Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Legislature Passes Less Than 10% of Bills Introduced - 10 This Session So Far

I'm only here in Juneau for a couple of days, so I really don't know details of all the bills and what's been going on.  And looking at today's legislative schedule, nothing pops out of serious interest.  It's there, I'm sure, but not obvious.  I will go over and check things out - something of interest always appears.  But in the meantime, I've been checking out the 27th legislature.  (Each "legislature" meets for 2 years and has two sessions - this is the second session of the 27th legislature.  After the November election, the 28th session will begin next January with the new Representatives and in this case all new Senators (except Sen. Egan) because redistricting substantially changed all the Senate districts - except Egan's.)

So, here are the stats from the legislative website on bills passed so far for both sessions (2011 and 2012) 0f the 27th Legislature.


So, just 50 bills have passed so far. (HB and SB indicate House and Senate Bills, the others are resolutions There are also various resolutions.)  Here are the bills that have passed in this session (the second session of the 27th Legislature that began January this year):

HB 19 SPECIAL REQUEST LICENSE PLATES LYNN, GATTO CHAPTER 2 SLA 1203/07/12
HB 65 SENIOR CITIZEN HOUSING DEV. FUND GRANTS ** EDGMON, HERRON TRANSM TO GOVERNOR04/09/12
HB 144 REPORT ON FISHING STREAM ACCESS GARA AWAIT TRANSMIT GOV02/27/12
HB 291 PUBLIC NOTICES POSTED AT POST OFFICES RLS BY REQUEST OF LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL CHAPTER 4 SLA 1203/21/12
HB 307 SUPPLEMENTAL/CAPITAL/OTHER APPROPRIATIONSRLS BY REQUEST OF THE GOVERNOR CHAPTER 5 SLA 1203/23/12
HB 311 REPORTS TO APOC RLS CHAPTER 1 SLA 1202/20/12
HCR 18 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES PROGRAMS FISHERIES AWAIT TRANSMIT GOV04/07/12
HJR 29 BLM LEGACY OIL WELL CLEAN UP/AWARENESS MILLETT AWAIT TRANSMIT GOV03/28/12
HJR 34 COAST GUARD ICEBREAKERS & ARCTIC BASE HERRON AWAIT TRANSMIT GOV03/30/12
SB 30 RETURN OF SEIZED PROPERTY DYSON CHAPTER 3 SLA 1203/21/12
SB 86 PROTECTION OF VULNERABLE ADULTS/MINORS RLS BY REQUEST OF THE GOVERNOR AWAIT TRANSMIT GOV03/26/12
SB 127 FETAL ALCOHOL DISORDERS AWARENESS DAY MEYER AWAIT TRANSMIT GOV04/06/12
SB 173 2012 REVISOR'S BILL RLS BY REQUEST OF LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL CHAPTER 6 SLA 1203/23/12
SCR 16 CELIAC DISEASE AWARENESS MONTH GIESSEL AWAIT TRANSMIT GOV04/03/12
SCR 18 RAOUL WALLENBERG REMEMBRANCE DAY DYSON AWAIT TRANSMIT GOV04/02/12
SCR 20 DECORATION OF HONOR WIELECHOWSKI AWAIT TRANSMIT GOV04/05/12
SCR 25 SUSPEND UNIFORM RULES FOR HJR 29 RESOURCES AWAIT TRANSMIT GOV03/28/12
SJR 17 ARCTIC COUNCIL TASK FORCE MCGUIRE LEGIS RESOLVE 2903/19/12

If you go through this list - just 6 house bills and 4 senate bills and a few resolutions - a lot of these bills are symbolic. I won't say they're all fluff, but they aren't focused on solving substantive issues that Alaska faces - balancing resource development and environmental concerns, dealing with serious educational and social issues, etc.

 A quick look shows these that might have some bit of substance:

HB 65   "Making regional Native housing authorities eligible to receive grants through the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation from the senior citizens housing development fund."
HB 144  "An Act requiring the Department of Natural Resources annually to deliver to the legislature and the governor a report on fishing stream access."
HB  307    "An Act making supplemental appropriations, capital appropriations, and other 2    appropriations; amending appropriations; repealing appropriations; making 3    appropriations to capitalize funds; and providing for an effective date." [Click here for specifics]
SB 30  "An Act providing for the release of certain property in the custody of a law enforcement agency to a crime victim under certain conditions and relating to requests for that release by the office of victims' rights." [Note on changes the law makes]


From Fisheries
HCR 18 "Relating to an examination of fisheries-related programs to facilitate the entry of young Alaskans into commercial fisheries careers and to collaboration with the University of Alaska fisheries, seafood, and maritime initiative."

From the Governor's Office:
SB 86 "An Act relating to the protection of property of persons under disability and minors; relating to the crime of violating a protective order concerning certain vulnerable persons; relating to aggravating factors at sentencing for offenses concerning a victim 65 years or older; relating to the protection of vulnerable adults; making conforming amendments; amending Rules 12(h) and 45(a), Alaska Rules of Criminal Procedure, Rule 77, Alaska Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 17, Alaska Rules of Probate Procedure, and Rule 9, Alaska Rules of Administration; and providing for an effective date."  




This is procedural stuff but probably is more than symbolic:

HB 311 -  "An Act relating to the filing of information with, and to information filed with, the Alaska Public Offices Commission; and providing for an effective date."  Looks like changes to make it easier for candidates, you can see the  sponsor's analysis here.


The rest are what I'd call fluff.  They're nice.  They honor some person or organization.  But it seems to me that such bills should not be the main reason the legislature is in session.  


They still have some time left to pass some legislation, and in all fairness, the most contentious take the longest to be passed.  Let's see how many more bills they can pass before the end of the session.


OK, now that I have that out of the way, I'll go over to the capitol building and see what I can find. 

1 comment:

  1. Hi Steve,

    I laughed when I saw your headline on IM's blog roll. That's just the story I posted for tomorrow's radio program.

    Check out 10 bills passed with 4 days left.

    I produce a short daily radio program about the Alaska Legislature, state govt, and how people can have a say in the process. It's called The LegHead Report (pronounced leg as in legislature. TLHR is in its sixth year and has won awards for reporting, though often it's fun and quirky.

    I enjoy your blog and find a lot of what you include interesting. I'm now expanding the radio show to include a website and blog (leghead.com) and think your readers will enjoy my site as well.

    This is the first time I've linked to another blog. Thanks and keep up the good state/legislature reporting. Look for your link at the bottom of the story in the Resources section.

    Maggie Wall, producer The LegHead Report
    leghead.com

    ReplyDelete

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