00 HOUSE BILL NO. 234 01 "An Act relating to construction of a legislative hall." 02 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 03 * Section 1. FINDINGS. (a) The legislature finds that ground was broken for the capitol 04 building by Governor George A. Parks on September 18, 1929, and the building was 05 completed in 1931. The capitol building currently houses offices of the governor, the 06 lieutenant governor, and the legislature. 07 (b) The legislature finds that over the years the capitol building maintenance staff has 08 provided valiant efforts to bring the building into the 1990s and accommodate emerging 09 technology, but that there is only so much that can be done to address major problems. In 10 1998, the fire chief for the capital city inspected the building and prepared a report identifying 11 problems. Some of the items were minor and were addressed, but major problems with the 12 corridors cannot be solved. Corridors need to be unobstructed, but, because office space is 13 limited, the corridors are filled with chairs, benches, and other furniture, as well as photocopy 14 machines. A fire protection corridor that allows safe exiting of occupants, free from smoke, 01 is now a fundamental life safety requirement for office buildings that the capitol building 02 cannot meet. While an automatic sprinkler system and new door system are mitigating 03 measures, these would not correct the path of travel because of structural deficiencies. 04 (c) The legislature finds that the following items are also of concern: 05 (1) corridor length; there are many corridors that are long "shotgun" type 06 corridors that do not meet the current fire and safety building codes; 07 (2) space; the space in most offices does not meet the minimum requirements 08 for the number of occupants, and most existing office configurations are inefficient; 09 (3) access; the building has many rooms that do not meet the requirements for 10 ingress and egress under 42 U.S.C. 12101 - 12213 (Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990), 11 thereby possibly endangering the health, life, and safety of employees working in the building 12 and visitors to the building; 13 (4) lack of amenities; there is inadequate parking for the building, no public 14 lounge or food service facilities, and limited space for shared equipment, such as copy 15 machines; 16 (5) chamber space; both chambers and the public galleries are too small; 17 (6) committee space; committee rooms are too small to accommodate members 18 of the legislature and the public who wish to attend meetings; 19 (7) electrical and telecommunication services; the wiring is inadequate; 20 (8) heating and ventilating; the heating system is antiquated, and there is no 21 air conditioning or proper ventilating system in the building since opening windows does not 22 always provide cross circulation. 23 (d) The legislature finds that the capitol building has outlived its usefulness as a 24 legislative hall. 25 * Sec. 2. SPECIFICATIONS FOR A LEGISLATIVE HALL. (a) The Alaska Legislative 26 Council shall develop specifications for construction of a new legislative hall and make those 27 specifications available to legislators and members of the public by December 15, 2000. The 28 specifications must include a method under which the aesthetic appeal of the building will be 29 considered. The legislative hall must meet all fire and building codes, including requirements 30 of 42 U.S.C. 12101 - 12213 (Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990), and meet the highest 31 construction and geotechnical engineering standards. The building must contain adequate 01 heating, ventilating, and air conditioning systems, with individual controls for each system. 02 The building must be configured so that office walls are not load bearing. All office rooms 03 must be wired for computer service, telephone service, fax machines, copy machines, cable 04 television, and security cameras. Capacity for additional wiring in the entire building must 05 be provided for. The specifications must provide for at least the following space: 06 (1) a private office for each legislator and that legislator's staff, with the 07 offices for the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate to be 08 larger than other legislators' offices; 09 (2) a chamber room for each body of the legislature, each with electronic 10 voting boards and other appropriate equipment and with galleries that accommodate at least 11 150 people in addition to the media; 12 (3) a private lounge for legislators located on the same floor as the chambers, 13 with cooking facilities; 14 (4) 18 committee rooms, each with space for committee staff, 11 committee 15 members, and at least 75 members of the public; 16 (5) a suite of office space for use by the governor, the lieutenant governor, and 17 commissioners or other executive branch staff when they visit the legislative hall; 18 (6) one courtroom and adequate offices for judicial officers of the supreme 19 court and staff; 20 (7) at least one photocopy services room on each floor large enough for at least 21 one photocopier, photocopy and other supplies, and user; 22 (8) a public lounge and restaurant; 23 (9) rooms for security staff, documents, and supplies; 24 (10) office space for each agency of the legislative branch that the legislative 25 council determines should be located with the legislature; 26 (11) office space for the senate secretary and the chief clerk of the House of 27 Representatives; 28 (12) a print shop; 29 (13) a maintenance shop; 30 (14) a media office; 31 (15) an area adequate for electronic technology and telecommunications 01 equipment and cabling; 02 (16) a rotunda or atrium of sufficient size for public meetings, celebrations, 03 and events; 04 (17) facilities for the display of Alaska historical exhibits and artifacts. 05 (b) The specifications prepared by the legislative council must address parking and 06 must include at least the following: 07 (1) covered parking for at least 75 vehicles on the site of the legislative hall; 08 (2) parking for at least 300 vehicles on the site of the legislative hall or 09 adjacent to the site; 10 (3) covered walkways from the parking areas required under (1) and (2) of this 11 subsection to the legislative hall; and 12 (4) parking areas for an additional 150 vehicles near the site of the legislative 13 hall. 14 (c) Total parking provided for under (b)(2) and (4) of this section must equal or 15 exceed the amount specified in the edition of the Uniform Building Code that is current on 16 the date specifications are completed. 17 * Sec. 3. PROPOSALS FOR THE LEGISLATIVE HALL. Upon completion of the 18 specifications, the Alaska Legislative Council shall solicit proposals for construction of the 19 legislative hall to be operated, maintained, repaired, and managed by the legislative council 20 for use by the legislature as the location for regular and special sessions and for interim work. 21 Proposals may be submitted by boroughs or unified municipalities with at least 30,000 22 residents. Proposals must include details regarding the financing of the project and terms on 23 which the project site and completed legislative hall will be made available to the legislature. 24 A proposal may not require lease payments by the legislature in excess of $1 a year or provide 25 for a project completion date that is later than June 30, 2003. In evaluating each proposal, 26 the legislative council shall consider whether the proposed site 27 (1) has basic utility services; 28 (2) has adequate airport access; 29 (3) has adequate road access or at least weekly ferry service during winter 30 months; 31 (4) is in an area with adequate health, education, and social services facilities 01 and adequate housing opportunities. 02 * Sec. 4. SELECTION OF A PROPOSAL. The Alaska Legislative Council shall review 03 all proposals, conduct inspection, and select a proposal or reject all proposals by June 30, 04 2001. If a proposal is selected, the legislative council shall enter into contracts, leases, and 05 other agreements necessary to carry out the terms of the proposal. If the proposal selected 06 includes a site wholly or partially on state land, the legislative council shall take all action 07 necessary to arrange for the transfer of the land to the municipality at no cost, including the 08 introduction of legislation to accomplish that purpose. The contract procedures adopted by 09 the legislative council under AS 36.30.020 do not apply to the selection of a proposal under 10 this section or to a contract, lease, or other agreement entered into by the committee under this 11 section. AS 35.05.010 does not apply to planning for or construction of a legislative hall 12 under this Act. 13 * Sec. 5. Notwithstanding AS 24.05.090 and other provisions of law, if a legislative hall 14 is constructed under this Act, beginning with the Second Regular Session of the Twenty-Third 15 Alaska State Legislature and during each session thereafter, the legislature shall convene in 16 that legislative hall. The revisor of statutes shall prepare a bill and submit it to the Alaska 17 Legislative Council making all changes to statutes necessary to conform to this section.