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Alaska Statutes.

Title 15. Elections

Chapter 13. State Election Campaigns

Section 68. Expenditures and Contributions by Foreign-Influenced Corporations and Foreign Nationals.

AS 15.13.068. Expenditures and Contributions by Foreign-Influenced Corporations and Foreign Nationals.

   (a) A foreign-influenced corporation or foreign national may not, directly or indirectly, in connection with an election under this chapter, make a contribution or expenditure or make an express or implied promise to make a contribution or expenditure.
   (b) The provisions of this section prohibit a foreign-influenced corporation or foreign national from making a contribution or expenditure in connection with a state election only to the extent
        (1) federal law prohibits the foreign-influenced corporation or foreign national from making a contribution or expenditure in connection with a state election; and
        (2) permitted by federal law.
   (c) Notwithstanding (a) of this section, a foreign-influenced corporation may make a contribution to a person who makes covered expenditures or contributions if that person segregates contributions from foreign nationals and foreign-influenced corporations into a separate bank account that may not be used, directly or indirectly, to finance covered expenditures or contributions.
   (d) In this section, when determining the percentage of a corporation's shares outstanding or equity owned by two or more foreign nationals,
        (1) ownership in a mutual or pension fund that holds securities is not a form of ownership or control in such securities unless the foreign national or foreign owner can exercise control or participate in the management of the fund;
        (2) for privately held corporations, a corporation shall determine its percentage of foreign ownership at the time it obligates funds to make covered expenditures or contributions;
        (3) a publicly held corporation shall determine whether it is a foreign-influenced corporation based on its aggregate foreign ownership percentage at the close of trading on the last business day of the calendar quarter preceding the date the corporation makes or obligates funds to make a covered expenditure or contribution, unless the corporation has actual knowledge of its foreign ownership percentage at the time it makes or becomes obligated to make the covered expenditure or contribution; for the purposes of this paragraph, the corporation shall rely on facts, including information
             (A) in the corporation's shareholder register;
             (B) in possession of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission or another governmental agency that is available to the general public;
             (C) known to the corporation as a result of litigation, financing transactions, or proxies voted at annual or other meetings; and
             (D) known to the corporation from another source.
   (e) In this section,
        (1) “corporation” means any corporation, company, limited liability company, limited partnership, business trust, business association, or other similar entity;
        (2) “covered expenditure” means an independent expenditure, electioneering expenditure, or express communication, but does not include a media communication, membership communication, shareholder communication, or expenditure as defined in AS 15.13.400;
        (3) “election” means any state or local election, including a special or runoff election;
        (4) “electioneering expenditure” means a purchase or transfer of, or a promise or agreement to purchase or transfer, money or a thing of value to enable or facilitate the broadcast or other distribution of a communication that
             (A) clearly refers to a candidate for an election under (B) of this paragraph;
             (B) occurs in a 60-day period immediately preceding a general, special, or runoff election or within the 30 days preceding a primary or preference election, or a convention or caucus of a political party legally permitted to nominate a candidate for an election under this chapter; and
             (C) may be received by 500 or more persons in the jurisdiction the candidate seeks to represent;
        (5) “foreign-influenced corporation” means a corporation for which
             (A) a foreign national or foreign owner holds, owns, controls, or has direct or indirect beneficial ownership of equity or voting shares in an amount equal to or greater than five percent of all corporate voting shares outstanding or all corporate equity;
             (B) two or more foreign nationals or foreign owners combined hold, own, control, or have direct or indirect beneficial ownership of equity or voting shares in an amount equal to or greater than 20 percent of all corporate voting shares outstanding or all corporate equity; or
             (C) a foreign national or foreign owner participates directly or indirectly in decisions relating to covered expenditures or contributions;
        (6) “foreign national” means
             (A) an individual who is not a United States citizen or lawfully admitted for permanent residence under 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(20);
             (B) a foreign government, every political subdivision of a foreign government, every official, agent, or representative of a foreign government, and every agency, corporation, or instrumentality of the foreign government or of a political subdivision of a foreign government;
             (C) a person outside of the United States, unless it is established that the person is an individual and a citizen of and domiciled in the United States, or that the person is not an individual and is organized under or created by the laws of the United States or of any state or other place subject to the jurisdiction of the United States and has its principal place of business in the United States; or
             (D) a partnership, association, corporation, organization, or other combination of persons organized under the laws of or having its principal place of business in a foreign country;
        (7) “foreign owner” means a person for whom a foreign national holds, owns, controls, or otherwise has directly or indirectly acquired beneficial ownership of equity or voting shares in a corporation in an amount equal to or greater than 50 percent of all corporate voting shares outstanding or all corporate equity;
        (8) “media communication” means a communication
             (A) in a news story, commentary, or editorial distributed through the facilities of a radio station, television station, cable television system, or satellite system, newspaper, magazine, or other periodical publication, unless the facilities are owned or controlled by a political party, political committee, or candidate; or
             (B) that constitutes a public debate or forum that includes at least two opposing candidates for an office or one advocate and one opponent of an issue, or that solely promotes such a debate or forum and is made by or on behalf of the person sponsoring the debate or forum, provided that the staging organization
                  (i) is a charitable organization that does not make other covered expenditures and does not otherwise support or oppose any political candidate, political party, ballot propositions or questions, or initiative proposals or is a newspaper, radio station, television station, cable television system, or satellite system, newspaper, magazine, or other periodical publication, or other recognized news medium; and
                  (ii) does not structure the debate to promote or advance one candidate or issue position over another;
        (9) “membership communication” means a direct and private communication between a membership organization or union and one or more members of the organization or union, if the membership organization or union
             (A) has members with authority to administer the membership organization or union;
             (B) expressly states the qualifications and requirements for membership in articles, bylaws, or other formal organizational documents; and
             (C) is not organized primarily for the purpose of making covered expenditures or influencing elections, ballot propositions, ballot questions, or ballot initiative proposals;
        (10) “shareholder communication” means a direct and private communication between a corporation and shareholders, executives, or administrative personnel of the corporation.