Legislature(1997 - 1998)
04/24/1998 09:00 AM House FIN
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
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+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
HOUSE FINANCE COMMITTEE APRIL 24, 1998 9:00 A.M. TAPE HFC 98 - 124, Side 1 TAPE HFC 98 - 124, Side 2 CALL TO ORDER Co-Chair Gene Therriault called the House Finance Committee meeting to order at 9:00 a.m. PRESENT Co-Chair Hanley Co-Chair Therriault Representative Davies Representative Martin Representative Davis Representative Foster Representative Mulder Representative Grussendorf Representatives Moses, Kelly and Kohring were absent from the meeting. ALSO PRESENT Denny DeWitt, Staff, Representative Mulder; Kevin Ritchie, Alaska Municipal League; Michael Morgan, Facilities Manager, Department of Education; Jack Kreinheder, Office of Management and Budget, Office of the Governor. SUMMARY HB 313 "An Act relating to preventive maintenance programs required for certain state grants; and providing for an effective date." CSHB 313 (FIN) was REPORTED out of Committee with a "do pass" recommendation and with a zero fiscal note by the Office of the Governor, dated 2/25/98 and a fiscal impact note by the Department of Education, dated 2/25/98. HB 315 "An Act relating to operating appropriations for annual maintenance and repair and periodic renewal and replacement of public buildings and facilities; and providing for an effective date." CSHB 315 (FIN) was REPORTED out of Committee with a "do pass" recommendation and with two zero fiscal notes, one by the Office of the Governor and one by the Department of Education, both dated 2/25/98. HOUSE BILL NO. 313 "An Act relating to preventive maintenance programs required for certain state grants; and providing for an effective date." MICHAEL MORGAN, FACILITIES MANAGER, DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION stated that the Department supports HB 313, with one exception. He noted that the legislation affects the Department's process for ranking and prioritizing projects for school construction maintenance. The legislation affects the eligibility of school districts to have projects on the list. Districts want to be on the Department's list of eligible projects even if they are at the bottom. Some projects, which were rejected by the Department, were recommended for funding by the Deferred Maintenance Task Force. The legislation adds further criteria for rejecting projects. Mr. Morgan noted that the Department of Education proposes that the criteria be used for scoring projects on the list instead of rejecting projects from being placed on the list. To affect the Department's proposed change, AS 14.11.011 (b) would be amended to add a new subsection 7 in AS 14.11.013(b). Mr. Morgan pointed out that the legislation requires that a district "is adequately adhering to the preventive maintenance plan." He questioned if the district would be rejected in a case where a roof has failed due to past practices, even if they have changed their practices. Representative Davies noted that the school district has to comply with the list to be eligible for a grant. He questioned what would prevent the project from being included on the list. Mr. Morgan explained that projects on the list are certified by the State Board of Education as being eligible for funding. (This conflicts with the legislation's provision that projects are not eligible for funding if a recognized maintenance plan is not in place.) Representative Mulder stated that the Task Force felt strongly that projects would not be funded unless the school district has a recognized maintenance program. He stressed that school districts would be encouraged not to do maintenance unless there is a requirement. He observed that schools that have not been maintained are jumped up the list when there are catastrophes, while schools that perform regular maintenance remain lower on the list. He maintained that schools that do regular maintenance are penalized. Representative Davies spoke in support of the Department of Education's proposal. He noted that criteria would be moved from the grant area to the review portion of statute. Projects would be allowed to be on the list, but would be prevented from receiving funding unless there is a maintenance program. In response to a question by Co-Chair Therriault, Mr. Morgan explained that the current method for ranking projects uses a whole range of criteria for which projects receive points. The legislature could look at scores to base funding decisions. Representative Mulder spoke against the suggestion. He pointed out that deferred maintenance decisions would be based on politics. Representative Martin pointed to private business. He observed that the Internal Revenue Service allows 3 to 4 percent of the operating budget to be used for annual maintenance. Co-Chair Therriault observed that a renewal and renovation system needs to be demonstrated. Representative Grussendorf questioned if there was discussion regarding the fact that municipal leaders change and crises occur. Representative Mulder stated that the Task Force did discuss those issues. He emphasized that the intent was to remove politics from the deferred maintenance program. He observed that some rural districts have great maintenance programs. He stressed that it is not that expansive to have a recognized, well-established maintenance program, but if there is no maintenance program there will be a huge capital project on the backside. Representative Grussendorf expressed concern that municipalities facing a crisis would not be able to follow the schedule. Representative Mulder noted that the Task Force did not find a school district or municipality that was opposed to the concept. Co-Chair Therriault thought that as long as the district showed that the reduction in maintenance was the result of a fiscal emergency and not a year after year reduction of components on the list that they would still be deemed to be in compliance. He observed that it was easy to short maintenance of university facilities to support programs. It has taken time to convince the University Regents that if they have to shift funding from a program to maintain a roof, that that is what they have to do. Representative Davies questioned how politics would be put into the process by the change to AS 14.11.113. Representative Mulder explained that problems would occur if the legislature could decide to knock a program off the list. Co-Chair Therriault emphasized that politics would occur if scoring could be disregarded. He stressed that if projects are not on the list then politics would be kept at arm's length. Representative Davies argued that politics would not be involved if projects were simply taken as they occur on the list, based on scoring criteria. Representative Mulder stated that it was the Task Forces' intent that projects not be on the list if they do not have a recognized maintenance program. To be eligible for state aid, as a community or school, the criteria should be followed. In response to a question by Representative Davies, Mr. Morgan explained that there are some big districts that do not follow the criteria on the list. He noted that the Anchorage School District indicated on their maintenance manual that they do not do roofs. He did not know how many districts would be currently eligible. He observed that the legislation has a one-year implementation period and that school districts have been responsive. Districts have also expressed frustration that there has not been significant state funding. The Department of Education supports the concept that school districts need to have maintenance programs. Mr. Morgan pointed out that on page 2 line 8 a coma is missing between the words "program" and "cardex". Representative Davies noted that there were additional places in the bill that should also have a coma. Co-Chair Therriault MOVED to ADOPT an amendment to add comas where needed between "program" and "cardex". There being NO OBJECTION, it was so ordered. KEVIN RITCHIE, ALASKA MUNICIPAL LEAGUE, ALASKA CONFERENCE OF MAYORS, JUNEAU noted that deferred maintenance is a top priority of both entities. He spoke in support of the legislation. He cautioned that the legislation be implemented in a way that is sensitive to the capabilities of various municipalities. He noted that municipalities have varying capabilities for implementing technology. He stressed that the deferred maintenance requirement is within the constitutional mandate and appropriate. He emphasized that the lack of resources creates deferred maintenance problems. The program is tied to school funding. Representative Davies emphasized that the intent is to have preventive maintenance. Representative Martin asserted that deferred maintenance problems have occurred because funding was used for other purposes. Representative Foster MOVED to report CSHB 313 (FIN) out of Committee with the accompanying fiscal note. There being NO OBJECTION, it was so ordered. CSHB 313 (FIN) was REPORTED out of Committee with a "do pass" recommendation and with a zero fiscal note by the Office of the Governor, dated 2/25/98 and a fiscal impact note by the Department of Education, dated 2/25/98. HOUSE BILL NO. 315 "An Act relating to operating appropriations for annual maintenance and repair and periodic renewal and replacement of public buildings and facilities; and providing for an effective date." DENNY DEWITT, STAFF, REPRESENTATIVE MULDER noted that HB 315 is an attempt to change the way the State budgets maintenance. The legislature creates a maintenance and operations budget in addition to the program budget and the capital budget. The Task Force found that there is a difference in opinion regarding how budgetary decisions are made and cause deferred maintenance. Currently, funding for programs and building maintenance are contained in the same budget. Subcommittees discuss the balance of the two components. Program managers face situations where they must chose between operating items and deferred maintenance, such as trimming back a program or painting a building. In such a scenario a program manager would probably chose not to paint the building, while a facilities manager would probably opt to paint the building. The Task Force recommended that the two be separated. The Administration would articulate the need for deferred maintenance. The need would be debated and there would be a clear indication of the amounts for program management and operations and facility maintenance. He stressed that the legislation's intent is to focus the issue of maintenance in terms of state agencies, the Alaska Court System and the University of Alaska. Co-Chair Therriault questioned how the maintenance budget would be prevented from becoming a capital budget. Mr. DeWitt emphasized that funding is for the operation side. Co-Chair Therriault stated that "replacement" implies capital improvements. Mr. DeWitt agreed that "replacement" could probably be removed. Representative Davies questioned if major renewal and replacements would be in the capital budget. He stressed that the capital budget is not as systematic an approach as the operating budget. He asked if there would be three items in the appropriation bill: operations, maintenance, and renewal and replacement. Mr. DeWitt explained that the intent was for all three to be included as one item. Representative Martin asserted that the State should commit itself to a line item for annual maintenance of 3 to 4 percent of the facility. In response to a question by Representative Grussendorf, Co- Chair Therriault observed that the definition of "renewal" is included on page 2. Representative Davis spoke in support of separating maintenance from operational expenses. Mr. DeWitt stated that the Task Force concluded that there should be separate components in the appropriation bill for deferred maintenance and operation, as opposed to two separate appropriation bills. Co-Chair Therriault questioned if maintenance would be highlighted in a way that would show that the cost of maintenance is going up and that replacement would be expected. Mr. DeWitt stated that he expected that maintenance would be highlighted in a way that would show the increasing cost. He added that it would also show if maintenance had been under-funded. If there are significant problems with a building it could be demonstrated that the facility was under-funded or that management did not properly maintain the building. Results based budgeting would be used to identify if the deferred maintenance problem is being solved or created. Mr. DeWitt observed that the intent is to limit replacement to major, worn-out building components as opposed to the building itself. Representative Davis observed that it is a systems or component replacement as opposed to a building replacement. Representative Martin stressed the need for proper insurance programs and noted that a good deferred maintenance program would reduce insurance costs. He stressed that agencies need to be able to save for larger maintenance needs. Representative Davies observed that there is a struggle between major repairs and replacement. (Tape Change, HFC 98 - 124, Side 2) Representative Davies stated that it is generally understood that the legislation refers to smaller items that are important to be replaced on a systematic basis to prevent deferred maintenance. Representative Grussendorf observed that the use of "replacement" in the title creates a problem. JACK KREINHEDER, OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET, OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR observed that the Administration supports the intent of the legislation. The Administration is concerned with how effective the legislation would be at achieving its goal. He expressed concern that agencies would lose flexibility. He stressed that funding has been shifted from operating expenses to cover maintenance. He observed that maintenance funding has been limited. He stated that renewal and replacement of agency components is an appropriate element of the operating budget. Mr. Kreinheder observed that the Director of the Office of Management and Budget put out a memorandum directing state agencies to account for facility expenditures on a building by building basis. He questioned if expenditures should be in a separate appropriation. He observed that agencies need a way to save up for major maintenance that is only needed every 10 to 15 years. Appropriations lapse every year. He recommended the Committee consider HB 463, which would establish a rental fund that would allow money to be accumulated for major maintenance. In response to a question by Representative Martin, Mr. DeWitt observed that the Task Force did not address insurance coverage. The state of Alaska is self-insured. Representative Mulder MOVED to amend the title to renewal and replacement "for components" of public buildings. Co- Chair Therriault questioned if the language should be included in the text. Representative Mulder amended his amendment to include revisions in the text. There being NO OBJECTION, it was so ordered. Representative Mulder MOVED to report CSHB 315 (FIN) out of Committee with the accompanying fiscal note. There being NO OBJECTION, it was so ordered. CSHB 315 (FIN) was REPORTED out of Committee with a "do pass" recommendation and with two zero fiscal notes, one by the Office of the Governor and one by the Department of Education, both dated 2/25/98. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 10:15 a.m. House Finance Committee 7 4/24/98 a.m.
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