HCR 37: Proposing amendments to the Uniform Rules of the Alaska State Legislature relating to the Joint Committee on the Constitution and to joint resolutions; and providing for an effective date.
00HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 37 01 Proposing amendments to the Uniform Rules of the Alaska State Legislature 02 relating to the Joint Committee on the Constitution and to joint resolutions; and 03 providing for an effective date. 04 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 05 * Section 1. Rule 1(e) of the Uniform Rules of the Alaska State Legislature is amended 06 to read: 07 (e) The presiding officer shall announce, not later than the day following 08 election, the appointment of a Committee on Committees consisting of five members 09 including the presiding officer. The presiding officer chairs the Committee on 10 Committees. The committee is responsible for nominating the members of the 11 standing committees as set out in Rule 20(a) [20] and the member who is to chair each 12 standing committee to serve for the two-year duration of the legislature. The 13 membership of each standing committee shall total to an uneven number. The 14 committee is also responsible for nominating three members of that house to serve
01 on the Joint Committee on the Constitution for the two-year duration of the 02 legislature and the member who is to serve as co-chair. On each standing 03 committee and on the Joint Committee on the Constitution the minority is entitled 04 to the number of seats that is proportional to the number of minority members 05 compared to the total house membership or to one seat, whichever is greater. In 06 calculating the number of seats the minority is entitled to, fractional numbers that 07 represent the minority proportional entitlement to a seat shall be ignored. The report 08 of the Committee on Committees is subject to approval by a majority vote of the full 09 membership of the house. For purposes of this subsection "minority" means a group 10 of members who have organized and elected a minority leader and who constitute at 11 least 25 percent of the total house membership. 12 * Sec. 2. Rule 20 of the Uniform Rules of the Alaska State Legislature is amended by 13 adding a new subsection to read: 14 (c) In addition to the standing committees, there is the Joint Committee on the 15 Constitution with jurisdiction over resolutions proposing amendments to the State 16 Constitution. The committee consists of three representatives and three senators. The 17 committee shall, in the house of origin, serve as the first committee of referral for a 18 resolution proposing an amendment to the State Constitution, and the committee shall, 19 in the other house, serve as the last committee of referral for the resolution. The 20 committee shall consider each resolution proposing an amendment to the State 21 Constitution, giving particular attention to matters of style and drafting. The 22 committee, while serving as the first committee of referral, shall hold at least one 23 public hearing on each resolution. The committee may meet during and between 24 regular sessions. The provisions of Rule 21 that conflict with this subsection or with 25 Rule 1(e) do not apply to the Joint Committee on the Constitution. 26 * Sec. 3. Rule 37 of the Uniform Rules of the Alaska State Legislature is amended by 27 adding a new subsection to read: 28 (c) Notwithstanding (a) of this rule and Rule 44, a resolution proposing an 29 amendment to the State Constitution may only be introduced during a first regular 30 session, except that the Joint Committee on the Constitution may, and the Commission 31 on the Constitution may through the Rules Committee, introduce a resolution
01 proposing an amendment to the State Constitution during the first 30 days of a second 02 regular session as well. 03 * Sec. 4. Rule 49(a)(5) of the Uniform Rules of the Alaska State Legislature is amended 04 to read: 05 (5) A joint resolution is the most formal type of resolution and is 06 adopted by both houses and then signed by the governor as a ministerial formality. 07 Except as provided in Rule 20(c) and Rule 37(c), a [THE] joint resolution is treated 08 in all respects as a bill but it is not subject to veto. It is usually reserved for 09 addressees outside the state. This resolution is used mainly to express the view or 10 wish of the legislature to the President, the Congress or agencies of the United States 11 Government or the governments of other states. It is required for proposing or 12 ratifying amendments to the U. S. Constitution, proposing amendments to the State 13 Constitution under provisions of Sec. 1, Art. XIII, of the State Constitution, and for 14 disapproval of local government boundary changes recommended by the Local 15 Boundary Commission under provisions of Sec. 12, Art. X, of the State Constitution. 16 Approval of a joint resolution, other than a resolution proposing amendments to the 17 State Constitution, requires a majority vote of the full membership of each house. 18 A vote shall be held in the house of origin by the 60th legislative day of the 19 second regular session on a resolution proposing amendments to the State 20 Constitution introduced by the Commission on the Constitution; if the resolution 21 passes by at least two-thirds vote in the house of origin, a vote shall be held on 22 it in the second house by the 100th legislative day of that session. 23 * Sec. 5. The amendments proposed by this resolution take effect on the convening of the 24 First Session of the Nineteenth Alaska State Legislature.