HCR 4-UNIFORM RULES: COMMITTEE ON COMMITTEES  3:31:54 PM CO-CHAIR FIELDS announced that the final order of business would be HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 4, Proposing an amendment to the Uniform Rules of the Alaska State Legislature relating to the membership of the Committee on Committees. 3:32:03 PM The committee took an at-ease from 3:32 p.m. to 3:34 p.m. 3:33:37 PM REPRESENTATIVE VANCE moved to adopt Amendment 1, [labeled 31- LS0673\S.1, Wallace, 3/15/19], which read: Page 1, line 12, following "committee": Insert "and the Committee on Committees," CO-CHAIR FIELDS objected for the purpose of discussion. REPRESENTATIVE VANCE relayed that she supports the intent of HCR 4 to make the Uniform Rules conform with legislative practices and to allow for the appointment of at least five members on the Committee on Committees, but not to exceed 25 percent of the total house membership. She stated that under the proposed amendment, the Committee on Committees would be entitled to the number of seats proportional to the number of minority members, like the appointment of members of standing committees. She offered that such a proportional makeup of the Committee on Committees would be equitable. She said, "Our democracy is designed to protect the voice of the minority." She expressed her belief that legislative conduct should reflect that principle. 3:35:28 PM CO-CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS stated that he opposes Amendment 1 but not because he opposes the sentiment behind the amendment. He explained that HCR 4 was developed in consultation with the leaderships of the House and Senate; it offers an intentionally narrow and prescriptive approach. He maintained that because of the alignment of the leadership of both bodies to draft the resolution, he is hesitant to make any additional changes to the Uniform Rules than what was discussed. He offered that the Committee on Committees is a "different animal"; it has no policy-making power; it is entirely appointed by the presiding officer - the President of the Senate or the Speaker of the House; and there is effectively no deliberation that occurs in the Committee on Committees. He mentioned that he understands on a symbolic level the importance of minority representation. He said it is worth noting that the minority leader of the Senate has a seat on the Senate Committee on Committee; that is not true for the House. He reiterated that a proportional representation on the Committee on Committees would be a symbolic gesture and one to which he is sympathetic. 3:38:05 PM REPRESENTATIVE WOOL asked for confirmation of his understanding: by statute, the Committee on Committees in the House is to have five members; currently it has seven; the proposed resolution would specify at least five members; if seven, all seven can be from the majority; and the Senate allows one minority member to serve on its Committee on Committees. CO-CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS replied, "That is correct." He added that the presiding officer appoints the entirety of the Committee on Committees. The President of the Senate appointed the Senate minority leader to the Committee on Committees. REPRESENTATIVE WOOL asked for the number of members on the Senate Committee on Committees. CO-CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS answered, "There are five members on the Senate Committee on Committees." CO-CHAIR FIELDS relayed that he supports the amendment and would consider it as a separate Uniform Rules change. REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX commented that she thought [former] Representative [Charisse] Millet served on the Committee on Committees last year [2018]. CO-CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS stated that he thought that was correct. He offered that he would be willing to work with Representative Vance to gage the support of the House and Senate leaderships for her proposed rules change; if there is alignment from the leadership of both bodies, he would support it. REPRESENTATIVE VANCE suggested that offering amendments to be heard in committee, in fact, is the process for getting input from the legislative bodies. She relayed that she approached legislators with more seniority and the Speaker of the House about this issue. She expressed that her reason for offering the amendment is that when passing legislation or adjusting the Uniform Rules, legislators should not think just about the current situation, but about the future; circumstances change and leaders change; it is an opportunity to make improvements now, not later. REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX expressed her belief that every committee member in House State Affairs Standing Committee supports the amendment; therefore, they would not want to hold up the resolution. She suggested that the committee pass the amendment, discuss it with the leadership, and if it is not supported, it can be changed in the next committee of referral - the House Judiciary Standing Committee. CO-CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS offered that Representative LeDoux has made a good point. He said that his preference would be to have the conversations with leadership first before passing the amendment, although either order would work. He mentioned that there is no rush to pass the resolution; it is a "housekeeping" measure. He offered to approach the House and Senate leaderships about amenability to incorporate the amendment [into the resolution]. In response to Co-Chair Fields, he confirmed his desire to hold over the resolution. 3:44:48 PM REPRESENTATIVE WOOL relayed that he supports that decision; he does not like to pass on resolutions to be "fixed" in the next committee; and the resolution could fail due to the amendment. He stated that he remembers the Committee on Committees having minority members in the past - possibly as a courtesy; it is not a policy committee, but a committee to facilitate the Speaker in appointing committees. He speculated that the committee had changed from five to seven members to add two minority members. REPRESENTATIVE SHAW suggested voting on the amendment so that it would be considered in the next committee. CO-CHAIR FIELDS clarified that Representative Kreiss-Tomkins has suggested that the resolution not be reported from the committee to give him time to discuss it with leadership. He maintained that he supports the amendment, if it doesn't stop the resolution from going forward. He asked Representative Vance whether she supports holding the resolution over and discussing it with leadership. REPRESENTATIVE VANCE concurred with that plan of action and stated that if leadership does not support the amendment, she would withdraw the amendment. 3:48:04 PM CO-CHAIR FIELDS opened public testimony on HCR 4. After ascertaining that no one wished to testify, he closed public testimony. CO-CHAIR FIELDS stated that HCR 4 would be held over.