ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE  SELECT COMMITTEE ON LEGISLATIVE ETHICS  APRIL 13, 2021  9:00 AM    FULL COMMITTEE MEETING      9:02:41 AM    1. CALL THE MEETING TO ORDER    Lee Holmes called the meeting to order at 9:03 a.m. on  Tuesday, April 13, 2021.    Lee Holmes directed Jerry Anderson to conduct roll call.    Roll call    Sen David Wilson (telephonic)  Sen Tom Begich (telephonic)  Rep Chris Tuck (Alternate for Rep Sara Hannan)(telephonic)  Rep DeLena Johnson (telephonic)  Skip Cook (telephonic)  Conner Thomas (telephonic)  Joyce Anderson  Deb Fancher (telephonic)  Lee Holmes (telephonic)    Quorum present.    Others present    Jerry Anderson  Jacqui Yeagle  Senator Elvi Gray-Jackson (telephonic)    9:05:23 AM    2. APPROVAL OF AGENDA    Lee Holmes stated that the meeting was expected to run  about 45 minutes, then entertained a motion to approve the  agenda.    Motion made by: Senator Tom Begich    There were no objections. The agenda was approved.    3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES    Lee Holmes introduced the next item on the agenda: approval  of the minutes of the September 22, 2020, committee  meetings.    Conner Thomas made a motion to approve the September 22,  2020, full committee meeting minutes.    There were no objections. The September 22, 2020, full  committee meeting minutes were approved.    Senator Tom Begich moved to approve the September 22, 2020,  senate subcommittee meeting minutes.    There were no objections. The September 22, 2020, senate  subcommittee meeting minutes were approved.    4. PUBLIC COMMENT    Lee Holmes entertained public comment. There was no public  comment.    9:08:43 AM    5. ELECTION OF COMMITTEE CHAIRS FOR 2021-2022    Lee Holmes opened election of officers for 2021-2022.    Joyce Anderson reviewed for the committees benefit the  officer positions held 2019-2020: Joyce Anderson, senate  subcommittee chair; Deb Fancher, senate subcommittee vice  chair; Lee Holmes, house subcommittee chair; and Conner  Thomas, house subcommittee vice chair.    Lee Holmes opened nominations for senate subcommittee  chair.    Conner Thomas confirmed his understanding that the chair of  the senate subcommittee will also be the chair of the full  committee for the remainder of 2021.    Conner Thomas asked Deb Fancher if she would agree to the  position.    Deb Fancher replied that she was agreeable to assuming the  chair position if no one else wanted the position.    Conner Thomas nominated Deb Fancher chair of the senate  subcommittee.    Lee Holmes asked Jerry Anderson if the nomination required  a second.    Jerry Anderson responded that traditionally seconds have  not been required for officer nominations and further, if  there were only one nomination per position, the committee  voted for the slate of officers, rather than conducting an  individual vote for each office.    Lee Holmes thanked Jerry Anderson for his reply, then  entertained other nominations for the senate subcommittee  chair position.    Hearing no other nominations, Lee Holmes entertained  interest in the senate subcommittee vice chair position.    Joyce Anderson declared her interest in the senate  subcommittee vice chair position and asked if a committee  member would agree to nominate her.    Conner Thomas nominated Joyce Anderson for the senate  subcommittee vice chair position.    Lee Holmes entertained other nominations, heard none, and  moved to the house subcommittee chair position. He advised  the committee that the current vice chair was Conner  Thomas, and then he asked if Conner Thomas was interested  in the chair position.    Conner Thomas replied that he would be happy to do so.    Deb Fancher nominated Conner Thomas for the house  subcommittee chair position.    Lee Holmes asked if there were other nominations for the  house subcommittee chair position. Hearing no other  nominations, Lee Holmes entertained interest in the house  subcommittee vice chair position.    Conner Thomas nominated Skip Cook for the position of house  subcommittee vice chair.    Lee Holmes inquired whether Skip Cook had an objection to  the nomination. Hearing no objection from Skip Cook, Lee  Holmes entertained other nominations for the position.    Hearing no other nominations, Lee Holmes entertained a  motion to cease all nominations.    Conner Thomas so moved.    Lee Holmes stated that given there was only one nomination  per officer position, the committee would vote for the  slate of officers as presented: Deb Fancher, senate  subcommittee chair; Joyce Anderson, senate subcommittee  vice chair; Conner Thomas, house subcommittee chair; and  Skip Cook, house subcommittee vice chair.    Lee Holmes asked Jerry Anderson to conduct a roll call  vote.    Roll call vote    Senator David Wilson Y  Representative Chris Tuck Y  Skip Cook Y  Conner Thomas Y  Representative DeLena Johnson Y  Joyce Anderson Y  Deb Fancher Y  Lee Holmes Y  Senator Tom Begich Y    The slate of officers was approved.    9:16:39 AM    Lee Holmes asked new Committee Chair Deb Fancher if she  wanted him to continue chairing the meeting and to take on  the post meeting responsibilities. Deb Fancher replied  affirmatively and thanked Lee Holmes.  6. CHAIR/STAFF REPORT    a. Management Log Review    Lee Holmes directed the committee to the management log  review.    Jerry Anderson asked the committee members to review the  informal advice per AS 24.60.158 and to ask follow-up  questions.    Lee Holmes asked if committee members had questions for  Jerry Anderson.    Senator Tom Begich asked Jerry Anderson if there was a  particularly unique or substantive question to which he  would like to call the committees attention.    Jerry Anderson responded that unique in the last year were  the many election-related questions, especially those  questions about putting absentee ballot information and  applications into newsletters, which is generally allowed.    Another unique question concerned whether a board  membership disclosure was required for a world-wide  organization that lacked a physical meeting location or  address. Jerry Anderson said that a disclosure would be  required and submitted that it was a demonstration of how  far reaching is the boards and commissions disclosure  requirement.    Senator Tom Begich thanked Jerry Anderson for his response.    Lee Holmes asked if there were other questions. Hearing no  other questions, he moved to the next agenda item.    b. Public Member Committee Appointment Update    Lee Holmes directed the committees attention to the  resumes of Public Member Skip Cook and Public Alternate  Member Gerald McBeath.    Conner Thomas asked if the public members had been ratified  by the legislature.    Jerry Anderson replied that they had been ratified by both  bodies.      Lee Holmes asked for committee comments or questions.  Hearing none, he moved to the next agenda item.    c. Ethics Disclosures    Lee Holmes directed the committees attention to the three  documents related to ethics disclosures and commented that  it was interesting to see how the numbers change over the  years. Lee Holmes asked if there were questions about the  information.    Jerry Anderson pointed out that in 2020 there was a  decrease in the number of gift/travel disclosures, likely  due to COVID, and that the drop in the total number of  disclosures submitted in 2020 was due almost entirely to  that one category.    Jerry Anderson added for the benefit of the members that  the three documents consisted of 1) the total number of  disclosures submitted in 2020; 2) a year-to-year comparison  of disclosure totals submitted 2017-2020; and 3) the total  number of disclosures of each type submitted to date in  2021.    Lee Holmes thanked Jerry Anderson and asked Joyce Anderson  if she had a question.    Joyce Anderson replied that she wondered why there were  significantly fewer contracts, leases, and grants  disclosures submitted to date in 2021 than there were in  2020. She noted that in 2020, 19 senators, one house  member, and three staffers had submitted disclosures, and  in 2021 that number was dramatically reduced. She asked  Jerry Anderson if he had any comment.    Jerry Anderson said he had not looked at that specifically  but proposed emailing an answer back to committee members.    Joyce Anderson expressed concern that there may be some  legislators who should have filed but did not. She thanked  the chair for the opportunity to ask her question.    Lee Holmes thanked Joyce Anderson and entertained other  follow-up questions about the ethics disclosures documents.  There were no other questions and he moved to the next  item.    d. Update: Collection of Unpaid Fines    Lee Holmes asked Jerry Anderson if there were any unpaid fines.    Jerry Anderson replied that former Representative Alan Dicks  unpaid balance from a long ago, large fine stands at $3,695.  He added that a new, recent fine of $25, assessed on April 8, is  outstanding but filers have a 30-day payment window so it is not  considered late.    Lee Holmes asked about the procedure for handling large fines.    Jerry Anderson replied that the ethics office had been receiving  from former Representative Alan Dick almost monthly payments  averaging about $100 a month. He added that Representative Alan  Dick is making good faith efforts toward paying the fine.    Senator Tom Begich asked Jerry Anderson to repeat the remaining  amount of the fine.    Jerry Anderson replied that $3,695 remains on the fine.    Senator Tom Begich thanked Jerry Anderson for the information.    Lee Holmes entertained other questions about unpaid fines.  Hearing none, he moved to the next agenda item.    e. New internship program: Seattle University School of Law    Lee Holmes introduced the new externship program with Seattle  University School of Law and he asked Jerry Anderson if he had a  comment about the externship.    Jerry Anderson replied that the ethics office maintains a list  of approved universities and organizations that have internship  programs. The Seattle University School of Law program was  reviewed and approved by the administrator and the committee  chair. Procedurally, then, the program information moves to the  full committee for further review and approval. Jerry Anderson  noted that in this case, the program is called an externship as  opposed to an internship.    Lee Holmes asked if committee members had comments or questions  about the program.    Joyce Anderson commented that the committee requires a final  report from the individual who fills the position but she did  not see mention of the final report in the material submitted.  She referred the question to Jerry Anderson.    Jerry Anderson concurred that a final report was required and  expected and noted that the committee did not receive the full  packet of 16-20 pages of material about the externship.    Lee Holmes commented that on the second page of the profile  there is a statement that the agency must provide an evaluation  upon completion. He stated that the evaluation would include the  final report requirement.    Joyce Anderson thanked the chair for directing her attention to  the section.    Lee Holmes asked for other questions of the committee. Hearing  none, he moved to the next agenda item.    f. Publications    Lee Holmes introduced the 2020 Public Decisions Booklet and  asked if Jerry Anderson had comments to share with the  committee.    Jerry Anderson said it was a very thin booklet because there was  only one public decision published in 2020.    Lee Holmes entertained questions or comments from the committee.  Hearing none, he moved to the next publication.    Lee Holmes asked Jerry Anderson if he had comments for the  committee about the 2021 Standards of Conduct Handbook and the  revision.    Jerry Anderson responded that the only revision was the addition  of the Seattle University School of Law externship program.    Lee Holmes thanked Jerry Anderson and asked if committee members  had questions about the handbook. Hearing none, he moved to the  next agenda item.  7. 2021 ETHICS TRAINING    Lee Holmes asked Jerry Anderson to provide the committee  with an overview of the 2021 ethics training.    Jerry Anderson said that training consisted of two segments  delivered by National Conference of State Legislatures  staff (NCSL) and one segment by the ethics office. NCSL  sessions, which were delivered via Zoom during the training  period, reached 472 people.    Recorded versions of all of the ethics training are  available online to meet the training requirement for new  employees and staff. As of April 12, a total of 541 persons  had been trained. Two new staff had yet to be trained.    Lee Holmes asked if the committee had questions for Jerry  Anderson.    There were no questions. Lee Holmes moved to the next  agenda item.    9:34:46 AM    8. BUDGET    Lee Holmes directed the committee's attention to the FY21  Budget Summary and the FY22 Budget Request Detail. He asked  Jerry Anderson if there was anything of particular note in  the documents.    Jerry Anderson commented that the budget summary shows  that, due to current circumstances, spending for this year  is significantly lower. Meetings have been telephonic and  no travel funds, investigator funds, or outside attorney  funds have been expended.    Jerry Anderson added that HB 69 shows the proposed funding  for FY22 is flat.    Lee Holmes asked if committee members had questions about  either the current budget or the proposed budget. There  were no questions. He thanked Jerry Anderson and moved to  the next agenda item.  9. CONTRACT REPORT    Lee Holmes reported that in FY21 there had been no outside  counsel or investigator contracts and therefore, no  expenditures. He asked Jerry Anderson if he had comments to add.    Jerry Anderson replied that no ethics complaints had required  the services of either outside counsel or an investigator.    Lee Holmes entertained questions or concerns about the contract  report. Hearing no comments, he asked Jerry Anderson to present  a legislation update.    Jerry Anderson responded that there were a number of bills  listed under the ethics subject summary. House Judiciary  recently amended HB 62 to allow legislators to accept  travel and hospitality primarily for the purpose of  solemnizing a marriage under AS 25.05.261(a)(4), which  would also change the conflict of interest statute AS  24.60.030(a). He added that an example from the hearing was  that a legislator could accept a helicopter ride to  solemnize a marriage at a wedding held on a glacier.    Lee Holmes asked for comments or questions from the  committee about the proposed legislation. Hearing none, Lee  Holmes moved to the next agenda item.    10. OTHER BUSINESS    Lee Holmes entertained discussion of other business. There  was no other business and Lee Holmes entertained a motion  to adjourn.    11. ADJOURN    Motion made by: Senator Tom Begich    No objections.    The meeting was adjourned at 9:40 a.m.    9:40:37 AM