In June, Anchorage political consultant Art Hackney filed charges of campaign law violations against three of the major organizations that sought to defeat Measure 4, last year's failed ballot initiative that sought more restrictions on water pollution discharges from hardrock mines. (See story.) At the time, Hackney was one of several Measure 4 proponents under investigation by APOC for their own alleged campaign law abuses related to Measure 4. That case is still ongoing.

But election regulators are taking a hard look at Hackney's complaint as well. The Alaska Public Offices Commission opened an investigation and oral arguments are scheduled for early August. This week, Alaska Attorney General Dan Sullivan, filed the state's opposition to recent requests by the Council of Alaska Producers, Kotzebue-based NANA and the Alaskans Against the Mining Shutdown to dismiss Hackney's complaint.

"APOC staff must be given time and opportunity to complete their investigation and present their evidence before a motion to dismiss can be heard," according to Sullivan's July 27 filing, written by Thomas Dosik, a state assistant attorney general.

Sullivan also refuted one of NANA's arguments: that it was not required to report campaign expenditures before it made payments. "An expenditure becomes reportable when it is incurred, not when it is actually paid," the AG filing said.

Dosik wrote, "If the law were otherwise, there would be a loophole large enough to swallow all of the campaign disclosure laws. Any person, group, candidate or nongroup entity could simply arrange its affairs so as to defer payment of its bills until after an election, and deny the public the opportunity to know who is behind the expenditures until after the vote had taken place."

To recap Hackney's complaint: he accused AAMS, a ballot measure group created to fight Measure 4, of failing to properly report $2.2 million in campaign expenditures incurred before the August primary election. He said NANA, a Native corporation, also failed to properly report more than $400,000 in campaign expenses before the election. And he said the Council of Alaska Producers failed to report more than $5 million it provided to AAMS.

APOC filed its own complaint against Hackney and several other Pebble opponents, including Anchorage financial manager Bob Gillam, after completing its investigation of campaign spending by some of Measure 4's backers. (See story.) The measure's backers spent considerably less than its foes during the initiative battle.