HB 200: "An Act relating to the membership of the Alaska Legislative Council and the membership of the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee; and providing for an effective date."
00 HOUSE BILL NO. 200 01 "An Act relating to the membership of the Alaska Legislative Council and the 02 membership of the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee; and providing for an 03 effective date." 04 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 05 * Section 1. AS 24.20.020 is amended to read: 06 Sec. 24.20.020. Membership. The legislative council is composed of the 07 president of the senate and six other senators appointed by the president, and the 08 speaker of the house of representatives and six other representatives appointed by the 09 speaker. The membership from each house shall meet the requirements of (b) of 10 this section [INCLUDE AT LEAST ONE MEMBER FROM EACH OF THE TWO 11 MAJOR POLITICAL PARTIES]. The appointing authority in each house shall make 12 and announce the appointment or reappointment of members of the council within 15 13 days after the convening of the first regular session of each legislature. 14 * Sec. 2. AS 24.20.020 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:
01 (b) The membership from each house must include at least one member from 02 each of the two major political parties. The membership from each house must also 03 include the number of minority members that is proportional to the number of 04 minority members in the house compared to the total house membership or to one seat, 05 whichever is greater. In calculating the number of seats the minority is entitled to, 06 fractional numbers that represent the minority proportional entitlement to a seat shall 07 be ignored. For purposes of this subsection, "minority" means a group of members 08 who have organized and elected a minority leader and who constitute at least 25 09 percent of the total house membership. 10 * Sec. 3. AS 24.20.040 is amended to read: 11 Sec. 24.20.040. Vacancies. When a vacancy occurs in the statutory or 12 appointive membership of the council, the presiding officer of the house incurring the 13 vacancy shall fill the vacancy within 30 days. If the office of the president of the 14 senate or speaker of the house of representatives becomes vacant and a vacancy occurs 15 among the appointed members of the council, the remaining council members from 16 the house incurring the vacancy shall appoint a new member. After a vacancy is 17 filled, the membership of the house that incurred the vacancy must meet the 18 requirements of AS 24.20.020(b) [A LEGISLATOR APPOINTED TO FILL A 19 VACANCY SHALL BE A MEMBER OF THE SAME POLITICAL PARTY AS 20 THE MEMBER VACATING THE SEAT, WHEN POSSIBLE]. 21 * Sec. 4. AS 24.20.161 is amended to read: 22 Sec. 24.20.161. Membership. The Legislative Budget and Audit Committee 23 is composed of 10 members: the chairs [CHAIRMEN] of the senate and house 24 finance committees; one member selected from each of the senate and house finance 25 committees and appointed by the president of the senate and the speaker of the house, 26 respectively; and three members appointed from each house by the respective 27 presiding officer. The chair [CHAIRMAN] of the finance committee may choose not 28 to serve on the committee. If this occurs, the presiding officer of the appropriate 29 house shall appoint a replacement from the finance committee. The membership from 30 each house shall meet the requirements of (b) of this section [INCLUDE AT 31 LEAST ONE MEMBER FROM EACH OF THE TWO MAJOR POLITICAL
01 PARTIES]. The committee shall select its own chair [CHAIRMAN]. 02 * Sec. 5. AS 24.20.161 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 03 (b) The membership from each house must include at least one member from 04 each of the two major political parties. The membership from each house must also 05 include the number of minority members that is proportional to the number of 06 minority members in the house compared to the total house membership or to one seat, 07 whichever is greater. In calculating the number of seats the minority is entitled to, 08 fractional numbers that represent the minority proportional entitlement to a seat shall 09 be ignored. For purposes of this subsection, "minority" means a group of members 10 who have organized and elected a minority leader and who constitute at least 25 11 percent of the total house membership. 12 * Sec. 6. AS 24.20.181 is amended to read: 13 Sec. 24.20.181. Vacancies. When a vacancy occurs in the statutory or 14 appointive membership of the committee, the presiding officer of the house incurring 15 the vacancy shall choose a successor. If the office of the president of the senate or 16 speaker of the house of representatives becomes vacant and a vacancy from the 17 affected house occurs among the membership of the committee, the remaining 18 committee members from the house incurring the vacancy shall appoint a new 19 member. After a vacancy is filled, the membership of the house that incurred the 20 vacancy must meet the requirements of AS 24.20.161(b). 21 * Sec. 7. This Act takes effect immediately under AS 01.10.070(c).