How to dive deep into state government at the Akleg.gov website

Explanations and public testimony on legislation; live and past webstreams of meetings; schedules; legal references, and much more

The akleg.gov website homepage. (Screenshot from akleg.gov)

By Ellie Ruel

Juneau Independent

While the official business of the Alaska Legislature happens in the Alaska State Capitol, a veritable library of information can be found within the cyber confines of the akleg.gov website — from bill progress to legislator bios to historical documents and even statistics.

The akleg.gov homepage lands on a “Spotlight” page featuring Capitol Updates, the scheduled dates of the session, and a selected definition from the Glossary of Legislative terms.

All the legislation introduced to date for the current session. (Screenshot from akleg.gov)

Tracking Bills and Legislation

On the site’s blue left sidebar, users can hover over the Bills and Laws tab to view the menu. The first option is bills, which pulls up a submenu with a variety of sorting options. Users can view all introduced bills for the entire two-year session, prefiled bills or by committee. Near the bottom, there’s an option to view introduced bills by sponsor or subject, and a link to statistics on bills introduced and passed during a given session. 

To track a specific piece of legislation, the quickest way to get to information is by navigating to the Bills and Legislation tab and clicking on “Tools,” then “Bill Tracking Management Facility.” From there, users can search the abbreviation (i.e. HB for House bill or SB for Senate bill) and the legislation number to get to the bill’s page.

The page contains information such as the short title, a primary sponsor listed in all-caps and cosponsors, and its current status. It will also show where the legislation currently sits and where it’s headed, whether it’s another committee, a floor vote, or the governor’s desk. Actions are dated, with a full history available under the “actions” tab.

Other tabs navigate to a bill’s full text, the fiscal notes (the cost breakdown of implementing a piece of legislation), any amendments, minutes and audio associated with the bill, and extra documents. 

The “Documents” tab is especially helpful for people wanting to understand legislation in plain English — and what other people think about it. The list features newest documents first, so at or near the bottom is a sponsor statement by the lawmaker that introduced the bill that provides a simple summary of the proposal — although be bias-aware since the sponsor is obviously in favor of it passing (tip: scroll up to look for revised statements that reflect amendments to the bill as it passes through committees). Also in the documents are official analyses of legal and impacts, amended versions if the bill is modified, and public testimony submitted by groups and individuals.

An example of a bill page. (Screenshot from akleg.gov)

How to find what’s going on

The next tab over above the Spotlight page shows a floor calendar for both the House and Senate. That includes a list of legislation to be heard in the chambers for the day. To the right of that tab is the Daily Schedule, which lists committee meetings with times and room numbers for the day as well as the agenda. Users can sort the timetable by committee, House, and Senate. Symbols denote statuses like first hearing in the first committee of referral, teleconferenced, or bill was previously heard/scheduled. 

Recordings and documents from these can be accessed through the Meetings tab to the right. Next to that is also a Live Now tab, which shows a livestream of committee proceedings from Gavel Alaska. If there’s a meeting currently happening, a link will navigate to Gavel’s webpage where a video stream will autoplay. Meeting archives can also be accessed there.

The daily schedule of committee meetings. (Screenshot from akleg.gov)

Full lists of current and past legislators can be accessed from the House or Senate tabs on the left sidebar. Clicking on their headshots navigates to their information page, including a bio if provided, legislative service history, phone numbers, office location, and email. Addresses to contact them while the legislature is not in session are also available. Information about what committees they’re on, their voting record, and bills they are sponsoring and have previously sponsored is listed in tabs below.

Tutorials, reference material and other assistance is available in the "Getting Started" section of the Alaska State Legislature’s website. (Screenshot from akleg.gov)

General info

General information can be found under the Publications tab on the main sidebar with links to key documents like the Alaska Constitution, the Administrative Journal, and House and Senate seating charts.

Here, users may find guides like “How to Read a Bill History,” “Steps in the Passage of a Bill” and “A Layman’s Guide to the Budget Process” helpful when setting out to understand the lawmaking process. For a historical lens, “The Citizens’ Guide to the Constitution 6th Edition” and “Tips for Researching Alaska’s Legislative History” may prove more illuminating. Broad information about acronyms and legislative staff lists are also on that page.

Those looking to get involved might find the rules for public viewing in the House and Senate galleries particularly helpful. The Legislative Information Office also published a document listing tips for remote testimony during public hearings.

• Contact Ellie Ruel at ellie.ruel@juneauindependent.com.

Links to individual pages of House and Senate members are available in the main page for each chamber. (Screenshot from akleg.gov)

A reference library to the Alaska State Constitution, state law, and other current and past documents is available in the "Publications" section of the Alaska State Legislature’s website. (Screenshot from akleg.gov)