Legislative Branch
In order to qualify as a member of the Legislature the person must be a registered voter who has resided in Alaska for more than three years and who is a resident of the district to which he is elected for at least one year. In order to be a senator you must be at least 25 years old and to be a representative you must be at least 21 years of age at the time you take the oath of office.
A Legislature consists of two regular sessions which ordinarily meet annually on the second Tuesday in January or on the third Monday in January following the election of a governor. Special sessions are sometimes called by either the Governor or by the legislature to talk about very important issues but are limited to only 30 days.
The presiding officer of the Senate is called the president, and the presiding officer of the House of Representatives is the speaker. Each house elects a chief administrative clerk called the secretary of the Senate and the chief clerk of the House of Representives.
The most important aspect of the legislature is the formulation of new laws. This is done through the introducing of bills. A bill is a proposed law. Most bills are introduced by members of the legislature, acting individually or with others.
After bills are introduced, they are sent to committees, which can amend them, vote them down or pass them without changes. Bills are often sent to several committees and can die in committee if members postpone consideration of a bill indefinitely. If a committee gives a bill a "pass" recommendation, it is sent to the floor, where it is scheduled for debate and a vote. In some states, rules committees may stop a bill from floor debate even if a committee has given it a "pass".
Bills may be amended during floor debate which often gets heated as each side argues its case. Bills must receive a majority vote in their originating chamber in order to pass that chamber where they then go to the opposite chamber, where the process is repeated.
Bills may go into conference committee to resolve differences if the second chamber amends a bill and the originating chamber rejects the changes. Conference committees, made up of members of both chambers, make recommendations toward reconciliation and send the bill back to both houses for a vote. If a bill fails in either chamber than it won't be passed.
Bills passed by both the Senate and the House of Representatives are then sent to the governor. The governor may sign the bill into law, allow it to become law without his signature or veto it. The Legislature may override a gubernatorial veto with a two-thirds majority in both houses. If the session has ended at the time of the veto, the bill returns to the next legislative session.
Most legislation considered by lawmakers includes a section describing how laws should be enforced, who should enforce them and how to pay for enforcement.
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ALL Text by: Handbook on Alaska State Government
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