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| January 5, 2007 Closing the Bribery Loophole Alaska Democratic Party, press release A group of Democratic legislators has filed a bill to close a loophole in Alaska law that allows legislators to accept certain bribes. A memo from Legislative Legal Services warns it is currently not a crime under Alaska law for legislators to accept campaign contributions in exchange for votes. The report was requested by Representatives Harry Crawford (D-Anchorage) and Les Gara (D-Anchorage), who’ve been working to strengthen the laws governing donor influence on legislators since the beginning of their tenure in the Legislature, and this fall’s FBI raids have highlighted the need for legislative action. The report, released in October, reads, “There is nothing in current criminal law that prohibits a legislator from changing a vote in exchange for a campaign contribution.” Crawford and Gara, along with other Democrats including Rep. Berta Gardner, have pushed ethics reform proposals the past 2 years. They say the time is long overdue for the Legislature to put its house in order. “The public shouldn’t stand for the kind of conduct that’s led to the recent FBI investigations. This is a loophole we need to close,” Crawford said. Bribery involving campaign donations is a federal crime, which the FBI can prosecute in Alaska. However, Gara said Alaska should not rely on federal agencies. “We are charged with protecting Alaskans. We need our own state law so we can enforce campaign bribery at the state level,” he said. The need for Ethics reform in Alaska isn’t sudden, and Democrats have pushed for ethics reform legislation given the lucrative consulting contracts held by legislators such as Sen. Ben Stevens (R-Anchorage), the overabundance of closed legislative meetings, and the Greg Renkes scandal in 2005. Also signing on to this bill are newly-elected Democratic Representatives Andrea Doll (D-Juneau), Scott Kawasaki (D-Fairbanks), Bob Buch (D-Anchorage) and Mike Doogan (D-Anchorage). |
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