---
type: "Bill"
title: "An Act relating to the definition of 'political party'; and providing for an effective date."
description: "An Act relating to the definition of 'political party'; and providing for an effective date."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ak"
legislature: "Alaska Legislature"
session: "32"
identifier: "SB 161"
citation: "Alaska SB 161 (32)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["CAMPAIGNS", "ELECTIONS", "POLITICAL PARTIES", "VOTING"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["WIELECHOWSKI"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 67
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2022-01-18"
last_action: "2022-10-05"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/c25ed0a4-691e-4dd8-9832-05baa8ec51ab"
source_url: "https://www.akleg.gov/basis/Bill/Detail/32?Root=SB161"
source_hash: "2ffa176ce93eece83b5fa32941126d987ea3dc5118aa0b337316c26e49dc187c"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ak"]
---

# Alaska SB 161 (32) — An Act relating to the definition of 'political party'; and providing for an effective date.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **CSSB 161(JUD)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.akleg.gov/basis/Bill/Text/32?Hsid=SB0161B)
2. **Enrolled SB 161** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.akleg.gov/basis/Bill/Text/32?Hsid=SB0161Z)
3. **HCS CSSB 161(STA)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.akleg.gov/basis/Bill/Text/32?Hsid=SB0161C)
4. **SB 161** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.akleg.gov/basis/Bill/Text/32?Hsid=SB0161A)

## Votes

- (S) PASSED Y14 N- E4 A2 #2125 — **14–0** (pass) · upper
- (H) PASSED Y37 N2 E1 #3009 — **37–2** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- WIELECHOWSKI — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2022-01-18** (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS `reading-1`
- **2022-01-18** (S) STA, JUD
- **2022-02-17** (S) STATE AFFAIRS at 03:30 PM BUTROVICH 205
- **2022-02-17** (S) Heard & Held
- **2022-02-17** (S) Minutes (SSTA)
- **2022-03-01** (S) STATE AFFAIRS at 03:30 PM BUTROVICH 205
- **2022-03-01** (S) -- MEETING CANCELED --
- **2022-03-03** (S) STATE AFFAIRS at 03:30 PM BUTROVICH 205
- **2022-03-03** (S) Moved SB 161 Out of Committee
- **2022-03-03** (S) Minutes (SSTA)
- **2022-03-04** (S) STA RPT 4NR 1DP
- **2022-03-04** (S) NR: SHOWER, COSTELLO, REINBOLD, HOLLAND
- **2022-03-04** (S) DP: KAWASAKI
- **2022-03-04** (S) FN1: ZERO(GOV)
- **2022-03-14** (S) JUDICIARY at 01:30 PM BUTROVICH 205
- **2022-03-14** (S) Heard & Held
- **2022-03-14** (S) Minutes (SJUD)
- **2022-03-16** (S) JUDICIARY at 01:30 PM BUTROVICH 205
- **2022-03-16** (S) Moved CSSB 161(JUD) Out of Committee
- **2022-03-16** (S) Minutes (SJUD)
- **2022-03-18** (S) JUD RPT CS 1AM 3DP SAME TITLE
- **2022-03-18** (S) AM: HOLLAND
- **2022-03-18** (S) DP: MYERS, HUGHES, KIEHL
- **2022-03-18** (S) FN1: ZERO(GOV)
- **2022-03-23** (S) RULES TO CALENDAR 3/23/2022
- **2022-03-23** (S) READ THE SECOND TIME `reading-2`
- **2022-03-23** (S) JUD CS ADOPTED UC
- **2022-03-23** (S) ADVANCED TO THIRD READING 3/25 CAL `reading-3`
- **2022-03-25** (S) READ THE THIRD TIME CSSB 161(JUD) `reading-3`
- **2022-03-25** (S) PASSED Y14 N- E4 A2 `passage`
- **2022-03-25** (S) EFFECTIVE DATE(S) SAME AS PASSAGE
- **2022-03-25** (S) TRANSMITTED TO (H) `passage`
- **2022-03-25** (S) VERSION: CSSB 161(JUD)
- **2022-04-04** (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS `reading-1`
- **2022-04-04** (H) STA, JUD
- **2022-04-05** (H) STATE AFFAIRS at 03:00 PM GRUENBERG 120
- **2022-04-05** (H) -- MEETING CANCELED --
- **2022-04-09** (H) STATE AFFAIRS at 10:00 AM GRUENBERG 120
- **2022-04-09** (H) Heard & Held -- Delayed to 10 Minutes Following Session --
- **2022-04-09** (H) Minutes (HSTA)
- **2022-04-21** (H) STATE AFFAIRS at 03:00 PM GRUENBERG 120
- **2022-04-21** (H) Moved HCS CSSB 161(STA) Out of Committee
- **2022-04-21** (H) Minutes (HSTA)
- **2022-04-25** (H) STA RPT HCS(STA) 4DP 1NR
- **2022-04-25** (H) DP: TARR, CLAMAN, STORY, KREISS-TOMKINS
- **2022-04-25** (H) NR: EASTMAN
- **2022-04-25** (H) FN1: ZERO(GOV)
- **2022-04-27** (H) JUDICIARY at 01:00 PM GRUENBERG 120
- **2022-04-27** (H) Heard & Held
- **2022-05-04** (H) JUDICIARY at 01:00 PM GRUENBERG 120
- **2022-05-04** (H) Moved CSSB 161(JUD) Out of Committee -- Recessed to 5/6/22 at 10:30 am --
- **2022-05-05** (H) JUD RPT 2DP 3NR
- **2022-05-05** (H) DP: DRUMMOND, CLAMAN
- **2022-05-05** (H) NR: EASTMAN, VANCE, KURKA
- **2022-05-05** (H) FN1: ZERO(GOV)
- **2022-05-16** (H) RULES TO CALENDAR 5/16/2022
- **2022-05-16** (H) READ THE SECOND TIME `reading-2`
- **2022-05-16** (H) ADVANCED TO THIRD READING 5/17 CALENDAR `reading-3`
- **2022-05-16** (H) CROSS SPONSOR(S): TARR
- **2022-05-17** (H) READ THE THIRD TIME CSSB 161(JUD) `reading-3`
- **2022-05-17** (H) PASSED Y37 N2 E1 `passage`
- **2022-05-17** (H) EFFECTIVE DATE(S) SAME AS PASSAGE
- **2022-05-17** (H) RETURN TO (S), TRANSMIT TO GOV NEXT
- **2022-05-17** (H) VERSION: CSSB 161(JUD)
- **2022-10-05** (S) 11:08 A.M. 8/22/22 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2022-10-05** (S) LAW W/O GOV SIGNATURE 9/12 CH 72 SLA 22 `became-law`
- **2022-10-05** (S) EFFECTIVE DATE(S) OF LAW 1/1/23 `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/c25ed0a4-691e-4dd8-9832-05baa8ec51ab`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Alaska legislature records).