00                   HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 20                                                                   
01 Proposing an amendment to the Uniform Rules of the Alaska State Legislature relating                                    
02 to voting and abstention from voting.                                                                                   
03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
04    * Section 1. Rule 34(b), Uniform Rules of the Alaska State Legislature, is amended to read:                        
05            (b)  Abstention and Voting. Except as provided in this subsection, every                                 
06       [EVERY] member present in the house shall vote. A member may abstain from                                     
07       voting if [UNLESS] the house, for special reasons, permits a member to abstain. A                 
08       member shall request to abstain from voting if the member reasonably believes                                 
09       that the member's vote on a question would constitute a violation of AS 24.60                                 
10       (Legislative Ethics Act). All motions excusing a member from voting shall be made                             
11       before the house divides or before the call for the yeas and nays is commenced. A                                 
12       member requesting to be excused from voting may make a brief oral statement of the                                
13       reasons for the request, including, if applicable, specific provisions of AS 24.60 that                     
14       support the member's request to abstain. The [AND THE] question of granting                                   
15       permission to abstain shall be taken without further debate. A member may not                                     
16       explain a vote, may not discuss the question while the yeas and nays are being called,                            

01       and may not change a vote after the roll call result has been announced. Upon division                            
02       and count of the house of any question, a member who is not within the chamber may                            
03       not be counted. A member may not be permitted to abstain except upon a majority                               
04       vote [THE UNANIMOUS CONSENT] of the membership.