Post by Logan on Feb 11, 2016 2:52:19 GMT -6
JUNEAU — The Republican-controlled Alaska Senate majority caucus announced Wednesday it had added a member who jumped ship from the minority: Donny Olson, who represents Northwest Alaska.
Olson, a Democrat from the village of Golovin, asked to join the 15-member majority, said Sen. Peter Micciche, R-Soldotna.
The move, announced in a statement Wednesday morning, reduces the Senate Democratic minority to four members — so few that the majority could deprive them of seats on committees under the Legislature’s rules. The minimum size of a minority, according to the rules, is one-fourth of the 20-member Senate.
A spokeswoman for the Senate majority, Michaela Goertzen, said there were no plans to change the committees’ composition. But Olson will keep his spot on the powerful Senate Finance Committee, which would leave it now without any representation by the Democratic caucus.
Read more: www.adn.com/article/20160210/alaskas-republican-senate-majority-welcomes-another-democrat
Olson, a Democrat from the village of Golovin, asked to join the 15-member majority, said Sen. Peter Micciche, R-Soldotna.
The move, announced in a statement Wednesday morning, reduces the Senate Democratic minority to four members — so few that the majority could deprive them of seats on committees under the Legislature’s rules. The minimum size of a minority, according to the rules, is one-fourth of the 20-member Senate.
A spokeswoman for the Senate majority, Michaela Goertzen, said there were no plans to change the committees’ composition. But Olson will keep his spot on the powerful Senate Finance Committee, which would leave it now without any representation by the Democratic caucus.
Read more: www.adn.com/article/20160210/alaskas-republican-senate-majority-welcomes-another-democrat