SCR 9: Approving the open meetings guidelines proposed by the Select Committee on Legislative Ethics.
00 SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 9 01 Approving the open meetings guidelines proposed by the Select Committee on 02 Legislative Ethics. 03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 WHEREAS, in sec. 10, ch. 69, SLA 1994, the Eighteenth Alaska State Legislature 05 directed the Select Committee on Legislative Ethics to submit proposed initial guidelines 06 applying the open meetings principles to the legislature; and 07 WHEREAS the committee submitted revised guidelines to the Nineteenth and 08 Twenty-First Alaska State Legislatures, but they were not approved; and 09 WHEREAS the Select Committee on Legislative Ethics has submitted to the Twenty- 10 Second Alaska State Legislature proposed initial guidelines that read as follows: 11 Sec. 1. General rule. Meetings of a legislative body shall be open to 12 the public. 13 Sec. 2. Meetings. (a) For purposes of this guideline, a meeting occurs 14 when a majority of the members of the legislative body is present and action is 15 taken. A legislative body takes action when members of the body vote on or 16 agree upon a course of action on a motion, bill, resolution, rule, or regulation.
01 (b) In this guideline, a legislative body 02 (1) includes 03 (A) the Senate; 04 (B) the House of Representatives; 05 (C) the Senate and the House of Representatives 06 meeting in joint session; 07 (D) a committee of the legislature other than the 08 Committee on Committees, including a standing committee, special 09 committee, joint committee, conference or free conference committee, 10 committee of the whole, or permanent interim committee; 11 (E) a delegation or caucus of legislators representing a 12 geographic area or political subdivision; 13 (F) a legislative commission, task force, or other group; 14 or 15 (G) a caucus of members of one or more of the bodies 16 set out in (A) - (F) of this paragraph; but 17 (2) does not include a Committee on Committees. 18 Sec. 3. Executive sessions. (a) A legislative body may call an 19 executive session at which members of the public may be excluded. 20 (b) If permitted subjects are to be discussed at a meeting in executive 21 session, the meeting must first be convened as a public meeting and the 22 question of holding an executive session to discuss matters that are listed in (c) 23 of this section shall be determined by a majority vote of the legislative body. 24 The motion to convene in executive session must clearly and with specificity 25 describe the subject of the proposed executive session without defeating the 26 purpose of addressing the subject in private. Subjects may not be considered at 27 the executive session except those mentioned in the motion calling for the 28 executive session unless auxiliary to the main question. Except as otherwise 29 provided in this section, a legislative body may not make a decision in 30 executive session. 31 (c) An executive session may be held for discussion of a matter
01 (1) the immediate knowledge of which would adversely affect 02 the finances of a government unit; 03 (2) that tends to prejudice the reputation and character of a 04 person; 05 (3) that is, by law, required to be confidential; 06 (4) involving consideration of government records that by law 07 are not subject to public disclosure; 08 (5) that is confidential as a privileged communication between 09 an attorney and client under rules adopted by the supreme court; a legislative 10 body may, in executive session, decide on and give instructions to an attorney 11 representing the legislative body or the state on issues arising out of or related 12 to the representation. 13 Sec. 4. Closed meetings for political strategy. Legislators may meet 14 in closed caucus or in a private, informal meeting to discuss political strategy 15 but those meetings are exempt from the requirements adopted under sec. 5(b) 16 of these Guidelines. This section does not permit a joint meeting of the House 17 and Senate majority caucuses or of the House and Senate minority caucuses to 18 be conducted in a closed session. 19 Sec. 5. Uniform Rules. (a) The legislature shall adopt Uniform Rules 20 to implement this guideline. 21 (b) The Uniform Rules of the Legislature shall provide for posting 22 notices of meetings, recording proceedings, and making the recordings and 23 votes available to the public. The Uniform Rules may set different notice 24 requirements for meetings of 25 (1) permanent interim committees of the legislature; 26 (2) standing, special, or joint committees held during 27 (A) a regular legislative session, including different 28 notice requirements for meetings held in the first week of the session or 29 after the date a conference committee has been chosen to consider the 30 operating budget; 31 (B) a special legislative session; and
01 (C) the interim between legislative sessions. 02 BE IT RESOLVED by the Alaska State Legislature that the open meetings guidelines 03 proposed by the Select Committee on Legislative Ethics as set out in this resolution are 04 approved.