The Alaska Public Offices Commission (APOC) has filed a complaint against Recover Alaska for violating campaign disclosure laws. Recover Alaska supported the alcohol tax that was on the ballot for the recent Anchorage election. They ran both Facebook and radio ads. The APOC complaint focuses on the Facebooks ads. Recover Alaska has 15 days to respond. Click here to see the complaint.
The complaint alleges two violations:
- Failure to Register and Report
- Failure to Provide Complete “paid for by” Identifiers
The group did not register with APOC and did not have “paid for by” disclaimers on their ads.
The Landmine reported on this issue during the election. In an April 2 article I reported that Recover Alaska was running ads on Facebook and had not registered with APOC for the 2020 municipal election. I also reported that Recover Alaska had donated over $70,000 to Yes for a Safe, Healthy Anchorage, the official group supporting the alcohol tax. This was disclosed but because they had not registered with APOC it was not clear where the money came from. According to their website, Recover Alaska is funded by groups that include:
- Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority
- MAT-SU Health Foundation
- Providence Health and Services Alaska
- Rasmuson Foundation
- Southcentral Foundation
- State of Alaska Department of Health and Social Services
- University of Alaska Anchorage
In an April 16 opinion piece I elaborated on the extent of their illegal involvement in the election and called for the Assembly to not certify the vote. The election has since been certified. The alcohol tax passed by a narrow margin, 51.24% to 48.76%.
Recover Alaska is not the first group to break campaign disclosure laws, and they won’t be the last. Hopefully this time APOC sends a strong message that if you intend to support issues or candidates, you must obey the law or suffer real consequences.
Jeff,
Thanks again for what you do. The fact is a rubber toothed dog might snarl but it can’t bite that hard. APOC could serve as a valuable check on abuse but it has been given those rubber teeth by the very people it is supposed to oversee. This is another warning about the “status quo” in Alaska politics. I fear you might start to feel like Casandra* of Greek Mythology.
*Cassandra was given the gift of prophecy, but was also cursed by the god Apollo so that her true prophecies would not be believed..
Typical political bullshit. All politicians should be aware, those who cannot hear can still feel. “Keep the speeches short and the rope long.” (Russian proverb)