• I Paid A Bribe
• 14 years ago
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Legislation proposed by Alaskans to combat bribery in Alaska.

• Public Services
• Bribing of Government Officers
• Paid INR 1

Legislative Findings and Intent

It is this Legislature’s findings and intents as follows:
1. Good government in exchange is the only legitimate expectation contributors may have in return for their contributions.
2. To eliminate corruption, Alaska must eliminate the opportunity to purchase a leg up on one’s competition, and/or create a revolving door of contributions in exchange for appropriations that make more once State owned assets available to generate more contributions.
3. Requirements existing prior to the passage of this Act, requiring prosecutors to prove both the occurrence, and the meanings of ‘winks, smiles and nods’ of agreement to such exchanges has created a scarcely used and unreasonably high hurdle to the prosecution of public officials seeking to trade campaign contributions for access to the public purse.
4. Such a high hurdle to the prosecution has left those who adhere to the golden rule of fair and equal treatment for all, by a government not for sale at a competitive disadvantage, at a disadvantage financially and politically.
5. Delivering or promising financial support, whether through employment, offers of future employment, contributions for the elections of or for the personal use of a public official, followed or preceded by a request directed to that same official asking them for assistance in securing rights or title to a government asset, a competitive advantage through regulation or legislation or for a direct appropriation, is by this Act, a crime in and of itself.
6. It is the expectation of this Legislature that a reported contribution, plus a legislator’s voting record in support of an appropriation, could in some cases be proof of a quid pro quo sufficient for conviction under this statute.
7. It is anticipated that entities which have historically contributed generously before and after approaching the Legislature with requests for appropriations will hence fourth be faced with either contributing to candidates they believe to share their persuasion without following their contributions with requests for appropriations or alternatively, discontinuing the practice of contributing to rely solely on their lobbyist’s ability to persuade a majority of the Legislature that their financial requests are in the best interest of Alaska’s voters.


An Act to Define and Criminalize Laundering the Exchange of Public Funds, Assets, or Regulatory Advantages for Personal Wealth, Campaign Contributions, or Political Advantage

Section 1.01 Laundering Public Funds, Privileges, or Assets in Exchange for Personal Wealth or Political Advantage:
(a) A person commits the crime of Laundering Public Funds for personal wealth or political advantage if the person profits from inducing a public official to violate this statute. A public official violates this statute if that public official regulates or legislates competitive or economic advantages for, or directs appropriations to themselves; their business partners; clients; members of immediate family or household,; past, present, or sought-after employers or contributors to their elections; past, present, or sought-after donors to independent expenditures supporting their election; past, present, or sought-after contributors to IRC 227s or similar funds massed for political purposes and under the control or direction of the public official.
(b) Directing appropriations to persons such as those described in this Act, whether done by appropriation or executive discretions, includes:
(i) Direct appropriations.
(ii) The funding of capital projects having a primary effect of improving the value of their private property.
(iii) Gifting, selling or leasing to them a publicly held asset for markedly less than market value.
(iv) Directing the government’s purchase of their privately held asset for markedly more than market value.
(v) Conditioning an appropriation, legislation, or regulation providing competitive or economic advantages on any expectation of a employment or any form of profitable relationship for oneself, one’s business partners, clients, members of one’s immediate family, household, or contributors.
(c) Methods of laundering payments intended to induce public servants to violate this Act include but are not limited to:
(i) The act of participating in the planning or implementing of any successfully or partially concluded transaction engineered to conceal the identity, source, the value, purpose, or destination of money.
(ii) Receive money with the intent of contributing all or part of the money, directly or indirectly through an alternate source controlled by the donors, the recipients, or an alternate third party, and delivered for the purpose of affecting the outcome of a political campaign or ballot proposition while assisting in the concealment of the original source.
(iii) Deliver money with the intent that the recipient is to contribute all or part of the money, directly or indirectly through an alternate source controlled by the donors, the recipients, or an alternate third party, and delivered for the purpose of affecting the outcome of a political campaign or ballot proposition while assisting in the concealment of the original source.
(iv) Attempt to deliver a contribution prohibited by statute through a source that would appear to be contributing legally if the true origin remained concealed.
(v) Attempt to exceed contribution limits by directing money through a source that would appear to be contributing legally if the amounts coming from the true origin remained concealed.
(vi) Condition of employment or a business transaction on the requirement of a contribution intended to affect the outcome of a political campaign or ballot proposition.
(vii) Gifting, selling or leasing a privately held asset to a public official for markedly less than market.
(viii) Participating in a conspiracy between a private sector person or entity and one or more public officials and that (1) has, directly or through its employees, lobbyists or stockholders, provided an elected or appointed public official with short or long term economic advantages over other persons who compete for the same office and (2) that same private sector entity can be demonstrated to have received direct appropriations from the local, state or federal treasury, or become the primary beneficiary of narrowly focused regulation or legislation that provides clearly definable advantages over their existing or prospective competition, or received title to or rights in government owned assets for substantially less than market value through the actions and influences of a public official to whom they delivered contributions or other financial gains.
(ix) Provided unsolicited kickbacks through independent campaign expenditures in support of public officials who have been among those primarily responsible for delivering a competitive advantage for, or appropriation to the provider of the unsolicited kickback.
Section 1.02 This statute is to be narrowly construed.
(a) When issues of broad public policy are decided, and a public servant’s decision similarly impacts a broad spectrum of uniquely situated persons and industries, and that policy’s effects on that public servant’s self; business partners; clients; members of immediate family or household; employers; sought-after employers; past, present, or prospective contributors; donors to independent expenditures supporting their election is clearly incidental, similar, and minor in contrast to a larger questions of public policy no conflict exists.
(b) When in doubt as to whether or not a conflict exists, members of the Alaska Legislature, municipal or city councils, school boards, elected or appointed members of deliberative boards, commissions and other deliberative bodies in Alaska can absolve themselves of conflict by reading the nature of their conflict into the record and refraining from casting votes in committee and on the floor.
(c) Participation in the debate of an issue is not a conflict if the nature of that conflict and a commitment to abstain from voting has been entered into the record and followed.
(d) Organizations that lobby only to affect broad public policy, without asking to be funded or enriched beyond the commonly shared gains of broad public policy are not barred from contributing by this statute.
(e) An organization’s advice to membership regarding positions on candidates or issues is not to be construed as a contribution or donation or an independent expenditure in support of an election or ballot proposition.
(f) The “sought-after employers” provision of this Act cannot be construed to prohibit an appointed or elected public servant from returning to their previous profession or a previous employer with an inflation adjusted salary consistent with their previous employment. Five years after departure from public service, the absence of an employment agreement in exchange for services rendered is presumptive, and all prohibitions affecting relationships between past public servants and prospective employers are extinguished.
(g) A public official who commits the act of laundering public funds, privileges, or assets in exchange for personal wealth or political advantage and a person who profits from inducing a public official to violate this statute each commit the class A felony of laundering public funds, privileges, or assets for personal wealth or political advantage. The statute of limitations for prosecuting the crime is ten years unless racketeering is proven, in which case, there is no statute of limitations. A person who does not profit from violations of this Act but conspires to assist other persons in their violation of this act are accessories to the crime and guilty of a class C felony.
Section 1.03 Soliciting a bribe while in a position of authority as a public servant:
(a) A public servant who asks for or agrees to receive payment from any source other than the government for action, inaction, or assistance with a matter that similarly situated public servants commonly render without additional charge in the normal conduct of their duties as a public servant commits the crime of soliciting a bribe.
(b) A public servant who solicits a bribe commits a class A felony. The statute of limitations for prosecuting the crime is ten years unless racketeering is proven, in which case, there is no statute of limitations.
Section 1.04 Offering a bribe to a public servant:
(a) A person who offers to pay money to a public servant in payment for action, inaction, or assistance with a matter that similarly situated public servants commonly render without charge in the normal conduct of their public service duties, commits the crime of offering a bribe to a public servant.
(b) A person who commits the act of offering to pay a bribe to a public servant commits the class A felony of offering a bribe to a public servant. The statute of limitations for prosecuting the crime is ten years unless racketeering is proven, in which case, there is no statute of limitations.
Section 1.05 Enforcement
(a) There is created in the Department of Public Safety, Division of State Troopers a Public Integrity Section. The Public Integrity Section has primary responsibility for combating corruption primarily through the enforcement of this Act. The Public Integrity Section shall investigate evidence of corruption and prosecute any public servant working on behalf of the State of Alaska or its residents at any level of government if that public servant appears to have violated this Act. Public Integrity Section attorneys may prosecute any federal, state, or local official who has violated this act in the course of acting on behalf of Alaska’s residents. When needed, the Public Integrity Section may secure additional resources and assistance from the State Troopers, the Attorney General, any District Attorney or Assistant District Attorney, and/or any State Prosecutor or State Investigator.
(b) The Public Integrity Section shall consist of five persons. Two prosecutors, two officer members of the Alaska State Troopers and one investigator.
(c) The prosecutors are to be selected by the Alaska Judicial Council and approved by the Alaska Supreme Court. One of the prosecutors must have not less than five years experience as a prosecutor for the state of Alaska. The officers and the one investigator are to be selected from amongst qualified applicants by the Alaska Police Standards Council. Following review of all qualified applicants, the selection shall be by secret ballot of the Police Standards Council. To qualify, officers chosen must have not less than five years experience with the Alaska State Troopers. The investigator must demonstrate a substantial knowledge of the inner workings of government and experience in the investigation of political corruption.
(d) The officers will continue their service with the Alaska State Troopers, continuing to have all the same benefits and all the same access to investigative tools and support with the exception that their first duty is to the Public Integrity Section. Their term of service may be limited and staggered and once selected, neither the troopers nor any other member of the Public Integrity Section may be dismissed from service by any means other than expiration of term, petition for termination to the Supreme Court by four of the five members of the Public Integrity Section, or impeachment by the Alaska State Legislature. No term may be for less than three years and no concecutive terms may equal more than ten years.
(e) Quarters and additional staffing of not less than two shall be provided to the Public Integrity Section within the facilities of the Alaska State Troopers. The Public Integrity Section shall be organized and directed by consensus of its five members, accepting that any member may at their own discretion, pursue any investigation and either prosecutor, at their own discretion, may pursue any prosecution of any violation of this statute.
(f) Prior to the end of the term of any prosecutor, the prosecutor whose term is expiring may call for a majority vote of the Public Integrity Section, for the approval of his or her continuation beyond their replacement as a nonvoting member of the Public Integrity Section for as long as necessary to conclude a prosecution in progress. A decision to discontinue that same nonvoting membership and the prosecution they were retained to continue shall require a four vote majority of the voting members.
(g) The Public Integrity Section shall have access as needed to seek indictments from the regular Grand Jury and shall have the authority to impanel a special Grand Jury.
(h) This statute can also be investigated and violations can be prosecuted by any Municipal, City, or Borough prosecutor in any of Alaska’s governmental subdivisions. Evidence of any violation may be investigated by the Alaska Public Offices Commission (APOC) and the Public Integrity Section shall assist APOC on request and APOC can choose to present its evidence to a Grand Jury for indictment or further investigation. The Attorney General shall make a Grand Jury available to hear evidence of violations on request from the Public Integrity Section, APOC, or local prosecutors.
(i) Any public official or employee of state government or any of its governing subdivisions having firsthand knowledge of violations of this Act, and failing to report that knowledge to the Public Integrity Section is guilty of a class A misdemeanor punishable by not less than ten days in jail. If the violation occurs while holding elected office, the violator is ineligible to file to run for any public office again for ten years. The statute of limitations for violations of failing to report violations of this Act is six years.
(j) Individuals who can demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Public Integrity Section that they were instrumental in exposing a conspiracy to violate this Act are entitled to apply for and receive up to ten percent of any savings, recoveries, or fines that result. Savings include assets retained and money not spent resulting from decisions to reverse course in a matter that would have likely proceeded uninterrupted in the absence of exposure.
(k) On request, the Public Integrity Section shall make a determination to define the monetary value of the applicant’s contribution and the amount of savings, recoveries, fines, or assets retained by the State as a result of the Applicant’s exposures. If the applicant is clearly the sole contributor and clearly pivotal to savings, the retention of assets, recoveries, or State income from fines, an award of the full ten percent is due. If the applicant’s contribution is determined to be significant but not pivotal, a lesser but proportionate award is due. The Public Integrity Section may, at its discretion, elect to proportion the award among contributors. Advice of the Public Integrity Section’s decision of payments due shall be forwarded to the Legislature and the Governor.
(l) Any person, government, group or entity that has applied to collect a reward, and disagrees with the outcome or otherwise failed to receive payment from the State may appeal the decision by initiating an action in Superior Court. Persons who make such appeals shall be immune from any award of attorney’s fees or costs incurred by the State.
Section 1.06 Definitions of terms for purposes of this Act:
(a) “Sought-after employers” are defined as prospective employers who have either expressly stated or subtly hinted an interest in employing a public official during or at the conclusion of their public service and prospective employers in which a public official has openly expressed or subtly hinted an interest in securing employment with during or at the conclusion of their public service.
(b) “Money” includes cash, checks, options, securities, deferred payments, promises of future payments of cash, checks, options, securities, and any other property, goods or services, exchangeable for money.
(c) “Appropriation” means the transfer of any federal state or locally held public asset from government control or ownership, into private ownership or control.
(d) “Contribution to a candidate or public official” includes contributions to IRC 527s, Political Action Committees, and any other entity, or financial conduit controlled by the candidate or public official used to advance the political agenda of the candidate or public official.

Section 1.07 Severability:
(a) All provisions of this Act are independent and severable, and if any provision of this Act, or the applicability of any provision to any person or circumstance, shall be found to be invalid, the remainder of this Act shall not be affected and shall be given effect to the fullest extent practicable.

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