Legislature(2021 - 2022)GRUENBERG 120
03/24/2022 03:00 PM House STATE AFFAIRS
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Confirmation Hearing(s):|| State Commission for Human Rights|| Board of Parole|| State Personnel Board|| Public Offices Commission | |
| HB31 | |
| HB124 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| += | HB 31 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 124 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
HB 124-FILLING VACANCY IN LEGISLATURE
4:48:48 PM
CHAIR CLAMAN announced that the final order of business would be
HOUSE BILL NO. 124, "An Act relating to filling a vacancy in the
legislature by appointment."
4:50:26 PM
REPRESENTATIVE BEN CARPENTER, Alaska State Legislature, prime
sponsor of HB 124, provided a summary of the legislation. He
indicated that the bill would clarify the existing ambiguity in
AS 15.40.320 regarding filling vacancy appointments to the
Alaska State Legislature.
4:52:20 PM
REPRESENTATIVE VANCE directed attention to paragraph (2) on page
1, line 13, of HB 124 and asked how a special election could be
held before the legislature convened by special session if that
were to occur.
4:53:20 PM
MEGAN WALLACE, Director, Legislative Legal Services, Legislative
Affairs Agency, explained that a special election would be used
to fill a vacancy in the Senate that occurred for an unexpired
term of more than two years and five full calendar months. She
remarked:
What the statute says is that the governor will not
fill that vacancy if that special election is going to
determine who's going to fill that seat before the
next special session or the next time the legislature,
for example, convenes its second session or meets in
some other manner.
REPRESENTATIVE VANCE asked:
So, if we were in that window of time and a special
session was called, what would be the process? Is that
the person for Senate would just go along with the
election along with the two-year representatives'
election? Or would there be a time that there would
have to be a seat filled so that there is a full
session during a special session?
MS. WALLACE asked her to repeat the question.
REPRESENTATIVE VANCE inquired about the timeline and sequence of
events that would occur if a vacancy occurred and a special
session was called.
MS. WALLACE shared her understanding that if the legislature was
going to meet before a special election could be held to
permanently fill a vacancy in the Senate, the temporary
appointment would serve until there was a special election held
to fill the seat.
4:57:23 PM
CHAIR CLAMAN shared his understanding that the current statute
on special elections suggested that the governor would not be
allowed to fill a vacancy in the Senate that occurred within the
first year and a half of a four-year term. He explained that in
that scenario, a "special election" would be held in November of
that next "go-around," effectively holding an election to fill
the remaining two years of the four-year term. Alternatively,
as members of the House were elected every two years, the
governor could appoint an individual to fill a vacancy in the
House for the remainder of the two years.
MS. WALLACE believed that he was correct.
5:00:20 PM
REPRESENTATIVE EASTMAN considered a scenario in which an
election was held to fill a vacancy in the House to ensure that
a portion of the state didn't lose representation for a period
of time.
REPRESENTATIVE CARPENTER remarked:
I think I understand what you're saying- if you have a
vacancy that occurs generally around an election and
the election occurs and there's a certified winner but
the vacancy hasn't been filled yet, then the governor
just appointing the winner of the election to fill the
vacancy and then when the next legislative session
happens, then the winner of that election continues on
for their new term.
REPRESENTATIVE CARPENTER asked if that was correct.
REPRESENTATIVE EASTMAN answered yes; however, he suggested that
vacancy could be automatically filled by the certified election
winner. He surmised that the governor wouldn't necessarily need
to appoint the certified winner to fill the vacancy.
REPRESENTATIVE CARPENTER pointed out that whether the new
legislator was appointed or won the election, he/she would be
sworn in to fill the two-year term.
REPRESENTATIVE EASTMAN agreed; however, he pointed out that the
process of swearing in a legislator did not have to occur during
session.
CHAIR CLAMAN announced that HB 124 was held over.