HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 22 Requesting the United States Congress to call a convention of the states to propose amendments to the Constitution of the United States that impose fiscal restraints on the federal government, limit the power and jurisdiction of the federal government, and limit the terms of office of federal government officials; and urging the legislatures of the other 49 states to request the United States Congress to call a convention of the states. 1:36:17 PM Co-Chair Austerman relayed that HJR 22 had been previously heard by the committee. REPRESENTATIVE TAMMIE WILSON, SPONSOR, discussed that the resolution proposed to hold a convention of the states. She detailed that Alaska wanted to be a part of the convention if 35 states all passed the resolution. She elaborated that following the passage of the resolutions the legislature would determine the number of delegates it wanted to send and which issues it wanted the delegates to speak on. She noted that if delegates could be replaced with alternates if they did not speak the way the legislature wanted. She addressed the concept of a "runaway" [runaway constitutional convention] and relayed that legislatures had control over the topics; once an amendment was finished if 35 delegates voted yes it would return to the state legislatures. Subsequently the issue would need approval from 38 states. She stated that there were numerous checks and balances. Representative Costello asked if a convention would be limited to the items listed in the resolution. Representative Wilson replied in the affirmative. She expounded that legislatures could narrow the scope further and did not have to speak on the issues. Representative Costello did not believe there was a provision for states to rescind a call for a convention. She believed that the states would have to call for a convention on the same topic in order to be counted [towards the 35 states]. For example, if two states called for a convention on term limits and other states called for a convention unrelated to term limits, the states calling for a convention on term limits would not be counted. She believed the list in the states' "call" would determine the convention agenda. 1:39:08 PM Representative Wilson shared Representative Costello's understanding of the issue. She detailed that if resolutions differed Congress would have the ability to determine that the resolutions did not match [closely enough]; therefore, resolutions like HJR 22 had been drafted similarly in other states. She noted that it would be difficult for the resolutions to all make it through the states' House and Senate. She stressed the importance of making the states' resolutions as similar as possible. Representative Gara had asked for a legal opinion on whether a runaway constitutional convention could occur. He recalled that the U.S. Constitution left open the possibility that a convention would not be limited to the topics passed by the states. He detailed that per language in the U.S. Constitution after the circumstances happened a constitutional convention would be called. He was uncertain how the legal opinion read and would share it with committee members. Representative Wilson explained that the resolution designated that Alaska wanted to be at the table if 35 other states passed similar resolutions. She stated that it was not necessary to talk about each of the items outlined in the resolution. She elaborated that the legislature would need to create legislation specifying how delegates would be chosen (states only received one vote), and which specific topics would be included. She stressed that the convention would not be able to discuss items outside of the realm specified by the state legislatures. She explained that 35 states would be required to accept the amendment once it was put to a vote at the convention. Subsequently, the issue would return to the state legislatures; at that time 38 legislatures would be required to pass the amendment without making any changes. She reiterated that it was up to the State of Alaska to be as specific as it chose. 1:42:06 PM Representative Gara communicated that he would share the legal opinion with Representative Wilson. Co-Chair Austerman commented that his personal preference would be to concentrate on balancing the federal budget. The number of different issues proposed in HJR 22 gave him pause. He noted that he had discussed his concerns with the sponsor previously. Vice-Chair Neuman MOVED to REPORT HJR 22 out of committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal note. Representative Costello OBJECTED for discussion. She pointed to the one previously published zero impact fiscal note from the Legislature. There being NO further OBJECTION, HJR 22 was REPORTED out of committee with "no recommendation" and with one previously published zero fiscal note: FN1 (LEG).