Alaska Senate

Alaska Senate
Alaska Legislature
Type
Type	Upper house
Term limits	None
History
New session started	January 18, 2013
Leadership
President of the Senate	Charlie Huggins, (R) Since January 20, 2013
Majority Leader	John Coghill, (R) Since November 11, 2012
Minority Leader	Johnny Ellis, (D) Since November 8, 2012
Structure
Seats	20
Political groups	Alaska Republican Party (13) Alaska Democratic Party (7)
Length of term	4 years
Authority	Article 2, Alaska Constitution
Salary	$50,400/year + per diem
Elections
Last election	November 6, 2012 (19 seats)
Next election	November 4, 2014 (10 seats: districts B, D, F, H, J, L, N, P, R, T) November 8, 2016 (10 seats: districts A, C, E, G, I, K, M, O, Q, S)
Redistricting	Alaska Redistricting Board
Meeting place
State Senate Chamber Alaska State Capitol Juneau, Alaska
Website
Alaska State Senate

The Alaska Senate is the upper house in the Alaska Legislature, the state legislature of the US state of Alaska. The Senate consists of twenty members, each of whom represents an equal amount of districts with populations of approximately 35,512 people, per 2010 Census figures. Senators serve four-year terms, without term limits. Half of the Alaska Senate is up for re-election every two years. With just twenty senators, the Alaska Senate is the smallest upper house legislative chamber in the United States.

Like other upper houses of state and territorial legislatures and the federal Senate, the Senate can confirm or reject gubernatorial appointments to the state cabinet, commissions and boards.

The Senate convenes at the State Capitol in Juneau.

Powers and legislative process

The Alaska Senate shares the responsibility for making laws in the state of Alaska. Bills are developed by staff from bill requests and information from the bill's sponsor. Bills undergo three or four readings during the legislative process. After the first reading, they are assigned to committee. Committees can amend measures or hold legislation and prevent it from reaching the Senate floor. Once a committee has weighed in on a piece of legislation, the bill returns to the floor for second hearing and a third hearing, which happens just before the floor vote on it.

Once passed by the Senate, a bill is sent to the opposite legislative house for consideration. If approved, without amendment, it is sent to the governor. If there is amendment, however, the Senate may either reconsider the bill with amendments or ask for the establishment of a conference committee to work out differences in the versions of the bill passed by each chamber. Once a piece of legislation approved by both houses is forwarded to the governor, it may either be signed or vetoed. If it is signed, it takes effect on the effective date of the legislation. If it is vetoed, lawmakers may override the veto with a vote by a three-fifths majority in both chambers.

The Alaska Senate has the sole responsibility in the state's legislative branch for confirming gubernatorial appointees to positions that require confirmation.

Current composition

Affiliation	Party (Shading indicates majority caucus)				Total
	Democratic		Republican			Vacant
End of previous legislature	10		6	4	20	0
Begin	5	2	13		20	0
Latest voting share	25%	75%

Membership

Qualifications and terms

Senators must be a qualified voter and resident of Alaska for no less than three years, and a resident of the district from which elected for one year immediately preceding filing for office. A senator must be at least 25 years old at the time the oath of office is taken.

Senators may expel a member with the concurrence of two-thirds of the membership of the house. This has happened only once in Senate history. On February 5, 1982, the Senate of the 12th Legislature expelled Bethel senator George Hohman from the body. Hohman was convicted of bribery in conjunction with his legislative duties on December 24, 1981, and had defiantly refused to resign from his seat. Expulsion was not much a consideration during the more recent Alaska political corruption probe, as many of the legislators targeted by the probe resigned, lost renomination or reelection, or did not seek reelection.

Legislative terms begin on the second Monday in January following a presidential election year and on the third Tuesday in January following a gubanatorial election. The term of senators is four years and half of the senators are up for election every two years.

Leadership

The President of the Senate presides over the body, appointing members to all of the Senate's committees and joint committees, and may create other committees and subcommittees if desired. Unlike many other states, the Lieutenant Governor of Alaska does not preside over the Senate. Instead, the Lieutenant Governor oversees the Alaska Division of Elections, fulfilling the role of Secretary of State. Only two other states, Hawaii and Utah, have similar constitutional arrangements for their lieutenant governors.^{[citation needed]} The other partisan Senate leadership positions, such as the Majority and Minority leaders, are (usually) elected by their respective party caucuses to head their parties in the chamber.^{[citation needed]}

Current leadership

Position	Name	Party	Residence	District
President	Charlie Huggins	Republican	Wasilla	E
Majority Leader	John Coghill	Republican	North Pole	A
Minority Leader	Johnny Ellis	Democratic	Anchorage	I

Members of the 28th Senate

Alaska State Senate
28th Alaska Legislature, 2013–2014

District	Name	Image	Party	Residence	Assumed office	Next election
A	Coghill, JohnJohn Coghill		Republican	North Pole	2009	2016
B	Kelly, PetePete Kelly		Republican	Fairbanks	2013	2014
C	Bishop, Clark "Click"Clark "Click" Bishop		Republican	Fairbanks	2013	2016
D	Dunleavy, MikeMike Dunleavy		Republican	Wasilla	2013	2014
E	Huggins, CharlieCharlie Huggins		Republican	Wasilla	2004	2016
F	Dyson, FredFred Dyson		Republican	Eagle River	2003	2014
G	Wielechowski, BillBill Wielechowski		Democratic	Anchorage	2007	2016
H	Gardner, BertaBerta Gardner		Democratic	Anchorage	2013	2014
I	Ellis, JohnnyJohnny Ellis		Democratic	Anchorage	1993	2016
J	French, HollisHollis French		Democratic	Anchorage	2003	2014
K	McGuire, LesilLesil McGuire		Republican	Anchorage	2007	2016
L	Meyer, KevinKevin Meyer		Republican	Anchorage	2009	2014
M	Fairclough, AnnaAnna Fairclough		Republican	Eagle River	2013	2016
N	Giessel, CathyCathy Giessel		Republican	Anchorage	2011	2014
O	Micciche, PeterPeter Micciche		Republican	Soldotna	2013	2016
P	Egan, DennisDennis Egan		Democratic	Juneau	2009	2014
Q	Stedman, BertBert Stedman		Republican	Sitka	2003	2016
R	Stevens, GaryGary Stevens		Republican	Kodiak	2003	2014
S	Hoffman, LymanLyman Hoffman		Democratic	Bethel	1995	2016
T	Olson, DonaldDonald Olson		Democratic	Golovin	2001	2014

See also

• Alaska House of Representatives
• Alaska State Capitol
• List of Alaska State Legislatures

External links

• Alaska State Senate official government website
• Project Vote Smart – State Senate of Alaska