Legislature(2021 - 2022)GRUENBERG 120
03/03/2022 03:00 PM House STATE AFFAIRS
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HJR29 | |
| SB71 | |
| HB387 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | HJR 29 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | SB 71 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | HB 387 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
HB 387-MEMBERS LEG COUNCIL; LEG BUDGET & AUDIT
4:18:07 PM
CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS announced that the final order of business
would be HOUSE BILL NO. 387, "An Act relating to the membership
of the legislative council; and relating to the membership of
the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee."
4:18:36 PM
XANNIE BORSETH, Staff, Representative Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins,
Alaska State Legislature, introduced HB 387 on behalf of
Representative Kreiss-Tomkins, prime sponsor. She paraphrased
the sponsor statement [included in the committee packet], which
read as follows [original punctuation provided]:
As outlined by state statute, the Alaska Legislative
Council has the essential role of conducting the
legislature's business when the legislature is not in
session, while the Legislative Budget and Audit
Committee plays a pivotal role in managing state
finances and expenditures.
It is clear the legislative intent of committee member
representation on these decisive standing committees
is meant to be equitable and fair. Alaska State
Statute establishes membership on Legislative Council
and Legislative Budget and Audit to include "at least
one member from each of the two major political
parties of each house;" however, the Alaska
legislature has a long history of coalition caucuses
and nonpartisan legislators. The unfortunate
consequence is that organized legislative minority
representation has long been denied from these
critical standing committees. Caucuses form around a
vision they have for Alaska. The minority caucuses
should not have their vision for Alaska unrepresented
on these committees.
House Bill 387 seeks to clarify the long-standing
intent of fair representation on these powerful
standing committees by requiring at least one member
of the minority party of each house. By this change,
we can ensure that all of Alaska is represented fairly
on Legislative Council and Legislative Budget and
Audit.
4:20:39 PM
REPRESENTATIVE EASTMAN observed that the bill referred to
"chairs of the senate and house finance committees". He sought
to clarify that statement and the intent behind Section 2.
4:21:23 PM
MS. BORSETH deferred to Ms. Wallace, Legislative Legal Services.
4:21:39 PM
MEGAN WALLACE, Director, Legislative Legal Services, explained
that the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee (LB&A)
membership statute provided that the chair - or one of the co-
chairs - of both the senate and house finance committees would
serve under that clause. The membership provision also allowed
for another member of the senate and house finance committees to
be appointed by the senate president and the speaker of the
house, at which point both co-chairs could have membership on
LB&A.
4:22:41 PM
REPRESENTATIVE EASTMAN remarked:
One reading of the current language is that the chairs
are automatically included among the 10 members of the
committee, and then you have a separate portion of
that statement, which is tied to the appointment by
the presiding officers. Or, I suppose, one could
designate that the chairs are appointed by the
presiding officer, which would be a little bit
different.
4:24:09 PM
MS. WALLACE clarified that there were 10 members under the
current structure. She said existing language provided that of
those members, 3 were appointed by the presiding officers; 2
were chairs of the house and senate finance committee; and 2
were members of the house and senate finance committee. If
there were co-chairs of the finance committees, she said it
would depend on who the senate president was appointing as the
discretionary finance committee person. She suspected that the
statute was not specific for scenario in which there were co-
chairs; nonetheless, the statute clearly stated that there were
only 10 members. She further noted that "chairs of the senate
and house finance committee" in Section 2 referred to 1 chair
from each of the finance committees.
REPRESENTATIVE EASTMAN asked whether all 10 members were
required to be appointed by a presiding officer.
4:26:18 PM
MS WALLACE said the statute clearly allowed for some
appointments by the presiding officer. She pointed out that the
language in question, "the chairs of the senate and house
finance committees", did not account for a scenario in which
there were two co-chairs. She speculated that if the senate
president were to pick the chair and a member that was not the
co-chair, there could be some dispute as to who had the right to
serve on that committee.
4:28:16 PM
REPRESENTATIVE CLAMAN inquired about alternates.
MS. WALLACE said there was a specific statute, AS 24.20.165,
that governed LB&A alternates. Regarding Legislative Council,
there was nothing in statute that expressly prevented or
provided for alternate members.
REPRESENTATIVE CLAMAN asked how alternates on LB&A were
addressed in AS 24.20.165.
MS. WALACE summarized the statute in question, explaining that
the presiding officers appointed one alternate member from the
finance committee. The alternate member was allowed to
participate when the chair of the LB&A committee determined
there were not enough regular members in attendance at the
meeting to provide a quorum.
REPRESENTATIVE CLAMAN sought to confirm that the presiding
officer was required to appoint an alternate from the finance
committee of each body.
MS. WALLACE confirmed that the alternate was a mandatory
appointment from a member of the finance committee by the
presiding officer.
REPRESENTATIVE CLAMAN observed that Section 1 and Section 2 of
the bill referenced the minority leader's designee. He asked
whether the minority leader would be required to name that
designee, who would then become a member of the committee.
4:32:42 PM
MS. BORSETH explained that a forthcoming amendment would change
the designee language to "alternate", to allow for an
established alternate instead of the Senate Minority choosing a
person each time Legislative Council met.
REPRESENTATIVE CLAMAN asked what would happen if the minority
leader declined to serve on LB&A. He questioned whether the
minority leader would need to designate an official committee
member.
MS. BORSETH deferred to Ms. Wallace.
4:33:29 PM
MS. WALLACE perceived the language to indicate that yes, the
minority leader would need to permanently designate someone to
sit as the member on the committee. If the minority leader
declined to sit on the committee, he/she would essentially
appoint a person to sit permanently on the committee in his/her
place. Further, if the designee was unavailable to attend a
meeting, the committee would resort to the existing statute
pertaining to alternate members, she said.
REPRESENTATIVE CLAMAN sought to confirm that the language as
drafted would require the minority leader or his/her official
designee to serve as a permanent member of the committee.
MS. WALLACE said that was her understanding of the language as
drafted. Nonetheless, she encouraged the bill sponsor to weigh
in to articulate the legislative intent.
4:36:44 PM
REPRESENTATIVE VANCE asked why the bill sponsor didn't decide
upon a membership proportionate to the size of the minority.
CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS indicated that the bill reflected its
companion bill in the Senate.
4:37:40 PM
REPRESENTATIVE EASTMAN highlighted the importance of the
alternate's role in Legislative Council and the Select Committee
on Legislative Ethics. He encouraged the committee to seek
parity between the three committees [Legislative Council, the
Select Committee on Legislative Ethics, and LB&A].
4:40:42 PM
CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS announced that HB 387 was held over.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| HB 387 Fiscal Note LEG-COU-02-28-22.pdf |
HSTA 3/3/2022 3:00:00 PM |
HB 387 |
| HB 387 Sectional Analysis 3.3.2022.pdf |
HSTA 3/3/2022 3:00:00 PM |
HB 387 |
| HB 387 Sponsor Statement 3.3.2022.pdf |
HSTA 3/3/2022 3:00:00 PM |
HB 387 |
| HB 387 Version A.PDF |
HSTA 3/3/2022 3:00:00 PM |
HB 387 |