HB 364: "An Act relating to the Alaska Legislative Council and the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee."
00 HOUSE BILL NO. 364 01 "An Act relating to the Alaska Legislative Council and the Legislative Budget and Audit 02 Committee." 03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 * Section 1. AS 24.20.020 is amended to read: 05 Sec. 24.20.020. Membership. Except as provided in (b) of this section, the 06 [THE] legislative council is composed of the president of the senate, the senate 07 minority leader or the senate minority leader's designee, and five [SIX] other 08 senators appointed by the president, and the speaker of the house of representatives, 09 the house minority leader or the house minority leader's designee, and five [SIX] 10 other representatives appointed by the speaker. Except as provided in (e) of this 11 section, the [THE MEMBERSHIP FROM EACH HOUSE SHALL INCLUDE AT 12 LEAST ONE MEMBER FROM EACH OF THE TWO MAJOR POLITICAL 13 PARTIES. THE] appointing authority in each house shall make and announce the 14 appointment or reappointment of members of the council within 10 [15] days after the
01 convening of the first regular session of each legislature. 02 * Sec. 2. AS 24.20.020 is amended by adding new subsections to read: 03 (b) If a house of the legislature fails to organize within 10 days after the first 04 regular session of a legislature convenes, the members of the council from the 05 unorganized house shall be determined as follows: 06 (1) members of the unorganized house who served on the council from 07 that house immediately before the legislature convened shall remain members; 08 (2) if there is an unfilled seat remaining after the application of (1) of 09 this subsection, a member of the unorganized house who has the longest length of 10 service in that house shall fill the remaining unfilled seat. 11 (c) When applying the provisions of (b) of this section, if two or more 12 members tie for the longest length of service, the lieutenant governor or temporary 13 presiding officer, whichever is presiding over the unorganized house, shall determine 14 the replacement member by lot. 15 (d) The lieutenant governor or temporary presiding officer, whichever is 16 presiding over the unorganized house, shall advise the unorganized house of the 17 temporary members of the council under this section. 18 (e) If a house of the legislature fails to organize within 10 days after the first 19 regular session of a legislature convenes, the appointing authority of that house shall 20 appoint the members of the council from that house within five days after that house 21 organizes. The members determined under (b) of this section serve as members of the 22 council until the members are appointed under this subsection. Any organization of the 23 council before permanent members of the council are appointed under this subsection 24 is temporary. 25 * Sec. 3. AS 24.20.040 is amended to read: 26 Sec. 24.20.040. Vacancies. Except as provided in (b) of this section, when 27 [WHEN] a vacancy occurs in the statutory or appointive membership of the council, 28 the presiding officer of the house incurring the vacancy shall fill the vacancy within 30 29 days. If the office of the president of the senate or speaker of the house of 30 representatives becomes vacant and a vacancy occurs among the appointed members 31 of the council, the remaining council members from the house incurring the vacancy
01 shall appoint a new member. [A LEGISLATOR APPOINTED TO FILL A 02 VACANCY SHALL BE A MEMBER OF THE SAME POLITICAL PARTY AS 03 THE MEMBER VACATING THE SEAT, WHEN POSSIBLE.] 04 * Sec. 4. AS 24.20.040 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 05 (b) When a vacancy occurs in the membership of the council from a house that 06 has not organized, the remaining council members from the house incurring the 07 vacancy shall appoint a new member within 30 days after the vacancy occurs. 08 * Sec. 5. AS 24.20.110 is amended to read: 09 Sec. 24.20.110. Meetings. The legislative council may meet during sessions of 10 the legislature and during intervals between sessions at such times and places inside 11 the state as the chair [CHAIRMAN] may determine. The council shall meet 12 immediately after the appointment of its membership under AS 24.20.020(a) or (e), 13 or, if applicable, immediately after the determination of its membership under 14 AS 24.20.020(b) or (c), at the first regular session of each legislature for purposes of 15 organization. Minutes of each meeting shall be kept. One-half of the membership 16 constitutes a quorum to do business. Members may receive, for the minimum time 17 required to get to and from meetings and while attending meetings, the same travel 18 fare and per diem allowances provided by law for members of the legislature when 19 attending sessions. 20 * Sec. 6. AS 24.20.161 is amended to read: 21 Sec. 24.20.161. Membership. Except as provided in (b) of this section, the 22 [THE] Legislative Budget and Audit Committee is composed of 10 members: the 23 chairs [CHAIRMEN] of the senate and house finance committees; one member 24 selected from each of the senate and house finance committees and appointed by the 25 president of the senate and the speaker of the house, respectively; the house minority 26 leader or the house minority leader's designee and the senate minority leader or 27 the senate minority leader's designee; and two [THREE] members appointed from 28 each house by the respective presiding officer. The chair [CHAIRMAN] of the 29 finance committee may choose not to serve on the committee. If this occurs, the 30 presiding officer of the appropriate house shall appoint a replacement from the finance 31 committee. [THE MEMBERSHIP FROM EACH HOUSE SHALL INCLUDE AT
01 LEAST ONE MEMBER FROM EACH OF THE TWO MAJOR POLITICAL 02 PARTIES. THE COMMITTEE SHALL SELECT ITS OWN CHAIRMAN.] 03 * Sec. 7. AS 24.20.161 is amended by adding new subsections to read: 04 (b) If a house of the legislature fails to organize within 10 days after the first 05 regular session of a legislature convenes, the members of the committee from the 06 unorganized house shall be determined as follows: 07 (1) the members of the unorganized house who served as members, 08 except as an alternate member, on the committee from that house immediately before 09 the legislature convened shall remain members; 10 (2) if there are not five members eligible under (1) of this subsection 11 and a member of the unorganized house served on the committee as an alternate 12 member from that house immediately before the legislature convened, the member 13 who served as an alternate member shall be a member; and 14 (3) if there is an unfilled seat remaining after application of (1) and (2) 15 of this subsection, a member of the unorganized house who has the longest length of 16 service in that house shall fill the remaining unfilled seat. 17 (c) When applying the provisions of (b) of this section, if two or more 18 members tie for the longest length of service, the lieutenant governor or temporary 19 presiding officer, whichever is presiding over the unorganized house, shall determine 20 the replacement member by lot. 21 (d) The lieutenant governor or temporary presiding officer, whichever is 22 presiding over the unorganized house, shall advise the unorganized house of the 23 temporary members of the committee under this section. 24 * Sec. 8. AS 24.20.165 is amended to read: 25 Sec. 24.20.165. Alternate members. The Legislative Budget and Audit 26 Committee shall have two alternate members in addition to the members designated in 27 AS 24.20.161. Except as provided in (b) of this section, the [THE] president of the 28 senate shall appoint one alternate member from the senate finance committee and the 29 speaker of the house shall appoint one alternate member from the house finance 30 committee. The alternate members shall serve on the committee when a meeting of the 31 committee has been called and the chair [CHAIRMAN] determines that there will not
01 be enough members in attendance at the meeting to provide a quorum. While serving 02 as alternates, the alternate members have the same duties and responsibilities as 03 committee members designated in [APPOINTED UNDER] AS 24.20.161, and they 04 are entitled to the same travel and per diem allowances. 05 * Sec. 9. AS 24.20.165 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 06 (b) If a house of the legislature fails to organize within 10 days after the first 07 regular session of a legislature convenes, the alternate member of the Legislative 08 Budget and Audit Committee from the unorganized house shall be determined as 09 follows: 10 (1) if the member who served as the alternate on the committee from 11 that house immediately before the legislature convened is a member of the 12 unorganized house and is not already a member under AS 24.20.161(b), that member 13 shall remain the alternate member; 14 (2) if the member who served as the alternate on the committee from 15 that house immediately before the legislature convened is not a member of the 16 unorganized house or is already a member under AS 24.20.161(b), when possible, the 17 alternate shall be a member who has the longest length of service in that house after 18 application of AS 24.20.161(b); when applying the provisions of this paragraph, if two 19 or more members tie for the longest length of service, the lieutenant governor or 20 temporary presiding officer, whichever is presiding over the unorganized house, shall 21 determine the replacement member by lot. 22 (c) The lieutenant governor or temporary presiding officer, whichever is 23 presiding over the unorganized house, shall advise the unorganized house of the 24 temporary members of the committee under this section. 25 * Sec. 10. AS 24.20.171(a) is amended to read: 26 (a) Except as provided in (c) of this section, the [THE] committee shall be 27 organized within 10 days after the organization of each legislature. Members serve for 28 the duration of the legislature during which they are appointed. 29 * Sec. 11. AS 24.20.171 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 30 (c) If a house of the legislature fails to organize within 10 days after the first 31 regular session of a legislature convenes, the presiding officer of that house shall make
01 the permanent appointments to the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee within 02 five days after that house organizes. The members determined under AS 24.20.161(b) 03 and the alternate member determined under AS 24.20.165(b) serve on the committee 04 until the permanent appointments are made under this subsection. Any organization of 05 the committee before permanent members of the committee are appointed under this 06 subsection is temporary. 07 * Sec. 12. AS 24.20.181 is amended to read: 08 Sec. 24.20.181. Vacancies. Except as provided in (b) of this section, when 09 [WHEN] a vacancy occurs in the statutory or appointive membership of the 10 committee, the presiding officer of the house incurring the vacancy shall choose a 11 successor within 30 days. If the office of the president of the senate or speaker of the 12 house of representatives becomes vacant and a vacancy from the affected house occurs 13 among the membership of the committee, the remaining committee members from the 14 house incurring the vacancy shall appoint a new member. 15 * Sec. 13. AS 24.20.181 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 16 (b) When a vacancy occurs in the membership of the committee from a house 17 that has not organized, the remaining committee members from the house incurring 18 the vacancy shall appoint a new member within 30 days after the vacancy occurs. 19 * Sec. 14. AS 24.20 is amended by adding a new section to read: 20 Article 4. General Provisions. 21 Sec. 24.20.900. Definitions. In this chapter, 22 (1) "length of service" means the continuous period of service as a 23 legislator immediately preceding convening of a regular session; 24 (2) "organized" means a permanent presiding officer of a house has 25 been elected; 26 (3) "unorganized house" means the senate if the senate has not 27 organized or the house of representatives if the house of representatives has not 28 organized.