the course, so it is not a budgetary
consideration.
Number 500
SENATOR LEMAN stated that activity wouldn't trouble him so much if
the application of the law was consistent. When the legislature
addressed this several years ago, as legislative history shows, he
and several other legislators asked the question, and were assured
that the prohibitions against working for the state would not keep
them from doing their professional jobs. Senator Leman is a
consulting engineer, and he was assured that though there would be
certain restrictions, they would be able to do their jobs. And yet
the rules came out and said they couldn't do that for an agency of
the state. Initially, the ruling was that they could do it for
municipalities. Then the Ethics Committee said we couldn't, if the
municipalities received any funding for the project he was working
on provided by the state. He thinks that went beyond legislative
intent and legislative history. He thinks if they're not going to
do something like this, they should take a look at the other, and
decide what is minimal. He could make the same argument in his
case as Senator Duncan has made. He is troubled by the
interpretation that any association, and in his case the
association occurred for years before he was in the legislature, is
disallowed because he is in the legislature.
SENATOR DUNCAN is not sure about that interpretation, because he
thinks there is at least one individual in the legislature who
works for a city as a city attorney. It cannot be determined
whether it is state money that pays that individual or local money.
SENATOR LEMAN agrees, and he had the same trouble about comingling
of funds. How does the municipality decide what is their money,
etc. In most cases the easiest thing to do is just stay away from
it.
SENATOR DUNCAN stated there was a court case some years ago
concerning state operated schools, specifying that there was no
problem with Nick Begich's involvement in public education. He
thinks the amendment is an over-reach, especially when you are not
talking about state dollars being used. He doesn't think there has
ever been a legislator who has worked for a state agency, executive
branch, legislative branch, or judicial branch. He thinks that's
always been clearly prohibited.
SENATOR DONLEY thinks that's prohibited by the constitution.
SENATOR DUNCAN thinks the only thing not already prohibited that
would now be prohibited under amendment O.7 is his case. He also
thinks there are other legislators who would be qualified to teach
university courses, who would then also be prohibited from doing
so.
SENATOR LEMAN acknowledged that Ms. Redman of the University of
Alaska has been talking to him about teaching engineering courses
at the university. But I need to finish the work on my PhD.
SENATOR DONLEY thinks the executive branch and the quasi-state
agency elements of amendment O.7 are already covered in a
constitutional prohibition. He thinks what we're getting down to
is the prohibition on university. He thinks the university is a
separately created constitutional animal. It has it's own internal
budget process, much to his dismay, most of the time. He can find
as much logic in limiting local government employment and native
corporation employment as in limiting university employment.
CHAIRMAN SHARP thinks the difference between what Senator Donley is
talking about and what we have here, is that these get practically
100% of their money and authorization from the State of Alaska.
Number 430
SENATOR DUNCAN asked for clarification on contracts, because the
way in which he is hired at the university is under contract. He
is not sure how that would relate to the amendment. There is also
language relating to legislators holding contracts if they do not
exceed a certain amount. The difference is, his is a contract
position, and not an employee position. He is not sure if you
could call it a competitive bid or not, but it is open to anyone
who has the background.
CHAIRMAN SHARP stated he feels pretty firmly that just because a
legislator hasn't worked for any of these entities in the past, the
opportunity should be closed. He knows of several people from
Fairbanks who worked for the university and quit their jobs to run
for office.
SENATOR DUNCAN stated they would have to quit their jobs. He could
not work full-time for the university and be in office. The
difference is, and it's been looked at by the attorneys, he is a
contracted instructor for an individual course, which is much
different than an employee of the university.
CHAIRMAN SHARP stated it would be available if it satisfied the
provision allowing services, materials, or supplies, as long as the
legislator went through the procurement code procedures.
SENATOR DUNCAN stated the amendment is more than conceptual. On
the last page of members' packets is an actual written amendment.
That amendment would prohibit contracts.
CHAIRMAN SHARP thinks it would only be allowed for supplies and
material.
SENATOR DUNCAN stated he is concerned that they are making a
blanket prohibition against teaching at the university, which means
that an individual could not teach an individual course under
contract.
Number 370
CHAIRMAN SHARP stated he has moved amendment O.7, and he still
thinks it's good public policy and perception. He asked if there
were any other comments before he called for a vote.
SENATOR DONLEY stated if the amendment passes, he will be proposing
changes to it. He thinks the logic of it should be extended to
local governments and native corporations.
CHAIRMAN SHARP thinks that strays a little far from actual state
owned, operated, and authorized agencies or facilities.
Number 357
SENATOR LEMAN stated he will support the amendment, but he would
also support an income test for this type of activity and other
activity he mentioned earlier. He would like to craft something
specifying an annual amount, or an annual amount per contract for
university teaching and municipal government work and those types
of activities. He thinks those types of activities were not meant
to be prohibited. If something like that could be accommodated, he
would support it.
SENATOR DONLEY thinks the state's range 10 base salary level might
be an appropriate level for that.
CHAIRMAN SHARP stated he wouldn't argue with that.
SENATOR DONLEY thinks if the amount was no more than the base
amount of salary legislators receive, then arguably your conflict
would never exceed what you make as a legislator. He also likes
the fact that the amount will shift over time, and that it's won't
be a fixed dollar amount.
Number 340
SENATOR DONLEY made a motion for a conceptual amendment that there
be an exception for the applicability of amendment O.7 for
contracts not to exceed the legislative base salary - that the
total contractual income from that entity would not exceed the
legislative base salary. The constitutional prohibitions will
always supersede these, so the prohibition of ever working for the
executive branch would still be in place.
SENATOR LEMAN asked Senator Donley if it was his intent that the
conceptual amendment apply to contracts with municipal governments,
and that the legislative intent would be to change the current
policy, as interpreted by the Ethics Committee.
SENATOR DONLEY stated he thinks he would have to add "local
government bodies" after "quasi-public corporations", so it would
be part of the list of entities in amendment O.7.
Number 313
CHAIRMAN SHARP asked how the public will see this: is this a
weaseling out of a prohibition, or is this a situation for the
benefit of the legislators, or is this legitimate?
SENATOR DONLEY replied it is actually a tightening-up of existing
law. We already have an absolute prohibition of working for the
executive branch. This would actually be putting a cap on
university and other contracts for the first time.
CHAIRMAN SHARP thinks the executive portion is in the conceptual
amendment, but not in amendment O.7.
SENATOR DUNCAN stated that the executive portion is in amendment
O.7 also.
CHAIRMAN SHARP asked, what makes legislators so much more special
that they can do this, and not spouses of legislators?
SENATOR RANDY PHILLIPS agreed with the chairman.
SENATOR DONLEY stated the spouse of a legislator could be a full-
time University of Alaska employee; that is not limited.
CHAIRMAN SHARP stated he is comparing Senator Donley's amendment
with forbidding legislator's spouses to be lobbyists.
SENATOR LEMAN commented that maybe there should be a diminimous
standard there, also.
SENATOR RANDY PHILLIPS asked, you mean a lobbyist makes as much as
a legislator? He doesn't think that will work.
SENATOR DONLEY stated his amendment would be to add "local
government" after "public corporations", and specify that there
would be an exception for contracts - and he liked the chairman's
language. He wonders if it's still in this, as it was in the
conceptual version, where there was a contract under - it didn't
seem to fall through into the actual language of the amendment, did
it?
CHAIRMAN SHARP asked if that was through the state procurement code
procedures.
SENATOR DONLEY replied, yes. There was some impartial procedure
that went into it. He thought that was a good insulating factor,
but he wouldn't know how to craft that. To add "local government"
after "public corporations" and say that there would be an
exception if the contracts didn't exceed the legislative base
salary. That can't have any impact upon any of the constitutional
prohibitions.
Number 270
SENATOR LEMAN stated the local government restriction is not to
local governments, it's to local governments if the funds are
coming from a state appropriation. He thinks that to restrict all
local government contracts, with the exception of this diminimous
standard is the wrong approach. We probably should say, "local
government contracts that are funded through a state appropriation,
up to that diminimous standard." He thinks that would be closer to
what they're trying to reach.
SENATOR DONLEY stated the issues of municipal aid and revenue
sharing exist, and there seems to be a conflict there. Municipal
aid is a much bigger conflict than a university course paid for by
student-generated funds.
CHAIRMAN SHARP stated he's heard a lot of words on an amendment to
the amendment, but he hasn't seen anything in writing.
SENATOR DONLEY stated he would try again. After the words "quasi-
public corporation" add "local government". Then put a caveat on
that there would be an exception for contracts awarded through an
open-bid process, not to exceed the legislative base salary.
SENATOR LEMAN objected to the amendment to amendment O.7. It
doesn't cover what he's been trying to reach.
CHAIRMAN SHARP thinks it expands it for some, and restricts it for
others. He asked that the role be called.
SENATOR DUNCAN stated he is trying to decide what Senator Leman is
trying to reach. Is he trying to reach the fact that certain
people in Senator Leman's profession are prohibited from
representing people before boards and commissions?
SENATOR LEMAN replied, no, he is trying to reach work for
municipalities. But what Senator Donley's amendment does is go
beyond that, and specify that can't be done, except up to some
diminimous standard. He is not so offended by that as he is by not
being able to do any consulting, even of work that may have
filtered through an appropriation process.
SENATOR DUNCAN stated in that case, Senator Leman should be just as
offended at the university section.
SENATOR LEMAN responded he stated that earlier. As long as we are
consistent all the way across, he wouldn't be offended with that.
SENATOR DUNCAN thinks that is important, and that they should take
the time to figure out how to be consistent. But he is not sure
they can figure it out in five minutes.
SENATOR LEMAN asked what the next committee of referral for SB 141
is.
It is noted that there is no other committee of referral. The bill
will go next to the Rules Committee.
SENATOR DONLEY noted this is the first time the committee has
discussed this specific proposal.
CHAIRMAN SHARP stated he will withdraw amendment O.7 if Senator
Donley withdraws his amendment.
SENATOR DONLEY replied he would be happy to do so.
CHAIRMAN SHARP stated they will reconsider it Thursday. His
intention is to move SB 141 out of committee on Thursday. He asked
Senator Pearce if she wanted to address some of the conceptual
amendments.
Number 203
SENATOR PEARCE thanked the chairman for the opportunity to comment
on the committee substitute for SB 141. She thanked the committee
for their work on the legislation; she and the Ethics Committee
both appreciate it. Senator Pearce told the committee that last
year the Anchorage Daily News indicated they thought legislators
should have to reveal any work intrests they had in the state
immediately after they had that interest. As she understands it,
there is currently nothing in SB 141 reflecting that. However,
Senator Pearce does recommend that the committee look at having the
legislative financial disclosure statement deadline on February 15
of each year. That would give the public the opportunity to look
at the business interests that an individual legislator has earlier
in the session, so they can make a judgement on our behavior in
terms of possible conflicts of interest.
SENATOR PEARCE also thinks that the governor, lieutenant governor,
the commissioners, and confirmed board members who draw a salary,
like APUC board members, should be held to the same standard of
conflict of interest reporting to which legislators are held,
rather than the lesser standard in the present law for
administrative employees.
Number 132
SENATOR RANDY PHILLIPS stated he agrees with Senator Pearce on the
February 15 deadline, but thinks there is a practical problem
related to doing that, since limited partnerships don't report
until the beginning of March.
SENATOR PEARCE doesn't think that you need to declare a specific
income for limited partnerships. We could go back and look at
that. She is sure we could also change it to say a legislator
would have to do some sort of analysis. Maybe we could have a
limited disclosure of what the limited partnerships are, without
listing the amount, and then update the information when you find
out how much money you will get from the partnership. Senator
Pearce thinks there is a way to work around that. She thinks it is
too long a delay for a legislator to receive work on January 1, and
not have to report that until April 15; that is a very long time.
SENATOR RANDY PHILLIPS thinks there is a practical problem with the
limited partnerships.
SENATOR PEARCE thinks that can be worked out.
Number 108
SENATOR PEARCE stated it has taken the Ethics Committee an enormous
amount of time in deliberations for the committee to interpret the
statutes, so the more clear the statutes are, the better off they
all are and the less time it takes the committee. She suggests, at
least for legislative races, that an absolute deadline of June 1 be
set for an end of session mailing.
Number 080
SENATOR DONLEY stated he has a problem with a June 1 deadline,
because he has a problem getting his newsletter out by July.
SENATOR PEARCE stated she was just trying to figure out a good date
that was around 90 days before the primary campaigns. She just
thinks there should be a specific date set. In this particular
case, special sessions don't really affect this. If the governor
calls us into a special session in October, she doesn't expect all
those legislators who are also candidates to be mailing at public
expense.
SENATOR DONLEY stated he was thinking along the lines of the
sessions in which the legislature starts later in January, and
therefore would not get out of session until later in May.
SENATOR PEARCE stated maybe you want to pick a different date. She
picked that date because it's a date to which we all pay a lot of
attention.
Number 040
SENATOR PEARCE stated on Section 4, she believes that legislators
ought to be able to hand people whatever they want to, but
legislative employees should not be allowed to distribute or post
literature. She asked Senator Donley if the intent of his
amendment was to change what we were doing in terms of fund-raising
notices.
SENATOR DONLEY replied, no, he didn't do what was on there. We did
something entirely different. Were you here for that?
SENATOR PEARCE responded, no. She stated there is nothing that
speaks to AS 24.60.030, subsection (e), but it is in the law and is
something that probably needs to be defined. We have the committee
trying to define whether or not a legislator is negotiating for
employment, and frankly, that word is not defined at all. It is a
section she believes should be looked at and defined.
[End of Tape 96-23, Side B]
[Short amount of testimony not recorded during the changing of
tapes.]
TAPE 96-24, SIDE A
Number 001
SENATOR PEARCE said it should be laid out clearly, so that we
understand exactly what we're supposed to say or write when we make
either an oral or a written declaration of a possible conflict. It
is a question that has come up a number of times during discussions
at the [Ethics] committee level. On Page 6, Section 8, regarding
the special session question, we need to figure out what "accept"
means. She doesn't think the definition that the [Ethics]
committee has come up with is what was intended. She doesn't have
a problem with not being able to accept funds during a special
session, but we need to find a way to handle those funds that
doesn't get you in trouble with APOC when you do what the Ethics
Committee wants you to do. Right now, the committee tells you not
to accept a check, and APOC tells you that if you get a check, you
have to run it through your account, and then send it back. Under
the committee, that is accepting the check. Whatever you do, you
end up breaking either the Ethics Committee's or APOC's rules. I
can tell you, none of you really want to have to go before either
committee.
Number 062
SENATOR PEARCE stated that on lines 8 and 9 of that same section,
we talk about a "substantial purpose of the event". She is not
sure what the definition is of "substantial purpose". We may want
to define that.
SENATOR DONLEY commented that Senator Pearce's suggestions were
good ones, but he is discouraged because he thought they were
almost done revising the bill.
Number 080
SENATOR PEARCE apologized. She stated that on page 10 of the "O"
version, new language about a public record of disclosure
concerning gifts relates to gifts not connected with the recipients
legislative status. She does not think that type of gift should be
made public; she thinks that disclosure should be confidential to
the [Ethics] committee. She asked, relating to the language at the
bottom of page 10, if you're going to specify "aunt and uncle", do
you also want to specify "niece and nephew"?
SENATOR DONLEY thinks it's page 11 on the "R" version.
SENATOR PEARCE stated that definition is used in many places, and
so deserves consideration. It includes the inheritance question.
Number 120
SENATOR PEARCE wants to go back to Senator Donley's amendment
regarding removing "incidental" and "minimal". She appreciates the
concern by members of the committee into what balance should be
struck. She thinks that "incidental" and "minimal" are in the eyes
of the beholder and that the bill should be made as specific as
possible: don't use adjectives. Make sure that everyone reading
the same language will reach the same interpretation. That is
extremely important. Regarding the legal defense funds, she hopes
this language would not be precluded by the campaign finance reform
initiative, and she would like to make sure it is written in such
a way that it would stand.
SENATOR PEARCE stated, in regards to the amendment relating to the
subject of a complaint being able to attend any Ethics Committee
meeting including confidential meetings, she thinks the committee
should think about that amendment long and hard. She thinks
subjects of complaints should be allowed to be a part of some of
the meetings, but should not be at all of them. She thinks the
[Ethics] committee has done a reasonable job of allowing access.
Number 160
SENATOR PEARCE encouraged the committee to look at the Executive
Ethics Act and make sure the elected officials and the
commissioner-level folks are treated much the same as legislators,
in terms of the standards met. She thinks that will make a
difference in how the public views state officials and improve
management of the state. She thinks the committee and legislature
over-steps its' bounds when it attempts to micro-manage where a
spouse can find employment, as long as the employment is disclosed.
It's certainly an over-reach to affect folks who are in a
relationship but are not married. She doesn't think it's up to the
legislature to limit the ability of people to find work in the
state; we are a very small state. Senator Pearce agrees with
Senator Leman's concerns over employment, and thinks there should
be some way to address his situation. She doesn't know if there's
ever been an opinion requested regarding working as a city
attorney. If we want a citizen legislature and to encourage good
people to leave the private sector, and if we want term
limitations, we need to make sure that we can encourage people to
run for office. She doesn't think we should go to extraordinary
lengths to limit legislators, candidates, and their family members
from feeding their families. As long as everything is disclosed,
it should be up to the constituencies to make those decisions. The
Ethics Committee did not recommend that spouses of legislators not
be allowed to lobby.
Number 221
CHAIRMAN SHARP stated that the committee has requested a comparison
of the Executive Branch Ethics Act and the Legislative Ethics Act.
If there are glaring problems, we may want to determine if there is
an opportunity to correct that in this bill, which would require a
title change and some other major changes.
SENATOR PEARCE stated though it would require a title change, she
doesn't know that the amount work would be that enormous. There is
a certain level of public servant who should all be expected to
meet the same standards.
SENATOR DUNCAN stated a title change would not be a problem; this
is a senate bill.
SENATOR PEARCE stated the Ethics Committee was wrestling with
whether contract employees come under the Legislative Ethics Act by
definition, and whether employees in layoff status come under the
Executive Ethics Act. You can interpret whether or not you think
they are receiving any remuneration from the state, because they
don't lose their public service time by staying in layoff status,
rather than leaving state service. There are a lot of people in
Legislative Affairs Agency who are treated much differently than
the employee in state service at the same level and range.
CHAIRMAN SHARP stated SB 141 would be set aside until Thursday's
committee meeting.
SJR 25 PRISONER RIGHTS LIMITED TO FEDERAL RIGHTS
CHAIRMAN SHARP brought up SJR 25 as the next order of business
before the Senate State Affairs Committee.
Number 275
SENATOR DONLEY stated he's been studying the Cleary agreement, and
he hasn't been able to get a straight answer as to what Cleary
agreement requirements are also required by federal law. But it's
clear that Alaska is unique in how it treats prisoners. There is
no way to identify or avoid that, unless we specifically amend our
constitution to adopt the federal standard. That is what SJR 25
would do. It would simply say that the rights of prisoners are
limited to those protections and rights that are required under the
constitution of the United States. So courts couldn't read some of
the unique provisions of our state constitution and give prisoners
additional rights. The minimum standard is what's under the United
States Constitution.
Number 300
SENATOR LEMAN noted that we just amended Section 12 in 1992.
SENATOR DUNCAN made a motion to discharge SJR 25 from the Senate
State Affairs Committee with individual recommendations.
CHAIRMAN SHARP, hearing no objection, stated SJR 25 was discharged
from the Senate State Affairs Committee.
CHAIRMAN SHARP adjourned the Senate State Affairs Committee meeting
at 5:29 p.m.
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