Legislature(2019 - 2020)BARNES 124
02/24/2020 03:15 PM House LABOR & COMMERCE
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB84 | |
| HB215 | |
| HB235 | |
| HB113 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | HB 84 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | HB 215 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 235 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| += | HB 113 | TELECONFERENCED | |
HB 235-AK WORKFORCE INVESTMENT BOARD:ALLOCATIONS
4:29:58 PM
CHAIR SPOHNHOLZ announced that the next order of business would
be HOUSE BILL NO. 235, "An Act relating to allocations of
funding for the Alaska Workforce Investment Board; and providing
for an effective date."
4:30:16 PM
REPRESENATIVE ADAM WOOL, Alaska State Legislator, as prime
sponsor, provided a brief reintroduction to HB 235. Basically,
he said, it's a program that was renewed three years ago that is
seeking reauthorization. It takes a portion of collected
unemployment funds and distributes them to 10 recipients
according to a formula.
4:30:59 PM
ASHLEY CARRICK, Staff, Representative Adam Wool, Alaska State
Legislature, stated that HB 235 would reauthorize the TVEP
program for another three years, until 2023. She proceeded to
correct a statement from the previous bill hearing, noting that
the governors amended budget added additional funding for the
TVEP program this year into direct allocations, rather than to
the unemployment insurance fund, as was incorrectly stated
previously.
4:31:51 PM
REPRESENTATIVE HANNAN questioned the reason for a three-year
renewal as opposed to a longer period of time.
REPRESENTATIVE WOOL said there's no reason it must be three
years, adding that it could be longer. He explained that they
were trying to repeat what was done in the past.
CHAIR SPOHNHOLZ questioned whether TVEP has ever been
reauthorized for longer than three years in the past.
MS. CARRICK replied the TVEP program was reauthorized for one
year at its inception in 2000. It was reauthorized for three
years for the first time in 2014 and has never been renewed for
a longer period of time.
4:33:07 PM
REPRESENTATIVE RASMUSSEN asked if it is possible to make sure
that this program is always renewed in the first year of a
legislative cycle. She expressed her concern about nearing the
end of session, which makes it difficult to move legislation
through.
CHAIR SPOHNHOLZ said that is a fair point for consideration by
future legislators.
4:33:51 PM
REPRESENTATIVE WOOL suggested a two or four-year renewal instead
of three years so that it wouldn't end up in the middle.
CHAIR SPOHNHOLZ explained if the program is reauthorized for
three years this time it would come up the first year of the
two-year session next time around. After which, future
reauthorization could be set for an even number of years to
avoid this problem from happening in the future.
4:35:23 PM
REPRESENTATIVE STORY said she would prefer to leave the renewal
at three years because Alaska's career and technical education
is constantly changing.
4:36:12 PM
CHAIR SPOHNHOLZ opened public testimony.
4:36:32 PM
DON ETHERIDGE, Alaska American Foundation of Labor & Congress of
Industrial Organizations, reported that the Alaska American
Foundation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations
(AFL CIO) and the Alaska Works Partnership (AWP) are supportive
of HB 235, and have been since its inception. He noted that in
the past, they have asked for a five-year reauthorization
period. He expressed concern about expanding the program
because over the years, programs were added without thinking
about the work and training that would come out of it. He
reiterated that the Alaska AFL CIO supports the program as it
is.
4:37:40 PM
REPRESENTATIVE RASMUSSEN asked Mr. Etheridge why the five-year
renewal hasn't worked in the past.
MR. ETHERIDGE explained that they were attempting to stabilize
the TVEP program so the recipients would know how long they
could count on the funds; however, [the legislature] suggested
that a three-year maximum would allow changes to be considered.
He went on to say the Alaska AFL CIO would consent to a five-
year renewal, adding that the length of renewal isn't important
to them.
4:38:40 PM
CHARLES MCKEE provided comments not on topic with the published
agenda.
4:40:23 PM
DOUG WAIRATH, Northwestern Alaska Career & Technical Center,
expressed his support for reauthorizing TVEP. He stated that
TVEP supports a regional training center network across the
state that provides autonomy and flexibility to meet the unique
needs of each regions' priority industry. The regional training
centers provide workforce development training that would
otherwise need to occur outside the region at a much greater
expense. TVEP funds and supports industry certification in
health care through advanced technical training, which
transitions students into employment as certified nurse aides,
village health aides, and personal care attendants.
Furthermore, NACTEC is the only provider of adult and high
school driver education training in the Nome census area and is
a DMV approved third-party road test examiner. He said this is
important in the region as the budget has become tighter and
more cuts have occurred, which resulted in the loss of the Nome
DMV office. As the state budget is restricted, he said, it
becomes critically important to make earlier outreach to develop
a technically skilled workforce. NACTEC supports TVEP
reauthorization efforts and its expansive reach across Alaska to
train workforces locally to best meet local needs.
4:43:07 PM
CHAIR SPOHNHOLZ closed public testimony.
CHAIR SPOHNHOLZ announced that HB 235 was held over.