Ethics panel allows campaigning on state-paid trips

The Select Committee on Legislative Ethics adopted a new policy declaring it's OK to campaign on a state-paid trip so long as the primary purpose of the trip is state business. The committee previously took the position that combining state-paid travel with political campaigning wasn't allowed, a stance deeply disliked by legislators who argued it was particularly unfair to rural lawmakers.

The ethics committee, which rules on what legislators can and can't do, is a mix of public members and legislators. Three of the four public members who attended Thursday's meeting voted against the new policy. But all four legislators voted in favor.

Gary Turner, one of the public members who voted against the new policy, said it would be unfair to challengers trying to unseat incumbents.

"This gives such an advantage to the incumbent when it is an election season, when you can go ahead and fly for a legislative purpose and combine that with fundraising or with campaigning. The (challenger) would have to pay for such a trip out of his or her pocket," Turner said.

But Anchorage Democratic Rep. Les Gara responded there are times when incumbents are stuck in special session while their challengers can campaign. Gara said banning any mixing of state travel and campaigning meant he was free to go to a Democratic Party fundraiser after a legislative meeting in Anchorage but a lawmaker in town from Nome could not. That's not fair to them, Gara said.

"There's not a lot of campaign money in Nome or Chalkyitsik to get elected, and you go statewide to try and appeal to people for things like that," he said.

The policy applies to legislators running for re-election, as well as those running for higher office. Anchorage Sen. Hollis French is running for governor, Anchorage Rep. Harry Crawford for Congress, and Fairbanks Rep. Jay Ramras for lieutenant governor.

The ethics committee didn't have any policy on the matter until 2008, when the Alaska Public Offices Commission asked for its input. APOC was crafting regulations after the backlash over then-Gov. Frank Murkowski's use of the state jet for campaigning and was considering making rules for legislators.

APOC never drafted regulations to clarify whether legislators are allowed to mix campaigning and state business. But a lawyer for the Legislative Affairs Agency wrote an opinion saying that mixing the two wasn't allowed under the law. That became the position of the ethics committee. But the opinion proved unpopular with legislators. Ramras, the House Judiciary Committee chairman, asked the ethics committee to get a second opinion.

That second opinion came May 18 from Brent Cole, outside legal counsel for the committee. Cole wrote if the legislator says the primary reason for the trip is campaigning or some other partisan political activity, the state wouldn't pay for it.

"On the other hand, if the legislator gives as his or her primary purpose travelling to and from the Legislative session, visiting constituents, or engaging in other legislative business, (then) they should not be barred from engaging in other incidental activities like political campaigning or partisan political activity during the trip," Cole wrote.

The ethics committee on Thursday adopted Cole's opinion, but not without debate. Public member Skip Cook complained that if the Legislature wants to mix state travel and campaigning, it should pass a law to make that clear instead of pressuring the committee to choose from the two dueling legal opinions.

Anchorage Republican Rep. Craig Johnson responded that the political reality is that it would be easier to get a clarification of the law through the Legislature once the ethics committee signs off on it. That is a far easier step than for a legislator to just "put one of our names on it and say now we're going to endorse what has been previously determined as unethical behavior," he said.

Legislators said a strict ban on campaigning while on state travel raises all sorts of issues, such as if they'd be in violation if someone stops them on the street to talk about their election race. They said it is not unreasonable to allow people to support their campaigns if they are flying around their district dealing with state issues.

Senate President Gary Stevens said it's a lot different for legislators with big rural districts from those from Anchorage. Stevens, a Kodiak Republican, said he traveled to constituents in Homer recently to explain what happened in the legislative session.

"And of course everyone knows I'm running for office in Homer. It wasn't a campaign trip, I wasn't campaigning. But frankly, the difference between campaigning and just explaining what the Legislature did is pretty tough. I mean, how do you draw that line?" he said.

Find Sean Cockerham online at adn.com/contact/scockerham or call him at 257-4344.