03/30/1995 08:06 AM House STA

 SB 1 - REVIEW OF FEDERALLY MANDATED PROGRAMS                                
                                                                               
 SENATOR ROBIN TAYLOR introduced himself and commented about an                
 airline whose brakes failed with him as a passenger in Petersburg.            
 He said he introduced SB 1 as a companion bill to his Tenth                   
 Amendment resolution, SJR 7.  He stated this resolution demands               
 that the U.S. Congress stop passing legislation which exceeds its             
 authority under the Tenth Amendment of our Constitution.  SB 1, he            
 said, is an attempt to identify federal mandates, both statutory              
 and regulatory, to see which of these conflict with the policies of           
 our state and the limits of our state Constitution.  He commented             
 he thought the agencies would be doing this already, but received             
 all sorts of strange fiscal notes, indicating how much expense this           
 would be the implement.  He said, hopefully, this would provide               
 them with a vehicle to focus their attention on those mandates                
 worth reviewing.  He stated SB 1 would require an annual review by            
 the Executive Branch of each program mandated by Congress and audit           
 by the Governor.  The Legislative Budget and Audit Committee would            
 adopt conclusions and make recommendations for changes in the                 
 federal law to make a program more consistent with state policy or            
 more cost-effective.  At the same time, a determination could also            
 be made with the Department of Law, to see if the mandate exceeds             
 federal authority under the Tenth amendment.  He stated Section 1             
 of the bill finds there is an urgent need for this review and the             
 bill also allows for legislative review of federal mandates and the           
 Legislative Budget and Audit Committee would be charged with making           
 those recommendations.  He thought SB 1 would add credence to the             
 legislatures passage of SJR 7.  He pointed out the Senate Finance             
 Committee zeroed out the various fiscal notes submitted by the                
 different agencies of state government.  They felt the information            
 for conducting this review were already available to the agencies,            
 and so there was no need for additional staff.  On March 9, the               
 Senate passed SB 1 by vote of 11 to 8.  He urged quick passage of             
 the bill from committee and expressed appreciation to Chair                   
 Jeannette James for hearing the bill.                                         
                                                                               
 Number 075                                                                    
                                                                               
 CHAIR JAMES asked if there were any questions from the committee              
 for Senator Taylor.  She asked if anyone else wished to testify on            
 the bill.                                                                     
                                                                               
 CHARLES MCKEE testified via teleconference from Anchorage, saying             
 he approved of this bill as it could relieve the impact of federal            
 intrusion on many different entities, from the permanent fund to              
 the oil industry.  He thought this bill made a slight attempt to              
 redress his fiscal difficulties and would help the legislature in             
 dealing with the state budget.                                                
                                                                               
 Number 141                                                                    
                                                                               
 DELORES FIELDS, Member, Alaska Independence Party stated she was a            
 proud member of the Alaska Independence Party and supported SB 1,             
 because federal mandates needed to be reviewed before being                   
 implemented by the state.  She thought the mandates coming from the           
 federal government did not always comply with the policies of the             
 state.                                                                        
                                                                               
 Number 170                                                                    
                                                                               
 CHAIR JAMES recognized the arrival of Representatives Willis and              
 Ivan at 8:11 a. m.  She asked if there was anyone else wishing to             
 testify on teleconference.                                                    
                                                                               
 ART GRISWOLD, Member, Alaska Independence Party, said he also                 
 wanted to testify in favor of SB 1.  He mentioned he was speaking             
 on behalf of the Interior Region of the Alaska Independence Party,            
 who found the provisions of this bill would help protect states               
 rights and those of the citizens of this state from those unfunded            
 mandates of the federal government that do not pertain to the needs           
 of Alaska.  He pledged the support of the Alaska Independence Party           
 in getting passage of SB 1 through the legislature.                           
                                                                               
 Number 188                                                                    
                                                                               
 REPRESENTATIVE SCOTT OGAN asked Senator Taylor if he thought it               
 might be better to conduct this review of federal mandates over a             
 four year period, instead of annually.  He recognized the bill had            
 a zero fiscal note, but thought many of the mandates would not                
 change annually, and so would not be in need of review.                       
                                                                               
 SENATOR TAYLOR said he had considered this, but was fearful that              
 should they allow a review over four years, some administrations              
 might not start the review until the fourth year.  He added he did            
 not trust a Republican majority in Congress any more than he had              
 trusted a Democrat majority in Congress. He thought Republicans               
 were just as likely to force silly legislation on Alaska, just as             
 much as the Democrats did.  He thought the danger of losing our               
 civil liberties was always in jeopardy whenever you convene a                 
 congress or state legislature.  He quoted Benjamin Franklin, who              
 said Men are plowing quietly in the fields and women weeping                  
 silently in the kitchens of this land, for the legislature is in              
 session and no mans life or property is safe.                                 
                                                                               
 CHAIR JAMES verified there was no further questions from the                  
 committee and asked for a motion to pass SB 1 out of committee.               
                                                                               
 Number 244                                                                    
                                                                               
 REPRESENTATIVE OGAN stated he would be privileged and honored to              
 move to pass SB 1 out of committee with zero fiscal note and                  
 individual recommendations.                                                   
                                                                               
 CHAIR JAMES asked if there were any objections from the committee.            
 Hearing none, the bill passed out of committee.