SB 9: "An Act relating to the terms of legislators, to a 90-day regular session of the legislature, to the date of convening a regular session, and to procedures of legislative committees during the interim; and providing for an effective date."
00 SENATE BILL NO. 9 01 "An Act relating to the terms of legislators, to a 90-day regular session of the legislature, 02 to the date of convening a regular session, and to procedures of legislative committees 03 during the interim; and providing for an effective date." 04 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 05 * Section 1. AS 24.05.080 is amended to read: 06 Sec. 24.05.080. Terms. The term of each member of the legislature begins on 07 the first [SECOND] Monday in December of the [JANUARY FOLLOWING A 08 PRESIDENTIAL] election year [; HOWEVER, FOLLOWING A 09 GUBERNATORIAL ELECTION YEAR, THE TERM OF EACH MEMBER 10 BEGINS ON THE THIRD TUESDAY IN JANUARY]. The term of representatives 11 is two years, and the term of senators is four years. One-half of the senators shall be 12 elected every two years. 13 * Sec. 2. AS 24.05.090 is amended to read: 14 Sec. 24.05.090. Regular sessions. The legislature shall convene at the capital
01 each year on the first [SECOND] Monday in February [JANUARY] at 10:00 a.m. 02 Each [; HOWEVER, FOLLOWING A GUBERNATORIAL ELECTION YEAR, 03 THE LEGISLATURE SHALL CONVENE ON THE THIRD TUESDAY IN 04 JANUARY AT 10:00 A.M. EXCEPT AS PROVIDED IN THIS SECTION, EACH] 05 legislature shall have a duration of two years and shall consist of a "First Regular 06 Session [,]" that meets in an [WHICH SHALL MEET IN THE] odd-numbered year 07 [YEARS], and a "Second Regular Session [,]" that meets in an [WHICH SHALL 08 MEET IN THE] even-numbered year [YEARS], and any special session or sessions 09 that the governor or legislature may find necessary to call. 10 * Sec. 3. AS 24.05.150 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 11 (b) The legislature shall adjourn from a regular session within 90 consecutive 12 calendar days, including the day the legislature first convenes in that regular session. 13 * Sec. 4. AS 24.05.160 is amended to read: 14 Sec. 24.05.160. Organization of a first regular session; new members. On 15 the first Monday of December of each election year before [DAY SET FOR THE 16 ASSEMBLING OF] the first regular session of a legislature, the lieutenant governor 17 shall [CALL EACH HOUSE TO ORDER AND DIRECT THE CALLING OF ROLL 18 OF ITS DISTRICTS AND THE NAMES OF THE NEW MEMBERS WHO ARE 19 CERTIFIED AS BEING ELECTED FROM EACH DISTRICT. THE LIEUTENANT 20 GOVERNOR SHALL THEN] direct the administration of the oath of office of each 21 new member who is certified as being elected from each district. At the convening 22 of the first regular session, the [. THE] lieutenant governor shall [THEN] call for 23 the nomination of a temporary president or speaker, as appropriate. Upon the election 24 of the temporary presiding officers, the lieutenant governor shall relinquish the chair, 25 and each house shall proceed to its further organization. If the lieutenant governor is 26 unable to perform the duties imposed by this section, the chief justice of the supreme 27 court shall act in the lieutenant governor's place. 28 * Sec. 5. AS 24.05.180 is amended by adding new subsections to read: 29 (c) The chair of a standing or special committee that meets during the interim 30 to consider an introduced measure shall give at least 30 days' public notice of the 31 meeting. The notice must include the subject and number of the measure that will be
01 heard. 02 (d) A member of a standing or special committee may attend a meeting held 03 by that committee during the interim telephonically or by teleconference. The 04 member may vote on any question before the committee; however, the vote shall be 05 conducted in such a manner that the public and other committee members may know 06 the vote of the member who attends telephonically or by teleconference. 07 (e) A standing or special committee may report a measure from committee 08 during the interim only if the measure has a subsequent referral or referrals of record. 09 A committee member who is voting telephonically or by teleconference may direct the 10 chair to sign the committee report on behalf of the member and indicate on the report 11 the member's recommendation. The direction to the chair shall be given in such a 12 manner that the public and other committee members may know its contents. The 13 chair of the committee shall deliver the committee report to the senate secretary or the 14 chief clerk of the house of representatives, as appropriate, to be taken up when the 15 legislature next convenes in regular session. 16 * Sec. 6. This Act takes effect December 3, 2007.