Legislature(2015 - 2016)BILL RAY CENTER 208
05/02/2016 05:00 PM House LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
MAY 02, 2016
5:00 PM
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Gary Stevens, Chair
Representative Bob Herron, Vice Chair
Senator John Coghill
Senator Charlie Huggins
Senator Anna MacKinnon
Senator Kevin Meyer
Senator Cathy Giessel, alternate
Representative Mike Chenault
Representative Craig Johnson
Representative Sam Kito
Representative Charisse Millett
Representative Mark Neuman
Representative Steve Thompson, alternate
Representative Harriet Drummond, alternate
MEMBERS ON TELECONFERENCE
Senator Lyman Hoffman
MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator Peter Micciche
Senator Lesil McGuire, alternate
Representative Mike Hawker
OTHER MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Olson; Representatives Edgmon, Guttenberg, Ortiz,
Pruitt, Saddler, Seaton, Spohnholz, Stutes, Tarr, Tuck,
Wilson, and Wool
AGENDA
OTHER COMMITTEE BUSINESS
SPEAKER REGISTER
5:01:47 PM
I. CHAIR GARY STEVENS called the Legislative Council meeting
to order at 5:01 p.m. in Room 208 of the Bill Ray Center.
Present at the call were Senators Stevens, Meyer, Coghill,
Huggins, MacKinnon, and Giessel, alternate member;
Representatives Herron, Chenault, Johnson, Kito, Millett,
Neuman, and Thompson and Drummond, alternate members.
Participating via teleconference was Senator Hoffman.
Senators Micciche and McGuire, alternate member, and
Representative Hawker were absent.
Other Legislators present: Senator Olson; Representatives
Edgmon, Guttenberg, Ortiz, Pruitt, Saddler, Seaton,
Spohnholz, Stutes, Tarr, Tuck, Wilson, and Wool.
II. COMMITTEE BUSINES - EXECUTIVE SESSION
a. Anchorage Office Space
b. Records Policy Amendment
a. Anchorage Office Space
CHAIR STEVENS noted that the reason for this meeting is for
Council to discuss an Anchorage office space proposal and
issues related to the Records Policy.
5:03:12 PM
VICE CHAIR HERRON moved that Legislative Council go into
Executive Session under Uniform Rule 22(B)(1), discussion
of matters, the immediate knowledge of which would
adversely affect the finances of a government unit and
22(B)(3), discussion of a matter that may, by law, be
required to be confidential. I ask that the following
individuals remain in the room; Pam Varni, Doug Gardner,
Katrina Matheny, Linda Hay, and any legislative staff
working for Council members. We also welcome any
Legislators that are not on Legislative Council to remain
in the room or on teleconference.
There being no objection to the motion, Council went into
Executive Session.
6:36:06 PM
Legislative Council came out of Executive Session.
6:36:21 PM
Vice Chair Herron said that, in light of the statement that
the Governor will veto the $32.5 million appropriation for
716 W 4th Avenue, he moved that Legislative Council
authorize the Chair to negotiate a sales price not to
exceed $12,500,000 for the building and land at 1500 W
Benson and approves a $125,000 earnest money agreement. A
due diligence time is needed of at least 60 days. The Chair
will bring back to the Council the final sales price for
final approval.
REPRESENTATIVE KITO objected to make a comment. He said he
was concerned about moving forward when we have already
started negotiations on another property, but a bigger
concern really is that there is available space at the
Atwood Building as offered by the Governor. There is some
transition time that would be required and maybe a little
bit of money that would be required to renovate the space
but there is space available and it's already owned by the
State. He said he had a concern about entering into a
purchase agreement where we don't have another obligation
and the potential of us having a lawsuit concurrent with
trying to occupy a separate building.
SENATOR MACKINNON responded that the space at the Atwood
Building, as far as this Council has been informed, is not
available to us until December 2017 or January 2018 and she
just wanted that on the record. She said there may be
transition space and it's a different level of space than
the Legislature is currently seeking and wanted that to be
noted. In addition, the parking space, while it is
considered adequate with the Atwood Building, it is not
ideal for the general public to get in and out of that area
in any kind of significant way if there are large meetings
in the area, depending on time and being in the downtown
area.
SENATOR COGHILL noted that just moving to the Atwood
Building is about one quarter of the cost of this building.
By the time one pays the first year's lease, which we have
to wait a year to get into, the value of that move probably
goes up.
CHAIR STEVENS said that as we compare the Atwood to the
Wells Fargo property, in a 20 year period, we will have
paid $14 million at the Atwood. Should everything work out
with the Wells Fargo property, with the money we're
charging Wells Fargo and the savings that we have from
moving others into that building, there's a savings of
about $9 million in a 20 year period; also, we would own it
at the end of that 20 year period.
SPEAKER CHENAULT asked if the numbers included the $3.5
million it would cost to renovate the Atwood Building for
the Legislature to move into. The Chair responded that they
were not included.
VICE CHAIR HERRON, at the request of Chair Stevens, re-read
the motion:
…In light of the statement that the Governor will veto the
$32.5 million appropriation for 716 W 4th Avenue, he moved
that Legislative Council authorize the Chair to negotiate a
sales price not to exceed $12,500,000 for the building and
land at 1500 W Benson and approves a $125,000 earnest money
agreement. A due diligence time is needed of at least 60
days. The Chair will bring back to the Council the final
sales price for final approval.
A roll call vote was taken.
YEAS: Meyer, Coghill, Huggins, MacKinnon, Giessel,
Chenault, Johnson, Millett, Neuman, Thompson,
Herron, Stevens
NAYS: Kito
The motion passed 12-0.
b. Records Policy Amendment
6:42:18 PM
VICE CHAIR HERRON moved that Legislative Council approve
the amendment to the Legislative Council Records Policy as
per the attached draft.
REPRESENTATIVE KITO objected to say that he had been
working on the whole concept of personal records versus
public records and would like to continue on that. He said
he thought this was a step in the correct direction; we end
up with a disclosure. He said he does think there is more
we can do for individuals who may not have signed a
disclosure or who might not in the future; we need to
provide some provision for individuals who for some reason
do not sign a disclosure.
A roll call vote was taken.
YEAS: Meyer, Coghill, Huggins, MacKinnon, Giessel,
Chenault, Johnson, Kito, Millett, Neuman, Thompson,
Herron, Stevens
NAYS: None
The motion approving the amendment to the Records Policy
passed 13-0.
6:43:50 PM
VICE CHAIR HERRON moved that with the newly adopted change
to the Records Policy and after review by Legal Services,
that Legislative Council authorize the release of the late
Representative Max Gruenberg's legislative files to Kayla
Epstein.
CHAIR STEVENS said that Council would deal with the release
of records of other Legislators that have passed away
should the need arise.
SENATOR COGHILL asked for clarification if it would require
a vote by Council to release records of other Legislators
who had passed away or if Legal Services could deal
directly with it under the above motion. Doug Gardner of
Legal Services confirmed that it would take a vote by
Legislative Council to release the legislative records of
any former Legislator.
A roll call vote was taken.
YEAS: Meyer, Coghill, Huggins, MacKinnon, Giessel,
Chenault, Johnson, Kito, Millett, Neuman, Thompson,
Herron, Stevens
NAYS: None
The motion to release the late Representative Gruenberg's
legislative files to Kayla Epstein passed 13-0.
There being no further business before the committee, the
Legislative Council meeting was adjourned at 6:45 p.m.
6:45:47 PM
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| 5.2.16 Leg. Council Packet.pdf |
JLEC 5/2/2016 5:00:00 PM |
5.2.16 Leg. Council Packet |