Legislature(2017 - 2018)GRUENBERG 120
02/18/2017 11:00 AM House STATE AFFAIRS
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB20 | |
| HCR5 | |
| HB44 | |
| HB13 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | HB 44 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | HB 13 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| += | HB 20 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HCR 5 | TELECONFERENCED | |
HCR 5-UNIFORM RULES: COMMITTEE ON COMMITTEES
11:09:52 AM
CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS announced that the next order of business
would be HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 5, Proposing an
amendment to the Uniform Rules of the Alaska State Legislature
relating to the membership of the Committee on Committees.
CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS opened public testimony on HCR 5. After
ascertaining that there was no one who wished to testify, he
closed public testimony.
11:11:22 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KNOPP moved to adopt Conceptual Amendment 1,
labeled 30-LS0359\A.1, which read as follows [with hand written
changes]:
Page 1, line 12, following "committee":
Insert "and the Committee on Committees"
CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS objected for the purpose of discussion.
REPRESENTATIVE KNOPP relayed that Conceptual Amendment 1 inserts
"the Committee on Committees" to make that committee subject to
the proportional rule, like the standing committees.
CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS asked for testimony from Legislative Legal
and Research Services regarding the merit of Conceptual
Amendment 1.
11:13:11 AM
DOUG GARDNER, Director, Legislative Legal Services, Legislative
Affairs Agency, conveyed his understanding that of the intent of
HCR 5 is to make Uniform Rule 1(e) conform to recent practices
by the House. He said that although Uniform Rule 1 provides for
the Speaker of the House to select five members to serve on the
Committee on Committees, membership on the committee has
generally been five majority members and two minority members.
He said that if the intent is to change the committee selection
practice so that seven members are put on the committee, then
the amendment he prepared does that with certainty.
11:15:20 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KNOPP explained that he modified the amendment
drafted by Mr. Gardner by deleting lines 2 and 3, thus leaving
the phrase "at least five members" in Section 1 of HCR 5,
subsection (e), beginning on line 6. He added that the only
change proposed by Conceptual Amendment 1 is the insertion of
"and the Committee on Committees" after the word "committee" on
line 12 of Section 1, subsection (e), of HCR 5.
MR. GARDNER stated that if the proposal before the committee
leaves the membership of the Committee on Committees at five and
makes it subject to proportional representation, then the number
of minority members on the Committee on Committees simply
depends on the size of the minority.
MR. GARDNER offered that under HCR 5, the proportional
representation of the minority could be determined with
certainty; however, there would be no certainty provided as to
the number of members on the Committee on Committees. He
offered that the Speaker of the House could choose to populate
the committee with five, seven, or even nine members. He added
that if flexibility is what the House State Affairs Standing
Committee wants, then HCR 5 and Conceptual Amendment 1 together
would provide that.
11:17:27 AM
REPRESENTATIVE TUCK asked for confirmation that if there was
less than 25 percent minority status [in the House], then the
majority would not have to recognize anyone from the minority to
be on the Committee on Committees.
MR. GARDNER replied that is correct. He added that once the
size of the minority in the House drops below ten in any given
year, it would not be a legally cognizable minority; therefore,
it would not have membership on the Committee on Committees.
REPRESENTATIVE TUCK asserted that the Committee on Committees is
such an important committee, because it establishes all other
committees and the membership to those other committees. He
said that traditionally there has been a minimum [minority
representation] of two. He added that he likes Conceptual
Amendment 1, because it follows a structure for five or more and
stays consistent with [standing] committee composition. He
offered that if at some point there is a very small minority in
the House, such as eight or less, he would like a "minimum"
provision so that the Committee on Committees does not just
consist of majority members with the minority having no voice.
He suggested that in this situation, a minimum provision would
be the only opportunity for the minority to have a voice. He
stated support of Conceptual Amendment 1, but said he would like
to see a minimum of two [minority members] on the Committee on
Committees.
CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS removed his objection to the motion to
adopt Conceptual Amendment 1. There being no further objection,
it was so ordered.
REPRESENTATIVE TUCK asked for an at ease to draft an additional
amendment, if the sponsor of HCR 5 is agreeable to having
minimum minority representation [on the Committee on Committees]
regardless of its membership in the House.
REPRESENTATIVE EASTMAN opined that Representative Tuck raised a
valid point. He said that in his research on minority
representation in the House and the Senate going back to 1975,
he found that there were times in which the minority caucus
constituted less than 25 percent of the Senate membership;
therefore, the minority caucus was not an officially recognized
caucus. He said that in a number of those situations, the
presiding officer determined that minority representation would
be included on the Committee on Committees, even though the
Uniform Rules did not require it. He stated his concern that
requiring the Committee on Committees to follow the same
prescription as the standing committees would remove that
flexibility for the presiding officer. He added that if there
was no minority caucus, the presiding officer would not have the
opportunity to recognize minority members but be required to
only recognize members of the majority caucus. He expressed his
concern that the minority inadvertently might be excluded from
the Committee on Committees. He stated that he does not have an
objection to the intent of the amendment suggested by
Representative Tuck.
11:21:51 AM
The committee took a brief at ease at 11:21 p.m.
11:22:34 AM
REPRESENTATIVE TUCK said that to insert a minority member
requirement for the Committee on Committees into Rule 1,
subsection (e), of the Uniform Rules, the minority would have to
be recognized, and a minority would not be recognized if it
constitutes less than 25 percent of the House membership. He
expressed that he didn't know how to craft language to allow the
appointment of a minority member. He suggested that perhaps
language stating the appointment of "a member other than the
majority" would achieve his desired results. He added that he
would coordinate with the bill sponsor on this issue in the next
committee to which HCR 5 is assigned.
11:23:28 AM
REPRESENTATIVE TUCK moved to report HCR 5, as amended, out of
committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying
fiscal notes. There being no objection, CSHCR 5(STA) was
reported from the House State Affairs Standing Committee.