Legislature(2021 - 2022)ADAMS 519
05/04/2022 09:00 AM House FINANCE
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB357 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | HB 357 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
HOUSE FINANCE COMMITTEE
May 4, 2022
10:06 a.m.
10:06:42 AM
CALL TO ORDER
Co-Chair Merrick called the House Finance Committee meeting
to order at 10:06 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Neal Foster, Co-Chair
Representative Kelly Merrick, Co-Chair
Representative Dan Ortiz, Vice-Chair
Representative Ben Carpenter
Representative DeLena Johnson
Representative Andy Josephson
Representative Bart LeBon
Representative Sara Rasmussen
Representative Steve Thompson
MEMBERS ABSENT
Representative Bryce Edgmon
Representative Adam Wool
ALSO PRESENT
Representative Geran Tarr, Bill Sponsor; David Myung Keun
Song, Staff, Representative Geran Tarr; Andy Mills,
Legislative Liaison, Department of Transportation and
Public Facilities.
PRESENT VIA TELECONFERENCE
Key Getty, President, Korean American Community of
Anchorage, Anchorage.
SUMMARY
HB 357 NAMING THE INSOOK BAIK BRIDGE
HB 357 was REPORTED out of committee with six "do
pass" recommendations and two "no recommendation"
recommendations and with one previously published
fiscal note: FN1(DOT).
Co-Chair Merrick reviewed the agenda for the morning.
HOUSE BILL NO. 357
"An Act naming the Bragaw Street overcrossing of the
Glenn Highway the Insook Baik Bridge."
10:07:13 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GERAN TARR, BILL SPONSOR, thanked the
committee for the opportunity to present HB 357. The bill
had been a fun process which had been community driven and
involved networking with neighbors.
DAVID MYUNG KEUN SONG, STAFF, REPRESENTATIVE GERAN TARR,
introduced the PowerPoint presentation: "House Bill 357:
Insook Baik Bridge" (copy on file). He began with slide 2
and read from it as follows:
Last year, we were made aware of an unnamed bridge in
our district after the passage of HB 27 (Irene Webber
Bridge).
? Bragaw St. Overcrossing over the Glenn Highway in
Mountain View.
Mr. Song advanced through slides 3 and 4, which showed a
map of the bridge location and a street view of the bridge.
10:09:05 AM
Mr. Song spoke to the process of naming the bridge on slide
5. He read from the slide as follows:
? We wanted a neighbor-led process to determine the
name of this currently unnamed bridge.
? Collaborated with Community Councils in HD 19
(Mountain View, Russian Jack, Airport Heights) for
months to gather suggestions for potential names for
the Bragaw St. Bridge.
? Created survey for constituents to weigh in on the
name of this bridge and suggest additional names.
Mr. Song turned to slide 6 which showed all of the
suggested names that were considered. He pointed out that
there were a diverse mix of names on the list. He turned to
slide 7 and read it as follows:
? Support coalesced most around Insook Baik, owner of
the Mt. View Shell station and organizer of an annual
Thanksgiving meal drive.
? Received tremendous support from the Korean
community in Anchorage.
Mr. Song continued to slide 8 and read from it as follows:
? 35-year resident of Anchorage, originally from South
Korea, where she lived through the Korean War.
? Ms. Baik has organized a large-scale Thanksgiving
meal drive every year for over a decade serving Mt.
View.
? Distributes hundreds of meals every year served
nearly 1000 meals in 2021.
? Active member of her church community and the Korean
American community in Anchorage
? Won a Presidential Service Award in 2018 at the
Bridge Builders Gala.
Mr. Song indicated that Ms. Baik had received news coverage
with the Anchorage Daily News as depicted on slide 9. He
progressed through pictures of her on slides 10 and 11.
10:12:01 AM
Mr. Song continued to slide 12 which read as follows:
? Hundreds of signatures in support of HB 357.
? Change.org petition collected 213 signatures as of
3/14, as well as hand signatures collected across
Anchorage.
? Letter of support from KACA (Korean American
Community of Anchorage)
Mr. Song ended the presentation with slide 13 containing
quotes from community members about Ms. Baik. He concluded
that her story embodies the best of Anchorage and the best
of Alaskans.
Co-Chair Foster commented that the legislation seemed to
represent great collaboration between community members.
Representative Rasmussen appreciated that the sponsor and
her staff sought the respect and approval of community
members. She wondered if there had been many bridges named
after living people.
Representative Tarr responded that she had looked into it
and learned that it was permissible to name a bridge after
someone who was still living. She learned that
Representative Gillham had proposed naming a bridge after
Congressman Don Young prior to his passing. She wanted the
decision to be driven by the neighbors in the area and went
with what the community members wanted.
Representative Rasmussen asked if Representative Tarr had
checked for support from community members in other areas
of Anchorage.
Representative Tarr indicated she had sought and received
approval from a variety of community members, including
members of the body.
Co-Chair Merrick noted Representative Carpenter had joined
the meeting.
10:16:48 AM
Co-Chair Merrick OPENED public testimony.
10:17:06 AM
KEY GETTY, PRESIDENT, KOREAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY OF
ANCHORAGE, ANCHORAGE (via teleconference), spoke in support
of HB 357. She indicated Ms. Insook Baik was a great role
model. She noted Ms. Baik's generosity and consistency in
giving back to the community and thought it took someone
special to do what Ms. Baik had done. Ms. Baik had risen
above the problems that she had experienced and chose to
help others.
Ms. Getty noted that as a minority association, the Korean
American Community of Anchorage (KACA) carried out
community activities and events throughout the year. The
association only had one half-time employee and otherwise
counted on its volunteers. She talked about having
fundraised over $300,000 for high school graduates. She
indicated Koreans were resilient and would do whatever it
took to make things great. She thought naming the bridge
after Ms. Baik would be an honor for the Korean community.
10:24:05 AM
Co-Chair Merrick CLOSED public testimony.
ANDY MILLS, LEGISLATIVE LIASON, DEPARTMENT OF
TRANSPORTATION AND PUBLIC FACILITIES, reviewed Fiscal Note
1 with the control code YGlpe. He shared that the note had
an associated cost of $6,700.
Representative LeBon asked if the state had paid 100
percent of the cost in recent years for similar proposed
names changes or had the costs been shared with community
organizations.
Mr. Mills responded that all naming of state infrastructure
by the Department of Transportation and Public facilities
(DOT) was done through Alaska Statute (AS) 35.40. In
considering infrastructure that had been renamed within the
last 5 years, he discovered that there were many projects
with zero fiscal notes because they were ongoing and
therefore signage costs were part of the total project
budgets already. There were one or two situations where a
name was designated, but it was decided that signage would
be placed at a future time when another project happened at
that site. He indicated that this could be an option for HB
357 as well. There were also a couple of pieces of
legislation currently before the legislature that would add
a component for individuals and organizations to provide
funds or potentially even materials to contribute to a
project. The legislation would have to dictate whether the
funding would come from the state or from an individual.
10:27:35 AM
Representative LeBon noted there had been some bridges that
were recently named, such as the Vietnam Helicopter Pilot
Bridge on the Glenn Highway. He asked whether Mr. Mills was
familiar with this bridge.
Mr. Mills believed that the Vietnam Helicopter Pilot Bridge
included a fiscal note with a similar associated cost of
around $6,000 to $7,000. He indicated that unless the bill
stated that donations were acceptable, the state would be
responsible for the costs.
10:28:55 AM
Representative LeBon asked if the bridge had been
concretely designated in the name of Ms. Baik and was
already in a reserve status within DOT.
Mr. Mills reported that DOT maintained a bridge index that
included factual information about every bridge. Every
bridge had an associated number which was included in the
index and typically also in the fiscal note. The name
designated by the legislature was what would be included on
the public facing signage.
Representative LeBon asked whether the math would change if
another group came forward and wanted to name the bridge
after someone else and pay for it with donations raised by
the group. He asked whether the name was already locked in
for the bridge, pending action by the legislature.
Mr. Mills indicated a future legislature could rename the
bridge. Each bill that sought to name something could have
language in it that allowed for third parties to provide
donations. The process was that DOT would receive a
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with an organization or
individual, the fiscal note would reflect that DOT was
collecting the funds, and upon the collection of the full
amount, DOT would produce the signage. He reiterated that
specific language would have to be passed by the
legislature first. He believed that there were bills
currently before the legislature that sought to codify that
process so that it could be refenced instead of having to
be repeated every time a similar bill was proposed.
Co-Chair Merrick indicated Representative Josephson had
joined the meeting. She would think of Ms. Baik every time
she drove over the bridge headed to Costco.
10:32:03 AM
AT EASE
10:34:09 AM
RECONVENED
Co-Chair Foster MOVED to report HB 357 out of Committee
with individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal
note. There being NO OBJECTION, it was so ordered.
HB 357 was REPORTED out of committee with six "do pass"
recommendations and two "no recommendation" recommendations
and with one previously published fiscal note: FN1(DOT).
10:34:39 AM
AT EASE
10:35:30 AM
RECONVENED
Co-Chair Merrick reviewed the agenda for the afternoon
meeting.
ADJOURNMENT
10:36:17 AM
The meeting was adjourned at 10:36 a.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| HB 357 Bridge Info.pdf |
HFIN 5/4/2022 9:00:00 AM |
HB 357 |
| HB 357 Presentation 3.14.2022.pdf |
HFIN 5/4/2022 9:00:00 AM |
HB 357 |
| HB 357 Sectional Analysis.pdf |
HFIN 5/4/2022 9:00:00 AM |
HB 357 |
| HB 357 Letters of Support 4.14.pdf |
HFIN 5/4/2022 9:00:00 AM |
HB 357 |
| HB 357 Sponsor Statement.pdf |
HFIN 5/4/2022 9:00:00 AM |
HB 357 |
| HB 357 Supporting Articles.pdf |
HFIN 5/4/2022 9:00:00 AM |