Legislature(1997 - 1998)
03/07/1997 08:04 AM House CRA
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
HOUSE COMMUNITY AND REGIONAL AFFAIRS
STANDING COMMITTEE
March 7, 1997
8:04 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Ivan Ivan, Chairman
Representative Fred Dyson
Representative Scott Ogan
Representative Joe Ryan
Representative Al Kookesh
Representative Reggie Joule
MEMBERS ABSENT
Representative Jerry Sanders
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
SPONSOR SUBSTITUTE FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 132
"An Act relating to municipal taxation of alcoholic beverages."
- SSHB 132 PASSED OUT OF COMMITTEE
(* First public hearing)
PREVIOUS ACTION
BILL: HB 132
SHORT TITLE: MUNICIPAL TAXATION OF ALCOHOL
SPONSOR(S): REPRESENTATIVE(S) DAVIS,Ivan
JRN-DATE JRN-PG ACTION
02/13/97 333 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRAL(S)
02/13/97 333 (H) CRA, JUDICIARY, FINANCE
02/21/97 424 (H) SPONSOR SUBSTITUTE INTRODUCED-REFERRALS
02/21/97 424 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRAL(S)
02/21/97 424 (H) CRA, JUDICIARY, FINANCE
03/07/97 (H) CRA AT 8:00 AM CAPITOL 124
WITNESS REGISTER
REPRESENTATIVE GARY DAVIS
Alaska State Legislature
State Capitol, Room 513
Juneau, Alaska 99801
Telephone: (907) 465-2693
POSITION STATEMENT: Sponsor of HB 132
PAUL SHERRY, Deputy Director
Alaska Native Health Board
4201 Tudor Center, Number 105
Anchorage, Alaska 99508
Telephone: (907) 562-6006
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified on HB 132
GARY GRANDE, Administrator
Petersburg Medical Center
P.O. Box 589
Petersburg, Alaska 99833
Telephone: (907) 772-4291
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified on HB 132
JAMES CULLEY, CEO & Administrator
Valdez Hospital
P.O. Box 694
Valdez, Alaska 99686
Telephone: (907) 835-2249
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified on HB 132
VALERIE THERRIEN
Advisory Board for Alcohol and
Drug Abuse
779 8th Avenue
Fairbanks, Alaska 99701
Telephone: (907) 456-8113
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified on HB 132
GARREY PESKA
Alaska State Hospital and
Nursing Home Association
319 Seward Street
Juneau, Alaska 99801
Telephone: (907) 586-1790
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified on HB 132
LAMAR COTTEN, Deputy Director
Department of Community and
Regional Affairs
P.O. Box 112100
Juneau, Alaska 99811-2100
Telephone: (907) 465-4700
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified on HB 132
KEVIN RITCHIE, Executive Director
Alaska Municipal League
217 Second Street
Juneau, Alaska 99801
Telephone: (907) 586-1325
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified on HB 132
TOM WRIGHT, Staff
Community and Regional
Affairs Committee
Representative Ivan Ivan
Alaska State Legislature
State Capitol, Room 418
Juneau, Alaska 99801
Telephone: (907) 465-4942
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified on HB 132
BOB BARTHOLOMEW, Deputy Director
Income & Excise Audit Division
Department of Revenue
P.O. Box 110420
Juneau, Alaska 99811-0420
Telephone: (907) 465-2320
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified on HB 132
ACTION NARRATIVE
TAPE 97-12, SIDE A
CHAIRMAN IVAN IVAN called the House Community and Regional Affairs
Standing Committee meeting to order at 8:04 a.m. Members present
at the call to order were Representatives Dyson, Ryan and Kookesh.
Representatives Joule and Ogan arrived at their respective times:
8:05 a.m. and 8:14 a.m. Representative Sanders was absent.
HB 132 - MUNICIPAL TAXATION OF ALCOHOL
Number 072
REPRESENTATIVE GARY DAVIS came forward to testify as sponsor of
SSHB 132, "An Act relating to municipal taxation of alcoholic
beverages." Representative Davis stated that in statute, there is
a restriction on how much municipalities can tax alcohol as a stand
alone substance. The statutes in place hold the amount that can be
taxed for alcohol at the general rate of the sales tax. HB 132
removes this restriction. It allows municipalities to tax alcohol
at whatever rate they feel is appropriate. He noted how alcohol
problems affect services such as hospitals, police forces, the
courts and other services the municipalities provide.
REPRESENTATIVE DAVIS said this legislation would free up
municipalities and give them the opportunity to address their
problems in a manner they feel appropriate. If alcohol is causing
problems, with this restriction eliminated, they can feel free to
adjust their tax base and their revenue projections to deal with
the problems created by alcohol.
Number 311
REPRESENTATIVE FRED DYSON asked what the response of the liquor
industry to this legislation has been. He also wondered if
Representative Davis' office had put the industry on notice about
this legislation.
REPRESENTATIVE DAVIS stated that the alcohol industry hadn't
contacted his office presently. In response to the latter, he
stated that, no, he hadn't initiated contact either.
Number 360
REPRESENTATIVE JOE RYAN asked if there was a cap on the amount of
taxes the local municipality is allowed to charge.
REPRESENTATIVE DAVIS responded that this was not included in the
bill and he wasn't sure if there were any caps in state law. He
noted that any municipality has the opportunity to address by
ordinance or resolution any caps of their own. He stated that
there were no caps in the bill, not in state statute or in
municipal ordinances that he was aware of.
Number 408
REPRESENTATIVE AL KOOKESH stated that he appreciated this
legislation and he planned to support it. One of the problems he
ran into during his campaign was unfunded mandates and this
legislation may take care of one of those.
Number 460
PAUL SHERRY, Deputy Director, Alaska Native Health Board, testified
via teleconference from Anchorage on HB 132. This organization
consists of 20 health organizations around the state which are
owned and operated by native organizations. Some of their members
include Bristol Bay Area Health Corporation, the Norton Sound
Health Corporation, Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation, etc.
MR. SHERRY added that their board several weeks ago in Juneau was
briefed on this legislation by Representative Davis. They endorse
this legislation. It provides a solution to a need that they
identified in a priorities booklet delivered to all the
legislators. Uncompensated care provided by many rural hospitals
for intoxicated persons in custody is a problem. Fundamentally the
cost burden falls on the hospitals and health center institutions
within municipalities.
MR. SHERRY continued that in order to deal with this problem of
Title 47 requirements, police departments make sure that
intoxicated persons are not at risk of a medical problem while in
custody. The inebriate must be taken for a medical exam. In many
communities police drive to the hospital door, un-cuff the prisoner
and send them in. A requirement of the hospital is to provide
service to those in need and since this person is incarcerated and
might be referred to a treatment center at a later time, the
municipality can avoid the obligation to pay the hospital for this
service.
MR. SHERRY stated that their members basically advise them that
these types of losses can exceed $100,000 in some of these
communities. Their concern is to find a way to recover these
costs. Their membership basically feels that this bill provides an
option for communities to increase the alcohol sales tax above and
beyond the general sales tax in order to meet these costs related
to alcohol abusers.
Number 734
GARY GRANDE, Administrator, Petersburg Medical Center, testified
via teleconference from Petersburg on HB 132. He stated that up
until last October he served as a member of the Petersburg City
Council. He also served for a time as the member of the Petersburg
Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse. He noted that he looks at this
legislation from three different perspectives.
MR. GRANDE spoke first to the city perspective. The city faces a
$600,000 shortfall to try to balance their budget due to declining
timber receipt revenues, fish tax revenues and pass through monies
from the state. He stated for these reasons it makes it difficult
for the city to fund such programs as the Petersburg Council on
Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse. In the past, the city has funded
$40,000 into this program to help those who can't afford these
services to get counseling and help.
MR. GRANDE stated that these programs are still needed. This bill
would be a tool for communities to fund these on-going problems.
He didn't look at it as a tax but a tool to fund necessary
services. In addition, the police department is required to bring
many of these public inebriates to the hospital. Their back debts
related to this requirement range from $5,000 to $30,000 a year.
MR. GRANDE noted that the hospital has a $4 million budget and
because of cuts they're seeing in medicare and medicaid, their
contractual allowances and their bad debt have gone from $200,000
a year to $400,000 a year. This is ten percent of their budget.
In the past few years they have averaged about a $40,000 a year
loss on the bottom line. Last year they had a $30,000 profit.
Now, this year, they have an over $400,000 loss and their budget
projections for next year are a $450,000 loss. They need to find
whatever means possible to reduce these losses. When they give
away their services to care for public inebriates, he believed that
something should be put in place to reverse this trend.
MR. GRANDE stated that the police department has added costs
related to caring for the public inebriates as well. He said this
legislation would set in place needed funds to be split between a
hospital's bad debts, counseling services, and the police
department for their extra work. He encouraged passage of this
legislation.
Number 989
JAMES CULLEY, CEO & Administrator, Valdez Hospital, testified via
teleconference from Valdez on HB 132. The cost of public
inebriation in un-reimbursed expenses to the Valdez Community
Hospital comes in several forms. The first and easiest to quantify
is the un-reimbursed costs of direct care. This is the supplies
and services provided in treating the individual. In 1996 this
came to a total of almost $12,000. While this might not sound like
much money when accustomed to tossing around millions, to a small
facility like Valdez this is a significant cost. This also
represents over ten percent of their total write-offs for this past
year. In all of the accounts written off, over 50 percent are
related to alcohol or substance abuse.
MR. CULLEY noted that the second cost was the indirect cost of
damaged equipment, linen, furniture, etc., which they've
experienced as a result of some of these individuals who tried to
get into or out of the hospital. Depending on their disposition at
any given moment, they are either fighting to get into a bed or
they want out. Although they don't try to prevent anyone from
leaving, when the police "drop" them at the back door, they don't
always remember this. There is also the increased cleaning costs
because of vomiting in their rooms, the emergency room and wherever
else they might happen to be at the time.
MR. CULLEY stated that the third cost was for security, including
both tangible and intangible costs. The first is the actual dollar
cost of increased staffing for security. In Valdez their normal
coverage is two nursing staff per shift, one to cover the floor and
the other to respond to the emergency room. Of the 18 full or
part-time RNs, LPNs or Nursing Assistants they have only three male
staff. At the same time they currently have three so-called swing
bed patients. These are patients which don't require full time
hospitalization but require such extensive part-time regular
nursing care that they live full-time on a ward. These three
individuals are elderly.
MR. CULLEY offered that, "When you have a drunk who at best wants
to use the hospital as a flop house, I can't leave the staffing at
two females and provide emergency room and nursing coverage, as
well as patient security." The second security related cost or the
intangibles is the psychological cost to staff, the patients and
their families. In a small, fifteen bed facility it is emotionally
disturbing and physically threatening to have a "loud, obnoxious
drunk with other patients." He noted one case where they had a
drunk who was cursing and yelling on one side of the ward while on
the other a first time mother was in labor.
MR. CULLEY noted that ironically the hospital can't take the
financial risk of not admitting these individuals as patients.
With the federal enactment of the Emergency Medical Treatment and
Active Labor Act, known as EMTALA, the potential claims against the
Valdez Community Hospital make it a financially unacceptable risk
to do anything but to admit all substance abuse patients brought to
the facility. According to EMTALA, "like the physiatric patient,
substance abusers must be medically screened to rule out organic
causes for their condition. When a substance abuser is subject to
possible withdrawals or delirium tremors that person has an
emergency medical condition and is unstable according to the
(indisc.) comments associated with the regulation for as long as
seven days."
MR. CULLEY continued that each violation of EMTALA, regardless of
the outcome to the patient, is subject to a $25,000 fine. At
Valdez Community Hospital they have no choice medically, ethically
or financially to do anything but take "all comers." He strongly
urged the committee to pass this legislation. It doesn't fix the
problem, but it offers an opportunity to have part of the problem
pay its own way.
Number 1236
REPRESENTATIVE SCOTT OGAN asked what assurances did they have that
the money collected for this tax would go to the hospital.
MR. CULLEY responded that there would be none up front other than
what they are able to do when they talk to the City Council about
it.
REPRESENTATIVE DAVIS responded to this same question by noting that
they've questioned the legality of municipalities dedicating taxes.
Their information is that this opportunity is available.
Number 1280
VALERIE THERRIEN, Advisory Board for Alcohol and Drug Abuse,
testified via teleconference from Fairbanks on HB 132. The board
supports this bill. They urge the committee to pass this out and
for the legislature to do the same. They believe that the local
municipalities can make a decision on their own level as to what
level the self-tax should be on alcoholic beverages. She gave a
personal perspective on this issue.
MS. THERRIEN stated that when she was a local elected official in
Fairbanks, she served on both the City Council and on the Fairbanks
North Star Borough Assembly. She said there was always a question
of what they were allowed to do when taxing alcohol. This
legislation would resolve this issue. She said it would be very
supported in Fairbanks.
Number 1397
GARREY PESKA, Alaska State Hospital and Nursing Home Association,
came forward to testify on HB 132. He stated that he would not
reiterate the same information already outlined concerning this
issue, but he did say that the members of the Alaska State Hospital
and Nursing Home Association have unanimously endorsed this bill.
He asked to call their attention to the bill packet and a
discussion paper enclosed there dated March 19, 1995, written by Ed
Myers who is the former administrator at the Kodiak Island
Hospital. This paper discusses, in the field, stories concerning
this problem in facilities. With this, he yielded to others
wishing to testify.
Number 1445
LAMAR COTTEN, Deputy Commissioner, Department of Community and
Regional Affairs, came forward to testify on HB 132. The
department supports this legislation. It adds another tool to
communities. It's clear that as the state and federal government
readjust their own budgets that often it means less transfer funds
directly or indirectly to communities. It's the responsibility of
the state to give communities more tools to raise needed revenues
at the local level. In the last six years they've seen creative
ways local governments have raised funds and noted a few examples
such as tax on coal, raw fish taxes, etc. This is not an abuse of
the system and these programs have been supported by local
citizens.
Number 1537
REPRESENTATIVE OGAN asked how much money the state spends on
alcohol related rehabilitation, including federal funds.
DEPUTY COMMISSIONER COTTEN said he didn't have these figures and
thought that the Department of Health and Social Services (HESS)
would be the agency to tap for this information. He noted that
these costs additionally go beyond this department, with public
safety considerations, etc. He said he would talk to someone in
HESS about this information. He added that there were quite a few
state programs that are sister funded by the federal government as
well as programs that regional non-profits receive from the federal
government in part too.
Number 1659
REPRESENTATIVE OGAN stated that he saw this legislation as being a
new state tax. He said, "Let's call a tax, a tax here."
Number 1690
KEVIN RITCHIE, Executive Director, Alaska Municipal League, came
forward to testify on HB 132. He noted that municipalities run a
business which is called government. They try to provide services
to the public that are reasonable at a cost that doesn't overburden
their tax payers. Over the past ten years the curve of local
property taxation to replace under-funding of schools, cutbacks in
municipal assistance revenue sharing, etc., and the higher demand
of services in communities has caused property taxes to take an
upward turn. What municipalities are asking for are more tools
that local voters can decide upon as to whether or not to establish
a structure of collecting revenues to pay for the services they
want.
MR. RITCHIE noted that this legislation was not a new tax because
a new tax can only be put on by local voters in their own
communities, the question might be, is this a new discrimination
against alcohol. No, as a matter of fact it's currently a
discrimination for alcohol. In essence, it's a state mandate that
only applies to alcohol, no other commodity. Local voters may not
decide to tax alcohol at a higher rate than other commodities if
they choose to. Currently, alcohol is the only item under state
law that has this restriction. Again, local voters are the only
ones who can place this tax on the books. They would suggest that
when the related statute was passed ten years ago that this was the
discrimination for alcohol. This proposed change simply levels the
playing field.
MR. RITCHIE noted the state and municipal costs of alcohol use and
abuse. These costs are staggering, both on a municipal and state
level while considering the affects on the court system, police
activity, youth and family services and the issues that schools are
forced to deal with. Many of these revolve around alcohol use and
abuse.
Number 1834
REPRESENTATIVE DYSON asked about the membership of the Municipal
League discussing the syndication of impact on regional health
facilities, for example, he noted that Bethel probably ends up
having a disproportionate impact there from a health cost
perspective. He asked if there was any discussions about how to
recoup some of these costs.
MR. RITCHIE responded that they had not discussed it directly, but
he noted that this was a serious issue. One significant discussion
the Municipal League has had concerning especially Bethel and
Kotzebue, both of these communities are "damp communities," which
means that they can't get revenue from sales taxes on alcohol in
these communities. Currently, under Title 29, the Municipal
Statute allow communities to levy use taxes. This means that if
somebody brings in alcohol they can be taxed on the value of the
alcohol brought in even though it's not sold in the community.
This is kind of a different issue, but another issue they would
address in the future is how to assist in the collection of those
use taxes. The law clarifies now if there is a local sales tax and
a commodity is purchased in another community and brought in,
essentially, the latter community could exact the difference
between these two communities sales tax if there was a discrepancy
between the two tax rates. They are exploring how to make this
system work better than it does presently.
Number 1937
REPRESENTATIVE DYSON said he was thinking more specifically about
the medical costs. He asked if they have explored the possibility
of the community that has the hospital and is required by law to
deal with the inebriate, recapturing that cost of this service from
the community where the patient resides.
MR. RITCHIE responded that the Municipal League has not done so.
Number 1989
REPRESENTATIVE OGAN referred to a dedicated fund issue and noted
that from previous testimony there's nothing to prevent this, for
example, to funnel money directly to hospitals to off-set these
costs. He asked if there were any cities that had dedicated funds.
He also asked if there are currently alcohol taxes collected by
cities.
MR. RITCHIE responded, yes, to the latter question. To the
previous question he noted that the only community that he knows of
that has an alcohol tax is Juneau. In the current law there's a
grandfather clause related to alcohol taxes. He believed Juneau
was the only community that had this on the books. He understood
that there was not a dedicated fund. In Juneau they cannot
dedicate funds for specific uses, but in the case of sales tax,
when they are re-authorized the intent of the use of those funds is
clearly stated to the public, even though they are not technically
dedicated. So far, the City and Borough of Juneau has never
reneged on an intent to the public.
REPRESENTATIVE OGAN noted that part of the problem he was having
with this legislation is that he didn't trust the cities to
dedicate money that they collect for this problem even though the
efforts of this legislation is laudable. He said he would have
difficulty supporting this legislation without language that allows
for a dedicated fund.
Number 2143
REPRESENTATIVE DAVIS stated that he thought this dedication would
be a good idea. Their information to date indicates there is
nothing to bar a municipality from dedicating funds. He said he'd
like to check on this first to make sure that it is in fact legal
for them to do, however, in this case even if it isn't dedicated,
there are other ways for municipalities to gain revenue to take
care of the inebriate problem. In this way they could draw the
money from those who are creating the problem. He believed it
would be easy enough to amend this legislation to allow for any tax
on alcohol above the general sales tax to be dedicated to alcohol
related problems if they find this is constitutionally possible.
REPRESENTATIVE RYAN asked if it would be possible to incorporate a
system to show the tax payers how this tax money would be spent.
Number 2236
REPRESENTATIVE RYAN said he wasn't so sure. He said he didn't want
to clutter up the bill with anything that would be not real
specific. He said he'd have to check on this.
CHAIRMAN IVAN stated that the problem of inebriate services was
brought to his attention by the community of Dillingham about three
years ago. He spoke to how this problem is ringing up costs to
different state agencies as well. This problem not only touches
municipalities but also the Department of Public Safety,
Corrections, HESS, the Administration, the Court system, etc. In
their efforts to repay the state's expenditures for this problem
they need to pass this responsibility onto municipalities and give
them tools to do so. This legislation allows more local control.
He said amendments and other possible questions could be worked out
in the Judiciary Committee which is the next committee of referral.
Number 2377
REPRESENTATIVE DYSON stated that he would want the liquor industry
to have a chance to comment on this bill before it goes to the
floor. He stated that he is in favor of this legislation, but he
said he couldn't vote to pass this out of committee unless he was
assured that the liquor industry would be notified.
REPRESENTATIVE DAVIS said that, absolutely, he would notify them.
Number 2421
TOM WRIGHT, Staff, Community and Regional Affairs Committee,
testified on HB 132. He stated that the liquor industry had
contacted their offices, but they hadn't said anything pro or con
regarding this legislation.
REPRESENTATIVE DAVIS noted that there was one fiscal note from the
Department of Revenue which indicates that, due to the phenomenon
of elasticity in economics where the possibility of the price of
alcohol going up could affect the amount of purchases, they
anticipate a reduction should an alcohol tax be imposed in the
future.
TAPE 97-12, SIDE B
Number 006
BOB BARTHOLOMEW, Deputy Director, Income & Excise Audit Division,
Department of Revenue, came forward to testify on HB 132. The
Administration supports the concept of this bill. The Department
of Revenue wanted to point out that there is a potential small
affect to state revenue which is hard to predict. The fiscal note
is a means to provide information to the committee in order to help
them make their decision. It's not a certainty that there would be
a loss in revenue. If there is, they estimate that it would be a
small amount.
Number 063
REPRESENTATIVE JOULE made the point that this legislation might
cause a loss to the state, but in the long run it might be a gain
to the communities who choose to exercise this tax.
MR. BARTHOLOMEW stated that in effect, for the loss of revenue to
the state to happen, this would be the assumption. The local
government could raise the tax for whatever small amount needed.
The amount of revenue that would go into the local communities
would exceed the loss to the state.
Number 129
REPRESENTATIVE RYAN asked what the current state tax was on
alcoholic beverages. He wondered if this tax was a uniform
percentage or whether or not it varied.
MR. BARTHOLOMEW stated that it varies. They tax alcohol in three
separate ways. There is a rate based on wine, beer and hard
liquor. He had the rates available for the committee's
information. The Department raises approximately $13 million from
all these three sources.
Number 129
REPRESENTATIVE DYSON asked if state law allows a local political
subdivision to discriminate in the taxes between the type of
business that disseminates the liquor. He used the example of
specific businesses who serve meals along with liquor that generate
less problems with alcohol than others, such as bars or walk up
liquor stores.
MR. BARTHOLOMEW stated that he was not familiar enough to know how
the taxing schemes work on the local level, whether or not they
could do this. He said he would look into this issue.
Number 200
REPRESENTATIVE DAVIS stated that he appreciated the issues raised
for possible amendments and the concern about contacting the liquor
industry. He noted the Judiciary referral and said he'd like to
see this bill move out of the present committee. The issues raised
could be addressed during the Judiciary hearings. He said he would
contact the liquor industry.
Number 303
REPRESENTATIVE RYAN moved and asked unanimous consent to move HB
132 out of committee with individual recommendations and
accompanying fiscal note. Hearing no objection, SSHB 132 was moved
out of the House Community and Regional Affairs Committee.
Number 345
CHAIRMAN IVAN called a brief at ease at 9:01 a.m. and came back on
the record at 9:06 a.m.
Number 458
REPRESENTATIVE DYSON stated that long before the issues about
sovereignty were raised it seemed very clear that the state is ill-
prepared to deal with the native community. Relatively few
communities in Alaska have chosen the option to organize themselves
in spite of the state's encouragement to facilitate this. He
believed they should revisit Title 29 and see if there are ways to
make it easier for local communities to organize themselves in ways
which are culturally appropriate.
REPRESENTATIVE DYSON said that if they could find ways to
facilitate communities to organize themselves through self-
determination, he would like to at least present the option of
doing so under state law rather than federal.
Number 570
REPRESENTATIVE RYAN mentioned village council entities and didn't
know how they would react to this proposal. He spoke about layers
of government and the power to tax.
Number 644
REPRESENTATIVE AL KOOKESH stated that this proposal would find out
exactly whether or not this effort to organize is even necessary.
He said they could find this out from the people directly.
REPRESENTATIVE DYSON asked Deputy Commissioner Cotten if his
department could research this issue for the committee. He
wondered what has been done in other states and if a line of
council could be drafted by the department for the committee to
explore. He asked if this would be difficult or impossible.
Number 698
DEPUTY COMMISSIONER COTTEN stated that this would not be
impossible. It's an extremely complex issue with no easy answers.
They've done similar investigations about every four or five years.
He said they'd prefer to come back with an outline initially.
Ninety-eight percent of Alaskans live in a city or borough or both.
Ninety-one percent live in a city or a borough that pays for
education. The eight and a half percent that do live in the
unorganized borough, but outside of a first class or home rule city
is roughly 55,000 people who are generally of isolated, low income,
high unemployment communities.
DEPUTY COMMISSIONER COTTEN noted that there is a continuing trend
of communities revisiting or taking a second look at what is the
most appropriate government for them and outlined the options. In
some cases the tribal entity of communities has been a more
effective body for the state to work with. He noted that these
same communities through tribal rule have established sewer and
water systems, garbage services, etc. He noted the few instances
where the state has refused a community to organize as a city and
went into detail about the various ways some regions have
organized.
Number 882
REPRESENTATIVE DYSON stated that he would like to get a significant
basis on this issue before the legislative session ends. He wanted
to make it clear what they would do, what's possible, what's
advisable, etc. He asked for a preliminary briefing on the
proposed outline by next week.
Number 939
REPRESENTATIVE KOOKESH noted that they needed to allow for public
testimony. It was agreed by the committee that these preliminary
efforts would be more organizational.
REPRESENTATIVE JOULE thought that this concept was long overdue.
He noted that he's been sworn to uphold the constitution. He spoke
about the limited native representation at the original
constitutional convention in light of discussing these issues. He
stated this effort would address people's frustrations.
Number 1037
ADJOURNMENT
CHAIRMAN IVAN adjourned the House Community and Regional Affairs
Committee meeting at 9:20 a.m.
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