{"id":172,"date":"2026-05-21T14:38:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T14:38:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movingtoalaskausa.com\/?p=172"},"modified":"2026-05-21T14:38:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T14:38:10","slug":"curveball-vote-could-snarl-effort-to-reimpose-campaign-finance-restrictions-in-alaska","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movingtoalaskausa.com\/?p=172","title":{"rendered":"Curveball vote could snarl effort to reimpose campaign finance restrictions in Alaska"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Alaska Legislature has approved new limits on the amount of money that can be donated to political candidates, but opponents of those limits are seeking to start those rules in the middle of the current election, something that could lead to a lawsuit that snarls the new rules altogether.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Alaska Legislature adjourns regular session with special gasline session set for Thursday<\/a><\/p>\n

In a 21-19 vote on Wednesday, the Alaska House voted to advance <\/span>House Bill 16<\/span>, sending it to Gov. Mike Dunleavy. The Senate <\/span>approved the bill on a 12-8 vote<\/span> late Tuesday.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If Dunleavy vetoes the bill, a substantially similar measure will be presented to voters on the August primary election ballot. If he signs the bill or allows it to become law without his signature, the ballot measure likely would be removed from the August vote because Article XI, Section 4 of <\/span> says passage of a law \u201csubstantially similar\u201d to an upcoming ballot measure will cancel the vote.<\/span><\/p>\n

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What do HB 16 or the ballot measure do?<\/b><\/p>\n

Both the bill and the ballot measure install new individual limits on campaign donations: $2,000 per donor per candidate in each two-year election cycle. For the governor\u2019s race, where a lieutenant governor candidate and governor candidate run together on a single ticket, the limit would be $4,000. The limit for donations from one person to a political party or group would be $5,000.<\/span><\/p>\n

If a group wants to donate to a candidate, the limit is $4,000 per candidate, or $8,000 for the governor\u2019s race.<\/span><\/p>\n

Those limits would be adjusted for inflation every 10 years.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

As written, HB 16 would take effect Jan. 1, after the 2026 elections.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But under Article II, Section 18 of the Alaska Constitution, a bill takes effect 90 days after the governor\u2019s approval, unless two-thirds of legislators agree with a different date.<\/span><\/p>\n

In this case, they didn\u2019t. On Wednesday, the \u201ceffective date clause\u201d vote failed by a 24-16 margin. That negates the Jan. 1 start date and means the bill would take effect in the middle of this year\u2019s elections, depending on when it is sent to the governor for final action.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rep. Calvin Schrage, I-Anchorage, sponsored HB 16 and helped organize the ballot measure campaign.<\/span><\/p>\n

Speaking Tuesday night, he said he would have preferred that limits go in place before 2026 elections campaigns began. With that now impossible, he said he prefers waiting until 2027.<\/span><\/p>\n

Implementing new limits in the middle of an election campaign is \u201cimpractical,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe reality is \u2026 if we were to impose contribution limits mid-cycle, it would create all sorts of consequences for candidates where maybe they\u2019ve already received donations that are above that limit. Certainly, in the gubernatorial campaigns, I would expect that. And then, do you have to refund those?\u201d he asked.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Alaska lawmakers approve ban on polystyrene foam food containers<\/a><\/p>\n

Affected candidates or contributors could sue, he said on Wednesday.<\/span><\/p>\n

All of the votes against the bill and against the effective date clause came from Republicans who are members of the House\u2019s minority caucus.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Seven said they thought their \u201cno\u201d votes on the effective date clause were a mistake. Most bills have immediate effective dates, and voting no on the clause typically delays a bill.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think it was just a misunderstanding,\u201d said Rep. Julie Coulombe, R-Anchorage, who voted no.<\/span><\/p>\n

But Rep. Justin Ruffridge, R-Soldotna, voted against the effective date and said there was also a strategic reason for doing so.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt gives the governor a reason to veto it,\u201d he said, giving a thumbs-down for emphasis.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Legislators already believed the governor was likely to veto HB 16.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Speaking in 2022<\/span>, Dunleavy implied that he\u2019s generally opposed to campaign finance limits.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou know me: I\u2019m the guy that wants people to be able to drive four wheelers on the road. I\u2019m a freedom guy,\u201d he said. \u201cMy tendency is to just let people do what they want in campaign finance law, as long as it\u2019s disclosed and it\u2019s accurate.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Rep. Jeremy Bynum, R-Ketchikan and a member of the House minority, said he thinks the governor will veto HB 16.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think that bill will survive the process,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

If that happens, Alaska voters will get a chance to decide the issue on August 18, primary election day.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Airport security fast-lane system known as CLEAR could be coming to Alaska<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Opponents of limits on campaign cash seek a mid-election start, inviting a lawsuit that could disrupt the start of new restrictions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":171,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nCurveball vote could snarl effort to reimpose campaign finance restrictions in Alaska - Moving to Alaska<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movingtoalaskausa.com\/?p=172\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Curveball vote could snarl effort to reimpose campaign finance restrictions in Alaska - Moving to Alaska\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Opponents of limits on campaign cash seek a mid-election start, inviting a lawsuit that could disrupt the start of new restrictions.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/movingtoalaskausa.com\/?p=172\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Moving to Alaska\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-21T14:38:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtoalaskausa.com\\\/?p=172#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtoalaskausa.com\\\/?p=172\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtoalaskausa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4a34ab8aa99bbfe6b285ea9b5fa35a5a\"},\"headline\":\"Curveball vote could snarl effort to reimpose campaign finance restrictions in Alaska\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-21T14:38:10+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtoalaskausa.com\\\/?p=172\"},\"wordCount\":733,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtoalaskausa.com\\\/?p=172#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtoalaskausa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/f10f332e13194ee94a6b37c234c3a9a3.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtoalaskausa.com\\\/?p=172#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtoalaskausa.com\\\/?p=172\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtoalaskausa.com\\\/?p=172\",\"name\":\"Curveball vote could snarl effort to reimpose campaign finance restrictions in Alaska - Moving to Alaska\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtoalaskausa.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtoalaskausa.com\\\/?p=172#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtoalaskausa.com\\\/?p=172#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtoalaskausa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/f10f332e13194ee94a6b37c234c3a9a3.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-21T14:38:10+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtoalaskausa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4a34ab8aa99bbfe6b285ea9b5fa35a5a\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtoalaskausa.com\\\/?p=172#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtoalaskausa.com\\\/?p=172\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtoalaskausa.com\\\/?p=172#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtoalaskausa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/f10f332e13194ee94a6b37c234c3a9a3.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtoalaskausa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/f10f332e13194ee94a6b37c234c3a9a3.jpg\",\"width\":2048,\"height\":1536,\"caption\":\"The voting board in the Alaska House of Representatives is seen on Wednesday, May 20, 2026, as legislators vote on House Bill 16. 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