SCR 13: Relating to the procedure that the Thirty-Third Alaska State Legislature will use to reconsider bills and items vetoed by the governor.
00 SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 13 01 Relating to the procedure that the Thirty-Third Alaska State Legislature will use to 02 reconsider bills and items vetoed by the governor. 03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 WHEREAS, on January 11, 1956, the Alaska Constitutional Convention Delegates 05 voted 39-12 to adopt an amendment proposed by Delegate Katherine Nordale that inserted 06 into the section that became art. II, sec. 16, Constitution of the State of Alaska, the word 07 "immediately" following "shall," thereby directing that the legislature "shall meet 08 immediately in joint session and reconsider passage of the vetoed bill or item"; and 09 WHEREAS the delegates stated that the purpose of inserting the word "immediately" 10 in the section that became art. II, sec. 16, Constitution of the State of Alaska, was to direct the 11 legislature to meet in joint session and provide that the house of origin cannot "sit on the bill 12 and allow the veto to kill the bill"; and 13 WHEREAS, during the First Regular Session of the First Alaska State Legislature in 14 1959, Senator Joseph Earl Cooper, chair of the Senate Rules Committee, reported that "both 15 the State Constitution and the Joint Rules directed the House and Senate to meet immediately 16 upon receiving a veto message from the Governor"; and
01 WHEREAS, in response to the adoption of House Joint Resolution No. 11 by the 02 Alaska State Legislature in 1975, the voters of the state voted in 1976 to approve an 03 amendment to art. II, sec. 16, Constitution of the State of Alaska, further clarifying that 04 "[b]ills vetoed after adjournment of the first regular session of the legislature shall be 05 reconsidered by the legislature sitting as one body no later than the fifth day of the next 06 regular or special session," and "[b]ills vetoed after adjournment of the second regular session 07 shall be reconsidered by the legislature sitting as one body no later than the fifth day of a 08 special session of that legislature, if one is called"; and 09 WHEREAS Alaska State Legislature Uniform Rule 45 recognizes that the language 10 "shall meet immediately in joint session" under art. II, sec. 16, Constitution of the State of 11 Alaska, requires that the bodies act "promptly," and also recognizes the five-day requirement 12 approved by the voters in 1976; and 13 WHEREAS, in January 2024, during the Second Regular Session of the Thirty-Third 14 Alaska State Legislature, members of the legislature reviewed the language in art. II, sec. 16, 15 Constitution of the State of Alaska, that states "the legislature shall meet immediately in joint 16 session and reconsider passage of the vetoed bill or item"; and 17 WHEREAS, without formally deciding whether the language "shall meet 18 immediately in joint session" in art. II, sec. 16, Constitution of the State of Alaska, is 19 discretionary or mandatory, the legislature met in joint session on January 18, 2024, the third 20 legislative day of the Second Regular Session of the Thirty-Third Alaska State Legislature, 21 and reconsidered items from House Bill No. 39, enacted as ch. 1, FSSLA 2023, that were 22 vetoed by the governor during the interim, and, after receiving a veto message on Friday, 23 March 15, 2024, with regard to Senate Bill No. 140, the legislature met in joint session on 24 Monday, March 18, 2024, to reconsider passage of that measure; and 25 WHEREAS members of the public and the legislature should have predictability and 26 certainty about the process the legislature will follow for reconsideration of vetoed bills and 27 items; and 28 WHEREAS the Thirty-Third Alaska State Legislature finds that the precedent of the 29 First Alaska State Legislature and the interpretation of art. II, sec. 16, Constitution of the State 30 of Alaska, and the Joint Rules by Senator Joseph Earl Cooper, Senate Rules Committee chair 31 in the First Alaska State Legislature, are persuasive; and
01 WHEREAS the Alaska State Legislature finds that the voters, by approving House 02 Joint Resolution No. 11 in 1976, expected and directed the Alaska State Legislature to act 03 within the first five days of the next regular or special session to reconsider bills or items 04 vetoed by the governor after adjournment; 05 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature interprets the phrase "the 06 legislature shall meet immediately" in art. II, sec. 16, Constitution of the State of Alaska, as 07 meaning that an immediate joint session of the legislature is mandatory; and be it 08 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature finds that Uniform Rule 09 45 requires that the legislature meet "promptly" in joint session; and be it 10 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Thirty-Third Alaska State Legislature, in 11 accordance with Uniform Rule 45 and art. II, sec. 16, Constitution of the State of Alaska, will 12 "meet immediately in joint session" to "promptly" reconsider bills and items vetoed by the 13 governor; and be it 14 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Thirty-Third Alaska State Legislature will meet in 15 joint session to reconsider vetoed bills and items as follows: 16 (1) If the legislature receives a veto message during session, upon receiving 17 the veto message, the legislature shall meet immediately in joint session to reconsider the 18 vetoed bill or item; 19 (2) If the legislature receives a veto message after adjournment of the first 20 regular session and no special session is called, the legislature shall meet in joint session to 21 reconsider the vetoed bill or item not later than the fifth day of the next regular session; 22 (3) If the legislature receives a veto message after adjournment of the first or 23 second regular session and a special session is called, the legislature shall meet in joint 24 session to reconsider the vetoed bill or item not later than the fifth day of the special session; 25 (4) If the legislature receives a veto message after adjournment of the second 26 regular session and no special session is called, the legislature will not meet in joint session to 27 reconsider the vetoed bill or item.