Alaska State House of Representatives
Interim:
Phone: (907)
Fax: (907)
|
 |
Session:
State Capitol, Room
Juneau, AK 99801-1182
Phone: (907) 465-
Fax: (907) 465-
|
News & Information from:
- District
|
| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 31, 2008 |
CONTACT: Rynnieva Moss, 465-6944
|
House Passes Compassionate Gift LegislationHB 317 Fixes Unintended Consequence
of Last Year's Ethics Rewrite |
(Juneau) - The Alaska House of Representatives today unanimously passed HB 317, a bill that amends the Legislature's Standards of Conduct laws (AS 24.60) to allow for compassionate gifts of any monetary value provided the gift and giver are disclosed to the Select Committee on Legislative Ethics.
House Rules Committee Chairman John Coghill (R-North Pole), the bill's prime sponsor, submitted the bill after hearing from the Ethics Committee that legislative staffer Sue Stancliff, Chief of Staff for Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Fairbanks), could not – under the new ethics law – donate a kidney to ailing Rep. Richard Foster (D-Nome) because the gift would exceed the allowable $250 limit. Rep. Foster is currently in Seattle recovering from a minor stroke, and recently received word that Mrs. Stancliff is a kidney match.
HB 317 has been referred to the Senate for its consideration. |
# # #
|