HB371
HB 371: Campaign Finance Rules and Disclosure Requirements
In one sentence
This bill requires groups involved in Alaska elections to maintain a local address, report people who bundle donations over $10,000, limit individual contributions to independent spending groups to $3,000 per year, and register if most of their funding comes from outside the state.
What it does
- Requires groups supporting or opposing candidates or ballot measures in state or local elections to maintain a physical address inside Alaska or use a registered agent with one.
- Mandates that candidates report people who collect and bundle donations totaling more than $10,000 for them during an election cycle.
- Limits individual contributions to groups or nongroup entities that make only independent expenditures to no more than $3,000 per year.
- Requires certain groups funded mostly by non-residents to register with the Alaska Public Offices Commission as majority-nonresident-funded entities.
- Updates reporting forms to include details about contributors who give more than $50 in a calendar year.
Who it affects
- Groups or organizations that support or oppose candidates and ballot measures
- Candidates running for state, borough, city, or school board offices
- People who collect donations from others to give to candidates (bundlers)
- The Alaska Public Offices Commission
Limits and unknowns
- The bill text provided does not specify the exact date when these rules will take effect.
- Details on how groups must prove they are majority-nonresident-funded are not included in this excerpt.
- Specific disclosure requirements for communications funded by independent expenditures are mentioned but details are cut off.
Plain language
Terms to know
- Independent expenditure
- Money spent by a group to support or oppose a candidate without coordinating with that candidate's campaign.
- Bundled contribution
- Donations collected from multiple people and given together to a candidate, often credited to the person who gathered them.
- Majority-nonresident-funded entity
- A group that receives more than half of its funding for election activities from people living outside Alaska.
Official record
Sources
Official summary
CAMPAIGN FINANCE;CONTRIBUTION LIMITS;APOC An Act requiring a group supporting or opposing a candidate or ballot proposition in a state or local election to maintain an address in the state; amending campaign contribution disclosure requirements; requiring the disclosure of certain persons who coordinate and aggregate individual campaign contributions; limiting contributions to groups or nongroup entities that make only independent expenditures; requiring certain groups and nongroup entities to register with the Alaska Public Offices Commission as majority-nonresident-funded entities; requiring certain disclosures in communications funded by independent expenditures; relating to disbursement of campaign assets after an election; and providing for an effective date.
Official activity
Bill history
- (H) REFERRED TO JUDICIARY2605
- (H) FN1: ZERO(ADM)2605
- (H) AM: HOLLAND, STORY, CARRICK2605
- (H) NR: HIMSCHOOT2605
- (H) DP: VANCE, MCCABE, ST. CLAIR2605
- (H) STA RPT 3DP 1NR 3AM2605
- (H) Moved HB 371 Out of CommitteeText
- (H) STATE AFFAIRS at 03:15 PM GRUENBERG 120Text
- (H) Heard & HeldText
- (H) STATE AFFAIRS at 03:15 PM GRUENBERG 120Text
- (H) Heard & HeldText
- (H) STATE AFFAIRS at 03:15 PM GRUENBERG 120Text
- (H) Scheduled but Not HeardText
- (H) STATE AFFAIRS at 03:15 PM GRUENBERG 120Text
- (H) STA, JUD1695
- (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS1695