The Select Committee on Legislative Ethics September 22, 1993 10:00 a.m. MEMBERS PRESENT Joseph Donahue, Chair Ed Granger Margie MacNeille Shirley McCoy Edith Vorderstrasse: via telephone Senator Jay Kerttula Representative Brian Porter Senator Drue Pearce: arrived 10:47 a.m. 1. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 10:09 a.m. by Chairman Donahue in the Conference Room on the 2nd Floor of the Anchorage Legislative Information Office. Chairman Donahue announced Member Edith Vorderstrasse was on telephone link-up. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF AUGUST 12, 1993 Representative Porter moved that the minutes of the August 12, 1993 meeting be adopted. Motion was adopted without objection. Minutes Approved. 3. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA The extension of contracts was added to the agenda. Motion to adopt as amended passed without objection. Chairman announced that Policies and Procedures were on the agenda as discussion item and first review for the committee and public. Agenda Adopted 4. PUBLIC COMMENT Theda Pittman spoke on behalf of the Alaska Women's Political Caucus, requesting the committee to complete the George Jacko investigation quickly. A copy of the presentation is available in the September 22, 1993 Minutes file and is considered part of the record. 5. REPORT FROM THE CHAIR (a) FINANCES: Chairman Donahue referenced the memo in member notebooks indicating that the Senate Finance Committee would transfer the full FY 94 funding transfer request of $126,228 for Ethics Committee operations to Legislative Council. (b) POLICIES AND PROCEDURES: Chairman Donahue asked the committee to briefly review the Policies and Procedures, highlighting areas of special concern. Those areas were: 1. Inclusion of lobbyists in eligibility for advisory opinions. 2. 30 Day response requirement for advisory opinions. Representative Porter requested this item be added to list of possible legislation amendments. 3. Anonymous Information. 4. Appearance of the subject in the complaint process. 5. Discovery 6. Guidelines The committee discussed having LAA Legal review the policies and procedures again, prior to adoption. (c) STAFF REPORT: Chairman Donahue referenced a report which summarizes the August-September operations and committee administration. (d) DISCLOSURES: The chairman indicated that the committee has not discussed or taken action on late disclosures thus far. The committee will need to consider policies or penalties for late filing at some point. (e) LAA NOTIFICATION POLICY: The chairman referenced the memo from Tam Cook clarifying LAA's policy of notifying a legislator of inquiries received by their agency. (f) INDEMNIFICATION: The chairman distributed a memo from State of Alaska Risk Management Division, clarifying the indemnification status of the committee. 6. OTHER BUSINESS (a) Senator Kerttula stated a need for clarification of disclosure policies concerning travel funded or partially funded by groups like WICHE, WAMI, federal or national organizations of which the State of Alaska is a member. The chairman appointed a subcommittee to assess the number and types of programs involved and to make recommendations to the full committee. The committee would then distribute a memo of clarification to those affected by the disclosure requirements. Subcommittee appointed: Chair/Senator Kerttula, Representative Porter, Margie MacNeille, Ed Granger EXECUTIVE SESSION: COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE Shirley McCoy made the motion to move into Executive Session for the purpose of determining an advisory opinion. The motion was adopted without objection. COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE The committee of the whole reconvened at 11:37 a.m. AO 93-09: Representative Porter moved to adopt Advisory Opinion 93-09. Adopted without objection. Adopted The committee of the whole recessed at 11:40 a.m and announced the Senate Subcommittee would convene at 12:30 p.m. EXECUTIVE SESSION: SENATE SUBCOMMITTEE At 12:48 p.m. Senator Kerttula moved that the Senate Subcommittee go into executive session. Motion adopted without objection. SENATE SUBCOMMITTEE The Senate subcommittee reconvened in open session at 3:00 p.m. Margie MacNeille moved to authorize the chairman, as the designated project director, under Section 150(b)of the Procurement Procedures to negotiate and sign on behalf of the committee an extension for Investigation One contract. The contract was increased an additional $5,000 and extended 30 additional days. Motion was adopted without objection. Motion adopted to extend and expand INV 1 Contract. Margie MacNeille moved to authorize the chairman, as the project director, under Section 150(b) of the Procurement Procedures to negotiate an extension of the Bogle and Gates contract. The contract was increased an additional $20,000 and extended 90 additional days. Motion adopted to extend and expand the Bogle and Gates contract. The chairman, as the project director, noted that he intended to extend the contract for Investigation 2 for 90 additional days under Section 150(b) and sign on behalf of the committee. No additional money was needed. There was no objection by the committee. Investigation 2 contract extended. The chairman announced the senate subcommittee would reconvene in executive session after a recess. EXECUTIVE SESSION: SENATE SUBCOMMITTEE At 3:30 p.m. the motion was made by Margie MacNeille that the Senate Subcommittee reconvene in executive session to consider complaints. The motion was adopted without objection. At 6:23 p.m. the Senate Subcommittee reconvened in open session. The motion was made by Margie MacNeille to move into a full committee meeting for the purposes of adjournment. The motion was adopted without objection. COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE At 6:25 p.m. the chairman announced that without a quorum of the full committee, no business could be conducted and therefore, the committee was adjourned.