Legislature(2019 - 2020)BUTROVICH 205
04/12/2019 03:30 PM Senate RESOURCES
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SJR10 | |
| Confirmation Hearings: | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| *+ | SJR 10 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
SJR 10-COMPLETION OF UNIVERSITY LAND GRANT
3:32:16 PM
CHAIR BIRCH announced the consideration of Senate Joint
Resolution 10 (SJR 10).
3:32:39 PM
TIM LAMKIN, Staff, Senator Gary Stevens, Alaska State
Legislature, Juneau, Alaska, explained that SJR 10 addresses the
underwhelming history of the University of Alaska as a land-
grant university. This is an issue with the federal government
that has been ongoing for a century. He noted that Senator
Stevens, sponsor of SJR 10, is a student of history and stands
by as a shepherd to make whatever changes necessary to address
the University of Alaska land-grant deficit. The current budget
climate is such that Senator Stevens wishes to provide the
university with an opportunity to find other financial means to
support itself in the form of its land holdings. The ultimate
goal is to rely less on general funds. SJR 10 calls upon U.S.
Senator Murkowski to help Alaska and call upon Congress to fix
the university's land-grant deficit.
3:33:39 PM
SENATOR BISHOP joined the committee meeting.
3:34:52 PM
CHAIR BIRCH opened invited testimony for SJR 10.
3:35:27 PM
MILES BAKER, Associate Vice President of Government Relations,
University of Alaska, Anchorage, Alaska, explained that the
University of Alaska is a land-grant university. He noted that
of the 49 states that received college land grants, only
Delaware received less acreage than Alaska. He detailed that the
State of Hawaii was given cash in lieu of a land grant.
MR. BAKER explained that a land-grant university is an
institution of higher education that is granted federal land to
raise funds to endow the university. The concept originated with
the Morrill Land-Grant Act in the late 1800s. The land-grant
mission was intended to focus on teaching of practical
agriculture, science, military science, and engineering as a way
of developing the west in response to the industrial revolution.
He said today there are approximately 70 land-grant institutions
around the U.S., but under explicit terms included in the Alaska
Statehood Act, Alaska is the only state that has not been
extended the Morrill Land-Grant Act benefit. He noted that the
Alaska Legislature has attempted several times to grant land to
the university, but their efforts have not been successful.
3:36:09 PM
He addressed the slide titled, "University Land Grant" as
follows:
• Only Delaware and Hawaii rank below Alaska in higher
education land grants.
• The University of Alaska only received approximately
110,000 acres of its federal land grant entitlement.
• The University of Alaska's estimated land grant gap is
360,000 acres.
• A robust permanent land endowment would allow the
University of Alaska to generate more revenue, and over
time help moderate state general fund support.
• The state has repeatedly attempted to remedy the gap but is
constitutionally precluded from doing so.
• The federal government's position is that the University of
Alaska's land was included in Alaska's Statehood Act grant
and has resisted remedies that rely solely on additional
federal lands.
He detailed that the University of Alaska currently owns 150,000
acres, most of which was from the Sutherland Act in 1929. He
added that the University of Alaska has also received land from
private donations and local governments, but the university
estimates that it is still left without 360,000 acres that the
original federal land grant would have allowed. He said the
federal government's position has been that the land for the
university was included as part of the Alaska Statehood Act.
CHAIR BIRCH asked what the difference is between the University
of Alaska land and the Mental Health Trust land.
3:39:55 PM
ANDY HARRINGTON, Associate General Counsel, University of
Alaska-Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Alaska, explained that the
university's land grant situation is parallel to the Mental
Health Trust lands. Legislation was passed in 1978 that tried to
treat all the granted land associated the Mental Health Trust
and the University of Alaska as part of the general grant, but
the university Board of Regents did not approve. He noted that
the Mental Health Lands Trust brought a lawsuit that resulted in
a ruling that the legislation violated the trust and the trust
had to be reconstituted. The university is anxious to litigate
the land-grant issue and that is why a collaborative legislative
solution is being pursued.
MR. BAKER continued to address the University of Alaska lands as
follows:
• 12,000 acres are educational lands used for campuses and
research sites.
• The university's 139,000 acres allows for revenue:
o $10 million in gross receipts was generated in FY2018.
o The 20-year annual receipts average is $8.5 million.
o $221 million has been generated since 1987 through
real estate, timber, mineral and mining, and oil and
gas.
• The monetized activities benefit the university's
educational programs, campuses, the university's
foundation, and the Alaska's Scholar's Program which funds
the top ten percent of high school graduates.
3:43:24 PM
He discussed the slide titled "Framework for a Solution" as
follows:
• The University of Alaska's unfulfilled land grant is a
Statehood Act issue.
• Congress assumed that the Alaska Legislature would be able
to fulfill the entitlement.
• The Alaska delegation, the governor, the Alaska Department
of Natural Resources, and the U.S. Department of Interior
are discussing other issues related to Alaska's remaining
5-million-acre Statehood Act land selections.
• The anti-dedication clause has an explicit exemption that
says, "when required by the federal government for state
participation in federal programs."
• A solution may entail a structured federal program
permissible under the constitution.
MR. BAKER noted that the most recent attempt to resolve the
dispute ended with the 2009 Alaska Supreme Court decision that
determined the endowment transfer of land to the university
would be a violation of the dedication clause in the Alaska
constitution. The fourth bullet point in the previous slide
points out an exemption the university may use when the state
participates in a federal program, a concept that the university
has been working on over the last several years. The state has
several outstanding issues as well with the federal government
regarding its land selection of five million acres from the
Alaska Statehood Act; the university believes it should be part
of those negotiations.
3:45:03 PM
He turned to the slide titled, "Receipts by Resource Category"
and noted that receipts from the land the university is
sporadic. The university, just like with the state, would like
to develop its endowment in a way that generates a predictable
long-term revenue stream for educational benefit.
He referenced the slide titled, "UA Land Trust Balance" and
detailed that the trust balance is approximately $160 million.
SENATOR GIESSEL noted that the committee had a similar hearing
on the university's land trust during a previous legislature.
She asked if any progress had been made.
MR. BAKER answered yes. The university has had discussions with
the Alaska delegation on possible federal legislation. He opined
that the window is narrow over the next two years with the
Department of Interior in trying to make the land grant happen.
3:48:23 PM
SENATOR KIEHL commented that the conversation so far has been
fascinating and oblique. He admitted that he was lost on what
result would occur.
MR. BAKER answered that the university has been in a quandary
since 2009. He said there are many reasons why the land did not
get transferred in previous years, but the federal government
feels that the state has the land that should be transferred to
the university and is not inclined to give more federal land. He
reiterated that the Alaska Supreme Court decision prohibits the
state from transferring the land to the university. The
university is trying to come up with a way to transfer land that
complies with the state constitution.
SENATOR KIEHL asked how much land should be transferred.
MR. BAKER answered 360,000 acres. He admitted that the challenge
will be for the university to receive the most valuable land to
generate money.
SENATOR KIEHL asked who would ultimately choose the land.
3:52:37 PM
MR. HARRINGTON answered that the university and the DNR would
jointly agree on the land coming out of the federal program.
SENATOR BISHOP asked if the land the university is trying to get
is part of the five million acres that has already been
appropriated by the federal government.
MR. HARRINGTON answered that the lands would come out of both
the state's remaining five-million-acre entitlement and the land
put through the federal program.
3:56:43 PM
MARTY PARSONS, Director, Division of Mining, Land, and Water,
Alaska Department of Natural Resources, Anchorage, Alaska, said
the department fully supports the university's effort to
diversify its funding sources and the division is prepared to
assist the university where appropriate. He suggested that
portions of the resolution should be clarified to strengthen the
resolution.
CHAIR BIRCH asked if the university may consider land around
Prudhoe Bay.
MR. PARSONS admitted that most lands around Prudhoe Bay have
already been selected and conveyed to the state. He pointed out
that in 1993, all the state lands that could be selected where
selected.
3:59:15 PM
CHAIR BIRCH held SJR 10 in committee.