00 CS FOR HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 44(JUD)                                                                             
01 Proposing amendments to the Constitution of the State of Alaska relating to                                             
02 redistricting and reapportionment of the legislature; and providing for an effective                                    
03 date.                                                                                                                   
04 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                              
05    * Section 1.  Article VI, sec. 1, Constitution of the State of Alaska, is amended to read:                         
06  Section 1.  Election Districts.  Members of the house of representatives shall                                      
07 be elected by the qualified voters of the respective election districts.   The boundaries                              
08 of the election districts shall be set under this article after each decennial census                                   
09 of the United States  [UNTIL REAPPORTIONMENT, ELECTION DISTRICTS AND                                                   
10 THE NUMBER OF REPRESENTATIVES TO BE ELECTED FROM EACH                                                                   
11 DISTRICT SHALL BE AS SET FORTH IN SECTION 1 OF ARTICLE XIV].                                                            
12    * Sec. 2.  Article VI, sec. 2, Constitution of the State of Alaska, is amended to read:                            
13  Section 2.  Senate Districts.  Members of the senate shall be elected by the                                        
14 qualified voters of the respective senate districts.   The boundaries of the senate                                    
01 districts shall be set under this article after each decennial census of the United                                     
02 States  [SENATE DISTRICTS SHALL BE AS SET FORTH IN SECTION 2 OF                                                        
03 ARTICLE XIV, SUBJECT TO CHANGES AUTHORIZED IN THIS ARTICLE].                                                            
04    * Sec. 3.  Article VI, sec. 3, Constitution of the State of Alaska, is amended to read:                            
05  Section 3.  Reapportionment of House  and Senate .  The  Reapportionment                                           
06 Board  [GOVERNOR] shall reapportion the house of representatives  and the senate                                     
07 immediately following the official reporting of each decennial census of the United                                     
08 States.  Reapportionment shall be based upon  the  [CIVILIAN] population within each                                  
09 election  and senate  district as reported by the census.                                                             
10    * Sec. 4.  Article VI, sec. 4, Constitution of the State of Alaska, is amended to read:                            
11  Section 4.  Method  of Reapportionment .   The Reapportionment Board shall                                         
12 establish forty election districts, with each election district to elect one member                                     
13 of the house of representatives.  Each election district shall contain a population                                     
14 as near as practicable to the quotient obtained by dividing the population of the                                       
15 state by forty.  The board shall establish twenty senate districts each composed                                        
16 of two contiguous election districts, with each senate district to elect one senator                                   
17 [REAPPORTIONMENT SHALL BE BY THE METHOD OF EQUAL                                                                        
18 PROPORTIONS, EXCEPT THAT EACH ELECTION DISTRICT HAVING THE                                                              
19 MAJOR FRACTION OF THE QUOTIENT OBTAINED BY DIVIDING TOTAL                                                               
20 CIVILIAN POPULATION BY FORTY SHALL HAVE ONE REPRESENTATIVE].                                                            
21    * Sec. 5.  Article VI, sec. 6, Constitution of the State of Alaska, is amended to read:                            
22  Section 6.   Method of  Redistricting.  The  Reapportionment Board shall                                           
23 establish  [GOVERNOR MAY FURTHER REDISTRICT BY CHANGING] the size                                                      
24 and area of election districts, subject to the limitations of this article.  Each [NEW]                                 
25 district [SO CREATED] shall be formed of contiguous and compact territory                                               
26 containing as nearly as practicable a relatively integrated socio-economic area.  Each                                  
27 shall contain a population  as near as practicable  [AT LEAST EQUAL] to the                                           
28 quotient obtained by dividing the [TOTAL CIVILIAN] population  of the state  by                                       
29 forty.  Consideration may be given to local government boundaries.  Drainage and                                        
30 other geographic features shall be used in describing boundaries wherever possible.                                     
31    * Sec. 6.  Article VI, sec. 8, Constitution of the State of Alaska, is amended to read:                            
01  Section 8.  Reapportionment Board.   (a)  The Reapportionment Board                                               
02 [THE  GOVERNOR SHALL APPOINT A REAPPORTIONMENT BOARD TO ACT                                                             
03 IN AN ADVISORY CAPACITY TO HIM.  IT] shall consist of five members,  all of                                            
04 whom shall be residents of the state and  none of whom may be public employees                                         
05 or officials  at the time of and during the tenure of appointment.  Board members                                      
06 shall be appointed as provided in (b) and (c) of this section  [.  AT LEAST ONE                                        
07 MEMBER EACH SHALL BE APPOINTED FROM THE SOUTHEASTERN,                                                                   
08 SOUTHCENTRAL, CENTRAL, AND NORTHWESTERN SENATE DISTRICTS.                                                               
09 APPOINTMENTS SHALL BE MADE WITHOUT REGARD TO POLITICAL                                                                  
10 AFFILIATION].  Board members shall be compensated  as provided by law .                                              
11  (b)  Except as provided in (c) of this section, members of the                                                        
12 Reapportionment Board shall be appointed after, but not later than fifteen days                                         
13 after, the election of the permanent presiding officers of the house of                                                 
14 representatives and senate following the first regular session of a legislature that                                    
15 convenes the year following a decennial census.  Except as provided in (f) of this                                      
16 section, board members serve until a final plan for reapportionment and                                                 
17 proclamation of reapportionment has been adopted and all challenges to it                                               
18 brought under Section 11 of this article have been resolved after final remand or                                       
19 affirmation.                                                                                                            
20  (c)  Following election of the permanent presiding officers of the house of                                           
21 representatives and senate, the members of the house of representatives who are                                         
22 not members of the majority shall elect by majority vote a house of                                                     
23 representatives minority appointing officer, and the members of the senate who                                          
24 are not members of the majority shall elect by majority vote a senate minority                                          
25 appointing officer.  If all members of the senate or house of representatives are                                       
26 members of the majority, the minority appointing officer of that house shall be                                         
27 appointed by the members of that house who are not members of the political                                             
28 party with the greatest number of members in that house.  One member of the                                             
29 Reapportionment Board shall be appointed by the presiding officer of the house                                          
30 of representatives, one by the house of representatives minority appointing officer,                                    
31 one by the presiding officer of the senate, and one by the senate minority                                              
01 appointing officer.                                                                                                     
02  (d)  The four board members appointed by the legislators shall appoint by                                             
03 majority vote a fifth member of the board who shall be chair.  If the fifth                                             
04 member has not been appointed by the end of the day that is five days after the                                         
05 last day required for appointment of the board members under (b) of this section,                                       
06 the chief justice of the supreme court shall appoint the fifth member who shall be                                      
07 chair.  The chair of the board may not have held an elected state office or an                                          
08 elected office of a political party in this state in the five-year period preceding                                     
09 appointment.                                                                                                            
10  (e)  The legislature shall provide by law the procedure for determining the                                           
11 order for making an appointment to the Reapportionment Board by each of the                                             
12 legislators authorized to make appointments under this section.                                                         
13  (f)  Any of the four members of the Reapportionment Board appointed by                                                
14 a legislator may be removed with or without cause.  Removal will be effected by                                         
15 the person who originally made the appointment or by that person's successor.                                           
16 A vacancy due to removal, resignation, death, incapacity, or otherwise shall be                                         
17 filled by the person who originally made that appointment or by that person's                                           
18 successor.  The chair of the board may be removed only for good cause shown by                                          
19 a majority vote of the group consisting of the other members of the board and the                                       
20 chief justice of the supreme court.  The vacancy of the chair, due to removal,                                          
21 resignation, death, incapacity, or otherwise, shall be filled as provided for in (d)                                    
22 of this section.                                                                                                        
23  (g)  A person who was a member of the Reapportionment Board at any                                                    
24 time during the process leading to final adoption of a reapportionment plan under                                       
25 Section 10 of this article may not be a candidate for the legislature in the general                                    
26 election following the adoption of the final reapportionment plan.                                                     
27    * Sec. 7.  Article VI, sec. 9, Constitution of the State of Alaska, is amended to read:                            
28  Section 9.   Board Actions  [ORGANIZATION].  [THE BOARD SHALL                                                       
29 ELECT ONE OF ITS MEMBERS CHAIRMAN AND MAY EMPLOY TEMPORARY                                                              
30 ASSISTANTS.]  Concurrence of three members  of the Reapportionment Board  is                                          
31 required for  actions of the board  [A RULING OR DETERMINATION], but a lesser                                         
01 number may conduct hearings [OR OTHERWISE ACT FOR THE BOARD].   The                                                    
02 board shall employ or contract for services of independent legal counsel.                                              
03    * Sec. 8.  Article VI, sec. 10, Constitution of the State of Alaska, is amended to read:                           
04  Section 10.  Reapportionment Plan and Proclamation.   (a)  Within thirty                                           
05 days after the release of the decennial census population data or thirty days after                                     
06 being duly appointed, whichever occurs last, the board shall adopt one or more                                          
07 proposed reapportionment plans.  The board shall hold public hearings on the                                            
08 proposed plan, or, if no single proposed plan is agreed on, on all plans proposed                                       
09 by the board.  No later than ninety days after the board has been appointed and                                         
10 the decennial census population data has been released, the board shall adopt a                                         
11 final reapportionment plan and  [WITHIN NINETY DAYS FOLLOWING THE                                                      
12 OFFICIAL REPORTING OF EACH DECENNIAL CENSUS, THE BOARD SHALL                                                            
13 SUBMIT TO THE GOVERNOR A PLAN FOR REAPPORTIONMENT AND                                                                   
14 REDISTRICTING AS PROVIDED IN THIS ARTICLE.  WITHIN NINETY DAYS                                                          
15 AFTER RECEIPT OF THE PLAN, THE GOVERNOR SHALL] issue a proclamation                                                     
16 of reapportionment [AND REDISTRICTING.  AN  ACCOMPANYING STATEMENT                                                      
17 SHALL EXPLAIN ANY CHANGE FROM THE PLAN OF THE BOARD].  The  final                                                      
18 plan shall set out boundaries of election and senate districts and                                                     
19 [REAPPORTIONMENT AND REDISTRICTING] shall be effective for the election                                                 
20 of members of the legislature  until sixty days after adoption and final adjudication                                  
21 of the succeeding reapportionment plan and proclamation of reapportionment.                                            
22   (b)  Adoption of a final reapportionment plan shall require the affirmative                                         
23 votes of three members of the Reapportionment Board   [UNTIL AFTER THE                                                 
24 OFFICIAL REPORTING OF THE NEXT DECENNIAL CENSUS].                                                                      
25     * Sec. 9.  Article VI, sec. 11, Constitution of the State of Alaska, is amended to read:                         
26  Section 11.  Enforcement.  Any qualified voter may apply to the superior                                            
27 court to compel the  Reapportionment Board  [GOVERNOR], by mandamus or                                                
28 otherwise, to perform  its  [HIS REAPPORTIONMENT] duties  under this article  or                                    
29 to correct any error in  redistricting  or reapportionment.  Application to compel  the                              
30 board  [THE GOVERNOR] to perform [HIS REAPPORTIONMENT DUTIES] must                                                     
31 be filed  not later than  [WITHIN] thirty days  following  [OF] the  expiration of the                             
01 ninety-day period specified in  [EXPIRATION OF EITHER OF THE TWO                                                       
02 NINETY-DAY PERIODS SPECIFIED IN] this article.  Application to compel                                                   
03 correction of any error in redistricting or reapportionment must be filed within thirty                                 
04 days following the  adoption of the final plan and proclamation by the board                                           
05  [PROCLAMATION].  Original jurisdiction in these matters is [HEREBY] vested in                                         
06 the superior court.  On appeal  from the superior court , the cause shall be reviewed                                 
07 by the supreme court  on the law and the facts.  Notwithstanding Section 15 of                                         
08 Article IV, all dispositions by the superior court and the supreme court under this                                     
09 section shall be expedited and shall have priority over all other matters pending                                       
10 before the respective court.  Upon a final judicial decision that a plan is invalid,                                    
11 the case shall be returned to the board for correction and development of a new                                         
12 plan  [UPON THE LAW AND THE FACTS].                                                                                    
13    * Sec. 10.  Article XV, Constitution of the State of Alaska, is amended by adding a new                            
14 section to read:                                                                                                        
15  Section 29.  Effective Date and Applicability of Amendments Providing for                                            
16 Redistricting of the Legislature.  (a)  The 1998 amendments relating to redistricting                                  
17 of the legislature (art. VI) take effect January 1, 2001.                                                               
18  (b)  Notwithstanding Section 10 of Article VI, the proclamation of                                                    
19 reapportionment and redistricting in effect on December 31, 2000, is effective for                                      
20 election of members of the legislature until sixty days after adoption and final                                        
21 adjudication of the succeeding reapportionment plan and proclamation of                                                 
22 reapportionment under Article VI.                                                                                       
23    * Sec. 11.  Article VI, secs. 5 and 7, and Article XIV, Constitution of the State of Alaska,                       
24 are repealed.                                                                                                           
25    * Sec. 12.  The amendments proposed by this resolution shall be placed before the voters                           
26 of the state at the next general election in conformity with art. XIII, sec. 1, Constitution of the                     
27 State of Alaska, and the election laws of the state.