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Ethics and integrity are rapidly declining in Alaska state government. Two of his bills, SB 165 and SB 17, are moving through Congress to right some serious wrongs and enshrine good government into law. Lawmakers have a moral obligation to pass these bills.
Senate Bill 165, sponsored by Sen. Matt Claman, is a bill that states that last October Attorney General Treg Taylor inadvertently set up corrupt deals to benefit only himself, Gov. Mike Dunleavy, and Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom. It is intended to correct the damage caused when it is executed. It simply means that the Department of Justice, including the Attorney General, cannot represent or advise a governor, lieutenant governor, or other public official or former public official in any matter in which that public official or former public official is the subject of a court. It only stipulates that. Complaints filed under the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act.
The Legislature enacted Alaska's Ethics Act, which required the highest ethical standards for state employees.
Until October 2023, public funds and resources will not be used to defend executive branch employees if they are the subject of ethics complaints, including unethical and dishonest conduct or abuse of authority or position. could not be used.
However, at Taylor's request, Lt. Governor Dahlstrom announced changes to the provisions of the Alaska Executive Ethics Act that would allow the Department of Justice to defend and represent the governor, lieutenant governor, or attorney general in litigation before the Alaska Human Resources Commission. approved.
More than 100 public comments were submitted in opposition, and multiple legal opinions from the Legislature say these changes violate many provisions of the Alaska Constitution, including the public purposes, separation of powers, and equal protection clause. Although it is clearly stated that it is illegal because of the possibility of ignored.
This questionable change to ethics law regulations requires that unlimited state funds, assets, resources, and personnel be used to pay for and defend litigation, even if the ethics law is found to have been violated. This is a serious conflict of interest, a classic example of self-dealing, and a sign of corruption.
AKPIRG believes that when public officials put themselves above the law and circumvent constitutional and statutory checks and balances to pursue special interests, they cause real harm to Alaskans.
AKPIRG agrees with former Alaska Attorney General Jana Lindemuth, who said: “The Attorney General is responsible for representing the State of Alaska. The Governor is not a client except when representing the State.'' Allowing the Department of Justice to defend the Secretary of State is inappropriate and inherently inconsistent with the Attorney General's role. It is also an inappropriate use of state resources.”
SB 165 currently awaits a hearing in the Senate Finance Committee. Let your legislators know that corrupt government processes that provide personal financial benefits only to the governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general are wrong.
Senate Bill 17 proposes resetting limits on political campaign contributions. Our campaign finance laws are designed to restore public confidence in the electoral process and foster good government. Campaign disclosure laws directly limit donors' influence over candidates by limiting the size of campaign contributions.
The first bill to limit campaign contributions was passed by the Alaska State Legislature in 1974, setting the amount at $1,000. Several voting efforts and law changes have since lowered and then raised these limits, culminating in a 2021 U.S. Ninth Circuit case that declared Alaska's campaign finance limits unconstitutional. It was ruled too low and completely abolished.
Alaskans strongly support these campaign contribution caps, enacted into law by a direct vote of the people. Seventy-three percent of voters voted for his 2006 effort, which the Alaska Public Research Interest Group helped administer successfully.
It's not hard to see why these restrictions are so important. Without campaign spending limits, the ideal of “one person, one vote” would no longer be true, and those with the most money would have the most influence.
AKPIRG believes that as much as possible, the will of the people regarding campaign contribution limits should be restored. This can be done by simply taking the campaign limit from the 2006 initiative and indexing that limit to the inflation rate.
Let your legislators and Senate Rules Committee Chairman Bill Wielechowski know that we must pass SB 17 to stop corruption and its appearance in elections.
If you are an Alaskan who is tired of abuse of power, cronyism, and corruption by public officials, take action now and tell your senators and representatives that you have a moral obligation to pass SB 17 and SB 165 into law. please.
Robin O'Donoghue is a special projects leader for the Alaska Public Interest Research Group.
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