Legislature(2005 - 2006)HOUSE FINANCE 519
11/14/2006 05:00 PM House LEGISLATIVE BUDGET & AUDIT
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Revised Programs - Legislative | |
| 04-07-1031 | |
| 06-07-0041 | |
| 10-07-5027 | |
| 41-07-9013 | |
| Executive Session | |
| Release of Audits | |
| Other Committee Business | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
LEGISLATIVE BUDGET AND AUDIT COMMITTEE
Anchorage, Alaska
November 14, 2006
5:08 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Gene Therriault, Chair
Senator Burt Stedman
Senator Lyda Green
Senator Gary Wilken (alternate)
Representative Ralph Samuels, Vice Chair (via teleconference)
Representative Mike Hawker
Representative Pete Kott
Representative Beth Kerttula
MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator Ben Stevens
Senator Lyman Hoffman
Representative Mike Chenault
Representative Reggie Joule (alternate)
Representative Kevin Meyer (alternate)
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
REVISED PROGRAM - LEGISLATIVE (RPLs)
EXECUTIVE SESSION
RELEASE OF AUDITS
OTHER COMMITTEE BUSINESS
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
Daniel (Dan) Fauske, Chief Executive Officer (CEO)/Executive
Director
Alaska Housing Finance Corporation
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented RPL 04-07-1031.
ANNA KIM, Fiscal Analyst
Legislative Finance Division
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Answered questions regarding RPL 06-07-
0041.
LAURA BAKER, Budget Chief
Finance and Management Services
Department of Health & Social Services (DHSS)
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Answered questions regarding RPL 06-07-
0041.
STACEY TONER, Acting Deputy Director
Division of Behavioral Health
Department of Health & Social Services (DHSS)
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Answered questions regarding RPL 06-07-
0041.
JEFF JESSE, Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority (AMHTA)
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Answered questions and offered background
information regarding RPL 06-07-0041.
RANDY BATES, Acting Director,
Office of Project Management & Permitting
Department of Natural Resources (DNR)
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented RPL 10-07-5027.
CHRISTINE JOHNSON, Deputy Admin Director
Office of the Administrative Director
Alaska Court System
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented RPL 41-07-9013.
DICK MYLIUS, Acting Director
Division of Mining, Land & Water
Department of Natural Resources (DNR)
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented amendments to the Navigable
Waters and R.S. 2477 RSAs.
PAT DAVIDSON, Legislative Auditor
Legislative Audit Division
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Answered questions regarding amendments to
the existing Navigable Waters and R.S. 2477 RSAs.
JOHN WESTLUND, Wildlife Biologist
Alaska Department of Fish & Game (ADF&G)
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Offered background information on the
Navigable Waters and R.S. 2477 RSAs.
ACTION NARRATIVE
CHAIR GENE THERRIAULT called the Legislative Budget and Audit
Committee meeting to order at 5:08:18 PM. Senators Stedman,
Green, Wilken (alternate), and Therriault and Representatives
Samuels (via teleconference), Hawker, and Kott were present at
the call to order. Representative Kerttula arrived as the
meeting was in progress.
5:10:07 PM
^REVISED PROGRAMS - LEGISLATIVE
^04-07-1031
SENATOR WILKEN made a motion to approve RPL 04-07-1031,
Department of Revenue, Alaska Housing Finance Corporation
(AHFC).
CHAIR THERRIAULT objected for discussion purposes.
5:11:10 PM
Daniel (Dan) Fauske, Chief Executive Officer and Executive
Director, Alaska Housing Finance Corporation (AHFC) gave a brief
history of AHFC's involvement with the project in question. He
explained that the RPL would allow the AHFC to extend funds to
the Matanuska-Susitna (Mat-Su) Borough in order to defray
planning design costs. These funds would not exceed $500,000
and would later be reimbursed by the Mat-Su Borough.
5:13:16 PM
CHAIR THERRIAULT removed his objection. There being no further
objection, the RPL was approved.
5:13:46 PM
^06-07-0041
SENATOR WILKEN made a motion to approve RPL 06-07-0041,
Department of Health & Social Services, Additional Mental Health
Trust Authority Authorized Receipts Funding Approved by the
Mental Health Trust Authority.
CHAIR THERRIAULT objected for discussion purposes. He noted
that this RPL was previously discussed, adding that
Representative Hawker had worked with the Department of Health &
Social Services following the last committee meeting to draft
this additional request.
5:14:34 PM
REPRESENTATIVE HAWKER asked for clarification on the actual
amount requested by the RPL.
5:15:02 PM
ANNA KIM, Fiscal Analyst, Legislative Finance Division, Alaska
State Legislature, explained that the total amount of the RPL
should be $445,000. She then gave a breakdown of this amount.
CHAIR THERRIAULT clarified that the $35,600 for behavioral
health was previously approved, and the total amount should now
be $445,000.
MS. KIM agreed that this is correct.
5:16:35 PM
LAURA BAKER, Budget Chief, Finance and Management Services,
Department of Health & Social Services, brought attention to a
memo in members' packets. She explained the various Alaska
Mental Health Trust Authority (AMHTA) authorized receipts,
noting that program staff was available to answer questions.
SENATOR WILKEN inquired as to the meaning of "implement licenses
for a level of care assessment tool."
5:18:24 PM
STACEY TONER, Acting Deputy Director, Division of Behavioral
Health, Department of Health & Social Services explained that
these are licenses needed to utilize the required software.
5:19:04 PM
JEFF JESSE, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Alaska Mental Health
Trust Authority (AMHTA), in response to a question from
Representative Hawker, explained that the request would enable
the AMHTA to provide 8 additional beds for youth in crisis. He
went on to explain that once the beds are in place, AMHTA would
be able to assess what additional capacity is needed. In regard
to the level of care assessment, he stated that so far, there
has not been a consistent process used to evaluate the level of
care that is needed for a particular child. This not only
causes problems with individual cases, but also affects the
accuracy of the data used to make program policy decisions.
5:23:19 PM
REPRESENTATIVE HAWKER noted that the 8 beds would be billed to
the Medicaid budget. He questioned whether adding these beds
would result in a supplemental request for the fiscal year 2007
budget.
5:24:53 PM
MS. BAKER replied no, adding that this is not an incremental
request. She noted that the 8 beds are already covered in out-
of-state Medicaid costs, therefore would not be an additional
cost to the state.
5:25:39 PM
SENATOR GREEN inquired as to whether the level of care
assessment tools would augment or replace the individuals
appointed to assess the best level of care.
5:26:13 PM
MR. JESSE offered his understanding that consistency is needed
both within the program and also in the state's review process.
He explained that this would implement a uniform assessment tool
in order to properly place and assess youth. In addition, he
said, if out-of-community care is needed, the utilization review
group can review the assessment done by the local provider and
be sure that the same criteria was used to assess the level of
care.
5:27:27 PM
CHAIR THERRIAULT removed his objection. There being no further
objection, the RPL was approved.
5:27:45 PM
^10-07-5027
SENATOR WILKEN made a motion to approve RPL 10-07-5027,
Department of Natural Resources, Resource Development/Large
Project Permitting.
CHAIR THERRIAULT objected for discussion purposes.
5:28:19 PM
RANDY BATES, Acting Director, Office of Project Management &
Permitting, Department of Natural Resources, explained that this
RPL requests additional program receipts authority in order to
accommodate an increase in workload. This would allow the state
to review additional large development projects, "in a
coordinated and comprehensive fashion." He pointed out that the
request was recently revised, resulting in the new request of
$270,000.
CHAIR THERRIAULT asked if a particular project caused the
increase.
MR. BATES replied that an oil company in the state requesting
services will require a "more involved" review. He then gave a
breakdown of the requested amount.
5:32:00 PM
REPRESENTATIVE HAWKER made a motion to amend RPL 10-07-5027,
Department of Natural Resources, Resource Development/Large
Project Permitting from the original request of $225,000 to
$270,000. There being no objection, the RPL was amended.
5:32:58 PM
^41-07-9013
SENATOR WILKEN made a motion to approve RPL 41-07-9013, Alaska
Court System, Alaska Court System/Trial Courts.
[CHAIR THERRIAULT objected for discussion purposes.]
5:33:35 PM
CHRISTINE JOHNSON, Deputy Admin Director, Office of the
Administrative Director, Alaska Court System, explained that
this RPL requests additional authority to spend Mental Health
Trust Authority Authorized Receipts (MHTAAR) in order to
supplement existing therapeutic court programs. Specifically,
she said, the Palmer Mental Health Court project manager
position would be increased from part-time to full-time. This
program is at capacity and needs a full-time project manager.
In addition, this would cover costs for a new project in Barrow,
Alaska. This request would also allow the Alaska Court System
to accept funding from the [AMHTA] to pay for neuropsychiatric
evaluations.
5:35:20 PM
CHAIR THERRIAULT removed his objection. There being no further
objection, the RPL was approved.
5:35:53 PM
^EXECUTIVE SESSION
SENATOR WILKEN made a motion to move to executive session for
the purpose of discussing confidential audit reports under AS
24.20.301. There being no objection, the committee went into
executive session at 5:35 pm.
6:23:46 PM
CHAIR THERRIAULT brought the committee back to order at 6:23 pm.
6:23:56 PM
^RELEASE OF AUDITS
SENATOR WILKEN made a motion for the following preliminary
audits to be released to the appropriate agency for response: A
Sunset Review of the Regulatory Commission of Alaska; A Sunset
Review of the Alcohol Beverage Control Board; A Sunset Review of
the Board of Marine Pilots; A Sunset Review of the State Medical
Board; A Review of the Kenai Peninsula Community Care Center; A
Review of the Department of Administration, Procurement. There
being no objection, the aforementioned preliminary audits were
released.
SENATOR WILKEN made a motion for the following final audits to
be released to the public: A Sunset Review of the Board of
Direct Entry Midwives; A Sunset Follow-up of the Board of
Governors of the Alaska Bar Association; Department of
Transportation and Public Facilities - Benchmarking; A Review of
Residency Requirements for Various State Benefit Programs;
Fiscal Year 2005 (FY05), Statewide Single Audit. There being no
objection, the aforementioned final audits were released.
6:24:37 PM
^OTHER COMMITTEE BUSINESS
6:25:42 PM
CHAIR THERRIAULT announced that the next order of business would
be the Department of Natural Resources and Alaska Department of
Fish & Game Navigable Waters and R.S. 2477 reimbursable services
agreements (RSA).
DICK MYLIUS, Acting Director, Division of Mining, Land & Water,
Department of Natural Resources (DNR), explained that for
several years, DNR and the Alaska Department of Fish & Game
(ADF&G) have received funding for work on R.S. 2477 and
[Recordable Disclaimers of Interest for Navigable Waters] from
the Legislative Budget & Audit (LBA) Committee. These funds
have primarily been used for contractual items. He stated that
in fiscal year 2007 (FY07), DNR requested $100,000 in general
funds to replace the funds previously received through the LBA
Committee; however, during the budget process, the funds were
appropriated to the LBA Committee. He explained that DNR is
requesting an RSA for the aforementioned funds, in addition to
funds left over from previous years. He then gave a detailed
explanation of how the funds would be used, pointing out that
RSA funds cannot be used to pay the federal government.
6:28:36 PM
CHAIR THERRIAULT asked for further detail on the prohibition
against using RSA funds to pay the federal government.
MR. MYLIUS offered his understanding that this is a LBA rule,
and not a DNR rule.
6:29:09 PM
PAT DAVIDSON, Legislative Auditor, Legislative Audit Division,
Alaska State Legislature, explained that because the money is
appropriated to the legislature, it can only be used for a
legislative function. She said:
To the extent that [the legislature is] checking
claims or doing ... research, it's allowable as a
legislative function. However, when you start paying
[the federal government] for fees and so on, it seemed
like you were moving past a legislative function. So,
trying to draw a line that people could recognize
about what's allowable, what's not allowable ...
that's one of the lines that were drawn.
CHAIR THERRIAULT, in regard to the RSAs before the committee,
pointed out that the legislature has appropriated the funds to
itself in order to ensure the work is done.
6:30:51 PM
JOHN WESTLUND, Wildlife Biologist, Alaska Department of Fish &
Game (ADF&G), explained that the ADF&G would use the funds for
salary positions within the department, in addition to R.S. 2477
review, along with other projects.
6:31:59 PM
CHAIR THERRIAULT clarified that the RSA would include remaining
funds from previous appropriations, in addition to the current
$70,000 appropriation. In response to a question from
Representative Hawker, he explained that this request simply
"increases the cap on the existing contract."
REPRESENTATIVE HAWKER offered his understanding that the
original authorization was done within the "latitude and scope
of ... executive decision by the committee chairs," and
additional authorization requires approval of the committee.
CHAIR THERRIAULT replied that this is correct.
6:33:54 PM
SENATOR WILKEN made a motion to authorize the Legislative Budget
and Audit Committee chairman to amend the existing Navigable
Waters and R.S. 2477 RSAs with the Department of Natural
Resources for a total RSA amount not to exceed $96,252.64 and
with the Department of Fish & Game for a total RSA amount not to
exceed $97,992.29. There being no objection, the RSAs were
approved.
6:34:31 PM
CHAIR THERRIAULT announced that the final order of business
would be a request from Senator Wilken regarding the production
profits tax (PPT).
6:35:07 PM
SENATOR WILKEN explained that Section 25 of [HB 3001] requested
that the Department of Revenue (DOR) show the legislature and
the State of Alaska the effects of the PPT, starting in the year
2011. He stated that this information may be of interest before
this date, therefore he is requesting that DOR begin researching
the effects in 2007. While he is not sure of the additional
workload, this will begin the process of determining the proper
date. He opined that the legislature would be more comfortable
seeing the changes prior to 2011.
6:36:32 PM
CHAIR THERRIAULT clarified that this is simply requesting that
the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee consider asking the
DOR to submit quarterly draft reports to the legislature,
beginning March 31, 2007.
REPRESENTATIVE SAMUELS agreed that the request is appropriate,
and surmised that this "shouldn't be a ... burden...."
CHAIR THERRIAULT said he would work with Representative Samuels
to get a letter to DOR, if the committee wishes.
REPRESENTATIVE SAMUELS asked if the Legislative Budget and Audit
Committee would meet again in December.
CHAIR THERRIAULT replied yes, adding that this would accommodate
specific audits.
REPRESENTATIVE SAMUELS suggested that DOR give a brief overview
at that meeting.
CHAIR THERRIAULT opined that it might be appropriate to work
with DOR before the next meeting, in order to work out the
request.
SENATOR WILKEN said "maybe it's not March, maybe it's - instead
of the first quarter, it's the third quarter of next year. We
just want to work with them."
6:39:31 PM
CHAIR THERRIAULT agreed.
REPRESENTATIVE HAWKER also agreed, adding that, as the Chairman
of House Special Committee on Ways and Means, he intends to
conduct hearings to gather preliminary information on the
implementation of the PPT. He opined that the wording of the
request is important.
CHAIR THERRIAULT said "I'm hearing that there's general
agreement that it's good data that we should be collecting, to
answer questions that are coming from the constituency."
6:41:42 PM
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the
Legislative Budget and Audit Committee meeting was adjourned at
6:41:52 PM.
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