Legislature(2001 - 2002)
04/28/2001 04:50 PM House JUD
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
SB 166 - APPOINTMENT OF US SENATORS Number 0430 CHAIR ROKEBERG announced that the next order of business would be SENATE BILL NO. 166, "An Act relating to the time of filling by appointment a vacancy in the office of United States senator." Number 0442 DEBORAH DAVIDSON, Staff to Senator Dave Donley, Alaska State Legislature, sponsor, explained on behalf of Senator Donley that SB 166 amends current law to provide a five-day waiting period before the governor "names an appointment" in the event a vacancy occurs in one of Alaska's U.S. Senate seats. The governor must wait at least five days after the date of the vacancy but must still - per current statute - make the appointment within 30 days of the date of the vacancy. REPRESENTATIVE BERKOWITZ asked whether there is something inadequate with the current method. MS. DAVIDSON replied that she would not term the current system inadequate, rather that SB 166 simply gives residents of Alaska a longer opportunity to voice their opinion to the governor regarding who should be appointed. REPRESENTATIVE BERKOWITZ asked whether the sponsor's objective is to encourage public participation in the [political] process. CHAIR ROKEBERG asked whether under current statute the appointee has to be of the same political party as the person vacating the seat. MS. DAVIDSON said that the nominee must be a member of the same political party that the predecessor to the office was, at the time [he/she] took office. REPRESENTATIVE BERKOWITZ said that this current requirement is a result of an amendment made in [1968] - "the 'dead Ted' amendment." At the time, Senator Stevens - a republican - was appointed to "fill the shoes of a democrat," and people did not want that to occur again, he added. CHAIR ROKEBERG noted that for a vacancy occurring in the Alaska State Legislature, the party nominates three candidates and the governor selects one of them. MS. DAVIDSON added that at the congressional level, no nomination by the political party occurs; the statute simply says that the person must be a member of the same political party. In response to Representative Berkowitz's question regarding the sponsor's intent, said that it was just to give the public more time for input. REPRESENTATIVE BERKOWITZ asked whether the sponsor is "on record as saying that the more the public weighs in, the better." MS. DAVIDSON said yes. Number 0778 REPRESENTATIVE BERKOWITZ made a motion to adopt Amendment 4 [taken up first], which read [original punctuation provided]: Page 1, line 1, following "filling": Delete "by appointment" Page 1, line 4, through page 2, line 3: Delete all material and insert: "* Section 1. AS 15.40.010 is amended to read: Sec. 15.40.010. Condition [CONDITIONS] and time of calling special election [FILLING VACANCY BY APPOINTMENT]. When a vacancy occurs in the office of United States senator, the governor [, WITHIN 30 DAYS, shall, by proclamation and subject to AS 15.40.050, call a special election to be held on a date not less than 60 nor more than 90 days after the date the vacancy occurs [APPOINT A QUALIFIED PERSON TO FILL THE VACANCY]. However, if the [REMAINDER OF THE TERM OF THE PREDECESSOR IN OFFICE WILL EXPIRE OR IF THE] vacancy occurs on a date that is less than 180 but more than 60 days before the date of the primary election for the office [WILL BE FILLED BY A SPECIAL ELECTION BEFORE THE SENATE WILL NEXT MEET, CONVENE, OR RECONVENE], the governor may not call a special election [FILL THE VACANCY]. * Sec. 2. AS 15.40.050 is amended to read: Sec. 15.40.050. Date of special election. The special election to fill the vacancy shall be held on the date of the first [GENERAL] election, whether primary or general, [WHICH IS HELD MORE THAN THREE FULL CALENDAR MONTHS] after the vacancy occurs if the vacancy occurs on a date that is less than 180 but more than 60 days before (1) a primary election, other than the primary election for the office; or (2) a genera1 election. * Sec. 3. AS 15.40.060 is amended to read: Sec. 15.40.060. Proclamation of special election. The governor shall issue the proclamation calling the special election at least 50 [80] days before the election. * Sec. 4. AS 15.40 is amended by adding a new section to read: Sec. 15.40.075. Date of nominations. Candidates for the special election shall be nominated by petition transmitted to the director before the 21st day after the vacancy occurs by (1) the actual physical delivery of the petition in person; (2) mail postmarked not later than midnight of that date; or (3) telegram of a copy in substance of the statements made in the petition. * Sec. 5. AS 15.40.030, 15.40.040, 15.40.080, and 15.40.090 are repealed. * Sec. 6. This Act takes effect immediately under AS 01.10.070(c)." REPRESENTATIVE BERKOWITZ explained that Amendment 4 basically provides that: If we're believing in public participation, then we should allow the people to vote to fill the spot. Now, that's not such a radical concept because that's what we do if [a seat in] the [U.S.] House of Representatives falls open. So I think that what's good for the [U.S.] House of Representatives ought to be good for the [U.S.] Senate. We should have a special election because if we believe the public has the right to weigh in - rather than [having] a governor make an appointment - then let the people vote. Number 0842 REPRESENTATIVE JAMES objected. CHAIR ROKEBERG asked whether Amendment 4 would result in a vacancy for a particular period of time. REPRESENTATIVE BERKOWITZ said yes; it would be same as if there were a vacancy in the [U.S. House of Representatives] - no vacancy would be more than 90 days. With regards to SB 166, Representative Berkowitz posited that the whole point of SB 166 is to prevent Governor Knowles from appointing Senator Frank Murkowski's successor. He said that if the legislature has an opportunity to do something that's based on good public policy rather than expedient politics, then the legislature should pursue good public policy; he added that Amendment 4 is preferable public policy - just let the people vote. REPRESENTATIVE JAMES commented that if Representative Berkowitz "was on the other side of this issue, he would be doing the same thing." REPRESENTATIVE BERKOWITZ said, "That's not true." And when asked how someone would know that it wasn't true, he responded by saying, "Essentially what I'm doing is ... trading the right of a democratic governor to make an appointment [in favor of throwing] the whole thing open to a public vote. I'm conceding some form of partisan power. So that's how you know." CHAIR ROKEBERG opined that having a vacancy in the [U.S. Senate] for up to 90 days is not advisable, adding that he is considering changing the process for any vacancies which may occur in the [U.S. House of Representatives] as well. REPRESENTATIVE MEYER asked why Amendment 4 is being offered. REPRESENTATIVE BERKOWITZ said, "Because I think that when we have a vacancy we should have a special election; that's what we do for [the U.S. House of Representatives], we should do it for Senate." Number 1044 A roll call vote was taken. Representatives Berkowitz voted for Amendment 4. Representatives Coghill, Meyer, James, and Rokeberg voted against it. Therefore, Amendment 4 failed by a vote of 1-4. Number 1076 REPRESENTATIVE BERKOWITZ made a motion to adopt Amendment 3 [taken up second], which read [original punctuation provided]: Page 1, lines 9-13, Delete all materials He explained that, "Amendment 3 says, 'If your going to have this waiting period, then we should go back to the way it was before we had the "dead Ted bill,"' which is [to] allow the sitting governor to appoint ... a person based on their qualifications rather than on their party affiliation." Number 1095 REPRESENTATIVE JAMES objected. CHAIR ROKEBERG opined that Amendment 3 is not in the "public interest," and is unfair to the incumbent. REPRESENTATIVE BERKOWITZ surmised then that partisanship would be the defining trait for an appointee. CHAIR ROKEBERG remarked, "They're only filling a vacancy." REPRESENTATIVE BERKOWITZ pointed out that a vacancy could last two years, which is "as long as we sit in un-vacant seats." Number 1150 A roll call vote was taken. Representatives Berkowitz voted for Amendment 3. Representatives Coghill, Meyer, James, and Rokeberg voted against it. Therefore, Amendment 3 failed by a vote of 1-4. Number 1170 REPRESENTATIVE BERKOWITZ, after noting that he would not be offering Amendment 2, made a motion to adopt Amendment 1 [taken up last], which read [original punctuation provided]: Page 1, preceding line 4, insert: "* Section 1. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to read: FINDINGS AND INTENT: The legislature finds that, in order to ensure the people of Alaska receive the best possible representation in the United States Congress and Alaska's executive branch: (a) Members of Congress and elected executives should seek election to other offices after completing their current terms. (b) In the event that Members of Congress and elected executives choose to pursue other offices during their term in office, they should resign their current post to allow a successor to vigorously pursue Alaska's interests." Renumber following sections accordingly. REPRESENTATIVE BERKOWITZ said Amendment 1 is a statement of intent: Because I know, Mr. Chair, that you just said how important it was to make sure that people are paying full attention to their duties when they're either in Congress or filling statewide office in the state, and I think it should be clearly expressed that they oughtn't run for other offices at the same time because it would distract them from their ability to do their duty. We couldn't have a major issue in Congress if, for example, a U.S. Senator were running for governor and distracted by that campaign. Number 1194 REPRESENTATIVE JAMES objected. She noted that when a congressional issue it serious, members of Congress are focused on that issue and not on their campaigns. CHAIR ROKEBERG opined that, "It's part of our American political tradition to be able to have what's called the 'free pass' for people to move up in office throughout our systems." REPRESENTATIVE BERKOWITZ mentioned that Amendment 1 might cure any problems that the governor has with SB 166. Number 1278 A roll call vote was taken. Representatives Berkowitz voted for Amendment 1. Representatives Meyer, James, Coghill, and Rokeberg voted against it. Therefore, Amendment 1 failed by vote of 1-4. Number 1310 REPRESENTATIVE JAMES moved to report SB 166 out of committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal note. Number 1314 REPRESENTATIVE BERKOWITZ objected. He said: When we tailor a law in order to suit an individual circumstance, we're doing the public process a disservice. And that's what's happening here. We can pretend that there's efforts to notify the public, but that not really what's going on; what's going on is the expectation that Frank Murkowski will run for governor, win the governorship, and then have the ability to appoint his own successor. ... I don't think we ought to change the rules just so that can happen. I think it looks like we're creating special legislation in order to benefit one person and one party. ... That doesn't withstand the test of time and it doesn't do us credit. And if I'm wrong, someone look me in eye and tell me that this is not done for that purpose. CHAIR ROKEBERG said, "You may be right, I don't know." Number 1392 A roll call vote was taken. Representatives James, Coghill, Meyer, and Rokeberg voted to report SB 166 from committee. Representatives Berkowitz voted against it. Therefore, SB 166 was reported from the House Judiciary Standing Committee by a vote of 4-1.
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