Special Session Season

by Karl Kurtz

With only Massachusetts, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin legislatures still in regular session according to State Net (and several of these are in recess or not actively meeting), it's the season for special legislative sessions.

I liked this photo of Nebraska index clerk Carol Koranda and journal clerk Vicki Buck checking to see that all of the members' voting buttons in the chamber of the Unicameral work in preparation for the special session that convenes today on the proposed Keystone XL pipeline from the tar sands of Alberta, Canada to refineries along the Gulf of Mexico.

The story about the issue is good, too, as it outlines differing legal arguments as to whether the state has the power to regulate the siting of the pipeline or whether this is completely under the control of the federal government in regulating interstate commerce. Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman called the special session out of concern that the proposed pipeline route crosses Nebraska's environmentally sensitive Sandhills region and the important Ogallala Aquifer that provides water to much of the plains states. The governor, however, did not propose a solution, leaving the issue to the legislature to resolve.

The decennial redistricting process has caused more special sessions than normal this year because many states did not have time to complete congressional or legislative redistricting during their regular sessions but want to have new districts in place before next year's sessions. North Dakota, which does not have a regular session in 2012, is scheduled to go into special session next week to enact new legislative districts.

An unusual version of a redistricting special session may come as early as today in Arizona, where a joint legislative committee last week issued an opinion saying that the process used by an independent redistricting commission to draw legislative and congressional districts "...is so fundamentally flawed that the resulting maps have been unconstitutionally created and the only remedy is to start the process over." (Arizona Republic) This opinion was issued by the Republican majority members of the Joint Legislative Committee on Redistricting. Democrats boycotted the meeting at which the opinion was issued.

It was expected that Gov. Jan Brewer would call an unprecedented special session of the Legislature this afternoon to begin proceedings to remove some of the members of the independent commission. 11/2 update: The Arizona Legislature did convene yesterday, and the Senate impeached the chair of the independent redistricting commission on a vote of 21-6.

Minnesota (new stadium for the Vikings), West Virginia (certifying election results) and Washington (budget issues) are also scheduled to go into special sessions on specific issues in November.

Photo credit: JournalStar.com

Comments

[Michael]

Hi, Karl.

Technically, New York also remains in regular session, having only adjourned at the call of the respective chamber leaders. This is common practice.

When session ends, rather than adjourning Sine Die, the leaders adjourn at their call which enables them to call their chamber back, without Executive Proclamation, at any time to pass legislation. Both the Speaker of the Assembly and Temporary President of the Senate adjourn session Sine Die minutes before they convene the next session. That is, if next year's session begins on January 6th 2012, the leaders adjourn the 2011 session on January 6th 2012.

As mentioned above, remaining in regular session enables the leaders to call their chamber back without Executive Proclamation, which is a powerful tool to retain.

[Karl Kurtz]

Thanks for the correction and the useful detail on New York, Michael. It's always a bit of a mystery as to how to list a number of legislatures that technically remain in session toward the end of the year but are not actually meeting. My list of legislatures in session is based on State Net's "Daily Session Summary" (http://www.statenet.com/resources/sessum.htm), which lists New York as in recess until 11/14/2011.

[Marci Wasserman]

Let me clarify some terms used in State Net's Session Summary. Our term in Session indicates that a Legislature is meeting at least once a week.

We indicate New York is in recess as they are not adjourned but also not meeting on a regular basis. Our Summary indicates that New York will be out of recess on Nov. 14, 2011.

[Karl Kurtz]

OK, based on Marci's clarification, in the first paragraph I should have included Illinois, New Jersey, New York and North Carolina in the list of states in regular session. That makes nine states plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico still technically in regular session.