HCR 5-UNIFORM RULES: COMMITTEE ON COMMITTEES  3:39:12 PM CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS announced that the final 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. 3:39:41 PM The committee took an at ease between 3:39 p.m. and 3:42 p.m. 3:41:45 PM REPRESENTATIVE DAVID EASTMAN, Alaska State Legislature, presented HCR 5, as prime sponsor, with the use of a PowerPoint presentation. He relayed that HCR 5 proposes a change to the Uniform Rules [of the Alaska State Legislature]. He stated that HCR 5 would ensure that the presiding officer of each legislative body has the authority to appoint a sufficient number of members to the Committee on Committees. He explained that [at the beginning of] each legislature, the legislative body determines the rules, and the House and Senate concur. He asserted that the public's role is to make certain that the legislature follows those rules. REPRESENTATIVE EASTMAN referred to Slide 1, titled "House Committee on Committees Membership," to point out that up until 1993, the House membership on the Committee on Committees was five and thereafter, more than five. He offered that the Senate membership on the committee has been maintained at five over that same period, as shown on Slide 3, titled "Senate Committee on Committees Membership." Representative Eastman read from Rule 1 of the Uniform Rules of the Alaska State Legislature, subsection (e), as follows: "The presiding officer shall announce, not later than the day following election, the appointment of a Committee on Committees consisting of five members including the presiding officer." He asserted that this statement gives the public an expectation that the House Committee on Committees will consist of five members. He then referred to Slide 4 to point out that on the [Alaska State Legislature] website, seven members are listed. He asserted that the goal of HCR 5 is to "bridge the gap" between public expectation and that which is determined by the legislature, and to arrive at a number of members that is in the public's best interest. 3:45:52 PM CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS mentioned a forthcoming amendment to be introduced by Representative Knopp. REPRESENTATIVE KNOPP questioned the reason for inserting the words "at least" before "five members", if the current Uniform Rules specify five members and Representative Eastman's intent [for introducing HCR 5] is to maintain consistency with the Uniform Rules. REPRESENTATIVE EASTMAN asked if the amendment would replace "five" with "seven". REPRESENTATIVE KNOPP explained that the amendment would insert "and the Committee on Committees" in Section 1 of HCR 5, on page 1, line 12, following "committee". He stated that Legislative Legal and Research Services recommended that the number of members [stated in the Uniform Rules] be changed to "seven" not "five", because that is the current number of members. He pointed out that the Senate has five members on the committee, and the current language does specify five. He asserted that he is not comfortable with the wording "at least" because it is not specific, and he prefers a firm number. He suggested retaining the wording in the Uniform Rules that specifies five members. REPRESENTATIVE EASTMAN replied that the Uniform Rules could be left as is, but the current presiding officer has chosen to appoint seven members to the committee. He added that if the legislature anticipated that this practice would continue, then the Uniform Rules should be changed to give the presiding officer that authority. He offered that the purpose of HCR 5 is not to restrict the presiding officer in appointing members of the Committee on Committees, but to give him/her the authority to make whatever determination is in the best interest of the House of Representatives. He opined that if the Uniform Rules are changed to specify seven, then the Senate would question the requirement to have seven members on the Committee on Committees, because it is a very large portion of its twenty- member total. He concluded that allowing flexibility to each chamber of the legislature to decide on the number of members avoids that conflict. REPRESENTATIVE KNOPP corrected himself and said that Legislative Legal and Research Services did not request the Uniform Rules to state seven members, but recommended that the number be specific and not flexible. He stated that Legislative Legal and Research Services did not want the words "at least" in the Uniform Rules. 3:50:53 PM REPRESENTATIVE BIRCH referred to Slide 4 and stated that there were two minority members among the seven members of the House Committee on Committees. He suggested that based on the proportion of minority members in the full House, the number of minority members on the House Committee on Committees should be three. He asked if the Uniform Rules require the presiding officer to restructure the committee to reflect that proportion. REPRESENTATIVE EASTMAN responded that HCR 5 would not affect representation on the Committee on Committees, only the total number of the committee's members. He stated that the Senate has historically maintained a proportional minority representation. He asserted that as the Uniform Rules are currently written, the standing committees are required to have proportional minority representation, but the special committees and the Committee on Committees are not. He added that these other committees do have minority representation, and he anticipates that would continue. He stated that HCR 5 would require proportional minority representation on the Committee on Committees. REPRESENTATIVE BIRCH offered that the minority representation on the Committee on Committees is currently "out of balance." CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS opined that HCR 5 reflects the sponsor's intent to resolve that issue. REPRESENTATIVE EASTMAN responded that there is some "out of balance" [regarding minority representation on the Committee on Committees] but opined that the primary effort of HCR 5 would be to align the Uniform Rules with public expectation. He asserted that if the Committee on Committees were treated like a standing committee, then it would require two members from the minority if it is a five-member committee and three members from the minority if it is a seven-member committee. 3:54:07 PM CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS stated that HCR 5 would be held over.