Legislature(2007 - 2008)CAPITOL 106
03/24/2007 10:00 AM House STATE AFFAIRS
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB92 | |
| HB151 | |
| HB171 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | HB 13 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| += | HB 92 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 151 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 171 | TELECONFERENCED | |
HB 171-ACCOMMODATE 90-DAY SESSION 11:25:39 AM CHAIR LYNN announced that the last order of business was HOUSE BILL NO. 171, "An Act relating to the terms of legislators, the date and time for convening regular legislative sessions, adoption of uniform rules of the legislature and to certain of those rules, the date for organizing the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee, and deadlines for certain matters or reports to be delivered to the legislature or filed; prohibiting bonuses for legislative employees; and providing for an effective date." [Before the committee was Version 25-LS0653\E, Cook, 3/16/07.] CHAIR LYNN noted the complex nature of the bill and stated his intent was not to pass it out of committee on this date. 11:26:52 AM REPRESENTATIVE JOHNSON moved to adopt Amendment 1, labeled 25- LS0653\E.2, Cook, 3/23/07, which read as follows: Page 1, line 1: Delete "the terms of legislators," Page 2, lines 16 - 22: Delete all material. Renumber the following bill sections accordingly. Page 2, line 24, through page 3, line 2: Delete all material and insert: "Sec. 24.05.090. Duration of legislature; [REGULAR] sessions. Each legislature has a duration of approximately two years, and sessions consist of a "First Regular Session" that meets in the odd-numbered years, a "Second Regular Session" that meets in the even-numbered years, and any special session that the governor or the legislature calls. The legislature shall convene at the capital for the First Regular Session [EACH YEAR] on the second Monday in January at 1:00 p.m. [10:00 A.M.]; however, following a gubernatorial election year, the legislature shall convene on the third Tuesday in January at 1:00 p.m. The legislature shall convene at the capital for the Second Regular Session on the second Monday in February at 1:00 p.m. [10:00 A.M. EXCEPT AS PROVIDED IN THIS SECTION, EACH LEGISLATURE SHALL HAVE A DURATION OF TWO YEARS AND SHALL CONSIST OF A "FIRST REGULAR SESSION," WHICH SHALL MEET IN THE ODD-NUMBERED YEARS, AND A "SECOND REGULAR SESSION," WHICH SHALL MEET IN THE EVEN-NUMBERED YEARS, AND ANY SPECIAL SESSION OR SESSIONS THAT THE GOVERNOR OR LEGISLATURE MAY FIND NECESSARY TO CALL]." Page 3, line 25: Delete "February [JANUARY] 1" Insert "January 1 preceding a First Regular Session or at any time before February 1 preceding a Second Regular Session" Page 6, lines 2 - 3: Delete all material. Insert "governor's budget workbooks at least seven days before the legislature convenes in a regular session [BY THE FIRST MONDAY IN JANUARY OF EACH YEAR, EXCEPT THAT FOLLOWING A GUBERNATORIAL ELECTION YEAR" Page 7, lines 27 - 30: Delete all material. Renumber the following bill section accordingly. REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL objected [for discussion purposes]. REPRESENTATIVE JOHNSON explained that Amendment 1 would stagger the starting date of the legislature. In the first term, the legislature would start in January, and in the second term, it would start in February. He said Amendment 1 would solve some of the problems he has regarding the long lag time between the election and the time a legislator is sworn in. He indicated that it would also prevent the possibility of the governor calling in lame duck legislators in January. Amendment 1 would also solve problems related to when the budget must be announced. He stated his belief that Amendment 1 lives up to not only the intent of the law, but also the letter of the law, and it would minimize the type of statute changes that would have to be made "to accommodate all of the reportings in that January session from the various administration departments." 11:29:31 AM REPRESENTATIVE JOHNSON, in response to Representative Doll, said the 90-day session would end in mid-April. REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL asked if all the dates contemplated in the bill are covered in Amendment 1. REPRESENTATIVE JOHNSON said probably not; however, he said that can be fleshed out and fine tuned by the committee. REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL echoed that Amendment 1 addresses the concern about a lame duck legislature being called into a special session in January. He said he likes the idea of starting the first regular session at "the regular time that we have in January." He asked if Amendment 1 addresses the issue of starting later for gubernatorial election years. 11:32:06 AM REPRESENTATIVE JOHNSON said typically when a new governor enters office, he/she needs the extra time to develop budgets, and he said he would have all sessions start based upon the gubernatorial schedule, whether or not it was a gubernatorial election year. 11:33:03 AM REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL said he likes that idea. He said he thinks that starting the second session in February is reasonable. Amendment 1 also provides for the consecutive-day session, which he said the people of Alaska voted in favor of. He said he cannot think of any problems regarding Uniform Rules, although there may be some related issues to solve. REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL removed his objection. He said, "I want this in the bill conceptually." 11:34:15 AM REPRESENTATIVE DOLL said she wonders why the legislature would want to start in February every other year. She suggested that doing so may complicate schedules and housing opportunities. She asked what the advantage would be. 11:34:54 AM REPRESENTATIVE JOHNSON said on a personal level, starting in February gives him all of January with his family after the holidays. Furthermore, it would move the legislature into better weather later in the season, which would make traveling back and forth better. He commented, "Juneau in May is pretty nice." 11:36:26 AM REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL noted another reason to move the start date to February has to do with the timing of the budget forecast. That second session, he noted, the legislature will have already been organized, can meet outside of Juneau, and will be better prepared when it meets. He concurred with the "weather window" reason. 11:38:54 AM REPRESENTATIVE JOHNSON revealed that he is a big supporter of a biannual budget, and he point out that this type of schedule sets the legislature up to be able to shift into that type of budget planning. 11:39:40 AM REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG said HB 125, which addresses long-range fiscal planning, will be on the House floor soon. He stated his strong support of Amendment 1. 11:40:47 AM REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL restated that he removed his objection to Amendment 1. There being no further objection, Amendment 1 was adopted. 11:41:08 AM REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG directed attention to a letter in the committee packet, [dated March 22, 2007], from John Boucher. 11:41:56 AM JOHN BOUCHER, Senior Economist, Office of the Director, Office of Management & Budget (OMB), recalled that during the March 15 hearing on HB 171, Representative Coghill had requested that the administration "talk specifically to the appointments of commissioners and others." He said the administration did not have a problem with an earlier submission of those names; however, he said that was "presupposing that the session would begin in February." With the adoption of Amendment 1, he noted, there are two different schedules. He stated: And so, in the January schedule we'd prefer to have more time - in the February schedule it would be okay to move it up - so that the governor would have adequate time to look at these. ... We haven't contemplated all the dates, but intuitively, what I'm thinking is we might have two different types of schedules in an even and odd year. ... That may present some challenges; I'm certain that they could be overcome with proper planning. 11:44:05 AM REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG said he would like to see OMB propose an amendment showing the dates it would prefer. He said he was going to strike Section 17, but he will not do that at this time. 11:44:44 AM MR. BOUCHER said he would provide those dates. Regarding [the adopted Amendment 1], he echoed Representative Coghill's testimony about the revenue forecast. He said, "In my perception of the value of having the revenue forecast later, it's often in being able to know the current ... fiscal years' numbers to the greatest extent possible, because at that point in time you probably have 10 to 11 months-worth of actual data for the current fiscal year, which can affect your thinking, in terms of the amount of surplus available, et cetera." 11:45:34 AM REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL said he is sensitive to the possibility that requiring a list of new appointees from the administration within 15 days may be tight, but the legislature has been given the restraint of finishing its session in 90 days, and giving the administration 30 days "goes into a big chunk of that legislature." He asked Mr. Boucher to think along those terms. He concluded, "Because if we get to the point where appointments can't be made by the time a third of the legislature has been spent, then ... I think we're going to run into some problems." 11:47:05 AM REPRESENTATIVE JOHNSON said he only perceives this [requirement of the administration] being a problem every four years, and then only if a new governor is elected. He suggested that 15 days could work on most years, and 20 days could be set for election years. 11:47:57 AM REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG said he would like the right to offer an amendment at a later hearing. 11:48:25 AM REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL said one topic to consider as an amendment to the bill would be to insert a sunset date, because he said the issue needs to be revisited. He said the big policy call is whether or not the public was right in passing the 90- day initiative. Another issue for a possible amendment is related to changes to the Uniform Rules proposed by Representative Norman Rokeberg in a prior legislature. He indicated that one rule has to do with [legislators being present during a vote to move a bill out of committee in order for their vote to count]. He said he would ensure committee members received the information pertaining to Representative Rokeberg's resolution. He noted that Alaska has several public corporations, and it has gas and oil issues that demand immediate attention and require policy calls, which tie into the issue of having to be present to vote. He stated that there are problems with the Uniform Rules and statute. He said, "I hope that I can present them a little better when we get to it." 11:52:22 AM REPRESENTATIVE DOLL said she thinks the public sees the rush of the last 30 days of session, but it does not understand what it is that the legislature does for the first 15-20 days, which is why she welcomes this type of discussion. CHAIR LYNN echoed Representative Doll's comment about how obvious the rush at the end of session is. He said a lot of work goes on behind the scenes. He remarked that there is no such thing as a simple bill; every bill is controversial to somebody and requires time to address. 11:54:48 AM REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG said HB 171 is a very unusual bill that will have a profound effect on the legislature, and he said he has not seen another like it in the time that he has served in the legislature. He said that it is a blessing to have both the chair of the House State Affairs Standing Committee and the chair of the House Rules Standing Committee involved. He stated that it is seldom that the legislature examines its own process; HB 109 - the ethics bill - is another such example. The way the legislature conducts business in a 90-day session and how it works during the interim will have profound effects on many people around state. He expressed appreciation for the fact that the legislature is addressing this issue. 11:57:05 AM REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL said another issue to address will be that of interim per diem. He said it is called a stipend, but it is meant as pay in recognition that a legislator gives up a portion of his/her day in which he/she would otherwise be gainfully employed. He said, "I have a feeling this will push the tension on that to the point that we'll have to address it." 11:58:15 AM CHAIR LYNN offered the analogy of the apple cart that has been tipped over. He said, "What we're doing right now is picking up apples one at a time, and trying to put them back in ... the cart." 11:58:42 AM CHAIR LYNN announced that HB 171 was heard and held.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|