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 12	03/07/12
HB 65	SENIOR CITIZEN HOUSING DEV. FUND GRANTS	** EDGMON, HERRON	TRANSM TO GOVERNOR	04/09/12
HB 144	REPORT ON FISHING STREAM ACCESS	GARA	AWAIT TRANSMIT GOV	02/27/12
HB 291	PUBLIC NOTICES POSTED AT POST OFFICES	RLS BY REQUEST OF LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL	CHAPTER 4 SLA 12	03/21/12
HB 307	SUPPLEMENTAL/CAPITAL/OTHER APPROPRIATIONS	RLS BY REQUEST OF THE GOVERNOR	CHAPTER 5 SLA 12	03/23/12
HB 311	REPORTS TO APOC	RLS	CHAPTER 1 SLA 12	02/20/12
HCR 18	COMMERCIAL FISHERIES PROGRAMS	FISHERIES	AWAIT TRANSMIT GOV	04/07/12
HJR 29	BLM LEGACY OIL WELL CLEAN UP/AWARENESS	MILLETT	AWAIT TRANSMIT GOV	03/28/12
HJR 34	COAST GUARD ICEBREAKERS & ARCTIC BASE	HERRON	AWAIT TRANSMIT GOV	03/30/12
SB 30	RETURN OF SEIZED PROPERTY	DYSON	CHAPTER 3 SLA 12	03/21/12
SB 86	PROTECTION OF VULNERABLE ADULTS/MINORS	RLS BY REQUEST OF THE GOVERNOR	AWAIT TRANSMIT GOV	03/26/12
SB 127	FETAL ALCOHOL DISORDERS AWARENESS DAY	MEYER	AWAIT TRANSMIT GOV	04/06/12
SB 173	2012 REVISOR'S BILL	RLS BY REQUEST OF LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL	CHAPTER 6 SLA 12	03/23/12
SCR 16	CELIAC DISEASE AWARENESS MONTH	GIESSEL	AWAIT TRANSMIT GOV	04/03/12
SCR 18	RAOUL WALLENBERG REMEMBRANCE DAY	DYSON	AWAIT TRANSMIT GOV	04/02/12
SCR 20	DECORATION OF HONOR	WIELECHOWSKI	AWAIT TRANSMIT GOV	04/05/12
SCR 25	SUSPEND UNIFORM RULES FOR HJR 29	RESOURCES	AWAIT TRANSMIT GOV	03/28/12
SJR 17	ARCTIC COUNCIL TASK FORCE	MCGUIRE	LEGIS RESOLVE 29	03/19/12

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.