01/25/1994 08:00 AM House STA

  HJR 22 - LEGISLATURE OF 25 SENATORS, 50 REPS                                 
                                                                               
  Number 472                                                                   
                                                                               
  LARRY LABOLLE, AIDE TO REPRESENTATIVE RICHARD FOSTER, spoke                  
  on HJR 22.  He said that the resolution was primarily                        
  introduced to create awareness of the potential for                          
  increasing the size of the legislature to improve                            
  representation.  He went on to say that with the current                     
  redistricting, the rural districts have become impossibly                    
  large.                                                                       
                                                                               
  MR. LABOLLE stated that this issue has come up before in the                 
  state of Alaska.  There have been, since statehood, two                      
  resolutions to suggest that the size of the legislature                      
  should be increased.  He stated, when Representative Foster                  
  was preparing this legislation, it was decided that 60 House                 
  members and 30 Senate members would be appropriate.                          
  He further discussed the problems of Representative Foster's                 
  district.  The Yupik contingent feel they are not fairly                     
  represented.                                                                 
                                                                               
  MR. LABOLLE said that Representative Foster did not                          
  necessarily intend for this resolution to make it through                    
  this legislative session, but wanted to create awareness.                    
  He also stated the advantages of passing this bill would be                  
  that it would be less costly to run for office.  Presently                   
  the high cost of travel while campaigning precludes many                     
  people from being effective candidates, and as such, there                   
  is a certain contingent of the state that is disenfranchised                 
  from running for the legislature.                                            
                                                                               
  MR. LABOLLE said in closing he felt the fiscal notes were                    
  unrealistic.  He said that a 25 percent increase in the size                 
  of the legislature should not double the cost of the                         
  legislature.  Assuming that there would be a larger pool to                  
  draw from to fill the same committees, it would not                          
  necessarily mean the committee size had to increase.  He                     
  further stated that there would be some increase in staff,                   
  but with fewer committee assignments the staff could be                      
  distributed among the legislators.                                           
                                                                               
  REPRESENTATIVE PETE KOTT asked if there were any statistics                  
  or numbers that would indicate the largest and smallest                      
  states based on population and the number of legislators in                  
  those states.                                                                
                                                                               
  Number 536                                                                   
                                                                               
  REPRESENTATIVE VEZEY responded to Representative Kott's                      
  question by pointing out that the information was summarized                 
  in the Blue Book.                                                            
                                                                               
  Number 540                                                                   
                                                                               
  REPRESENTATIVE HARLEY OLBERG said that population is not as                  
  much a concern as geography.                                                 
                                                                               
  Number 552                                                                   
                                                                               
  REPRESENTATIVE VEZEY commented on the fiscal note.                           
                                                                               
  Number 557                                                                   
                                                                               
  REPRESENTATIVE ULMER made a motion to pass HJR 22                            
                                                                               
  CHAIRMEN VEZEY called for a roll call vote.  Representatives                 
  Vezey, Ulmer, B. Davis, G. Davis, Sanders and Olberg voted                   
  YES.  Representative Kott voted NO.                                          
                                                                               
  HJR 22 PASSED out of Committee with individual                               
  recommendations.