02/14/2008 08:00 AM House COMMUNITY & REGIONAL AFFAIRS
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB282 | |
| HB344 | |
| Adjourn |
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | HB 282 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | HB 344 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE COMMUNITY AND REGIONAL AFFAIRS STANDING COMMITTEE
February 14, 2008
8:05 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Anna Fairclough, Co-Chair
Representative Gabrielle LeDoux, Co-Chair
Representative Nancy Dahlstrom
Representative Mark Neuman
Representative Kurt Olson
Representative Sharon Cissna
Representative Woodie Salmon
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
HOUSE BILL NO. 282
"An Act relating to eligibility for membership on state boards,
commissions, and authorities."
- MOVED CSHB 282(CRA) OUT OF COMMITTEE
HOUSE BILL NO. 344
"An Act relating to distribution of the Alaska Administrative
Code and Alaska Administrative Register; and providing for an
effective date."
- MOVED HB 344 OUT OF COMMITTEE
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: HB 282
SHORT TITLE: CANDIDATES INELIGIBLE FOR BDS/COMMISSIONS
SPONSOR(s): REPRESENTATIVE(s) DOOGAN
01/04/08 (H) PREFILE RELEASED 1/4/08
01/15/08 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
01/15/08 (H) CRA, STA
02/14/08 (H) CRA AT 8:00 AM BARNES 124
BILL: HB 344
SHORT TITLE: ADMINISTRATIVE CODE/REGISTER DISTRIBUTION
SPONSOR(s): RULES BY REQUEST OF THE GOVERNOR
01/30/08 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
01/30/08 (H) CRA, FIN
02/14/08 (H) CRA AT 8:00 AM BARNES 124
WITNESS REGISTER
REPRESENTATIVE MIKE DOOGAN
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Spoke as the sponsor of HB 282.
JASON HOOLEY, Special Assistant/Legislature
Office of the Lieutenant Governor
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented HB 344 on behalf of the governor.
ACTION NARRATIVE
CO-CHAIR ANNA FAIRCLOUGH called the House Community and Regional
Affairs Standing Committee meeting to order at 8:05:46 AM.
Representatives Fairclough, LeDoux, Dahlstrom, Neuman, Olson,
and Cissna were present at the call to order. Representative
Salmon arrived as the meeting was in progress.
HB 282-CANDIDATES INELIGIBLE FOR BDS/COMMISSIONS
8:06:26 AM
CO-CHAIR FAIRCLOUGH announced that the first order of business
would be HOUSE BILL NO. 282, "An Act relating to eligibility for
membership on state boards, commissions, and authorities."
8:06:41 AM
REPRESENTATIVE MIKE DOOGAN, Alaska State Legislature, explained
that HB 282 would require members of boards and commissions to
resign from those positions prior to filing for office. The
legislation also prohibits someone who ran for office from
serving on a board or commission for a calendar year. Under
existing law a number of people, including state employees, have
to resign from positions if they want to run for office.
Furthermore, [existing law stipulates that] members of boards
and commissioners who receive anything more than per diem must
resign [prior to filing for office]. He informed the committee
that [existing law] covers 22 of the 120 boards, commissions,
[and authorities of the state]. The change proposed in HB 282
would impact about 984 people currently sitting on boards and
commissions. Representative Doogan explained that he brought
forth HB 282 after being informed that a member of a
professional board ran for the State House and collected about
$20,000 from members of the profession in which the board
oversaw. Representative Doogan characterized the aforementioned
as problematic. He opined that it's better for the state and
Alaskan's trust in the system that those running for office
don't hold [positions with the state's boards, commissions, and
authorities]. Representative Doogan explained that it's not his
intent to prohibit legislators sitting on boards/commissions,
and therefore the committee should have an amendment to address
that.
8:10:34 AM
REPRESENTATIVE OLSON remarked that there was an example of this
before this committee as recently as this past Tuesday.
8:10:47 AM
CO-CHAIR LEDOUX inquired as to how it's different if members on
boards and commissions raise money versus legislators raising
money.
REPRESENTATIVE DOOGAN opined that there are prohibitions against
legislators raising money in the sense that there are clear
rules regarding when and where legislators can raise funds while
a sitting legislator. The difficulty is that the boards and
commissions work on a different calendar than the legislature,
and therefore the boards and commissions don't go into an
interim time. Because there are so many boards and commissions
with various rules, it's not clear how to construct a system
that works with legislators.
CO-CHAIR LEDOUX questioned then whether this legislation should
extend to all municipal officials if an individual sitting on a
municipal planning board would have to resign in order to run
for office.
REPRESENTATIVE DOOGAN specified that his concern is with regard
to state boards and commissions. He related that he is an
advocate for the state not telling municipalities what to do.
CO-CHAIR FAIRCLOUGH pointed out that the title of HB 282 is
specific to state boards, commissions, and authorities of the
state.
8:13:46 AM
REPRESENTATIVE CISSNA recalled an example in which a state board
member used per diem funds to travel and then once at the
location sought [campaign] funds.
8:15:12 AM
REPRESENTATIVE NEUMAN related his understanding that if HB 282
passes, those currently sitting on state boards and commissions
wouldn't be able to run for office unless they resigned.
REPRESENTATIVE DOOGAN replied yes.
REPRESENTATIVE NEUMAN inquired as to the effective date of HB
282.
REPRESENTATIVE DOOGAN explained that HB 282 would become law
when the governor signs it or when the governor allows it to
become law without signature, on the day after expiration of the
period allowed for gubernatorial action by art. II, Sec. 17 of
the Alaska Constitution.
8:16:34 AM
CO-CHAIR FAIRCLOUGH, upon determining no one else wished to
testify, closed public testimony.
8:17:00 AM
REPRESENTATIVE DAHLSTROM moved to adopt HB 282 as the working
document.
CO-CHAIR FAIRCLOUGH announced the HB 282 was before the
committee.
REPRESENTATIVE NEUMAN objected for purposes of an amendment.
[This objection was treated as withdrawn and HB 282 before the
committee.]
8:17:33 AM
REPRESENTATIVE NEUMAN moved that the committee adopt Amendment
1, labeled 25-LS1117\C.1, Bullard, 2/13/08, which read:
Page 1, line 7, following "year":
Insert ", unless holding a particular elective
state or federal office is required by law for
appointment"
REPRESENTATIVE DOOGAN explained that his staff discovered that
in drafting HB 282 it applied to legislators who are members of
boards and commissions by virtue of their position as a
legislator. The aforementioned, he stated, is not his intent.
Representative Doogan opined that it's difficult to imagine a
situation in which being a member of a board or commission
enhances or detracts from a legislator's ability to run for re-
election. Furthermore, statute often requires that some of the
boards and commissions have legislative members.
8:19:16 AM
REPRESENTATIVE DAHLSTROM opined that the intent of this is
great, but highlighted the difficulty in obtaining enough
individuals to fill the seats of these boards and commissions.
She then inquired as to the impact of this legislation in a
situation in which a member of a board or commission is
appointed to a legislative seat by the governor.
REPRESENTATIVE DOOGAN explained that this provision wouldn't
impact such a situation because the legislation only addresses a
legislator who must wait one year before being able to serve on
a state board or commission. Being on a board or commission
doesn't prohibit the governor from appointing that individual to
a legislative seat. Furthermore, since that board or commission
member hasn't really filed for that office, this provision
wouldn't impact that. He related his understanding that a
member of a board or commission could be appointed to a
legislative seat by the governor and remain a member of the
board or commission because the member never went through the
process of running for office.
REPRESENTATIVE DAHLSTROM surmised then that a member of a board
or commission must resign prior to filing for office, but an
elected official must wait a year before he/she can serve on a
board or commission.
REPRESENTATIVE DOOGAN replied yes.
8:21:47 AM
REPRESENTATIVE DOOGAN, in response to Co-Chair LeDoux, confirmed
that the provision prohibiting an individual from being a member
of a board or commission when he/she is running for office is in
Section 2 on page 2. He explained that currently there's a
prohibition against state employees running for office. There
are a number of exceptions to that prohibition, Section 2
removes the current exception for those who are members of
boards and commissions and who only receive essentially per diem
for attending meetings.
CO-CHAIR LEDOUX asked if an individual who serves on a board or
commission without pay is considered an employee in the
classified, partially-exempt, or exempt service.
REPRESENTATIVE DOOGAN said he can't speak to why it's done this
way in existing law nor could he speak to why unpaid members of
boards and commissions are included in the exceptions for state
employees.
CO-CHAIR LEDOUX said that she suspected that it was done to be
cautious. She inquired as to the definition of employee in the
classified, partially exempt, or exempt services. She opined
that she wasn't sure that simply eliminating paragraph (8)
accomplishes what is desired.
8:24:20 AM
CO-CHAIR FAIRCLOUGH related that she serves on the National
Sexual Violence Resource Center, and thus under HB 282 she would
have to resign that position.
REPRESENTATIVE DOOGAN said that's certainly not the intent. The
question comes when an individual sitting on a state board or
commission files for state office. He clarified that it's not
the intent to force those sitting on federal commissions to
resign. Representative Doogan said he didn't believe HB 282
would apply in a situation in which an individual serves on a
federal board or commission.
CO-CHAIR FAIRCLOUGH surmised then that the legislation is
specific to service on state boards and commissions. Therefore,
she further surmised that her service on the Alaska Veterans'
Memorial Museum is allowable.
REPRESENTATIVE DOOGAN replied yes. He opined that HB 282
wouldn't apply to any of the wide variety of federal boards and
commissions.
8:26:21 AM
CO-CHAIR LEDOUX emphasized the difficulty in finding individuals
to serve on some of the state's boards and commissions. She
opined that although she could understand the [reasoning] behind
HB 282 in relation to boards that actually govern a profession
such as the Alaska State Medical Board, there are many boards
and commissions that don't govern the profession and individuals
aren't looking to the board or commission to make an income.
She reiterated her earlier concern with regard to HB 282 making
it more difficult to find individuals willing to serve on boards
and commissions.
CO-CHAIR FAIRCLOUGH pointed out that the situations in which
legislators are involved in various task forces is specified in
law.
CO-CHAIR LEDOUX opined that HB 282 may be overly broad.
8:28:25 AM
REPRESENTATIVE CISSNA drew attention to the language on page 1,
lines 5-7, which read: "A person is not eligible for appointment
to a state board, commission, or authority if the person sought
nomination or became a candidate for elective state or federal
office ...." She inquired as to the inclusion of the federal
office.
REPRESENTATIVE DOOGAN explained that the reference to federal
office is included because there's no difference in the behavior
the legislation attempts to prevent. He acknowledged that HB
282 will make it somewhat more difficult to find folks to serve
on boards and commissions. Representative Doogan clarified that
the legislation attempts to keep people from campaigning on the
state dime, which applies equally to federal and state office.
8:30:46 AM
CO-CHAIR FAIRCLOUGH reminded the committee that it has a motion
before it regarding the adoption of Amendment 1. Upon
determining there was no objection, Co-Chair Fairclough
announced that Amendment 1 was adopted.
The committee took an at-ease from 8:30 a.m. to 8:32 a.m.
8:33:25 AM
CO-CHAIR FAIRCLOUGH related her understanding that there is a
question with regard to the employee classification in Section 2
on page 2, line 7.
CO-CHAIR LEDOUX announced that she doesn't like HB 282, but
won't object to it.
8:33:58 AM
REPRESENTATIVE DAHLSTROM moved to report HB 282, as amended, out
of committee with individual recommendations and the
accompanying fiscal notes. There being no objection, CSHB
282(CRA) was reported from the House Community and Regional
Affairs Standing Committee.
HB 344-ADMINISTRATIVE CODE/REGISTER DISTRIBUTION
8:35:01 AM
CO-CHAIR FAIRCLOUGH announced that the final order of business
would be HOUSE BILL NO. 344, "An Act relating to distribution of
the Alaska Administrative Code and Alaska Administrative
Register; and providing for an effective date."
8:35:29 AM
JASON HOOLEY, Special Assistant/Legislature, Office of the
Lieutenant Governor, explained that by law the lieutenant
governor is required to distribute paper copies of the Alaska
Administrative Code and its quarterly supplements to all 158
local government units in Alaska. In the last several years,
the Office of the Lieutenant Governor has received feedback that
they don't use the paper copies of the materials and they don't
have office space to store them. In many cases, the local
government units are transitioning to the electronic versions
available for free on the Internet. This legislation simply
allows the local governments who don't want to receive the paper
documents to opt-out, and if they later determine that they wish
to receive the paper copies they can opt-in. This legislation
attempts to save the state some money while responding to the
desires of the local communities. Mr. Hooley then turned to the
zero fiscal note and related that currently $22,000 a year is
spent on this portion of the contract with the publisher.
Therefore, when communities opt-out of the program, money will
be saved.
8:37:03 AM
REPRESENTATIVE SALMON asked if this information is available on
line.
MR. HOOLEY replied yes.
8:37:13 AM
REPRESENTATIVE CISSNA asked if it will remain possible for a
local government to call and request a paper copy because some
communities may not have the capability to obtain the
information on line.
MR. HOOLEY said that it will be entirely up to the local
communities. The Office of the Lieutenant Governor arranges the
distribution of the documents through the contractor/publisher.
In Section 2 subsection (b), the language provides time to
absorb in the budget when a community decides at a later date
that it wishes to resume receipt of paper copy.
REPRESENTATIVE CISSNA surmised then that this legislation allows
communities the ability to opt-out rather than opt-in.
MR. HOOLEY explained that currently all communities are opted-in
and that will continue until a community opts out.
8:39:10 AM
CO-CHAIR LEDOUX surmised then that HB 344 is necessary because
currently even if a community doesn't want the paper copies,
they have to be sent out to it anyway.
MR. HOOLEY noted his agreement.
8:40:06 AM
CO-CHAIR FAIRCLOUGH, upon determining no one wished to testify,
closed public testimony.
8:40:28 AM
REPRESENTATIVE DAHLSTROM moved to report HB 344 out of committee
with individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal
notes. There being no objection, HB 344 was reported from the
House Community and Regional Affairs Standing Committee.
8:41:56 AM
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Community and Regional Affairs Standing Committee meeting was
adjourned at 8:42 p.m.
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