Legislature(2011 - 2012)
04/17/2011 05:33 PM House FIN
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB102 |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
HOUSE FINANCE COMMITTEE
April 17, 2011
5:33 p.m.
5:33:30 PM
CALL TO ORDER
Co-Chair Stoltze called the House Finance Committee meeting
to order at 5:33 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Bill Stoltze, Co-Chair
Representative Bill Thomas Jr., Co-Chair
Representative Anna Fairclough, Vice-Chair
Representative Mia Costello
Representative Mike Doogan
Representative Bryce Edgmon
Representative Les Gara
Representative David Guttenberg
Representative Reggie Joule
Representative Mark Neuman
Representative Tammie Wilson
MEMBERS ABSENT
None
ALSO PRESENT
Jay Livey, Staff, Representative Hoffman.
SUMMARY
SB 102 AK AFFORDABLE HEATING PROGRAM PAYMENTS
SB 10 was REPORTED out of Committee with a "do
pass" recommendation and with attached previously
published fiscal note: FN1, DHS.
SENATE BILL NO. 102
"An Act relating to certain payments made under the
Alaska affordable heating program."
5:33:37 PM
Co-Chair Stoltze noted the bill's history in committee.
Vice-chair Fairclough MOVED Conceptual Amendment 1. She
believed the legislation should be tied to the price of oil
at $150.00 per barrel for three months, from August through
October.
Co-Chair Stoltze OBJECTED. He spoke against the amendment.
He felt attaching a blackmail provisions to a bill was bad
public policy.
Vice-chair Fairclough WITHDREW Conceptual Amendment 1.
Co-Chair Stoltze referred to previous discussion about the
fiscal note. He queried previous concerns about the issue.
Co-Chair Thomas referred to a past discussion about
consideration of contingency language to provide half the
funding first and give later authorization if more money
was needed.
Co-Chair Stoltze did not recall the discussion.
5:36:25 PM
Co-Chair Thomas asked about discussion concerning putting
language into the operating or capital budgets to authorize
the spending.
JAY LIVEY, STAFF, REPRESENTATIVE HOFFMAN, did not recall
the discussion during the hearing for the legislation. He
explained that the money for the program was in two places.
One was federal money through the operating budget, and the
other was through general funds in the operating budget. He
pointed out that the bill would not affect the amount of
money appropriated for the program, but would allow the
department to prorate if there was not enough federal money
available. The amount needed could also depend on the
number of people applying and other factors.
Co-Chair Thomas asked what would happen if the federal
funds did not come in. Mr. Livey responded that one of the
reasons for the bill was to enable the department to figure
out at the beginning of the year how many applicants there
would be and much money was availalbe. The department could
then figure out how much money to continue paying
individuals until the legislature could meet and
appropriate more money or until additional federal funds
came.
Mr. Livey emphasized that without the bill, the department
would not be able to prorate the heating payments if
federal funds were significantly reduced. The department
would continue to pay benefits through November or December
and the money would be gone. Recipients would then be cut
off in January until more federal money came in or until
the legislature met and acted on the issue. The bill would
allow the department more flexibility in administering the
program.
Co-Chair Stoltze added that there was additional
uncertainty because of the unpredictability of fuel prices.
Mr. Livey agreed that fuel prices were going up. In
addition, there was still a lot of uncertainty about the
federal budget.
Representative Wilson believed people could apply for the
program in October and all the way through April. She asked
whether the department would use the previous year's
numbers to figure out how many people usually applied so
that they would have money for people who did not begin the
program until January or February.
5:39:33 PM
Mr. Livey replied that the department had to make an
estimate each year about how many applications were
expected. The program has been in place for long enough
that the department had a good idea how many applications
to expect; it was able to calculate approximately how much
money was needed. He acknowledged that the program could
run short of funds at the end of the year if the
estimations were wrong, but generally the numbers were
close.
Representative Edgmon MOVED to report SB 102 out of
committee with individual recommendations and the
accompanying fiscal note. There being NO OBJECTION, it was
so ordered.
SB 10 was REPORTED out of Committee with a "do pass"
recommendation and with attached previously published
fiscal note: FN1, DHS.
Co-Chair Stoltze discussed scheduling.
5:41:36 PM
RECESSED
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 11:45 PM.
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