Two Alaska legislators and a longtime Republican organizer are trying to prohibit lawmakers from collecting expense payments if they fail to pass a state budget on time.<\/p>\n
A new ballot initiative, billed the “Alaska Government Accountability Act,” would also limit some campaign contributions, require legislators to announce conflicts of interest before votes, and limit lobbyist gifts.<\/p>\n
Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, D-Sitka; Rep. Jason Grenn, I-Anchorage and Bonnie Jack of Anchorage are behind the initiative, which was submitted to the Alaska Division of Elections on Monday. Each was named an initiative “co-chair” in a press release announcing the initiative.<\/p>\n
The division could not provide the formal language of the proposal, but Jim Lottsfeldt, the initiative’s “mechanic,” confirmed it was submitted.<\/p>\n
Grenn, speaking by phone from Anchorage, said the initiative is an effort to build trust between Alaskans and their elected officials.<\/p>\n
“It really is about building trust and showing Alaskans that for us, our role as representatives isn’t about earning extra per diem, isn’t about out-of-the-country trips. It’s about good governance,” he said.<\/p>\n
During this year’s legislative session, Grenn proposed a bill and a resolution<\/a> to strengthen the Legislature’s conflict-of-interest guidelines. The resolution was defeated by the House<\/a>, and the bill has not been considered by the Senate.<\/p>\n Grenn said the initiative could have focused on a single topic, but “I think we wanted to make sure that if we were going to get behind this, it was worth it.”<\/p>\n Grenn said Kreiss-Tomkins, who did not immediately respond to calls for comment, “did a lot of the bulk work looking for funders and backers.”<\/p>\n According to records filed with the Alaska Public Offices Commission, the initiative is being financially supported by Represent.us, a Massachusetts-based nonpartisan organization whose goal is “to pass powerful anti-corruption laws that stop political bribery, end secret money, and fix our broken elections.”<\/p>\n