SB 284-CAMPAIGN EXPENDITURES  2:54:16 PM CHAIR FRENCH announced the consideration of SB 284. He related that it is a judiciary committee bill and is in response to the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that opens what some feel are the floodgates with respect to independent expenditures for and against candidates. Because Alaska has had a complete ban on corporate spending in elections, the statutes are largely silent with respect to whether a corporation reports and how it discloses expenditures. He described sections 2 and 4 as the meat of bill. Section 4 deals with disclosures to APOC about expenditures that have been made for and against a candidate. Section 11 deals with disclaimers or placing words in the advertisements to tell the public who is paying for the communication. 2:56:03 PM SENATOR COGHILL said he likes many things in the bill, but he'd like to challenge some. He asked if the best way to do that is by an amendment. CHAIR FRENCH said yes. He noted that Mr. Bullard, the drafter, Mr. Ptacin with the Department of Law, and Ms. Hill with the Alaska Public Offices Commission were available to answer questions. He opened public testimony. 2:56:39 PM MATT WALLACE, Executive Director, Alaska Public Interest Research Group (AKPIRG), stated support for SB 284. He said that although the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision didn't invent the problem of big money influence in politics, it did make the problem worse by opening the floodgates for independent expenditures in elections. Ultimately, aggressive federal action may be needed to address the systemic problems in campaign finance and big money influence, he opined. We at AKPIRG certainly think there is a lot that can be done at the state and federal level to mitigate the influence of the decision, he said. SB 284 is a piece of much-needed legislation that would help to mitigate unlimited corporate and union spending in elections. MR. WALLACE said AKPIRG is particularly pleased that the bill requires significant disclaimers for independent expenditures in campaign ads. Where many are familiar with the negative political ads that are paid for by an innocuous sounding front- group, the bill notably would require that the top five contributors for those front groups be disclosed. This is in addition to the very laudable reporting requirements that are also included in the legislation, he said. 2:59:15 PM MARILYN RUSSELL, President, League of Women Voters (LWV) of Alaska, said the league supports SB 284 because it believes that the goals of the campaign system should be: 1. To ensure the public's right to know; 2. To combat corruption and undue influence; 3. To enable candidates to compete more equitably for public office; and 4. To promote citizen participation in the political process. Polls show that 8 of 10 support disclosure and disclaimer. MS. RUSSELL reported that the League of Women Voters filed a brief in support of the provisions in McCain Feingold to restrict corporate participation in elections and was disappointed in the recent court decision. In light of the decision, it is vital to amend Alaska's campaign laws to require full disclosure of campaign contributions by corporations and labor unions because they aren't covered under the state's existing disclosure and disclaimer laws. The league has long supported public disclosure of campaign contributions of money, goods, and services believing that citizens should know who is spending money supporting or opposing candidates and ballot issues. This information should be part of the communication itself like all other campaign communications. Alaska's reporting laws simply must be amended before the upcoming primary election, she concluded. CHAIR FRENCH closed public testimony and announced he would hold SB 284 in committee for further work. 3:02:07 PM There being no further business to come before the committee, Chair French adjourned the meeting at 3:02 p.m.