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Monday, March 08, 2010

House: 412:38 Senate 302:26 Total 714:64

So we've just passed the half-way point of the 90 day 2nd Session of the 26th Alaska Legislature.  412 and 302 bills have been introduced in the House and Senate respectively.  38 from the House and 26 from the Senate have passed both houses.

Each Legislature convenes for two years, one session each year.  So, some of these bills were introduced in the 2009 session and are still hanging around.  From the legislative website here's the official tally as of today, Sunday, March 7, 2010:


Bill/Resolution Statistics (26th Legislature)



HOUSESENATETOTALS





INTROPASSED BOTHINTROPASSED BOTHINTROPASSED BOTH
Bills412383022671464
Joint Res.52132958118
Concurrent Res.2161453511
Resolutions15101062516
Special Con. Res.000000


That means the House has passed 9.2% of the bills introduced and the Senate has passed 8.6%.  These batting averages would get you dropped from a baseball team.  But they have 45 or so days left.

And, in fairness, not all bills are equal.  Some are simple and some are far more complex. 

So where are all the bills?  Bills get assigned to committees that have jurisdiction over the issues they cover.  For instance, the Resources Committee deals with the programs and activities of the Departments of Fish and Game, Natural Resources, and Environmental Conservation.   I'm told that since the legislature has been cut back from 120 days to 90 days, bills tend to be assigned to fewer committees.

Anyway, a bill gets sent to a committee, which discusses it, possibly amends it, then, if it votes yeah, sends it on to the next committee.  If the bill has some sort of financial impact (and sometimes even if it is minimal) it has to go through the Finance Committee. 

Actually, I skipped a bit.  The whole procedure, step by step, is spelled out in a document linked on the Legislative Publications page and it's called Legislative Process in Alaska.  The next steps come directly from there:
The Committee then returns the bill with its report to the Chief Clerk or Secretary.
The report is read under Standing Committee Reports as part of the Daily Order of Business. The bill is then transmitted to the next committee of referral by the Chief Clerk or Secretary. If the bill does not have another committee referral, it is delivered to the Rules Committee which may schedule the bill on the Daily Calendar for Second Reading. The Rules Committee may also hold hearings on the bill and may propose amendments or a committee substitute of its own.
You can go to this page which lists each committee.  Click on a committee and you'll see what bills are there. where each bill is at the moment.

Click on Finance Committee now and you find there are now 72 bills sitting in the House Finance Committee.



PRIMECURRENTSTATUS
BILLSHORT TITLESPONSOR(s)STATUSDATE
HB 4 FALSE CALLER IDENTIFICATION LYNN, GARDNER (H) FIN02/04/09
HB 7 ROBERT E. BUSH VETERANS' MEMORIAL BRIDGE CHENAULT (H) FIN02/24/10
HB 9 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT CHENAULT (H) FIN04/10/09
HB 13 PROPERTY CRIMES COGHILL (H) FIN04/02/09
HB 15 BAN CELL PHONE USE BY MINORS WHEN DRIVINGGARDNER, TUCK (H) FIN03/23/09
HB 29 ALASKA MINIMUM WAGE OLSON (H) FIN03/12/09
HB 36 INITIATIVES: CONTRIBUTIONS/ PROCEDURES ** JOHANSEN, MILLETT (H) FIN04/16/09
HB 50 LIMIT OVERTIME FOR REGISTERED NURSES ** P.WILSON, GARA (H) FIN04/15/09
HB 52 POST-TRIAL JUROR COUNSELING KERTTULA (H) FIN03/01/10
HB 58 EDUC LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM ** THOMAS, P.WILSON (H) FIN04/01/09
HB 59 PRE-ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PROGRAMS/PLANS ** KAWASAKI, GARA (H) FIN04/10/09
HB 60 BUDGET PLANNING & LONG-RANGE FISCAL PLAN GRUENBERG, CISSNA (H) FIN01/20/09
HB 64 GIFT CARDS ** GATTO, GARDNER (H) FIN02/11/09
HB 69 EARLY CHILDHOOD ED: RATING & HOME VISITS ** TUCK, PETERSEN (H) FIN04/10/09
HB 70 ALASKA GROWN AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS GATTO (H) FIN04/03/09
HB 73 LICENSE PLATES LYNN (H) FIN03/25/09
HB 76 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL & LB&A MEMBERSHIP ** GRUENBERG, BUCH (H) FIN02/05/10
HB 79 GAS ROYALTY & TAX FUND/PCE RAMRAS (H) FIN01/21/09
HB 80 JOINT ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE DAHLSTROM (H) FIN01/28/09
HB 82 BUDGET: CAPITAL, SUPP. & OTHER APPROPS RLS BY REQUEST OF THE GOVERNOR (H) FIN01/22/09
HB 89 VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION COMMITTEE RLS BY REQUEST OF THE GOVERNOR (H) FIN03/04/10
HB 92 DIVEST INVESTMENTS IN SUDAN RLS BY REQUEST OF THE GOVERNOR (H) FIN02/25/09
HB 97 STATE VETERANS' CEMETERY & FUND GUTTENBERG (H) FIN02/25/09
HB 99 DECEASED VETERAN DEATH CERTIFICATE/HONOR STATE AFFAIRS (H) FIN03/02/09
HB 116 IDITAROD REGISTRATION PLATES NEUMAN (H) FIN03/05/09
HB 127 ALASKA RAILROAD BUDGET STOLTZE (H) FIN03/18/09
HB 132 BICYCLE PROGRAM SEATON (H) FIN03/23/09
HB 138 CRUELTY TO ANIMALS GATTO (H) FIN03/01/10
HB 147 EDUCATION FUNDING FOR INSTRUCTION EDUCATION (H) FIN03/02/09
HB 149 CIVIL LEGAL SERVICES FUND JUDICIARY (H) FIN03/23/09
HB 150 POWER COST EQUALIZATION AUSTERMAN (H) FIN03/18/09
HB 154 SUPP./CAP. APPROPS: ECON. STIMULUS RLS BY REQUEST OF THE GOVERNOR (H) FIN02/25/09
HB 155 AUTHORIZE ECONOMIC STIMULUS PARTICIPATIONRLS BY REQUEST OF THE GOVERNOR (H) FIN03/27/09
HB 166 SOUTHEAST ENERGY FUND THOMAS (H) FIN04/01/09
HB 167 TAX CREDIT FOR STATE TOURISM PROGRAM COGHILL (H) FIN04/08/09
HB 168 TRAUMA CARE CENTERS/FUND COGHILL (H) FIN02/17/10
HB 169 APPROP: TRAUMA CARE FUND COGHILL (H) FIN03/09/09
HB 180 SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION FUNDING JOULE (H) FIN03/12/09
HB 190 CHILDREN'S TRUST GRANT FOR ENDOWMENT FAIRCLOUGH (H) FIN04/15/09
HB 193 LEGISLATIVE ETHICS ACT COGHILL (H) FIN04/07/09
HB 196 ALTERNATIVE ENERGY REVOLVING LOAN FUND ENERGY (H) FIN04/01/09
HB 204 POSTSECONDARY MEDICAL EDUC. PROG. DAHLSTROM (H) FIN04/03/09
HB 205 PERMANENT FUND DIVIDEND FOR DECEASED CRAWFORD (H) FIN04/14/09
HB 212 UNEMPLOYMENT AMENDMENTS: FED STIMULUS CRAWFORD (H) FIN04/08/09
HB 225 STATE PROCUREMENT CODE FAIRCLOUGH (H) FIN04/14/09
HB 228 REPEAL CBR SUBACCOUNT DOOGAN BY REQUEST (H) FIN04/10/09
HB 235 PROF STUDENT EXCHANGE LOAN FORGIVENESS MUNOZ (H) FIN02/08/10
HB 245 LICENSING FOR OPTOMETRY THOMAS (H) FIN03/01/10
HB 273 MUNICIPAL GENERAL GRANT LAND P.WILSON (H) FIN02/26/10
HB 283 PURCHASE/CONSUMPTION OF ALCOHOL CRAWFORD (H) FIN03/04/10
HB 291 GUARANTEED REVENUE BONDS FOR VETERANS RLS BY REQUEST OF THE GOVERNOR (H) FIN02/23/10
HB 292 GRANTS TO DISASTER VICTIMS RLS BY REQUEST OF THE GOVERNOR (H) FIN02/19/10
HB 294 USE, REGULATION, AND OPERATION OF BOATS NEUMAN (H) FIN02/03/10
HB 296 ENERGY EFFICIENCY BONDS; LOANS; FUND RLS BY REQUEST OF THE GOVERNOR (H) FIN02/26/10
HB 298 SEX OFFENSES; OFFENDER REGIS.; SENTENCINGRLS BY REQUEST OF THE GOVERNOR (H) FIN02/12/10
HB 299 CRIME LAB; LIFE SCIENCES BUILDING RLS BY REQUEST OF THE GOVERNOR (H) FIN01/19/10
HB 300 APPROP: OPERATING BUDGET/LOANS/FUNDS RLS BY REQUEST OF THE GOVERNOR (H) FIN01/19/10
HB 301 BUDGET: CAPITAL, SUPP. & OTHER APPROPS RLS BY REQUEST OF THE GOVERNOR (H) FIN01/19/10
HB 302 APPROP: MENTAL HEALTH BUDGET RLS BY REQUEST OF THE GOVERNOR (H) FIN01/19/10
HB 310 SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION DEBT REIMBURSEMENT EDUCATION (H) FIN02/17/10
HB 312 ADVISORY VOTE ON IN-STATE GAS PIPELINE CHENAULT (H) FIN02/05/10
HB 314 WORKERS' COMPENSATION LABOR & COMMERCE (H) FIN02/26/10
HB 317 EDUC. FUNDING: BASIC/SPEC NEEDS/TRANSPORTEDUCATION (H) FIN02/12/10
HB 323 INCREASING NUMBER OF SUPERIOR CT JUDGES RLS BY REQUEST (H) FIN03/01/10
HB 325 APPROP: DEFERRED MAINTENANCE/REPLACEMENT RLS BY REQUEST OF THE GOVERNOR (H) FIN02/03/10
HB 326 SUPPLEMENTAL/CAPITAL/OTHER APPROPRIATIONSRLS BY REQUEST OF THE GOVERNOR (H) FIN02/03/10
HB 331 YOUTH COURTS AND CRIMINAL FINES MUNOZ (H) FIN03/01/10
HB 339 AK HOUSING FIN CORP DIVIDEND RLS BY REQUEST OF THE GOVERNOR (H) FIN02/10/10
HB 342 EXTEND BOARD OF REAL ESTATE APPRAISERS T.WILSON (H) FIN02/26/10
HB 344 SALMON PRODUCT DEVELOP. TAX CREDIT THOMAS (H) FIN02/23/10
HB 346 WORKERS' COMPENSATION ADVISORY BOARD OLSON (H) FIN02/26/10
HB 356 TRANSPORT. INFRASTRUCTURE FUND APPROP. TRANSPORTATION (H) FIN02/19/10


The House Rules Committee - the last stop before being voted on the House floor - has 21 bills.


Health and Human Services has 41.

Resources has 38.

State Affairs has 37.

Labor and Commerce has 35

Judiciary has 28.


Transportation has 25. 

Education has 20.  

Community and Regional Affairs has 19.

Energy has 15.


Fisheries has 15.

Military and Veterans Affairs has 1.  

I've left out all the House Resolutions (HR) and House Joint Resolutions (HJR) and Senate Bills (SB).  And note, that these can change every day, so the numbers will change. 

The Legislators clearly spend a lot of time writing, pushing,  and debating bills that never will become law.   They seem to do this because they think it impresses voters and contributors.  They also do this because they believe in the issues they are working on. Sometimes both motivations overlap, sometimes not.  People have to ask more questions of their legislators.

I'm not completely sure what's still likely to pass.  The Campaign Expenditure Disclosure bills - responding to the Citizens United Supreme Court case - appears to have bi-partisan support.   This will require disclosure of the funders of independent issue ads.  Even with this, everyone expects corporations and to a lesser extent labor unions, to target individual candidates who vote against their interests.  Without any of these bills passing, they can do that without the public knowing who's paying for the ads. 

It also looks like a lot of the remaining time will be spent on the gas pipeline and on a push by some lawmakers to lower oil and gas taxes. 

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