Legislature(1999 - 2000)
02/09/2000 05:10 PM House EDT
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
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= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
HOUSE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
AND TOURISM
February 9, 2000
5:10 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Gail Phillips, Chair
Representative Ramona Barnes
Representative Fred Dyson
Representative Andrew Halcro
Representative Sharon Cissna
Representative Beth Kerttula
MEMBERS ABSENT
Representative Norman Rokeberg
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
HOUSE BILL NO. 265
"An Act extending the termination date of the Alaska regional
economic assistance program; and providing for an effective date."
- MOVED HB 265 OUT OF COMMITTEE
COMPLETION OF THE REVIEW ON TRANSPORTATION CORRIDOR ISSUES
PREVIOUS ACTION
BILL: HB 265
SHORT TITLE: ALASKA REGIONAL ECONOMIC AID PROGRAM
Jrn-Date Jrn-Page Action
1/10/00 1889 (H) PREFILE RELEASED 12/30/99
1/10/00 1889 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
1/10/00 1889 (H) EDT, CRA
1/10/00 1889 (H) REFERRED TO EDT
2/09/00 (H) EDT AT 5:00 PM CAPITOL 124
WITNESS REGISTER
REPRESENTATIVE ALAN AUSTERMAN
Alaska State Legislature
Capitol Building, Room 434
Juneau, Alaska 99801
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented HB 265.
GARY STEVENS
P.O. Box 201
Kodiak, Alaska 99615
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of HB 265.
PAT POLAND, Director
Central Office
Municipal & Regional Assistance Division
Department of Community & Economic Development
333 West Fourth Avenue, Suite 220
Anchorage, Alaska 99501
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of HB 265.
FRANK HOMAN, Executive Director
Southeast Conference
213 Third Street, Number 124
Juneau, Alaska 99801
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of HB 265.
ACTION NARRATIVE
TAPE 00-2, SIDE A
Number 0001
CHAIR GAIL PHILLIPS called the House Special Committee on Economic
Development and Tourism meeting to order at 5:10 p.m. Members
present at the call to order were Representatives Phillips, Barnes,
Dyson, Halcro and Cissna. Representative Kerttula arrived as the
meeting was in progress.
HB 265 - ALASKA REGIONAL ECONOMIC AID PROGRAM
Number 0065
CHAIR PHILLIPS announced the first order of business as House Bill
No. 265, "An Act extending the termination date of the Alaska
regional economic assistance program; and providing for an
effective date."
Number 0095
REPRESENTATIVE ALAN AUSTERMAN, Alaska State Legislature, sponsor of
HB 265, came forward to present it. In 1988 the ARDOR (Alaska
Regional Development Organizations) program was formed which helped
fund some of the economic development in the rural areas of Alaska.
When he served on the Kodiak Island Borough assembly there was talk
about how to get economic development going. The Southwest
Municipal Conference was formed and several regional conferences
have been formed around the state of Alaska. Now there are 13
regional development organizations. The money placed into the
ARDOR program is seed money which when matched has been able to
bring in about $3.5 million a year. This bill extends the sunset
date on the ARDOR program.
Number 0302
GARY STEVENS testified from Kodiak via teleconference. He stated
that Kodiak is one of the ARDOR through the Southwest Municipal
Conference. The Kodiak Island Borough and the Alaska Municipal
League have been very supportive of the ARDOR program. The ARDOR
program has had an impact on Southwest Alaska, and he hopes the
committee will consider reauthorizing it. It has been used to help
people get businesses started by helping them in the planning
stages and giving them assistance in creating promotional material.
The ARDOR program has provided a tremendous advantage, and if it is
continued, it will continue to have an impact on his part of the
state as well as the other areas where ARDOR exist. He encouraged
the committee to consider this.
Number 0423
CHARLES PARKER, Executive Director, Mat-Su [Matanuska-Susitna]
Resource Conservation and Development Council (RCDC), testified
from the Mat-Su LIO [Legislative Information Office] via
teleconference. In his experience in development in rural Alaska,
there is no comparison for the ARDOR program. With very little
state money, the ARDOR program has accomplished a great deal of
work. Statewide they have managed to leverage over $5 in private
and federal money for every one dollar invested by the state for
local development projects just in the last two years. In the
Mat-Su Valley the RCDC also managed accounts for numerous community
organizations many of which may not have been able to accomplish
their goals without the specific help. The managed accounts have
totaled over $300,000 in the past two years. These figures, while
actually substantial, are actually very conservative as they also
provide technical assistance in a lot of development projects in
the region which brings in more private and federal funds which is
almost impossible to quantify.
MR. PARKER indicated the financial impact of the ARDOR activities
in the long-term is also substantial. As the ARDOR work to create
jobs, it reduces unemployment and decreases the burden on public
assistance programs. As the local economy and the quality of life
are improved, a community's dependency on direct state and federal
services is reduced. Many of the regional development
organizations would not survive without the support of the ARDOR
program, and their loss would be felt for many years to come. He
urged the committee to pass HB 265 and fully fund the ARDOR
program.
CHAIR PHILLIPS noted in last year's budget there was $620,000 in
grant money available to the 13 different ARDOR and that leveraged
about $3.5 million. She asked Mr. Parker if the money is program
specific or is there overhead built into the grant.
MR. PARKER said the grants they receive from the state is for
direct program services. That pays for staff time and travel out
to do the work and set up meetings.
PAT POLAND, Director, Central Office, Municipal & Regional
Assistance Division, Department of Community & Economic Development
(DCED), testified from Anchorage via teleconference. The DCED
serves as administrator of the ARDOR grants. He explained there is
$650,000 that has historically gone for the ARDOR program, $30,000
of which has been used for the administrative overhead, and the
remainder of the $620,000 goes as grants to the ARDOR themselves.
He expressed support by DCED for the ARDOR program.
FRANK HOMAN, Executive Director, Southeast Conference, came forward
to testify. He agreed with the other members of the ARDOR who
testified that it has been a very successful program. It has
helped Southeast to expand its services over the years. When the
program first started in 1988, there was not a permanent office and
it was an informal association. Although the Southeast Conference
has been around for years since statehood when they came together
to promote the Alaska Marine Highway System, it was never fully
staffed or able to take care of a lot of the economic development
promotion that needed to be done in the region. Since the ARDOR
grants became available, it has been staffed with a full-time
position and has been able to leverage a lot of outside funds for
the region.
MR. HOMAN said the Southeast Conference has also been designated as
a Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D) district which
provided a federal staff employee that works with the Southeast
Conference and provided access to additional federal funds that
help to fund specific programs and projects. One of the benefits
of the ARDOR program is that it forces the region to come to a
consensus on projects that it would like to work on. The
membership of the Southeast Conference consists of almost all the
communities of Southeast Alaska so it represents the majority of
the population. The Southeast Conference works on region-wide
transportation issues, power issues, solid waste, so it has been a
catalyst to help bring the region together. For that reason it is
a very useful program.
CHAIR PHILLIPS referred to the fiscal note. The $650,000 comes to
the DCED via a Reimbursable Services Agreement (RSA) from the
Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority.
REPRESENTATIVE BARNES pointed out that it cannot be a zero fiscal
note. There is an explanation at the bottom that DCED gets the
money from a RSA and then awards $620,000 in grants and $30,000 for
personal services, and it shows a zero above.
REPRESENTATIVE AUSTERMAN agreed that is correct. It is a $650,00
general fund appropriation.
REPRESENTATIVE BARNES stated they will need a revised fiscal note
to be presented to the next committee.
Number 1077
REPRESENTATIVE BARNES made a motion to move HB 265 from the
committee with individual recommendations with a revised fiscal
note to reflect the analysis at the bottom of the page of the
fiscal note and asked for unanimous consent. There being no
objection, HB 265 moved from the House Special Committee on
Economic Development and Tourism.
COMPLETION OF THE REVIEW ON TRANSPORTATION CORRIDOR ISSUES
Number 1157
REPRESENTATIVE HALCRO gave a brief report on the Donlin Creek mine.
The Donlin Creek mine is a gold exploration about 15 miles north of
the village of Crooked Creek. In the 1980s significant sources of
gold were determined to exist. The problem is access. Design and
engineering studies need to be done for the 24 mile road from
Donlin Creek to the Kuskokwim River which will allow supplies and
equipment to be moved in to build the mine and continue operating
it. There is $500,000 available for the studies which will include
environmental, construction and cost estimates.
REPRESENTATIVE HALCRO noted this is a rich area and there are
substantial resources to be explored which would benefit the state.
There is significant private investment, and an airstrip has
already been built. The Chulista Native Corporation strongly
supports this. When this project is up and running, it will
provide 400 full-time jobs which will benefit the area.
CHAIR PHILLIPS announced that the next meeting will be February 23,
2000, and they will hear presentations which will review mining
operations.
ADJOURNMENT
Number 1511
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Special Committee on Economic Development and Tourism meeting was
adjourned at 5:30 p.m.
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