Alaska Legislature

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Alaska Legislature
Type
Type	Bicameral
Houses	Senate House of Representatives
Leadership
President of the Senate	Gary Stevens, Coalition Republican
Speaker of the House	Mike Chenault, Republican
Structure
Members	60
Political groups	Democratic Party Republican Party
Election
Last election	November 4, 2008
Meeting place
Alaska State Capitol, Juneau
Web site
http://w3.legis.state.ak.us/

The Alaska Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is a bicameral institution, consisting of the lower Alaska House of Representatives, with 40 members, and the upper house Alaska Senate, with 20 members. With a total of 60 lawmakers, the Alaska Legislature is the smallest bicameral state legislature in the United States.

The Alaska Legislature meets in the State Capitol building in Juneau.

Contents 1 Meetings 2 Non-professional legislature 3 References 4 External links 5 See also

[edit] Meetings

Annual sessions begin in January and are limited by statute to 90 calendar days. Special sessions of 30 calendar days may be convened by a consensus of two-thirds of the each house.

In the 2006 elections, a voter initiative was passed that reduced the statutory length of the session from 121 days. The 2008 session was the first 90 day session. Although the session adjourned on time, some members of the legislature claimed that legislation was rushed and public input was jeopardized.^[1]

[edit] Non-professional legislature

Unlike other state legislatures with longer sessions, the comparatively short Alaska Legislature session allows many lawmakers to retain outside employment, especially in the state's many seasonal industries, such as fishing and tourism. In this, the Alaska Legislature retains some of the volunteer nature that characterized most state legislatures until the middle of the 20th century. This has led to recurring but minor controversy around the potential for conflict of interest inherent in legislators' outside employment.^[2]

[edit] References

1. ^ "Legislature adjourns on time". Anchorage Daily News. 2008-04-13. http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/374722.html. Retrieved on 2008-09-05. 
2. ^ "Alaska editorial: Let a commission help decide legislator's pay". Juneau Empire. 2006-01-13. http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:ULzEwaHp2dwJ:www.juneauempire.com/stories/011306/opi_20060113001.shtml+alaska+legislator+%22outside+employment%22&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=1. Retrieved on 2006-08-23. 

[edit] External links

• Alaska Legislature
• Senate Bipartisan Working Group (mix of Democrats and Republicans
• Republican Senate Caucus
• House Majority Organization (mix of Democrats and Republicans
• House Democratic Legislators

[edit] See also

• Alaska State Capitol
• List of Alaska State Legislatures
• Alaska political corruption probe

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