Alaska State Senate
Alaska State Legislature
Type
Type	Upper house
Term limits	None
History
New session started	January 21, 2025
Leadership
President	Gary Stevens (R-C) since January 17, 2023
Majority Leader	Cathy Giessel (R-C) since January 17, 2023
Minority Leader	Mike Shower (R non-coalition) since January 21, 2025
Structure
Seats	20
Political groups	Majority coalition   Democratic (9)  Republican (5) Minority caucus   Republican (6)
Length of term	4 years
Authority	Article 2,Alaska Constitution
Salary	$50,400/year + per diem ($200/day, in session)
Elections
Voting system	Nonpartisan blanket primary /Ranked-choice voting (Beginning in 2022)
Last election	November 5, 2024 (10 seats: B, D, F, H, J, L, N, P, R, T)
Next election	November 3, 2026 (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
Rules
Alaska State Legislature Uniform Rules

TheAlaska State Senate is theupper house in theAlaska State Legislature, thestate legislature of theU.S. state ofAlaska. It convenes in theAlaska State Capitol inJuneau, Alaska and is responsible for making laws and confirming or rejecting gubernatorial appointments to the state cabinet, commissions and boards.

With just twenty members, the Alaska Senate is the smallest state legislative chamber in the United States. Its members serve four-year terms and each represent an equal number of districts with populations of approximately 35,512 people, per2010 census figures. They are not subject toterm limits.

The Alaska Senate shares the responsibility for making laws in the state ofAlaska with theAlaska House of Representatives. 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.^[1]

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 in a joint session may override the veto with a two-thirds majority vote (three-fourths majority is required if it is an appropriations bill).^[1]

For gubernatorial nominees requiring confirmation, the Alaska Senate sits in joint session with the Alaska House and the two bodies vote together on confirmation, with each representative and senator having one vote.

Current committees include:^[2]

Past partisan compositions can be found onPolitical party strength in Alaska.

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.^[3] A senator must be at least 25 years old at the time the oath of office is taken.^[3]

Senators may expel a member with the concurrence of two-thirds of the membership of the body.^[3] This has happened only once in Senate history. On February 5, 1982, the Senate of the 12th Legislature expelledBethel senatorGeorge 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 a consideration during the 2003–2010Alaska political corruption probe, asBen Stevens andJohn Cowdery were the only Senators who were subjects of the probe and neither sought reelection in 2008.

Legislative terms begin on the second Monday in January following a presidential election year and on the third Tuesday in January following a gubernatorial election.^[4] The term of senators is four years and half of the senators are up for election every two years.^[4]

ThePresident 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, theLieutenant Governor of Alaska does not preside over the Senate. Instead, the Lieutenant Governor oversees theAlaska Division of Elections, fulfilling the role ofSecretary of State. Only two other states, Hawaii andUtah, have similar constitutional arrangements for their lieutenant governors.^{[citation needed]} The other partisan Senate leadership positions, such as theMajority andMinority leaders, are (usually) elected by their respective party caucuses to head their parties in the chamber.^{[citation needed]}

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

• Alaska State SenateArchived July 26, 2010, at theWayback Machineofficial government website
• Project Vote Smart – State Senate of Alaska

58°18′08″N134°24′38″W / 58.302198°N 134.410467°W /58.302198; -134.410467

• Alaska Senate
• State upper houses in the United States

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