Legislature(2013 - 2014)HOUSE FINANCE 519
03/22/2013 01:30 PM House FINANCE
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB113 | |
| HB84 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | HB 113 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| += | HB 84 | TELECONFERENCED | |
HOUSE FINANCE COMMITTEE
March 22, 2013
1:35 p.m.
1:35:58 PM
CALL TO ORDER
Co-Chair Austerman called the House Finance Committee
meeting to order at 1:35 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Alan Austerman, Co-Chair
Representative Mia Costello
Representative Bryce Edgmon
Representative Les Gara
Representative David Guttenberg
Representative Lindsey Holmes
Representative Cathy Munoz
Representative Tammie Wilson
MEMBERS ABSENT
Representative Bill Stoltze, Co-Chair
Representative Mark Neuman, Vice-Chair
Representative Steve Thompson
ALSO PRESENT
Michael Paschall, Staff, Representative Eric Feige; Daniel
George, Staff, Representative Bill Stoltze; Representative
Dan Saddler, Sponsor.
PRESENT VIA TELECONFERENCE
Jeff Tucker, Alaska Fire Chiefs Association, North Pole;
Edward Athey, President, Alaska State Firefighters
Association, Seward.
SUMMARY
HB 84 MILITARY TRAINING CREDIT/TEMP. LICENSE
CSHB 84(FIN) was REPORTED out of committee with a
"do pass" recommendation and with one new zero
fiscal note from the Department of Commerce,
Community and Economic Development and three
previously published zero fiscal notes: FN1
(EED), FN2 (LWF), and FN3 (UA).
HB 113 ALASKA FIRE STANDARDS COUNCIL
HB 113 was REPORTED out of committee with a "do
pass" recommendation and with one new zero fiscal
note from the House Finance Committee for the
Department of Public Safety.
HOUSE BILL NO. 113
"An Act relating to the membership of the Alaska Fire
Standards Council."
1:36:28 PM
MICHAEL PASCHALL, STAFF, REPRESENTATIVE ERIC FEIGE,
communicated that HB 113 had been requested by the Alaska
Fire Standards Council. He disclosed that he is an
assistant fire chief in Alaska. The bill would adjust the
membership of the council and would change the membership
appointment qualifications.
Mr. Paschall detailed that the council currently had 11
members including two chief administrative officers or fire
chiefs from local government, four representatives of fire
fighters (including one from the Alaska State Fire Fighters
Association (ASFA)), two volunteer fire fighters (one from
a community of 2,500 or less and one from a community with
a population greater than 2,500), two members of the public
(one from a community of 2,500 or less and one from a
community with a population greater than 2,500), and the
state fire marshal or designee. The bill would require one
of the four fire fighters to be a representative from the
Alaska Professional Firefighters Association (APFA); the
association represented approximately 500 career fire
fighters. The bill would also add an additional member who
would represent the Alaska Fire Chiefs Association (AFCA);
AFCA represented fire chiefs throughout the state. The
legislation specified that the organizations would
recommend three individuals to the governor and the
governor would appoint a member from each of the
organizations.
1:39:59 PM
Mr. Paschall explained that the purpose of the process was
to allow the statewide organizations to have a voice on the
council.
Representative Costello MOVED HB 113 before the committee.
Co-Chair Austerman OBJECTED for discussion.
Representative Holmes pointed to Section 2 of the bill
related to how the members were elected. She asked how
members were currently selected.
Mr. Paschall deferred the question to the executive
director of council.
Co-Chair Austerman noted the public testimony would be held
shortly.
Representative Holmes referenced Section 2 related to the
governor appointment of a member from a list of at least
three nominees. She noted that some of the subsections
referred to [fire] associations and some did not. She
looked at the subsections related to public members,
volunteer firefighters from communities, and the state fire
marshal; she wondered where the list of nominees would come
from for appointment.
Mr. Paschall replied that the current members were
appointed through public notice. He relayed that all of the
members would submit their names in a formal application
and would then be selected through the governor's vetting
process. He furthered that the AFCA, ASFA, and APFA would
submit a list to the governor for the appointment of a
representative from the three organizations.
1:43:21 PM
Representative Holmes asked if it was standard for the
governor to have the ability to reject a list and request a
new one.
Mr. Paschall answered that he could not speak for all
organizations, but he had seen the language used in other
board nomination processes. He stated that the provision
gave the governor the power to refuse the suggested
members.
Representative Gara wondered about support for the
legislation.
Mr. Paschall replied that the packet should contain a
letter of support from AFCA. There were testifiers online
to speak in support of the legislation. He was not aware of
opposition to the bill from any of the fire fighter
organizations.
JEFF TUCKER, ALASKA FIRE CHIEFS ASSOCIATION, NORTH POLE
(via teleconference), spoke in support of the legislation.
He explained that the bill would give AFCA, ASFA, and APFA
a seat at the table and a greater voice on the council.
1:46:38 PM
Representative Gara asked about Mr. Tucker's affiliation.
Mr. Tucker replied that he represented AFCA. He clarified
that Edward Athey was also online and represented the ASFA.
Co-Chair Austerman CLOSED public testimony.
Representative Gara asked to hear from ASFA.
EDWARD ATHEY, PRESIDENT, ALASKA STATE FIREFIGHTERS
ASSOCIATION, SEWARD (via teleconference), testified in
favor of the legislation. He stated that the council had a
tall order to fill and ASFA would be happy to be a part of
the process.
Representative Gara asked if ASFA was the statewide
organization representing fire fighter unions. Mr. Athey
replied in the negative. He relayed that ASFA represented
the volunteer component of fire fighters statewide.
Representative Gara requested to hear from the paid fire
fighters organization. Mr. Paschall responded that Tom
Wescott had testified in support for the legislation to the
previous committee. Representative Gara asked who Mr.
Wescott worked for. Mr. Paschall replied that Mr. Wescott
worked for APFA, the organization representing the unions.
Representative Gara requested a copy of Mr. Wescott's
testimony. Mr. Paschall replied in the affirmative.
1:50:31 PM
Representative Edgmon surmised that the consensus behind
the bill was to make the council more diverse and to make
it more oriented towards volunteer fire fighters. He
referred to testimony that the bill would take away the
requirement of two fire chiefs tied to local government.
Mr. Paschall answered that he had raised the issue with the
council. He pointed to Chief Tucker as an example; he was a
fire chief of a non-profit organization under contract with
the Fairbanks North Star Borough to provide fire services.
The bill would remove the question of whether or not Mr.
Tucker was the fire chief of a municipal fire department.
Co-Chair Austerman directed attention to the fiscal note.
Representative Costello pointed to the zero fiscal note
from Department of Public Safety.
Representative Costello MOVED to REPORT HB 113 out of
committee with individual recommendations and the
accompanying fiscal note. There being NO OBJECTION, it was
so ordered.
HB 113 was REPORTED out of committee with a "do pass"
recommendation and with one new zero fiscal note from the
House Finance Committee for the Department of Public
Safety.
1:52:55 PM
AT EASE
1:55:12 PM
RECONVENED
HOUSE BILL NO. 84
"An Act relating to applying military education,
training, and service credit to occupational licensing
and certain postsecondary education and employment
training requirements; providing for a temporary
occupational license for qualified military service
members; and providing for an effective date."
1:55:37 PM
DANIEL GEORGE, STAFF, REPRESENTATIVE BILL STOLTZE,
explained the changes in the CS for HB 84. The language
"during regularly scheduled meetings that are" was inserted
on page 5, lines 28 through 31 of the legislation. The CS
also changed the effective date on page 5, line 31 to 2014.
Representative Costello MOVED to ADOPT the proposed
committee substitute for HB 84, Work Draft 28-LS0357\U
(Mischel, 3/21/13).
Co-Chair Austerman OBJECTED for discussion.
REPRESENTATIVE DAN SADDLER, SPONSOR, pointed to a concern
that had been raised in the previous meeting. He clarified
that the bill would not give military servicepersons the
right to a temporary license unless the training they
received leading to a degree, diploma, or certificate met
the standards for an equivalent license or certificate of
technical training. He referred to testimony from the prior
meeting that the issue was not a problem. He detailed that
the Alaska Nurses Association had testified that military
nurses were licensed Registered Nurses. Military trained
Licensed Practical Nurses (LPN) qualified for equivalent
temporary civilian LPN licenses and military medics
received certification as Emergency Medical Technicians
(EMT).
1:58:09 PM
Representative Costello asked for clarification that the CS
would allow for a zero fiscal note because it moved the
effective date to a future date when all boards and
commissions that were required to have two meetings to
write regulations would happen on a regularly scheduled
timeframe as opposed to a quicker timeframe under the
original bill.
Representative Saddler replied in the affirmative. He added
that language on page 5 of the legislation directed the
Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development
to do what it could to write regulations when it could (or
to lay the groundwork).
Representative Gara asked for the difference between the
two classifications of nurses. Representative Saddler
replied that RNs were highly trained and that LPN
requirements were slightly less stringent.
Representative Gara asked if the certificates were
completed in four years and two years for RNs and LPNs
respectively. Representative Saddler was unsure about the
time required for certification.
Representative Costello discussed the four zero fiscal
notes from the Departments of Department of Commerce,
Community and Economic Development, Department of Education
and Early Development, Department of Labor and Workforce
Development, and the University of Alaska.
Co-Chair Austerman WITHDREW his OBJECTION to the adoption
of the CS. There being NO OBJECTION, Work Draft 28-LS0357\U
was ADOPTED.
Representative Costello MOVED to REPORT CSHB 84(FIN) out of
committee with individual recommendations and the
accompanying fiscal notes. There being NO OBJECTION, it was
so ordered.
CSHB 84(FIN) was REPORTED out of committee with a "do pass"
recommendation and with one new zero fiscal note from the
Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development
and three previously published zero fiscal notes: FN1
(EED), FN2 (LWF), and FN3 (UA).
Co-Chair Austerman discussed the schedule for the following
week.
Representative Wilson clarified that HB 74 (the companion
bill to SB 23) had been changed to address Alaska
Industrial Development and Export Authority, (AIDEA)
powers; whereas SB 23 continued to address a liquid natural
gas trucking project.
ADJOURNMENT
2:02:35 PM
The meeting was adjourned at 2:02 p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| HB 113 Standards Certification Levels.pdf |
HFIN 3/22/2013 1:30:00 PM |
HB 113 |
| HB 113 Sponsor Statement.pdf |
HFIN 3/22/2013 1:30:00 PM |
HB 113 |
| HB 113 Alaska Fire Standards Council Information.pdf |
HFIN 3/22/2013 1:30:00 PM |
HB 113 |
| HB 113 AFSC Roster.pdf |
HFIN 3/22/2013 1:30:00 PM |
HB 113 |
| HB 84 CS WORKDRAFT U.pdf |
HFIN 3/22/2013 1:30:00 PM |
HB 84 |
| HB 84 DCCED Response to Questions.pdf |
HFIN 3/22/2013 1:30:00 PM |
HB 84 |
| HB 84(FIN)-NEW FN-DCCED-CBPL-03-22-13.pdf |
HFIN 3/22/2013 1:30:00 PM |
HB 84 |
| HB 113 New HFIN Fiscal Note.pdf |
HFIN 3/22/2013 1:30:00 PM |
HB 113 |
| HB 113 Memo response to Rep Gara Question.pdf |
HFIN 3/22/2013 1:30:00 PM |
HB 113 |
| HB 113 Support for HB 304 27th Legislature.pdf |
HFIN 3/22/2013 1:30:00 PM |
HB 113 HB 304 |