Legislature(2003 - 2004)
05/01/2003 03:15 PM House MLV
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
HB 228-STATE EMPLOYEES CALLED TO MILITARY DUTY CHAIR LYNN announced that the first order of business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 228, "An Act relating to state employees who are called to active duty as reserve or auxiliary members of the armed forces of the United States; and providing for an effective date." [HB 228 had been heard and amended on 4/15/03.] Number 0068 REPRESENTATIVE BETH KERTTULA, Alaska State Legislature, sponsor of HB 228, reminded members that this bill would allow the governor to offer members of the military the difference in pay between what they are receiving while on duty and what they would have received if they had remained in state employment. She commended her staff for work in addressing questions that had arisen at the previous meeting. REPRESENTATIVE KERTTULA, addressing a fiscal concern voiced previously by Representative Masek, told members that departments' budgets already include the cost of full-time salaries and benefits for all state employees; therefore, the cost to the state would only be the difference between the state pay and active-duty pay, since other benefits already would have been budgeted for. The costs would only increase if the person's position needed to be filled during military deployment. Because the average duration of activation is three months, she opined that likely there wouldn't be a big fiscal impact if the governor chose to use this option. Number 0167 REPRESENTATIVE KERTTULA addressed previous questions about current leave procedures. She said state employees who are called to active duty or who are under [military] orders are treated the same as an employee who takes an unpaid leave of absence. This is the problem with the health insurance, which only continues to the last day of the month in which the leave is taken; the state's retirement division complies with federal law on that. Under federal guidelines, an individual must be activated for more than 180 days before military health benefits will begin. Because the average duration is three months, however, that leaves a gap. As for the number of people the bill would affect, she noted that from September 11, 2001, to April 2002 there were 180 executive-branch employees in the Air National Guard or Army National Guard; of those, 41 were called to active duty, and of those, only 8 received less military pay than state pay. Number 0286 REPRESENTATIVE DAHLSTROM commended Representative Kerttula for her effort, saying she believes this is worthwhile and is another small way to thank those men and women who put their lives on the line for the country. REPRESENTATIVE MASEK thanked Representative Kerttula for addressing her fiscal questions from the previous hearing. Number 0345 REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG noted that this becomes implemented through an administrative order and asked how often that procedure is used. Number 0413 TRACY WENDT, Intern for Representative Beth Kerttula, Alaska State Legislature, said she'd have to look into it. REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG expressed concern that this may be a new procedure in a relatively noncontroversial bill. He mentioned promulgating emergency regulations under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), for instance. He asked that the sponsor look into those issues, saying that otherwise he would move to amend this in the House State Affairs Standing Committee. He said he wants this to be standardized so that it doesn't require reinventing the wheel or result in litigation. REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG referred to the phrase "issuance of an administrative order" on lines 7-8 [page 1]. He suggested saying instead, "issuance of regulations". He said doing it under the APA would avoid saying that this isn't subject to the APA and so forth. He also suggested that if it's under the APA, then emergency regulations could be issued, for instance. He said there is a whole body of law about this. Number 0540 REPRESENTATIVE DAHLSTROM moved to report HB 228, as amended, out of committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal notes. There being no objection, CSHB 228(MLV) was reported from the House Special Committee on Military and Veterans' Affairs. REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG offered to have his staff research the issues he'd raised. REPRESENTATIVE KERTTULA said his points were excellent and that she had some answers about the emergency regulations. With regard to administrative orders, she offered her belief that they exist. [CSHB 228(MLV) was reported from committee.]
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