02/23/1994 09:15 AM Senate FIN

  SB 26:    An Act relating  to the location of  the convening                 
            of  the   legislature  in  regular   session;  and                 
            providing for an effective date.                                   
                                                                               
            Senator  Randy   Phillips,  sponsor   of  SB   26,                 
            testified  in  support  of  the  bill.    Margaret                 
            Branson,  Rosalee  Walker,   and  Marshall   Lind,                 
            speaking   as   private  citizens,   testified  in                 
            opposition  to  SB  26.    Discussion was  had  by                 
            Senators  Kerttula,  Kelly  and   Sharp  regarding                 
            fiscal notes  and  the  initiative  coming  before                 
            voters about moving the capital to Wasilla.  SB 26                 
            was HELD in committee.                                             
                                                                               
  SENATE BILL NO. 26:                                                          
                                                                               
       An Act relating to the location of the convening of the                 
       legislature in regular  session; and  providing for  an                 
       effective date.                                                         
                                                                               
  CO-CHAIR  PEARCE  announced  that  SB   26  was  before  the                 
  committee.   She invited  Senator Phillips,  sponsor of  the                 
  bill, to join the members at the table.                                      
                                                                               
  SENATOR RANDY  PHILLIPS  said  SB 26  would  move  only  the                 
  legislature  from   Juneau  to   Anchorage.    The   primary                 
  motivation  was  to  give  people of  Alaska  access  to the                 
  legislature.    He felt  the people  had  the right  to have                 
  access to policy  makers.  He said  in a survey done  in his                 
  district, four out of five people favored the move.  He then                 
  spoke to the fiscal notes for each department.  He had asked                 
  each department to  show how  much money had  been spent  on                 
  employee travel during  the legislative  session.  He  asked                 
  the committee to look at the fiscal notes with this in mind.                 
  He  said over half of the legislators  were within a 50 mile                 
  radius of  Anchorage for  some cost  savings.   He felt  the                 
  capitol  building could  be a museum  piece and  the tourism                 
  industry would provide some income for maintenance.                          
                                                                               
  Senator  Phillips  said  he  had  talked to  Alaska  Pacific                 
  University and there were buildings  available that could be                 
  used on campus  to house the  legislature.  He also  thought                 
  the  business people in Anchorage  could help with any needs                 
  if the legislature would move.                                               
                                                                               
  Senator Kerttula disagreed  with moving the legislature  and                 
  not the capital.  He felt  the interaction was too great for                 
  the  process to be  separated.  He  asked how  that would be                 
  addressed.  Senator Phillips  agreed with Senator Kerttula's                 
  comments but he  believed the  teleconference tool could  be                 
  used.                                                                        
                                                                               
                                                                               
  Senator Kerttula noted  there was an initiative  to move the                 
  capital to one area  and a bill  to move the legislature  to                 
  another.  He found it disturbing.  Senator Phillips  thought                 
  this bill would be a more responsible answer to voter access                 
  to the legislature than moving the whole capital to Wasilla.                 
  However, he said he was not opposed to moving the capital to                 
  Wasilla.                                                                     
                                                                               
  Senator Kelly said that he saw the 1993 survey but wanted to                 
  know the results of the 1994  survey.  Senator Phillips said                 
  that  it  was 52  percent  for  and 48  percent  against the                 
  legislative  move  but a  65  percent for  moving  the whole                 
  capital.  Senator  Kelly noticed  that his constituents  had                 
  turned  around  from   1993  to  1994.     Senator  Phillips                 
  maintained that priority of access was very important.                       
                                                                               
  Co-chair  Pearce  announced   that  Margaret  Branson  would                 
  testify via teleconference from Seward.                                      
                                                                               
  MARGARET BRANSON, citizen and resident of Seward, said SB 26                 
  was  a  back  door approach  to  moving  the  capital.   She                 
  disagreed that the  legislative branch  could function in  a                 
  vacuum  from  the   executive  branch,   and  it  showed   a                 
  misunderstanding of our form  of government.  One  could not                 
  function  without the  other,  nor at  a  distance of  1,000                 
  miles.  She did not know of one government in the world that                 
  functioned in such a  way.  She knew it was  not a matter of                 
  office  space.    She  did  not  think  Anchorage  was  more                 
  accessible to people than Juneau.  In this year of declining                 
  revenues  and budget  crisis,  it  seemed self-indulgent  to                 
  exercise such a move.  She was opposed to SB 26.                             
                                                                               
  In answer to  Senator Kelly,  Ms. Branson said  she was  the                 
  chairperson for the  last capital site planning  commission.                 
  She said she  had not  looked at the  financial figures  for                 
  years but assured  the committee  that it was  not a  simple                 
  matter to move the legislature.   She also noted that people                 
  elect officials to represent them so  they do not have to go                 
  to council  meetings, borough meetings, etc.   She felt this                 
  was also true of the legislature.                                            
                                                                               
  MARSHALL  LIND,  speaking  as a  private  citizen, testified                 
  concerning a new communication system.   He said he had been                 
  involved in education for over 30  years and just lately had                 
  seen video conferencing as an alternative way to communicate                 
  that could benefit  many people in  the state.  The  quality                 
  would not be  the same as  broadcast but would worked  well.                 
  He  said  from personal  experience  it had  saved  time and                 
  money.  The University  was using this system in  Fairbanks,                 
  Anchorage and Juneau.   A unit would come on-line  in Bethel                 
  and the North Slope Borough had this for some time  in their                 
  school system.   He listed  many ways this  system could  be                 
  used.   He saw it as an opportunity  to solve the problem of                 
                                                                               
                                                                               
  citizen access and at the same time it could benefit schools                 
  and other situations.                                                        
                                                                               
  Senator  Phillips  said  that if  the  legislature  moved to                 
  Anchorage, it could be used in the same way.                                 
                                                                               
  In answer to  Senator Sharp's  question regarding cost,  Mr.                 
  Lind said  voice per hour  per site  was approximately  $30.                 
  With three sites it was about $90 per site.  For  four sites                 
  it became  less expensive.   A  bridge could accommodate  24                 
  different locations.  Mr. Lind  guessed the cost of hardware                 
  and hourly rate would go down.                                               
                                                                               
  Senator  Kelly  said  he  had  used the  University's  video                 
  conferencing  and it  was interesting.   He  had asked  Mike                 
  Harmon to look into  the cost for setting  up such a  system                 
  for the legislature.   He  felt it would  be more  effective                 
  even  though the teleconference system in place now was very                 
  satisfactory.                                                                
                                                                               
  ROSALEE WALKER, citizen  and resident  of Juneau,  testified                 
  against SB 26.  She said  she did not care if the move  only                 
  cost $1,000, it was  $1,000 more than the state  could spare                 
  right  now.   She  reminded  the committee  that legislators                 
  represented the entire state and there  were segments of the                 
  state in third world conditions.  To move the legislature to                 
  pacify  a select  number of constituents  was irresponsible.                 
  Also, to move one section of the government would cause more                 
  confusion than it  would help.   Change in location was  not                 
  what was needed but  change in behavior was what  she wanted                 
  to see.  If she was separated from her legislator, she would                 
  pick  up  the  phone  or  write a  letter.    She  asked the                 
  committee to refuse this concept.                                            
                                                                               
  Co-chair Pearce  announced  that  SB  26 would  be  HELD  in                 
  committee.