Legislature(2021 - 2022)
04/30/2021 07:00 AM House LEGISLATIVE BUDGET & AUDIT
Note: the audio ![]()
and video ![]()
recordings are distinct records and are obtained from different sources. As such there may be key differences between the two. The audio recordings are captured by our records offices as the official record of the meeting and will have more accurate timestamps. Use the icons to switch between them.
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Approval of Minutes | |
| Oil & Gas Consultants Contract Amendment | |
| Executive Session | |
| Legislative Audit It Audit Procurement | |
| Medical Board Audit Recommendations | |
| 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
April 30, 2021
7:02 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Natasha von Imhof, Chair
Senator Peter Micciche
Senator Lora Reinbold
Senator Click Bishop (alternate)
Representative Chris Tuck, Vice Chair
Representative Andy Josephson
Representative Neal Foster
Representative James Kaufman
MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator Bert Stedman
Senator Lyman Hoffman
Representative Ivy Spohnholz
Representative Dan Ortiz (alternate)
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
OIL & GAS CONSULTANTS CONTRACT AMENDMENT
EXECUTIVE SESSION
LEGISLATIVE AUDIT IT AUDIT PROCUREMENT
MEDICAL BOARD AUDIT RECOMMENDATIONS
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
KRIS CURTIS, State Auditor
Legislative Audit Division
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Provided information regarding an IT audit
RFP and preliminary report statewide single audit.
ACTION NARRATIVE
7:02:19 AM
CHAIR NATASHA VON IMHOF called the Legislative Budget and Audit
Committee meeting to order at 7:02 a.m. Representatives Tuck,
Kaufman, Josephson (via teleconference), and Foster and Senators
Micciche, Bishop, Reinbold, and von Imhof were present at the
call to order.
^APPROVAL OF MINUTES
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
7:02:59 AM
CHAIR VON IMHOF announced that the first order of business would
be Approval of Minutes.
7:03:16 AM
REPRESENTATIVE TUCK moved that the Legislative Budget and Audit
Committee approve the minutes of the 2/24/21 meeting as
presented. There being no objection, it was so ordered.
^OIL & GAS CONSULTANTS CONTRACT AMENDMENT
OIL & GAS CONSULTANTS CONTRACT AMENDMENT
7:03:36 AM
CHAIR VON IMHOF announced that the next order of business would
be the Oil & Gas Consultants Contract Amendment.
CHAIR VON IMHOF reviewed that the Legislative Budget and Audit
Committee currently has two consultants on contract to provide
information on oil and gas fiscal systems. Both contracts
terminate June 30, 2021. She said IN3NERGY, with [Rich]
Ruggiero, has been providing services since 2017, and Mr.
Ruggiero has declined to extend the contract. She said Gaffney,
Cline, & Associates ("GaffneyCline") has been providing services
since 2017, and there have been three amendments that have
extended and increased the amount of the contract to $950,000
total, with approximately $610,000 remaining in unobligated
funds. She related that GaffneyCline has agreed to extend its
contract.
CHAIR VON IMHOF highlighted that GaffneyCline is paid only when
its services are utilized. She indicated the last time the
company was utilized was with respect to a ballot measure on oil
and gas contracts. She advised that GaffneyCline would be
helpful to the House and Senate Finance Committees and the House
and Senate Resources Standing Committees in looking at oil and
gas taxes. She said GaffneyCline has a good model set up, has
been working with [the legislature] for years, and she
recommended the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee extend
the company's contract. She opined it is important to have
GaffneyCline standing by to assist the legislature.
7:05:21 AM
REPRESENTATIVE TUCK moved that the Legislative Budget and Audit
Committee authorize the chair, as procurement officer, to amend
the contract with Gaffney, Cline & Associates, to extend the
term of the contract to June 30, 2023. There being no
objection, it was so ordered.
^EXECUTIVE SESSION
EXECUTIVE SESSION
7:05:51 AM
CHAIR VON IMHOF announced that the next order of business would
be an Executive Session to address a preliminary report on the
statewide single audit.
7:06:02 AM
REPRESENTATIVE TUCK moved that the Legislative Budget and Audit
Committee go into executive session under Uniform Rule 22(b)(3),
for discussion of matters that may, by law, be required to be
confidential. He asked that the following persons remain in the
room or online: the legislative auditor and necessary staff for
the auditor, representatives for Legislative Legal Services, any
legislators not on the committee, and staff to legislators who
are members of the committee. There being no objection, the
committee went into executive session.
7:06:39 AM
The committee took an at-ease from 7:06 a.m. to 7:50 a.m. for
the purpose of executive session.
7:50:40 AM
CHAIR VON IMHOF called the Legislative Budget and Audit
Committee back to order at 7:50 a.m. Present at the call back
to order were Representatives Kaufman, and Josephson (via
teleconference), Foster, and Tuck and Senators Micciche, Bishop,
Reinbold, and von Imhof.
^LEGISLATIVE AUDIT IT AUDIT PROCUREMENT
LEGISLATIVE AUDIT IT AUDIT PROCUREMENT
7:51:02 AM
CHAIR VON IMHOF announced that the next order of business would
be the Legislative Audit and IT Audit Procurement.
CHAIR VON IMHOF explained that during executive session, the
Legislative Budget and Audit Committee had discussed
confidential matters related to the information technology (IT)
audit request for proposal (RFP) and the preliminary report
statewide single audit. She asked Kris Curtis for any
information that could be shared publicly.
7:51:19 AM
KRIS CURTIS, State Auditor, Legislative Audit Division, said she
is asking for authority to award a contract for an IT review of
ARIES, the system used by the Department of Health and Social
Services to determine eligibility for Medicaid and the
Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). She continued:
This is needed in support of our federal compliance
opinion regarding the Medicaid and CHIP programs. We
did have this conducted a few years ago, and now we
need to do an update. ... We have an active
procurement, which we hope to issue a notice and
intent [to award] today after this meeting.
7:52:01 AM
REPRESENTATIVE TUCK moved that the Legislative Budget and Audit
Committee authorize the legislative auditor to award a contract
not to exceed $60,000 to the winning bidder of RFP 21-33-01: an
examination of ARIES information technology general controls and
application controls. There being no objection, it was so
ordered.
7:52:37 AM
REPRESENTATIVE TUCK moved to release the following preliminary
audit to the agencies for response: the statewide single audit
from the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2020. There being no
objection, it was so ordered.
^MEDICAL BOARD AUDIT RECOMMENDATIONS
MEDICAL BOARD AUDIT RECOMMENDATIONS
7:53:06 AM
CHAIR VON IMHOF announced that the final order of business would
be Medical Board Audit Recommendations.
7:53:16 AM
MS. CURTIS noted that she had sent a memorandum to committee
members the prior week, dated April 21, 2021, which provided the
status of Medical Board sunset audit recommendations. She
explained that when the Medical Board was extended last year, a
provision was included in the bill to have the Legislative Audit
Division follow up on the sunset audit recommendations within
one year. She directed attention to page 2 of the memorandum,
to the first item, which was a recommendation regarding adopting
regulations to guide the process for registering in the
controlled substance prescription database; regulations were
adopted for that, effective March 2021.
MS. CURTIS then pointed to the third item on the last page of
the memorandum, which was a recommendation regarding procedures
to ensure that licensees with a DEA number register with a
control substance prescription database; this recommendation was
not fully resolved. She stated that no progress was made in
drafting procedures until the auditors asked about the status;
those procedures were drafted at that point and were effective
March 2021. She said the division also found that not all
application forms had been updated to include the controlled
substances prescription database requirements on the application
forms. As of February 2021, the compliance rate for the
licensees was 66 percent; more progress needs to be made on
that.
MS. CURTIS directed attention to the third item, a
recommendation establishing and implementing procedures to
ensure board disciplinary actions were reported in accordance
with state law, and she said this issue has been resolved.
7:55:10 AM
CHAIR VON IMHOF thanked Ms. Curtis and said this issue is an
important one in terms of tracking opioid abuse in Alaska.
7:55:26 AM
MS. CURTIS added that the division is conducting a sunset audit
of the Board of Pharmacy, as well as "doing a deeper dive into
compliance across all occupations with that particular
database." In response to Chair von Imhof, she confirmed that
that information would appear before the Legislative Budget and
Audit Committee in the next 12 months.
7:55:43 AM
SENATOR REINBOLD, regarding disciplinary action, asked whether
it pertained to the database or included other issues, as well.
7:55:57 AM
MS. CURTIS explained that with the Medical Board, certain types
of violations must be reported to a national database. She said
there were certain fines [the Medical Board] had not realized it
had to report on the national level, but the board is now in
full compliance.
SENATOR REINBOLD asked, "So, this only has to do with the
reporting of the database, nothing else. Is that correct?"
MS. CURTIS replied:
It has nothing to do with the database, actually.
It's just ... regular, typical investigations of a
licensee when they find that some type of violation
has occurred, and they're required to report those.
Even if it's ... a fine, or whatever type of action is
taken, they have to report that to a national
database.
7:57:20 AM
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the
Legislative Budget and Audit Committee meeting was adjourned at
[7:57] a.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| LBAC Agenda 2021.04.30.pdf |
JBUD 4/30/2021 7:00:00 AM |
|
| III. Oil and Gas Consultant Contract Amendments.pdf |
JBUD 4/30/2021 7:00:00 AM |
|
| IV. IT Audit Procurement.pdf |
JBUD 4/30/2021 7:00:00 AM |
|
| VIa. Medical Board Audit Recommendations.PDF |
JBUD 4/30/2021 7:00:00 AM |