Legislature(2007 - 2008)CAPITOL 106
05/01/2007 08:00 AM House STATE AFFAIRS
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HJR22 | |
| HB237 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | HJR 20 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | HJR 22 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | HB 237 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
HB 237-REMOVING A REGENT 8:26:37 AM CHAIR LYNN announced that the last order of business was HOUSE BILL NO. 237, "An Act authorizing the governor to remove or suspend a member of the Board of Regents of the University of Alaska for good cause; establishing a procedure for the removal or suspension of a regent; and providing for an effective date." CHAIR LYNN said he looks at HB 237 as a means to being prepared. He said he thinks since the governor has the right to appoint someone to the Board of Regents, it seems reasonable that he/she would have the right to suspend and remove a person from that board. 8:28:17 AM MICHAEL BARNHILL, Assistant Attorney General, Labor and State Affairs Section, Civil Division - Juneau, Department of Law (DOL), reviewed HB 237 on behalf of the House State Affairs Standing Committee, sponsor. He said the proposed legislation would provide a due process procedure for the governor to remove or suspend a University of Alaska Regent, in certain circumstances, when good cause is established. 8:29:18 AM REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG moved to adopt the proposed committee substitute (CS) for HB 237, Version 25-LS0839\C, Mischel, 4/30/07, as a work draft. REPRESENTATIVES ROSES and DOLL objected for discussion purposes. 8:29:55 AM MR. BARNHILL explained the changes that would be made by Version C. He said Version C would remove notice of an effective date from the bill title. Version C would also offer a new Section 1, containing legislative findings and purpose. He indicated that Representative Gruenberg had recommended this section in light of "the constitutional issues that are at stake ...." He read the key points of Section 1. 8:32:13 AM MR. BARNHILL hill noted that Section 2 of Version C is, in large part, identical to Section 1 of the original bill and addresses removal and suspension of regents. He stated, "This procedure is not unprecedented in Alaska statutes .... It was the intention in drafting this to not create something out of whole cloth, but to create a procedure that's familiar and understandable to the legislature." He reviewed the guidelines for suspension, which are shown in Section 2, subsection (c), paragraphs (1)-(3), and the meaning of "good cause", which is defined in subsection (g). He noted that Section 2, subsection (f) is new language; it read as follows: "(f) The governor may delegate the conduct of a hearing under this section to the office of administrative hearings under AS 44.64.030(b)." He added, "But the governor would make the final decision." 8:35:08 AM MR. BARNHILL, in response to a question from Chair Lynn, directed attention to language on page 2, line 26, through page 3, line 2, of Version C, which lists the three bases for suspension. In response to a follow-up question, he confirmed that a person can request a hearing before and after a suspension. The governor would conduct the hearing, unless he/she delegates the task to the Office of Administrative Hearings. 8:36:24 AM REPRESENTATIVE JOHNSON directed attention to page 2, line 30, and asked for the meaning of "information or formal criminal charges of a misdemeanor". 8:36:44 AM MR. BARNHILL responded, "That is the way a charge for a misdemeanor is brought." REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG expounded upon the subject by describing the process of legal hearings. Regarding "an information", he said, "The standard is whether the prosecution's evidence, taken alone and unrebutted, would be sufficient to support the charge." He offered an example. 8:39:46 AM REPRESENTATIVE DOLL directed attention to [Section 1, subsection (a), paragraph (2), on page 1 of Version C], which read: (2) under AS 14.40.1709b)(1), the legislature has delegated to the Board of Regents the power to regulate itself, but the Board of Regents has not adopted self-governance rules that authorize the board to remove or suspend a regent in appropriate circumstances; and REPRESENTATIVE DOLL expressed concern that this language means "we're kind of doing a quick-forward action here - preempting - and we're writing it actually into statute." She asked Mr. Barnhill to comment. 8:40:33 AM MR. BARNHILL responded that nothing in HB 237 would preempt any self-regulation by the university. He said AS 14.40.170(b)(1) is the statute that authorizes the Board of Regents to adopt regulations for governments of both the university and the Board of Regents. So, under that authority, he said, the board could adopt any by-law it saw fit, providing for a removal of a regent. He added that the board has never done so. The point, he clarified, is that the legislature has provided that authority of self-governance to the university. By the same token, he continued, the university can provide a procedure under which the governor may remove a regent under appropriate circumstances. 8:41:36 AM REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL said the whole premise of HB 237 is that the legislature has the right to "step in and make rules." Furthermore, the proposed legislation recognizes that the governor gets to make the appointment and bear some responsibility for that. He turned back to page 2, line 30, and asked, "This goes to the question of suspending, ... if there's ... doubt ... [regarding] integrity ...; but couldn't this go to the same degree as just appearing before court for a doggie fine ...?" 8:42:35 AM MR. BARNHILL answered no. He stated, "Again, this ties back to charges of a misdemeanor described under (g)(3) of this section." He directed attention to page 3, lines 14-18, which show that the misdemeanor must be one involving dishonesty, breach of trust, or the University of Alaska, and he indicated that a doggy fine would not fall under any of those categories. He said the university holds fiduciary powers, thus, putting someone on suspension status is no different than putting a state employee on administrative leave when charged "with something like this." He concluded, "So, that's all the bill is seeking to do is provide that interim procedure, both for the protection of the university and the protection of the state." 8:43:53 AM CHAIR LYNN said he knows that a police officer involved in a shooting is put on administrative leave or suspension until the matter is investigated. 8:44:14 AM REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG turned to subsection (e), on page 3, which describes that before the suspension takes place, "the governor to the prosecution bears the burden of proof that there's been a charge of a misdemeanor, or whatever the grounds are." Once the suspension has taken place, he said, if the regent wants to lift the suspension, he/she must show cause why the suspension should be lifted, which he said "flips the burden around." He noted that the language is carefully crafted from a constitutional point of view so that the governor bears the burden of persuasion in regard to removing the regent. He mentioned a letter from the chief judge of the Office of Administrative Hearings, which he said indicates that "this is an appropriate type of case to refer to them," but that the governor retains the final authority and responsibility for making the decision. 8:46:04 AM REPRESENTATIVE ROSES related that he had had concerns about the misdemeanor aspect of the bill, but they were assuaged by the use of the words, "the governor may", which means the governor is allowed to review each individual case based on its merits. REPRESENTATIVE ROSES removed his objection [to adopting Version C as a work draft]. There being no further objection, Version C was before the committee as a work draft. [Representative Doll's objection was treated as withdrawn.] 8:47:07 AM REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG moved to report CSHB 237, Version 25- LS0839\C, Mischel, 4/20/07, out of committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal notes. There being no objection, CSHB 237(STA) was reported out of the House State Affairs Standing Committee.
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