Legislature(2007 - 2008)CAPITOL 106
03/15/2008 09:00 AM House HEALTH, EDUCATION & SOCIAL SERVICES
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Presentation: Moore V. State of Alaska | |
| SB119 | |
| HB386 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| + | SB 285 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | HB 386 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| += | SB 119 | TELECONFERENCED | |
SB 119-SCHOOL LIBRARY GRANTS CHAIR WILSON announced that the next order of business would be CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 119(RLS), "An Act relating to grant programs to support libraries." 10:21:16 AM DARWIN PETERSON, Staff to Senator Bert Stedman, Alaska State Legislature, presented opinions from Legislative Legal and Research Services to two questions asked by Representative Seaton during a previous hearing. In response to Representative Seaton's first question, regarding whether communities that are unincorporated would be considered eligible to publically own a library, he said that this issue is subject to interpretation by a court. The answer to the second question is that school districts, or Regional Education Attendance Areas, can qualify for a grant; however, eligibility requires that an applicant for a grant must supply matching funds. Mr. Peterson added that the understanding of the sponsor, and the Senate Finance Committee, is that the bill is self-policing and that small communities will not be able to raise the required 20 percent matching funds. 10:23:27 AM CHAIR WILSON noted the need of an amendment to delete "local government entity" and insert "municipality." 10:23:44 AM MR. PETERSON agreed that that amendment would clarify that only an entity with a taxing structure in place would be eligible; however, the Senate Finance Committee did not want to limit participation by any of the larger communities in unorganized areas. In answer to a question, he stated that the eligibility requirements are found on page 2, line 11, of the bill. 10:25:40 AM REPRESENTATIVE GARDNER asked whether the intent of the sponsor is that tribal organizations, or a nonprofit library group, would not be eligible. 10:25:53 AM MR. PETERSON opined that a tribal organization, on behalf of a community, would be eligible. 10:26:03 AM REPRESENTATIVE FAIRCLOUGH asked whether the sponsor wants to leave the legislation as written. 10:26:23 AM MR. PETERSON said yes. He said that, on behalf of the Senate Finance Committee, he is providing the clarification that was requested by Representative Seaton. 10:26:41 AM REPRESENTATIVE GARDNER called the committee's attention to page 3, line 20, and asked what was the purpose of the inclusion of the job description of library staff. 10:27:30 AM CLARK GRUENING, Lobbyist, Alaska Library Association, informed the committee that the purpose of the job description is to set guidelines in the regulations and to determine what level of support is currently supplied to the library. 10:28:50 AM CATHY BOUTIN, Librarian, stated that the intent of the bill is to provide for working libraries to assist children in a library fashion, as opposed to a classroom setting. 10:29:12 AM REPRESENTATIVE ROSES referred to page 3, line 23, that specifies that materials can only be purchased by school districts that operate a correspondence program. He asked whether every school library in the state operates a correspondence program. 10:29:57 AM GINNY AUSTERMAN, Staff to Senator Donald Olson, Alaska State Legislature, stated that she did not know. 10:30:09 AM REPRESENTATIVE ROSES further asked whether it was Ms. Austerman's understanding that funds would not be provided through SB 119 unless a correspondence program exists. 10:30:30 AM MS. AUSTERMAN said yes. REPRESENTATIVE ROSES stated that correspondence programs are run through the instructional divisions of schools. 10:30:43 AM MS. AUSTERMAN pointed out that the eligibility requirement is that a public school district operates a correspondence program. MR. GRUENING expressed his understanding that nearly all school districts do operate correspondence programs. He offered to provide clarification. 10:31:02 AM REPRESENTATIVE FAIRCLOUGH moved to report CSSB 119(RLS) out of committee with individual recommendations and the attached fiscal note number four that was passed out of the Senate Rules Committee. 10:31:22 AM REPRESENTATIVE GARDNER objected and asked whether eligibility requirements are generally established by statute or by regulation. 10:31:47 AM MR. GRUENING responded that the statute must give sufficient guidelines for regulations. He pointed out that the bill gives the EED guidelines about the ranking of applicants and other regulations. 10:32:38 AM REPRESENTATIVE ROSES stated that the concept of the portion of the bill regarding library development grants, originated from the Alaska Library Association; however, the bill now includes a construction grant for communities of 10,000 residents or less. He expressed his concern about the present content of the bill. 10:33:26 AM REPRESENTATIVE KELLER agreed with Representative Roses and added that the bill will be reviewed by the House Finance Committee. 10:33:38 AM REPRESENTATIVE GARDNER opined that establishing eligibility requirements in statute, as opposed to regulation, will be cumbersome. She then removed her objection. 10:34:04 AM Hearing no further objections, CSSB 119(RLS) was reported from the House Health, Education and Social Services Standing Committee.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|