Legislators may rethink rules on voting

Issue arises over conflict of interest in floor votes; under present rules, members declare conflict, are still required to vote

Kristen Nelson

Petroleum News

A lively discussion on the rules for voting on the floor of the Alaska House of Representatives took place as the Democratic minority and the Republican majority held initial press availabilities for the second session of the 25th Legislature on its opening day, Jan. 15.

Under current rules, members may rise and decline to vote on an issue, declaring a conflict of interest. An objection by any other member, however, and the member must vote.

House Minority Leader Beth Kerttula, D-Juneau, said conflicts of interest is one of the issues that needs to be addressed this session. “It’s a weighty question; it’s a difficult one; but it’s one that we need to address,” she said, describing the issue as: “What exactly is a conflict … (and) how close to something do you have to be before you really shouldn’t be voting on it?”

Rep. Mike Doogan, D-Anchorage, said he was “used to a pretty rigorous conflict of interest requirement from my days sitting on that side of the notebook,” referring to his years as a reporter.

But, he said, “if you set up a mechanism in which the body can disqualify a member for a conflict you’re essentially disenfranchising about 15,000 voters for the purposes of that question on the floor of the House of Representatives.”

In addition to figuring out “what constitutes an actionable conflict, Doogan said it’s difficult to figure out what action you take even if you establish that — because like any other procedural motion it’s possible to use it as a political tool.”

And while people can “take a walk” — choose not to vote by leaving the floor — any other member can put a call on the House, Doogan said. That requires the presence of all members not excused, and the rules require members present to vote.

He also noted that a conflict of interest for voting on the floor of the House is different than other cases where people have a conflict of interest. “If you’re an attorney and you have a conflict you say ‘I can’t represent this client’; the client can go out and get another attorney.” If a reporter has a conflict of interest and can’t cover a story, the editor assigns another reporter.

“We can’t just reach out and get another member of the House of Representatives from House District 25 if I say I’ve got a conflict,” Doogan said.

Rep. Les Gara, D-Anchorage, said it’s important on ethics issues not to value “form over substance.” He said it doesn’t matter who you work for when you’re not in Juneau: “it’s how you vote.”

He said he owns a restaurant, but has worked to raise the minimum wage, a move which would cut into his own profits. “So it’s a two-step process: one is your relationship to the issue; but then how are you voting?”

Harris: a slippery slope

“I think a legislator should have the ability to withdraw or not vote on an issue if they determine — they themselves determine — that they had a financial and-or ethical conflict,” Harris said, but “… it’s not fair for the body or some other group to say this person has a conflict and then deny the 16,000 people that they represent a vote on the issue.”

The voters in the district are the ones who should determine whether or not their legislator is “voting along conflicting lines,” or lines that conflict with what the voters want to see.

If there is that kind of conflict, the voters won’t vote them back into office, Harris said.

“But is it right for me to determine if some other member really has a conflict?” he asked.

“It’s not really my job; it’s not really my responsibility; it’s the voters of the district.”

For other members to make that determination is a slippery slope, he said. “I happen to be a member of the Teamsters Union, have been for almost 33 years,” Harris said. Any labor issue that comes up could affect the union. “Should I say … I’m not even going to participate in this debate because it’s a union issue?”

“Or if somebody else is a lawyer and practices law,” what if the House says “well, it’s a law, the lawyers can’t participate?”

Harris said he’d like to see “our ethics law qualified to allow — not to mandate but to allow — a legislator to recluse themselves from a vote on the floor if in fact they determine they have a conflict; not because somebody else does.”

Bills on this issue have been introduced in both the House and Senate.