00 HOUSE BILL NO. 412 01 "An Act relating to the membership of the Alaska Legislative Council and the 02 membership of the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee." 03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04  * Section 1. AS 24.20.020 is amended to read: 05 Sec. 24.20.020. Membership. The legislative council is composed of the 06 president of the senate and six other senators appointed by the president, and the 07 speaker of the house of representatives and six other representatives appointed by the 08 speaker. The membership from each house shall meet the requirements of (b) of this  09 section [INCLUDE AT LEAST ONE MEMBER FROM EACH OF THE TWO 10 MAJOR POLITICAL PARTIES]. The appointing authority in each house shall make 11 and announce the appointment or reappointment of members of the council within 15 12 days after the convening of the first regular session of each legislature.  13  * Sec. 2. AS 24.20.020 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 14 (b) The membership from each house must include at least one member from 01 each of the two major political parties. The membership from each house must also 02 include the number of minority members that is proportional to the number of 03 minority members in the house compared to the total house membership or to one seat, 04 whichever is greater. In calculating the number of seats to which the minority is 05 entitled, fractional numbers that represent the minority proportional entitlement to a 06 seat shall be ignored. For purposes of this subsection, "minority" means a group of 07 members who have organized and elected a minority leader and who constitute at least 08 25 percent of the total house membership. 09  * Sec. 3. AS 24.20.040 is amended to read: 10 Sec. 24.20.040. Vacancies. When a vacancy occurs in the statutory or 11 appointive membership of the council, the presiding officer of the house incurring the 12 vacancy shall fill the vacancy within 30 days. If the office of the president of the 13 senate or speaker of the house of representatives becomes vacant and a vacancy occurs 14 among the appointed members of the council, the remaining council members from 15 the house incurring the vacancy shall appoint a new member. After a vacancy is  16 filled, the membership of the house that incurred the vacancy must meet the  17 requirements of AS 24.20.020(b) [A LEGISLATOR APPOINTED TO FILL A 18 VACANCY SHALL BE A MEMBER OF THE SAME POLITICAL PARTY AS 19 THE MEMBER VACATING THE SEAT, WHEN POSSIBLE]. 20  * Sec. 4. AS 24.20.161 is amended to read: 21 Sec. 24.20.161. Membership. The Legislative Budget and Audit Committee is 22 composed of 10 members: the chairs [CHAIRMEN] of the senate and house finance 23 committees; one member selected from each of the senate and house finance 24 committees and appointed by the president of the senate and the speaker of the house, 25 respectively; and three members appointed from each house by the respective 26 presiding officer. The chair [CHAIRMAN] of the finance committee may choose not 27 to serve on the committee. If this occurs, the presiding officer of the appropriate house 28 shall appoint a replacement from the finance committee. The membership from each 29 house shall meet the requirements of (b) of this section [INCLUDE AT LEAST 30 ONE MEMBER FROM EACH OF THE TWO MAJOR POLITICAL PARTIES]. The 31 committee shall select its own chair [CHAIRMAN]. 01  * Sec. 5. AS 24.20.161 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 02 (b) The membership from each house must include at least one member from 03 each of the two major political parties. The membership from each house must also 04 include the number of minority members that is proportional to the number of 05 minority members in the house compared to the total house membership or to one seat, 06 whichever is greater. In calculating the number of seats to which the minority is 07 entitled, fractional numbers that represent the minority proportional entitlement to a 08 seat shall be ignored. For purposes of this subsection, "minority" means a group of 09 members who have organized and elected a minority leader and who constitute at least 10 25 percent of the total house membership. 11  * Sec. 6. AS 24.20.181 is amended to read: 12 Sec. 24.20.181. Vacancies. When a vacancy occurs in the statutory or 13 appointive membership of the committee, the presiding officer of the house incurring 14 the vacancy shall choose a successor. If the office of the president of the senate or 15 speaker of the house of representatives becomes vacant and a vacancy from the 16 affected house occurs among the membership of the committee, the remaining 17 committee members from the house incurring the vacancy shall appoint a new 18 member. After a vacancy is filled, the membership of the house that incurred the  19 vacancy must meet the requirements of AS 24.20.161(b).