Legislature(2005 - 2006)CAPITOL 124
04/28/2005 08:00 AM House COMMUNITY & REGIONAL AFFAIRS
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB142 | |
| HB189 | |
| SB142 | |
| HCR12 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | HCR 12 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | HB 189 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | SB 142 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE COMMUNITY AND REGIONAL AFFAIRS STANDING COMMITTEE
April 28, 2005
8:08 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Kurt Olson, Co-Chair
Representative Bill Thomas, Co-Chair
Representative Gabrielle LeDoux
Representative Mark Neuman
Representative Woodie Salmon
MEMBERS ABSENT
Representative Pete Kott
Representative Sharon Cissna
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 142(L&C)
"An Act relating to ownership of land by regional school boards;
and providing for an effective date."
- HEARD AND HELD
HOUSE BILL NO. 189
"An Act relating to an extension for review and approval of
revisions to the Alaska coastal management program; providing
for an effective date by amending the effective date of sec. 45,
ch. 24, SLA 2003; and providing for an effective date."
- MOVED CSHB 189(CAR) OUT OF COMMITTEE
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 12
Relating to the Joint Rural Assessment Task Force.
- MOVED CSHCR 12(CRA) OUT OF COMMITTEE
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: SB 142
SHORT TITLE: REGIONAL SCHOOL BD LAND OWNERSHIP
SPONSOR(S): LABOR & COMMERCE
03/16/05 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
03/16/05 (S) L&C, FIN
03/31/05 (S) L&C AT 1:30 PM BELTZ 211
03/31/05 (S) Heard & Held
03/31/05 (S) MINUTE(L&C)
04/05/05 (S) L&C AT 1:30 PM BELTZ 211
04/05/05 (S) Moved CSSB 142(L&C) Out of Committee
04/05/05 (S) MINUTE(L&C)
04/06/05 (S) L&C RPT CS 4DP 1NR
NEW TITLE
04/06/05 (S) DP: BUNDE, DAVIS, SEEKINS, STEVENS B
04/06/05 (S) NR: ELLIS
04/19/05 (S) FIN RPT CS(L&C) 3DP 3NR
NEW TITLE
04/19/05 (S) DP: WILKEN, GREEN, BUNDE
04/19/05 (S) NR: HOFFMAN, OLSON, DYSON
04/19/05 (S) FIN AT 9:00 AM SENATE FINANCE 532
04/19/05 (S) Moved CSSB 142(L&C) Out of Committee
04/19/05 (S) MINUTE(FIN)
04/21/05 (S) TRANSMITTED TO (H)
04/21/05 (S) VERSION: CSSB 142(L&C)
04/22/05 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
04/22/05 (H) CRA, FIN
04/28/05 (H) CRA AT 8:00 AM CAPITOL 124
BILL: HB 189
SHORT TITLE: COASTAL MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS
SPONSOR(S): STATE AFFAIRS
03/01/05 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
03/01/05 (H) CRA, STA, RES
04/28/05 (H) CRA AT 8:00 AM CAPITOL 124
BILL: HCR 12
SHORT TITLE: LEG TASK FORCE ON RURAL SUSTAINABILITY
SPONSOR(S): COMMUNITY & REGIONAL AFFAIRS
04/26/05 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
04/26/05 (H) CRA
04/28/05 (H) CRA AT 8:00 AM CAPITOL 124
WITNESS REGISTER
JANE ALBERTS, Staff
to Senator Con Bunde
Senate Labor and Commerce Standing Committee
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented SB 142 on behalf of the sponsor,
Senator Bunde.
KIP KNUDSON, Deputy Commissioner of Aviation
Office of the Commissioner
Department of Transportation & Public Facilities
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: During discussion of SB 142, answered
questions.
PAM LEWIS
Department of Transportation & Public Facilities
(No address provided)
POSITION STATEMENT: During discussion of SB 142, answered
questions.
LOUIE FLORA, Staff
to Representative Paul Seaton
House State Affairs Standing Committee
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented HB 189 on behalf of the sponsor,
the House State Affairs Standing Committee of which
Representative Seaton is the chair.
BILL JEFFRESS, Director
Office of Project Management & Permitting
Department of Natural Resources
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: During discussion on HB 189, related that
the administration supports a six-month extension of the
submittal date for the districts.
TOM LOHMAN, Attorney at Law
Environmental Resource Specialist
North Slope Borough
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: During discussion on HB 189, related that
the North Slope Borough strongly supports the extension.
JOHN OSCAR, Program Director
Cenaliulriit Lake Coastal Resource Service Area District
Cenaliulriit, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: During discussion of HB 189, testified in
support of a one-year extension rather than a six-month
extension.
ANDREW DEVALPINE, Director
Bristol Bay Coastal Resource Service Area
Dillingham, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: During discussion of HB 189, testified in
support of a six-month extension.
NOEL WOODS, Matanuska Valley Sportsman
Palmer, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: During discussion of HB 189, indicated his
support of an extension.
EDDY JEANS, Director
School Finance
Department of Education and Early Development
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Answered questions that arose during
discussion of SB 142.
KACI SCHROEDER, Staff
to Representative Bill Thomas
House Community and Regional Affairs Standing Committee
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented HCR 12.
KATHIE WASSERMAN
Alaska Municipal League
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: During discussion of HCR 12, related the
need to look at the big picture with regard to problems in rural
Alaska.
ACTION NARRATIVE
CO-CHAIR KURT OLSON called the House Community and Regional
Affairs Standing Committee meeting to order at 8:08:36 AM.
Representatives Olson, Thomas, LeDoux, Neuman, and Salmon were
present at the call to order.
SB 142-REGIONAL SCHOOL BD LAND OWNERSHIP
8:08:56 AM
CO-CHAIR OLSON announced that the first order of business would
be CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 142(L&C), "An Act relating to
ownership of land by regional school boards; and providing for
an effective date."
8:09:13 AM
JANE ALBERTS, Staff to Senator Con Bunde, Senate Labor and
Commerce Standing Committee, Alaska State Legislature, informed
the committee that currently two statutes for state ownership of
airports are in conflict. She specified that [AS 02.15.020]
requires that Department of Transportation & Public Facilities
(DOT&PF) to conform with federal requirements so that the state
can receive funding from the Federal Aviation Administration
(FAA). The other statute [AS 14.08.151(b)] provides regional
school boards the opportunity to receive title to land used in
relation to Rural Education Attendance Area (REAAs). Therefore,
this legislation addresses the aforementioned statutory
conflict. Ms. Alberts said that although the Alaska State
Legislature clearly intended to allow REAAs greater control of
their facilities through acquisition of title, there is no
record that the legislature attended to do so at the cost of
federal liability, significant loss of federal funds, and a
degraded state airport system. She informed the committee that
several regional schools are located on airport property and
some are even close to active runways and airport
infrastructure. At various times, these regional school boards
have requested that DOT&PF convey full title to airport lands.
The aforementioned has caused confusion in the Department of
Education and Early Development (EED) and DOT&PF, and therefore
has cost staff time and attorney costs to defend DOT&PF's title
to its airport property. Ms. Alberts stated that this
legislation will clarify the intent of the conveyance language
to exclude airport properties from that statute [AS
14.08.151(b)]. Under SB 142, no schools will be required to
move off airport lands, rather it will merely [prohibit] schools
from gaining title to the airport lands in the future.
8:11:56 AM
REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX inquired as to why a school would want to
own an airport.
MS. ALBERTS clarified that schools don't want to own an airport,
but rather want to use some of the property belonging to the
airport. Some of the smaller communities are limited in regard
to where they can build or have school facilities. Therefore,
the conflict is in regard to gaining title to land. If an
airport needs extra land from the areas in conflict, this
legislation will provide DOT&PF with the ability to say it can't
let the school have title to the land because it's necessary for
FAA purposes.
REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX asked whether the airport could lease
property to schools until the land is actually needed by the
airport.
MS. ALBERTS answered that she didn't believe so, but deferred to
DOT&PF representatives.
8:13:38 AM
KIP KNUDSON, Deputy Commissioner of Aviation, Office of the
Commissioner, Department of Transportation & Public Facilities
(DOT&PF), informed the committee that currently approximately 10
schools are leasing land on airport property from DOT&PF. Under
state statute, the schools have the right to seek the title of
the land. However, that would jeopardize the assurances made to
the FAA that the state would retain its title. He noted that
several schools are currently leasing land from DOT&PF.
REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX asked whether those school districts could
continue to lease the land from DOT&PF.
MR. KNUDSON replied yes.
8:14:47 AM
REPRESENTATIVE NEUMAN asked if there are expansion plans for the
airports that would cause the schools, at the time of expansion,
to lose the ability to lease those lands.
MR. KNUDSON said that if a school district is going to expand or
build a new school, DOT&PF would work with EED and the school
district to help them find land elsewhere. Usually when an
expansion occurs, so long as it is moving away from the runway,
DOT&PF continues to lease land to the school. However, DOT&PF
generally tries to help the school find land off the airport
site when there is a complete rebuild.
REPRESENTATIVE NEUMAN pointed out that a [March 24, 2005] letter
from Commissioner Mike Barton, DOT&PF, states that some school
districts have problems with this legislation. He inquired as
to the problems that are leading to this legislation.
MR. KNUDSON said he would characterize it as a bureaucratic
problem for DOT&PF due to the conflict in statute. He informed
the committee that there have been three to four instances that
have resulted in using a couple years of staff time to determine
a reasonable conclusion.
8:17:02 AM
REPRESENTATIVE NEUMAN inquired as to why these schools were
built on airport land. He also inquired as to whether the state
or the federal government owns the land. Representative Neuman
pointed out that CSSB 142(L&C) only includes the land, not the
buildings and structures; he inquired as to how that works.
MR. KNUDSON explained that SB 142 included language in which
DOT&PF wasn't interested. The current legislation only speaks
to land title. He specified that DOT&PF doesn't want any
buildings or anything else, the department merely needs to
retain title to the land. With regard to why schools are
located on airports, in many cases it's due to history and the
increased FAA requirements for safety margins. In some areas,
airport land is some of the only good land in the area.
8:18:39 AM
REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX related her understanding that this
legislation applies to REAAs as well as regular school
districts.
MR. KNUDSON agreed.
8:19:59 AM
CO-CHAIR OLSON, upon determining no one else wished to testify,
closed public testimony.
8:20:06 AM
REPRESENTATIVE NEUMAN asked whether this could impact the
ability of schools to continue the way they currently operate.
MR. KNUDSON answered that he didn't anticipate any problems with
future plans for schools because it involves two state agencies
working to achieve two fairly high goals. He mentioned that
currently there are no conflicts.
8:21:07 AM
REPRESENTATIVE SALMON highlighted that many small villages, such
as Beaver, don't have access to public lands. He asked if
[those present] have any solutions for the future.
MR. KNUDSON informed the committee that large portions of the
community of Beaver are on airport lands, but it's land that
isn't required for future airport needs. In this case, DOT&PF
has requested removal of the federal reverter clause in order to
return the land to the community. Where the aforementioned is
possible, DOT&PF is willing to do so. Mr. Knudson surmised that
schools will be located on airport land when that's the only
land available.
8:22:42 AM
REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX inquired as to how this legislation
impacts schools that aren't within REAAs because AS 14.08.151,
which is being amended by this legislation, speaks to REAAS.
However, the earlier mentioned memorandum from Commissioner
Barton specifies an area, Iliamna, which is not an REAA but has
been involved in the conflict this legislation attempts to
address.
MR. KNUDSON related his understanding that the statute addresses
REAAs.
8:23:51 AM
PAM LEWIS, Department of Transportation & Public Facilities
(DOT&PF), confirmed that this legislation addresses only REAAs,
not organized school districts.
MR. KNUDSON informed the committee that in statute organized
school districts don't have the ability to request title from
state agencies.
MS. LEWIS agreed, noting that was her understanding as well.
8:24:31 AM
REPRESENTATIVE SALMON recalled that several years ago there was
a lagoon problem in Chalkyitsik, where the school was built on
the hill next to the airport. However, later an airport
expansion down the middle of the school district resulted in the
lagoon being left on DOT&PF property. The lagoon was leaky and
ran down the airport, which the community viewed as a safety
hazard. No one, the school district or DOT&PF, would take care
of the problem. He asked if this legislation would address who
is responsible for facilities located on airport, DOT&PF,
property.
MR. KNUDSON replied no, but he offered to research the
aforementioned situation and speak with Representative Salmon
about his findings.
8:26:16 AM
REPRESENTATIVE NEUMAN requested that the committee take a closer
look at how [this legislation] will impact the ability of
schools to operate in the future. He expressed the need to talk
with some of the school boards of the schools directly impacted
by this.
8:27:00 AM
CO-CHAIR OLSON announced that SB 142 would be held over.
MS. ALBERTS related that Eddy Jeans, EED, has contacted all the
impacted school districts and has received no negative comments.
[The committee returned to SB 142 later in the meeting.]
HB 189-COASTAL MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS
8:27:49 AM
CO-CHAIR OLSON announced that the next order of business would
be HOUSE BILL NO. 189, "An Act relating to an extension for
review and approval of revisions to the Alaska coastal
management program; providing for an effective date by amending
the effective date of sec. 45, ch. 24, SLA 2003; and providing
for an effective date."
8:28:00 AM
CO-CHAIR THOMAS moved to adopt CSHB 189, Version 24-LS0703\G,
Bullock, 4/27/05, as the working document. There being no
objection, Version G was before the committee.
8:28:19 AM
LOUIE FLORA, Staff to Representative Paul Seaton, House State
Affairs Standing Committee (HSTA), Alaska State Legislature,
began by noting that the House State Affairs Standing Committee
[members] just received Version G and although the committee
does have concerns, it can live with it. Mr. Flora paraphrased
from the following written sponsor statement:
The Alaska Coastal Management Program (ACMP) is a
partnership between federal, state, and local
governments providing state and local governments a
voice in federal decision making. Alaska is one of 34
coastal and Great Lakes states and territories that
utilize this program, a program that annually channels
millions of dollars in federal grant money to the
states. The ACMP has helped guide coastal development
in the state since it was enacted in 1977.
Without the program the state and local governments
lose their ability to control development on federal
land and the Outer Continental Shelf. In addition the
state will lose millions in federal coastal management
planning money.
In 2003, [House Bill] 191 substantially revised the
state coastal program. The federal Office of Ocean
and Coastal Resource Management (OCRM) must approve
the revised program. OCRM has determined that
additional revisions are necessary before they can
grant approval.
The 2003 legislation included state-imposed deadlines
for revisions to local coastal programs. Coastal
Districts are attempting to follow the statutory
directive to revise their programs to meet the new
requirements. However, OCRM has identified problems
with the state's guidance to local districts regarding
the scope and content of their program. The state
will have to revise regulatory guidelines for the
local districts before the new program can be approved
by OCRM. In turn, the local districts will have to
revise their programs to meet the new guidelines. It
is a waste of time, money and effort for districts to
revise their plans before the state's program is
federally approved and any necessary changes have been
made.
MR. FLORA related his understanding that Version G extends the
program termination date specified in House Bill 191 from 2003.
8:31:15 AM
REPRESENTATIVE NEUMAN inquired as to the problems the House
State Affairs Standing Committee has with Version G.
MR. FLORA explained that HSTA wanted districts to have enough
time to compose their plans. Due to the negotiations between
the state and the federal government regarding the ACMP there
was a shifting target throughout the winter. Although there was
a plan revision mandated in 2003 by House Bill 191, the
guidelines kept changing. The HSTA committee wanted to be sure
that the districts would have a solid agreement from which to
work, but Version G doesn't specifically stipulate that the
federal government approves the state program.
8:32:57 AM
CO-CHAIR OLSON pointed out that there are three more committees
of referral for HB 189. He noted his intent to forward the
legislation from the House Community and Regional Affairs
Standing Committee. He related his belief that the Department
of Natural Resources (DNR) and the Department of Administration
will have an opportunity to provide more input.
8:33:32 AM
CO-CHAIR THOMAS related his understanding that the state and
federal governments came to an agreement and [the legislation
was changed to allow communities] six months. He related his
further understanding that the six-month [extension] was the
desire of the communities.
MR. FLORA agreed, and then suggested that perhaps a DNR
representative could inform the committee of the status of the
negotiations. He said he wasn't clear that an agreement had
been reached.
CO-CHAIR THOMAS relayed that "we" were briefed by the
administration that there was an agreement.
8:34:25 AM
BILL JEFFRESS, Director, Office of Project Management &
Permitting, Department of Natural Resources, said that the
briefing from the Governor's Office was accurate. The
department has been in negotiations with OCRM since September,
specifically with regard to the amendments to the coastal
program. An agreement with the federal government regarding how
to obtain preliminary approval of the amendment has been
reached. The aforementioned will trigger a National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) analysis of the changes.
Mr. Jeffress specified that the governor offered and DNR is
working toward extending the submittal date for the coastal
districts since there are many specific issues that need to be
communicated to the districts. The administration supports a
six-month extension of the submittal date for the districts.
Furthermore, it's critical to extend the state standards for
another six months. Without such an extension, the ability to
continue doing federal consistency is lost. Furthermore,
without these standards there is a chance that [ACMP] would lose
its staff and thus even if the program is approved by the end of
this year there would be no staff to implement it. Mr. Jeffress
highlighted that the governor and the department have committed
to the sunset date of existing coastal plans, which would be 18
months from the enactment of the revised regulations that was
July 1, 2004. Therefore, this legislation would extend the
sunset date for the existing district plans and extend the
period during which the coastal districts can submit revised
plans to come into compliance with House Bill 191.
8:37:31 AM
TOM LOHMAN, Attorney at Law, Environmental Resource Specialist,
North Slope Borough, related that the borough strongly supports
the extension. The extension is necessary for all the districts
to properly address the need to substantially revise the
district plan. He informed the committee that most of the plans
initially took three to four years to develop. The current
requirement is for a complete overhaul of the local plan.
Although there has been some contention that districts have not
been working diligently to revise the plan since the passage of
House Bill 191 in May 2003, he opined that's not true. He
reminded the committee that all legislators should've received a
letter from the Alaska Coastal District Association explaining
why the 27 active coastal districts could not confidently move
forward with a revision until earlier this year. There is still
great uncertainty among the districts in what they can address
in passing local policies under a revised plan, he opined. Some
of these questions are significant. For instance, the North
Slope Borough has questions regarding policies on subsistence
and activities on federal land and the OCS federal waters off
the North Slope. At the end of the plan revision, the districts
will have less control and authority over local development than
under the existing plan. Therefore, time to work with the more
than 200 coastal communities represented by the 27 coastal
districts is necessary. He predicted that people will be
greatly upset that the plans are being gutted. Local
communities want and need development, but they want it to occur
on their own terms. Furthermore, three of the DNR staff who
perform plan reviews and work with the districts are leaving the
agency; two of which are leaving in May and the other at the end
of the summer. Mr. Lohman said that he didn't see how DNR could
effectively review 27 coastal district plans if required to be
submitted by July 1, 2005, and work on continuing to revise and
modify these plans after submittal without an extension.
MR. LOHMAN related that none of the districts like where the
administration has taken the program, which is so valued in so
many communities. He characterized where the administration is
taking the program as bad public policy. He relayed to the
committee that there is a rumor that in a later committee there
will be an attempt to place a sunset date in HB 189. However,
it's entirely unnecessary, he opined, because local residents
are the best controllers of development in their communities and
have been doing a good job with that. He characterized the 2003
legislation as a solution in search of a problem. Mr. Lohman
concluded by opining that the program is valuable and that
anything that can be done to return meaningful local control to
some extent would be appreciated. Furthermore, he expressed the
need to have more time to explain the new program to the locals
and attempt to make the best programs possible, which simply
can't be accomplished under the current deadlines.
8:42:34 AM
JOHN OSCAR, Program Director, Cenaliulriit Lake Coastal Resource
Service Area District, informed the committee that the
aforementioned district serves 38 villages, which is the largest
number of remote communities in the state. This program is
important to the remote communities in the state in order to
provide an avenue for participation in the decision-making
process and addressing local concerns. One of the important
local concerns is subsistence and enforceable policies. For
example, in Tuluksak there is an application for mining in the
headwaters, which was of great concern for the residents. The
district was successful in bringing stakeholders together to
discuss the matter. He noted that the district is in the
process of working with other communities to address the
Kuskokwim drainage issue. Mr. Oscar refuted the allegation that
these programs have been dragging their feet, and turned
attention to an April letter in which the Alaska Coastal
District Association identified solid reasons as to why the
districts didn't receive solid guidance. The districts only
received a draft of the proposed regulations back in February.
Mr. Oscar stressed the need for an extension, specifically a
one-year extension rather than a six-month extension because the
Cenaliulriit district would need more time than others.
8:47:08 AM
ANDREW DEVALPINE, Director, Bristol Bay Coastal Resource Service
Area, testified in support of the six-month extension in order
to elicit more participation in the region. Obtaining
meaningful participation before the current deadline is
virtually out of the question.
8:48:43 AM
NOEL WOODS, Matanuska Valley Sportsman, related that the local
administration is claiming that the existing coastal management
plan allows them to regulate the waters reserved for public use
within the state, such that these areas are closed to various
activities and at certain times. However, there has been no
definitive explanation for the aforementioned. He related his
assumption that this will take some time to resolve, and
therefore he said he would appreciate an extension.
8:50:04 AM
REPRESENTATIVE NEUMAN commented that he trusts Mr. Woods'
judgment on this matter.
8:50:42 AM
CO-CHAIR OLSON, upon determining no one else wished to testify,
closed public testimony.
8:50:52 AM
REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX moved to report CSHB 189, Version 24-
LS0703\G, Bullock, 4/27/05, out of committee with individual
recommendations and the accompanying fiscal notes. There being
no objection, CSHB 189(CRA) was reported from the House
Community and Regional Affairs Standing Committee.
SB 142-REGIONAL SCHOOL BD LAND OWNERSHIP
8:51:34 AM
CO-CHAIR OLSON returned the committee's attention to SB 142.
8:51:38 AM
EDDY JEANS, Director, School Finance, Department of Education
and Early Development (EED), responded to earlier questions by
offering the following information. This legislation, SB 142,
only applies to Rural Education Attendance Areas (REAAs) school
districts. He informed the committee that currently there are
about seven schools that have been built on airport land. He
related his understanding that this legislation wouldn't kick
those schools off that land. When a new school is built in a
community, typically the district requests that the old school
be transferred to the community for the community's use.
However, that wouldn't be allowed under this legislation. Mr.
Jeans clarified that the [department] could continue to transfer
the building, but the lands on which the building sits couldn't
be transferred. Therefore, if the community wanted to use that
building, it would have to move it off of the airport land.
8:52:53 AM
CO-CHAIR OLSON restated an earlier question regarding whether
all of the 10 sites have been contacted.
MR. JEANS replied no.
8:53:22 AM
REPRESENTATIVE NEUMAN suggested that in the future perhaps there
should be focus on regional learning centers. He reiterated his
desire to talk with the school districts that would be impacted
by this legislation.
8:54:01 AM
REPRESENTATIVE SALMON asked if Chalkyitsik is included in the
areas in which schools have been built on airport land.
MR. JEANS replied yes.
8:54:20 AM
REPRESENTATIVE NEUMAN said that his staff could prepare a report
regarding the feeling of other districts.
8:54:40 AM
MR. JEANS related his experience that when dealing with
construction of new schools, typically it isn't on airport land.
The issue that will surface is in regard to the transfer of the
surplus building to the community; some communities are adamant
that they want those building for other community use. However,
the buildings are on airport property and are no longer being
used for school purposes. He specified that the aforementioned
isn't impacting the educational program within those communities
because that's addressed differently.
8:55:35 AM
REPRESENTATIVE NEUMAN highlighted the community of Galena as an
example because the town wants to acquire and utilize some of
the unutilized air force base buildings. Therefore, he
questioned why such buildings would be torn down.
8:56:29 AM
CO-CHAIR OLSON announced that SB 142 would be held over.
HCR 12-LEG TASK FORCE ON RURAL SUSTAINABILITY
8:56:42 AM
CO-CHAIR OLSON announced that the final order of business would
be HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 12, Relating to the Joint
Rural Assessment Task Force.
8:56:59 AM
KACI SCHROEDER, Staff to Representative Bill Thomas, House
Community and Regional Affairs Standing Committee, Alaska State
Legislature, highlighted the state of the communities in Alaska.
Communities throughout the state are becoming unable to provide
services for residents or are shutting down completely. While
revenue in these communities is declining, the cost of living is
rising. Furthermore, many of these communities are unable to
afford insurance, which automatically makes them ineligible for
much state and federal funding. This resolution, HCR 12,
provides that the Alaska State Legislature, the First Alaskans
Institute, and the Alaska Municipal League will come together to
form a task force, as specified in the resolution. This task
force will work on and address issues rural communities are
facing. First, there will be a community audit and needs
assessment. Several communities throughout the state will be
strategically selected and studied in depth. These communities
will be selected based on population, location, organization
status, and whether they receive federal funds. The [community
audit and needs assessment] will generate a report. The report,
the Rural Energy Action Council's Finding and Action
Recommendations, and the Denali Commission's Five-Year Strategic
Plan will be used to develop legislative findings and draft
legislation to be proposed in the next legislative session. Ms.
Schroeder emphasized that HCR 12 isn't an attempt to side-step
already-introduced legislation addressing problems in rural
communities. Unfortunately, many of those don't address the
entire picture, and therefore the desire is for the legislature
to develop a working plan to solve as many of the problems in
rural Alaska as possible.
8:59:42 AM
CO-CHAIR THOMAS moved that the committee adopt CSHCR 12, Version
24-LS0964\F, Cook, 4/27/05, as the working document. There
being no objection, Version F was before the committee.
9:00:24 AM
CO-CHAIR THOMAS said that he has four communities in his
district that are suffering and almost defunct, which relates to
his interest in moving this resolution along. Furthermore, he
opined that it is this committee's job to go out and review the
situation in these communities and come back with
recommendations. He noted that the $14,000 fiscal note will
require a House Finance Committee referral.
9:01:57 AM
REPRESENTATIVE NEUMAN echoed Co-Chair Thomas' comments. He
expressed the need to address the needs of the schools and
determine how to make them better in rural areas. He informed
the committee that 47.3 percent of Alaska Natives are graduating
from high school, which needs to be improved. Representative
Neuman announced his support for HCR 12, and related his
willingness to testify in other committees to help move this
resolution through the legislature.
9:03:00 AM
KATHIE WASSERMAN, Alaska Municipal League (AML), highlighted
that "we" have all failed to look at the large picture. For
example, remodels of schools in some remote areas are funded,
although no one takes into consideration that the community
can't provide water or other necessities. Through discussions
with those interested, the conclusion has been that there is the
need to look at the large picture and the ability to do
something, develop a plan, lays within the legislature.
9:04:32 AM
REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX moved to report CSHCR 12, Version 24-
LS0964\F, Cook, 4/27/05, out of committee with individual
recommendations and the accompanying fiscal notes. There being
no objection, CSHCR 12(CRA) was reported from the House
Community and Regional Affairs Standing Committee.
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Community and Regional Affairs Standing Committee meeting was
adjourned at 9:05 a.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|