00                   HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 2                                                                    
01 Proposing an amendment to the Uniform Rules of the Alaska State Legislature relating                                    
02 to voting and abstention from voting.                                                                                   
03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
04    * Section 1. Rule 34(b), Uniform Rules of the Alaska State Legislature, is amended to read:                        
05 (b)  Abstention. Except as provided in this subsection, every [EVERY]                                               
06 member present in the house shall vote. A member may abstain from voting if                                         
07 [UNLESS] the house, for special reasons, permits a member to abstain. A member                              
08 shall request to abstain from voting if the member reasonably believes that the                                     
09 member's vote on a question would constitute a violation of AS 24.60 (Legislative                                   
10 Ethics Act). All motions excusing a member from voting shall be made before the                                     
11 house divides or before the call for the yeas and nays is commenced. A member                                           
12 requesting to be excused from voting may make a brief oral statement of the reasons                                     
13 for the request, including, if applicable, specific provisions of AS 24.60 that                                   
14 support the member's request to abstain. The [AND THE] question of granting                                         
15 permission to abstain shall be taken without further debate. A member may not                                           
16 explain a vote, may not discuss the question while the yeas and nays are being called,                                  

01 and may not change a vote after the roll call result has been announced. Upon division                                  
02 and count of the house of any question, a member who is not within the chamber may                                  
03 not be counted. A member may not be permitted to abstain except upon a majority                                     
04       vote [THE UNANIMOUS CONSENT] of the membership.