Legislature(2021 - 2022)GRUENBERG 120
03/03/2022 03:00 PM House STATE AFFAIRS
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Audio | Topic |
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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 |
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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 |