03/30/1994 09:07 AM Senate STA

 CHAIRMAN LEMAN brings up SB 357 (REQUIRED REPORTS OF STATE                    
 AGENCIES) as the next order of business before the Senate State               
 Affairs Committee.  The chairman calls the first witness.                     
                                                                               
 Number 470                                                                    
                                                                               
 LINDA REXWINKEL, Analyst, Division of Budget Review, Office of                
 Management & Budget (OMB) states SB 357 is the culmination of a               
 study by OMB.  OMB worked with departments to identify annual                 
 reports which were either duplicative and unnecessary, or could be            
 amended to a biennial, rather than an annual report.                          
                                                                               
 MS. REXWINKEL states the committee has been provided with a                   
 sectional analysis of the bill.  That analysis identifies bill                
 section, statute citation, a brief summary of the report itself,              
 and the cost the departments believe is currently associated with             
 the production of that report.  SB 357 is seen as an efficiency               
 measure.  Zero fiscal notes accompany the bill.  Ms. Rexwinkel then           
 reviews the sectional analysis.                                               
                                                                               
 CHAIRMAN LEMAN asks Ms. Rexwinkel about section 11, which deletes             
 the requirement that the Department of Military & Veteran's Affairs           
 (DMVA) submit a report.  The chairman asks if there is a provision            
 elsewhere requiring DMVA to submit a report.                                  
                                                                               
 MS. REXWINKEL responds it is her understanding that this reporting            
 requirement may have been in place when DMVA was a subset of the              
 Governor's Office.  Now it is a regular department, so the actions            
 and activities of that entity would now be covered in their regular           
 operating budget.  So having a separate report is extraneous.                 
                                                                               
 Number 500                                                                    
                                                                               
 SENATOR DUNCAN asks the reasoning behind section 11, making the               
 APOC (Alaska Public Offices Commission) report on lobbying a                  
 biennial report.  Senator Duncan asks what is in the annual report            
 from APOC regarding lobbyists.                                                
                                                                               
 Number 506                                                                    
                                                                               
 SHARON BARTON, Director, Division of Administrative Services,                 
 Department of Administration responds she is not familiar with the            
 content of the report, but the logic behind making the report                 
 biennial is that the APOC staff is small, and the information in              
 the report is generally available at all times.  A biennial report            
 would relieve the staff's workload burden.                                    
                                                                               
 Number 520                                                                    
                                                                               
 SENATOR DUNCAN says he is concerned because the report is not just            
 a report to the legislature, but is also a report to the public.              
                                                                               
 CHAIRMAN LEMAN adds perhaps the APOC report on the legislature                
 should be biennial also.                                                      
                                                                               
 SENATOR DUNCAN says the reason for APOC's existence is public                 
 disclosure.                                                                   
                                                                               
 Number 528                                                                    
                                                                               
 SENATOR TAYLOR says the only persons interested in APOC's reports             
 are the newspapers.  Perhaps we should just report the information            
 directly to the newspapers and save money.                                    
                                                                               
 Number 530                                                                    
                                                                               
 SENATOR DUNCAN says he is concerned with section 11, and is not               
 sure the APOC's report on lobbying should be changed to a biennial            
 basis.                                                                        
                                                                               
 Number 532                                                                    
                                                                               
 CHAIRMAN LEMAN states he had planned to hear SB 357 today, and                
 perhaps move the bill next Wednesday.  That will give the committee           
 a chance to become familiar with the bill.                                    
                                                                               
 CHAIRMAN LEMAN asks if, relating to the language under section 31             
 deleting the requirement to report to the legislature every year on           
 medical assistance, that information is made available in some                
 other place.                                                                  
                                                                               
 MS. REXWINKEL replies that information can be found in the                    
 department's regular operating budget, so the reporting requirement           
 is duplicative.                                                               
                                                                               
 Number 549                                                                    
                                                                               
 SENATOR DUNCAN is concerned with item 4, page 4 of the sectional              
 analysis, which states,                                                       
  "Repeals the annual reporting requirement by APOC to publish                 
  copies of Conflict of Interest Statements to lobbyists to                    
  facilitate the filing of their reports.  Information is made                 
  available on an individual basis for lobbyists."                             
                                                                               
 MS. REXWINKEL responds the thought behind that item is that the               
 Department of Administration and APOC felt that the information was           
 already available, rather than going through the time and expense             
 of publishing a report.  Lobbyists can simply ask questions as                
 needed, which would save the department time and effort.                      
                                                                               
 SENATOR DUNCAN asks Ms. Rexwinkel to clarify that this provision              
 would not stop the publishing of a disclosure report.                         
 CHAIRMAN LEMAN replies this provision would make information                  
 available to lobbyists to help them with the filing of their                  
 reports.                                                                      
                                                                               
 SENATOR DUNCAN states if that's what the provision would do, he no            
 longer has a concern with it.  He would only be concerned if it               
 halted the publishing of a report of disclosure to the public.                
                                                                               
 MS. REXWINKEL states she will follow up on Senator Duncan's concern           
 to make sure it would not affect the publishing of a report of                
 disclosure to the public.                                                     
                                                                               
 Number 569                                                                    
                                                                               
 CHAIRMAN LEMAN asks if there are further questions for Ms.                    
 Rexwinkel.  The chairman asks if anyone else wishes to testify.               
 Hearing none, he announces the committee will set SB 357 aside and            
 take up again on Wednesday.