02/27/2014 08:00 AM House STATE AFFAIRS
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Confirmation Hearing(s)|| Department of Administration | |
| Department of Public Safety | |
| HB127 | |
| HJR24 | |
| Adjourn |
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| *+ | HJR 24 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| += | HB 127 | TELECONFERENCED | |
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE STATE AFFAIRS STANDING COMMITTEE
February 27, 2014
8:08 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Bob Lynn, Chair
Representative Wes Keller, Vice Chair
Representative Lynn Gattis
Representative Shelley Hughes
Representative Doug Isaacson
Representative Charisse Millett
Representative Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
CONFIRMATION HEARING(S)
Department of Administration
Curtis Thayer - Anchorage, Alaska
- CONFIRMATION(S) ADVANCED
Department of Public Safety
Gary Folger - Anchorage, Alaska
- CONFIRMATION(S) ADVANCED
HOUSE BILL NO. 127
"An Act clarifying that the Alaska Bar Association is an agency
for purposes of investigations by the ombudsman; relating to
compensation of the ombudsman and to employment of staff by the
ombudsman under personal service contracts; providing that
certain records of communications between the ombudsman and an
agency are not public records; relating to disclosure by an
agency to the ombudsman of communications subject to attorney-
client and attorney work-product privileges; relating to
informal and formal reports of opinions and recommendations
issued by the ombudsman; relating to the privilege of the
ombudsman not to testify and creating a privilege under which
the ombudsman is not required to disclose certain documents;
relating to procedures for procurement by the ombudsman;
relating to the definition of 'agency' for purposes of the
Ombudsman Act and providing jurisdiction of the ombudsman over
persons providing certain services to the state by contract; and
amending Rules 501 and 503, Alaska Rules of Evidence."
- HEARD & HELD
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 24
Urging the United States Department of State to consider the
priorities of the state while it holds the position of chair of
the Arctic Council; requesting that the United States Department
of State work in partnership with state officials to appoint a
chair of the Arctic Council; and supporting the strategic
recommendations of the January 30, 2014, preliminary report of
the Alaska Arctic Policy Commission.
- MOVED CSHJR 24(STA) OUT OF COMMITTEE
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: HB 127
SHORT TITLE: OMBUDSMAN
SPONSOR(s): RULES BY REQUEST
02/18/13 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
02/18/13 (H) STA, JUD
03/12/13 (H) STA AT 8:00 AM CAPITOL 106
03/12/13 (H) Heard & Held
03/12/13 (H) MINUTE(STA)
03/21/13 (H) STA AT 8:00 AM CAPITOL 106
03/21/13 (H) <Bill Hearing Rescheduled to 3/26/13>
03/26/13 (H) STA AT 8:00 AM CAPITOL 106
03/26/13 (H) Heard & Held; Assigned to Subcommittee
03/26/13 (H) MINUTE(STA)
02/07/14 (H) STA AT 3:00 PM CAPITOL 120
02/07/14 (H) Work Session on above Bill
02/25/14 (H) STA AT 8:00 AM CAPITOL 106
02/25/14 (H) Heard & Held
02/25/14 (H) MINUTE(STA)
02/27/14 (H) STA AT 8:00 AM CAPITOL 106
BILL: HJR 24
SHORT TITLE: ARCTIC COUNCIL
SPONSOR(s): HERRON
01/29/14 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
01/29/14 (H) STA
02/27/14 (H) STA AT 8:00 AM CAPITOL 106
WITNESS REGISTER
CURTIS THAYER, Commissioner
Department of Administration (DOA)
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified as appointee to the position of
commissioner of the Department of Administration.
GARY FOLGER, Commissioner
Department of Public Safety (DPS)
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified as appointee to the position of
commissioner to the Department of Public Safety.
AL BARRETTE
Fairbanks, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Expressed his good opinion of Commissioner
Folger - appointee to the position of commissioner to the
Department of Public Safety.
LINDA LORD-JENKINS, Ombudsman
Office of the Ombudsman
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of HB 127.
KATE BURKHART, Executive Director
Alaska Mental Health Board (AMHB)
Fairbanks, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in response to the proposed
Amendment 1 to HB 127, Version G.
BETH LEIBOWITZ, Assistant Ombudsman
Office of the Ombudsman
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Offered information during the hearing on
HB 127.
LAURA MCKENZIE, Director
Quality Improvement and Risk Management
North Star Behavioral Health (NSBH)
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of the proposed
Amendment 1 to HB 127, Version G.
KAREN PERDUE, President/CEO
Alaska State Hospital and Nursing Home Association (ASHNHA)
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of Amendment 1 to HB
127, Version G.
TOM CHARD, Director
Alaska Behavioral Health Association (ABHA)
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of Amendment 1 to HB
127, Version G.
REPRESENTATIVE BOB HERRON
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: As prime sponsor, presented HJR 24.
ACTION NARRATIVE
8:08:04 AM
CHAIR BOB LYNN called the House State Affairs Standing Committee
meeting to order at 8:08 a.m. Representatives Keller, Isaacson,
Gattis, Hughes, Kreiss-Tomkins, and Lynn were present at the
call to order. Representative Millett arrived as the meeting
was in progress.
^CONFIRMATION HEARING(S)
^Department of Administration
CONFIRMATION HEARING(S):
Department of Administration
8:08:06 AM
CHAIR LYNN announced the first order of business was the
appointment of Curtis Thayer to the position of commissioner of
the Department of Administration.
8:08:44 AM
CURTIS THAYER, Commissioner, Department of Administration (DOA),
as appointee to the position of commissioner of DOA, told the
committee that he was appointed as acting commissioner in
December of [2013]; prior to that he served as the deputy
commissioner of the department for approximately 18 months. He
said as deputy commissioner, he was responsible for the direct
oversight of: the Division of Administrative Services (DAS),
the Division of General Services (DGS), Enterprise Technology
Services (ETS), the Division of Personnel & Labor Relations
(DPLR), and the Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV). He said he
also had oversight of [Public Communication Services] (PCS) and
the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (AOGCC), as well
as assisting with legislative liaison duties.
COMMISSIONER THAYER said prior to that he served for
approximately two and half years, at the governor's request, as
the deputy commissioner to the Department of Commerce,
Community, and Economic Development (DCCED), and in that role
had the direct oversight of the Division of Banking &
Securities, the Division of Insurance, the Division of Economic
Development, the Division of Corporations, Business, and
Professional Licensing, and the Division of Community and
Regional Affairs. Further, he relayed he served on the Alaska
Housing Finance Corporation (AHFC), the Alaska Gasline
Development Corporation (AGDC), the Alaska Seafood Marketing
Institute (ASMI), and the Alaska Royalty Oil and Gas Development
Advisory Board. He said he also served as the governor-
appointed chair of the Board of Marine Pilots for the last four
years.
COMMISSIONER THAYER said prior to state service he was the
director of corporate and external affairs for ENSTAR Natural
Gas Company, where he managed customer service credit and
marketing departments and was responsible for the company's
state and federal government relations. He said prior to that,
he worked with the "Alaska gasline producers' pipeline team,"
which he indicated involved work with "BP, Exxon, and Phillips."
Prior to that, he spent seven years working for Congressman Don
Young in various capacities and with Senators [Frank] Murkowski
and Ted Stevens.
COMMISSIONER THAYER said he was born and raised in Alaska. He
noted the schools he attended. He mentioned community
involvement, including service on the board of Abused Women's
Aid in Crisis, Inc., and work with "Arctic Power" and various
civil organizations. He relayed that he was at one time
recognized as on the "top forty under forty." He said he is
married and has one son.
8:12:20 AM
REPRESENTATIVE ISAACSON asked Commissioner Thayer to talk about
what he has done so far as commissioner and how he can envision
doing "more with less" in administration.
8:12:49 AM
COMMISSIONER THAYER noted that the former commissioner, Becky
Hultberg, left the department having managed it well. He said
the department is "a cost center for the state"; it is a
customer service related organization that also provides
information technology and general services to the state. He
said that last year, with a focus on efficiency, the department
instituted space standards and identified where it believes the
state can save over $125 million in building leases. He
explained that the three areas where costs can be cut are:
programs, people, and space. He said he thinks the first place
to look is the space that the state owns and leases. He said
the state owns about 1.6 million square feet of office space and
leases over 2 million square feet. The cost ranges from $1 to
$3.75 a square foot. Another area considered for cost cutting
is in information technology (IT). He said the State of Alaska
spends over $200 million on IT statewide. He said [Enterprise
Technology Services (ETS)] has a budget of about $46 million,
and the department needs to work with other departments to
figure out where the savings are. He mentioned "the cloud,"
created by ETS. He said currently the department has facilities
with disaster recovery backup power in Anchorage and Juneau, but
there are 150 "IT closets" throughout the state that do not have
backup power or disaster recovery capability. He indicated that
moving towards that will save the state money in the long run.
He related that DMV needed $900,000 to upgrade its servers and
found it could save $100,000 by moving to a cloud environment.
COMMISSIONER THAYER said the department is also looking at five
labor contract negotiations. He said the department wants to be
fair to state employees, but asks them to realize the budget
environment. He said last year the department was successful in
putting a cap on leave, increasing mandatory usage, establishing
new leave accrual for new employees, and buying down the merit
in salaries. He said he is continuing former Commissioner
Hultberg's work in looking for money-saving efficiencies for the
state. He said another area to consider is health care; the
state spends $600 million on its retirees and active employees.
He said a new contract has been negotiated and the state has a
new third-party vendor. He indicated that because the state
does not have "double-digit growth," it cannot afford to sustain
that [expense]. The state is working with Aetna Inc. ("Aetna"),
the third-party provider, to figure out how to keep its current
care plans as they are while controlling the cost of them. He
concluded that the department is doing that and hopes to have a
large savings next year.
8:17:09 AM
REPRESENTATIVE ISAACSON noted that both DOA and the Department
of Transportation & Public Facilities (DOT&PF) manage public
facilities, and he asked Commissioner Thayer if he could
envision savings to the state by centralizing one department
with the oversight and management of all facilities, and which
department would be the best single choice.
8:17:41 AM
COMMISSIONER THAYER said the Division of General Services (DGS),
under DOA, manages 450 leases, plus office space, which together
total 4 million square feet; DOT&PF manages its own buildings,
which is approximately 400,000 square feet. He said DGS does
not oversee warehousing, public restrooms, or public cabins. He
said DOT&PF is building the State Library and Archive Museum
(SLAM) and will turn the running of it over to DOA when it is
completed. He explained that DOT&PF is the contractor and DOA
is the operator. He mentioned work being done on "the Nome
building," which will be another collaboration between DOA and
DOT&PF. He said he would not be a good manager of a warehouse
for DOT&PF, and he suggested that DOT&PF may not want oversight
of the Atwood building, for example. He said DGS is staffed
with 50 dedicated people who operate the 450 leases. He
concluded, "But there's always room to talk and look to see what
has the right ownership for buildings."
8:19:42 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER recalled the aforementioned $600 million
spent on health care, and he said that makes Commissioner Thayer
the administrator of a large segment of the health care
purchasing in Alaska. He asked Commissioner Thayer to confirm
he said he is looking to Aetna in coming up with a model to
address the issue. He said former Commissioner Hultberg had
worked with the Alaska Health Care Commission (AHCC), on which
he said he serves, and he said AHCC sees the rising cost of
health care as a huge problem. He expressed hope that DOA would
come up with several models for the legislature to consider to
counterbalance the declining revenue and obligatory [health
coverage of retirees] that loom in the future. He said he would
not want to rely solely on a contractor to come up with a model,
because a contractor would not "have a dog in the fight
firsthand." He asked Commissioner Thayer if work is being done
to come up with possible models.
8:21:05 AM
COMMISSIONER THAYER clarified that the State of Alaska is
responsible for $600 million worth of health claims. He said
after a recent request for proposal (RFP) process, Aetna was
chosen as the State of Alaska's third-party administrator for
its health plan. He said Aetna changed the pricing of Alaska's
network to reflect a potential savings of $50 million - a number
that the state's actuaries believe is possible to attain. He
said Aetna has over 17 million covered lives in the United
States, as well as some of the largest companies in Alaska. A
provider need only ask to be one of Aetna's network doctors and
a contract negotiation is made. He indicated that in Juneau,
more [providers] have signed up with the Aetna network in six
weeks than had during four years under HealthSmart Holding,
Inc., ("HealthSmart") [the State of Alaska's third-party
administrator prior to Aetna]. He said part of the reason for
that is that doctors know that if they are in the network, then
that will increase the volume of patients.
COMMISSIONER THAYER talked about other ways to bend the cost
curve down. He said Alaska Regional Hospital is a preferred
facility, which gives the state a larger discount the more
employees choose the facility. Another way for the state to
save money is for its health care participants to use generic
drugs over brand name drugs. Nevertheless, because Aetna is so
large, a State of Alaska employee can opt to travel to the Mayo
Clinic in Rochester, New York, because it is covered under the
health plan.
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER clarified that he is not speaking on
behalf of AHCC. He opined that the answer to the health care
crisis is for people to become increasingly aware how their
money is spent in the operating market. He recalled the $50
million potential cost savings. He asked Commissioner Thayer,
"Does that include any kind of a position or direction toward
the all payers claims database, maybe toward proposing a health
savings account as a new health plan in the state or anything
like that that ... directly addresses the engagement of the
market?"
8:24:28 AM
COMMISSIONER THAYER answered that with regard to Aetna and how
the state is applying that contract, "it does not." He
continued:
Because right now it is the existing system we have as
far as the retirement plan [of] our active employees.
That is another ... segment that we are working
towards and achieving, because we ... understand we
have to change market dynamics and also help get the
consumer more involved in the price of their health
care. But the $50 million in the Aetna piece is just
our $600 million that we do yearly. That other
component is still ongoing.
COMMISSIONER THAYER, in response to a follow-up question,
confirmed that DOA is focused on this issue.
8:25:26 AM
CHAIR LYNN offered his understanding that it is general
knowledge that generic and brand-name drugs are exactly the same
in content, if not appearance. He asked if DOA is still
investigating the situation in which state employees are able to
[get] brand-name drugs instead of generic ones.
COMMISSIONER THAYER answered that DOA is better able to work
with its active employees and steer them to generic drugs. He
said the department wants to have further conversations with the
retirees, because "there isn't the incentive to drive them
towards generic as opposed to brand name, and that is an
extremely large cost of the retiree health care plan." He said
one issue with the retirees' plan is that if the State of Alaska
delves into it too far, it feels the repercussion from 65,000
retirees who say, "This is a diminishment to our benefits." He
continued as follows:
We've tried to improve their plan, but at the same
time, obviously we ... need to sit down and talk to
them about changes to their plan, because they
themselves have asked for preventative care; they've
asked for vaccines and immunizations, which are not
covered by their health care plan; they would like
coverage for dependents up to age 26, which is not
part of their plan; and there's a $2 million lifetime
maximum coverage. Well, if you're an active employee
... under the Affordable Care Act there is no limit.
So, there are some limitations that they're
grandfathered in, but they come at a cost. And so, we
would like to enter into a dialog, that if there's
some enhancements to the program, there's some issues
with the program like driving -- you know, if they can
drive more people to generic drugs - like you said,
there's no difference in them, but there's a savings -
maybe there's a benefit they would like to add to
their plan, and it will offset. We don't want to see
a diminishment; what we want to see is just kind of
updating their plan, because it's an old plan and some
of their components are old. Their deductible's $150.
There's been cost-of-living increases to retirees, but
the deductible is $150. Is that something that we
should look at? Right now most deductibles are $500
and I'm not proposing $500 at the table; I'm just
saying there's some areas that if that ... deductible
went up a little bit, maybe we could afford
immunizations and put that into the plan; maybe we
could ... look at raising the dependents to 26. There
just needs to be some offsets, and those are the
conversations, but there are 65,000 of them and they
all have an opinion, as I've learned from my e-mail
this week.
8:28:21 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS referred to Commissioner Thayer's
resume and asked what he was doing between 1996 and 2000.
COMMISSIONER THAYER said he was [working for] Representative Don
Young, not only in Washington, D.C., but also in Alaska.
REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS said, "Political and legislative
sides."
COMMISSIONER THAYER said yes.
8:28:53 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GATTIS expressed appreciation for Commissioner
Thayer's consideration of possible efficiencies for the state.
She asked him to speak to the issue of customer service. She
said her constituents are concerned that state employees are
"not reacting to the customer service that they would like to
see on the front levels."
8:29:48 AM
COMMISSIONER THAYER said public service is customer service
oriented. He said his management style is to hire "good people"
who he can be trusted to be loyal and, in turn, can trust him to
support them in their work. He said phone calls should be
returned. He said he hears from employees at midnight and
responds to them. He expressed his hope that improvements will
be continued to be seen in, for example, DMV. He talked about
working hard last year on labor relations, and he received
feedback from people in the union that the negotiations were
good. He said he will not ask anyone to do anything that he
would not be willing to do himself. He said corrective coaching
will be given when necessary.
8:31:40 AM
REPRESENTATIVE HUGHES noted that Commissioner Thayer's biography
indicates he is simultaneously deputy commissioner of the
Department of Commerce, Community & Economic Development (DCCED)
and DOA, and she asked him to confirm that is not the case.
8:32:14 AM
COMMISSIONER THAYER responded that he is not the deputy
commissioner of DCCED, but is "double dipping as deputy
commissioner and commissioner right now" of DOA.
8:32:33 AM
REPRESENTATIVE HUGHES asked if the retention policies of state
agencies fall under the purview of the commissioner of DOA.
COMMISSIONER THAYER answered that each department has its own
retention policy. Through Enterprise Technology Services there
is e-mail history, which DOA retains statewide. He said DOA
does "deletions that it normally would do according to
retention," unless the Department of Law (DOL) puts a legal hold
on the information. He said DOA has its own retention policies
in regard to paperwork in, for example, the Division of
Personnel and the Division of Finance.
REPRESENTATIVE HUGHES said she is not sure the last time the
retention policy has been addressed. She said she participated
in an unmanned aircraft task force recently, where the
Department of Public Safety expressed the need for the state's
retention policy to be addressed. She talked about the ability,
with new technology, for information to "get out there" on the
federal level. She ventured DOA would be the appropriate
department to address the issue.
8:35:02 AM
COMMISSIONER THAYER replied that he is not opposed to working
with individual departments on retention. He said retention
policies usually involve the state Archives, and he questioned
what the retention policy is for Archives and who upholds it.
REPRESENTATIVE HUGHES predicted that with higher image
resolution, the need for storage space is going to grow, and
there is a cost involved in storage. She encouraged care be
given to things that need to be retained, and said she would
appreciate Commissioner Thayer's attention to that issue.
COMMISSIONER THAYER said he understood and would look into the
issue.
8:36:37 AM
CHAIR LYNN announced that public testimony on the appointment of
Curtis Thayer to the position of commissioner of the Department
of Administration was closed.
8:36:48 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER moved to forward the name of Curtis
Thayer, appointee to the position of commissioner of the
Department of Administration, to the joint session of the House
and Senate for confirmation. There being no objection, the
confirmation of Curtis Thayer was advanced from the House State
Affairs Standing Committee.
^Department of Public Safety
Department of Public Safety
8:37:26 AM
CHAIR LYNN announced the next order of business was the
appointment of Gary Folger to the position of commissioner of
the Department of Public Safety.
8:37:44 AM
GARY FOLGER, Commissioner, testified as appointee to the
position of commissioner to the Department of Public Safety
(DPS). He said he was brought up in Cantwell, in two worlds: a
traditional Alaska Native home and Western culture. He said the
transition between the two worlds was easy for him. He related
a time when, as a small boy, he saw an Alaska State Trooper for
the first time, and was told by his grandmother that the trooper
was "the muscle." He told of a trooper he met when the Parks
Highway was built, and said he is since retired but remains a
friend. He quipped that after receiving a speeding ticket, he
thought it was "better to give than to receive." He related
that in 1979, he "started out in this department" as a summer
helper in "this department"; in 1981, he participated in the
trooper academy and was stationed in Fairbanks; in 1991, he went
to King Salmon, after learning how to fly airplanes; in 1998, he
transferred to Juneau as a Southeast commander; in 2001, he
transferred to Fairbanks as the Northern Alaska commander; in
2007, he had the honor of becoming the director of the Alaska
Wildlife Troopers, which included starting the division back up
after the merger was undone; in May of 2013, after 32 years of
service, he retired. He said he considers it a high honor to
have been asked by Governor Sean Parnell to return as
commissioner.
8:40:20 AM
COMMISSIONER FOLGER characterized himself as a situational
leader. He stated that the department is "steeped in a very
proud tradition," and he would be autocratic, in that he would
"hold the rules, regulation, and laws." He said he would also
be open to change or "a better way of doing business when it
makes sense." He said his door is always open, and he accepts
criticism well, seeks wisdom and understanding, and is never
afraid to apologize. He added that he is one of the first
people to take a stand when it is "the right thing to do." He
emphasized that the best part of the department is its
employees. He said he has witnessed countless occasions when
individuals have served beyond the call of duty, and he is
honored to call all employees of the department his friends and
coworkers.
8:41:38 AM
COMMISSIONER FOLGER relayed his plans in leading the department
include: installing a sense among personnel that they work for
the public, earning and obtaining the public's trust;
encouraging employees to do everything to the best of their
abilities; and asking employees to be professionals. He said
there are challenges ahead. With declining revenue, the
department must become more efficient, while maintaining its
overall effectiveness. He said DPS has an ongoing mission of
providing public safety combined with fiduciary responsibilities
to citizens. He indicated that providing rural law enforcement,
even to the smallest community, is a huge challenge that can be
met by partnering with state, federal, and local programs for
the benefit of Alaskans. He stated that this undertaking is
where his focus will be. Commissioner Folger stated, "In
closing, I want to offer my services to you. After all, it's
your department, too." He said he has 32 years with the
department, which is almost all of this adult life. He said he
does not even begin to know all the answers, but said "as a
team, we can go forward." He paraphrased a quote attributed to
Edmond Burke, as follows: "The only necessary thing for evil to
triumph is that good men do nothing." He stated he is not going
to let evil triumph; he plans to be "the muscle."
8:43:44 AM
AL BARRETTE expressed thanks to Commissioner Folger for his 32
years of service in the protection of wildlife. He said he met
Commissioner Folger when he was a lieutenant in charge of the
Interior, and Commissioner Folger mentored him in understanding
the fish and wildlife laws of Alaska. He said Commissioner
Folger and his staff spent many hours in Fairbanks advisory
meetings. He said the man is helpful; "his door is always
open." He indicated that Commissioner Folger exemplifies what a
wildlife trooper should be; he is reasonable, responsible, and
can distinguish true violations from incidents that may have
been "a mistake in the field."
CHAIR LYNN said it sounds like Mr. Barrette would support
Commissioner Folger's confirmation.
8:46:01 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS expressed the pleasure he has had
in working with the department, with its former commissioner,
and with Commissioner Folger. He opined that every department
has its own personality, and he expressed his hope that the
Commissioner of Administration would take note that the
Department of Public Safety has a personality and responsiveness
to which he hopes all other departments will aspire.
8:47:02 AM
REPRESENTATIVE HUGHES indicated she had been impressed by
Commissioner Folger's performance over the last few months. She
noted that Victory High School, in Palmer, Alaska, was listed
[in Commissioner Folger's biography in the committee packet],
and she asked him to elaborate.
COMMISSIONER FOLGER said at the time he was of high school age,
Cantwell did not have a high school. Victory High School was
located at mile 95, on the Glen Highway, and was a parochial
boarding school; however, it no longer exists.
8:47:48 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GATTIS commented that she remembers Victory High
School.
8:48:18 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER thanked Commissioner Folger for his
service and for exposing himself to "this process."
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER moved to forward the name of Gary Folger,
appointee to the position of commissioner of the Department of
Public Safety, to the joint session of the House and Senate for
confirmation. There being no objection, the confirmation of
Gary Folger was advanced from the House State Affairs Standing
Committee.
8:49:00 AM
The committee took an at-ease from 8:49 a.m. to 8:50 a.m.
HB 127-OMBUDSMAN
8:50:59 AM
CHAIR LYNN announced the next order of business was HOUSE BILL
NO. 127, "An Act clarifying that the Alaska Bar Association is
an agency for purposes of investigations by the ombudsman;
relating to compensation of the ombudsman and to employment of
staff by the ombudsman under personal service contracts;
providing that certain records of communications between the
ombudsman and an agency are not public records; relating to
disclosure by an agency to the ombudsman of communications
subject to attorney-client and attorney work-product privileges;
relating to informal and formal reports of opinions and
recommendations issued by the ombudsman; relating to the
privilege of the ombudsman not to testify and creating a
privilege under which the ombudsman is not required to disclose
certain documents; relating to procedures for procurement by the
ombudsman; relating to the definition of 'agency' for purposes
of the Ombudsman Act and providing jurisdiction of the ombudsman
over persons providing certain services to the state by
contract; and amending Rules 501 and 503, Alaska Rules of
Evidence."
[Before the committee was the proposed committee substitute (CS)
for HB 127, Version 28-LS0088\G, Gardner, 2/13/14, as a work
draft.]
CHAIR LYNN relayed that public testimony for HB 127 was left
open since the last hearing on 2/25/14.
8:51:40 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GATTIS [moved to adopt] Amendment 1 to HB 127,
Version G, which read as follows [original punctuation
provided]:
Page 3, Line 17 after "47.14.050," delete all material
through the word "Services" on page 3, line 20.
REPRESENTATIVE GATTIS, in response to the chair, confirmed that
she was carrying the amendment for Representative Isaacson. She
said the amendment relates to behavioral hospitals. She said
one distinction between being incarcerated and being in a
behavioral hospital is that with the latter, people can come and
go at will.
8:53:25 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER objected for purposes of discussion.
8:53:37 AM
LINDA LORD-JENKINS, Ombudsman, Office of the Ombudsman, stated
that she is at a disadvantage in speaking to Amendment 1 when
she does not know the motivating factor behind it. She
indicated that the Office of the Ombudsman does not agree with
the rationale regarding individuals being in "these homes"
voluntarily. She said the individuals that the office is
considering jurisdiction over are those who have been placed
there and are in the custody the Division of Juvenile Justice,
within the Department of Health & Social Services (DHSS), and
while there may be an agreement to be in these facilities at a
certain point, it is not the understanding of the Office of the
Ombudsman that these individuals can come and go as they please,
because they are in the custody of the state. She clarified
that the office is not seeking jurisdiction over individuals
whose parents have voluntarily committed them to these
facilities and who are not in the jurisdiction of the state; it
is looking for jurisdiction over children who are in the custody
of the state and have been placed in these facilities by court
order or pursuant to a court order.
8:55:18 AM
CHAIR LYNN asked Ms. Lord-Jenkins to confirm that there are
basically two categories of people who might be in this type of
facility: one, a person there by court order, and two, a person
who either decided to be there or was placed there by a parent
or legal guardian.
MS. LORD-JENKINS answered that is correct.
8:55:38 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GATTIS said she hoped to hear from
representatives of behavioral centers to clarify their process
as it may relate to other state agencies that oversee them.
8:56:15 AM
KATE BURKHART, Executive Director, Alaska Mental Health Board
(AMHB), stated that residential psychiatric services are health
care services and, thus, not the same as incarceration. She
recollected there was testimony heard at the last hearing on HB
127 as to how the Office of the Ombudsman directs complainants
to alternative processes to help people keep out of court. She
continued as follows:
It is important to understand that in these situations
with these particular youths and children, we are in
court, and there is a judicial process overseeing this
treatment, as well as the mechanisms by which the
Department of Health & Social Services, the Center for
Medicaid and Medicare Services, and the accrediting
bodies oversee these concerns. So, we believe that
residential psychiatric treatments should not be
within the purview of the Ombudsman.
MS. BURKHART said she thinks Amendment 1 also addresses concerns
that were raised by Representative Hughes regarding ensuring
protection of health information and compliance with federal and
state privacy laws around protected health information.
Further, she said AMHB has tried to make the point that if the
Office of the Ombudsman had jurisdiction over these sorts of
complaints, then the level of expertise and capacity needed to
effectively deal with them would need to be added to the office,
as it is not contained within the office's current capacity.
She said AMHB appreciates Amendment 1, because it would remove
the section of HB 127, Version G, which would include
residential psychiatric treatment centers under the Office of
the Ombudsman's jurisdiction.
8:59:25 AM
MS. LORD-JENKINS noted that Ms. Burkhart had mentioned Health
Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and she
deferred to Ms. Leibowitz to address that issue.
8:59:35 AM
BETH LEIBOWITZ, Assistant Ombudsman, Office of the Ombudsman,
stated that the HIPAA regulations provide an exception for cases
where state law gives mandatory access to records. She said
since the statute for the Office of the Ombudsman mandates its
access to agency records, it does not deal with HIPAA
regulations; it basically has an exception to them. She said
the Office of the Ombudsman does obtain medical information and,
as with other types of confidential records, is bound to
maintain that confidentiality.
9:00:48 AM
REPRESENTATIVE HUGHES said Ms. Burkhardt was explaining that
there other procedures and entities that can address issues.
She offered her understanding that when someone comes to the
Office of the Ombudsman with a need for investigation, the
office makes certain the person has already gone through the
available internal processes. She asked how many cases come to
the Office of the Ombudsman where the person has already gone
through those internal processes and still needs assistance.
She further questioned whether the Office of the Ombudsman has
had any such cases if it does not already have that
jurisdiction.
9:01:51 AM
MS. LORD-JENKINS confirmed that because the Office of the
Ombudsman has not had jurisdiction over these sorts of cases, it
has not seen a lot of these complaints. Looking at similar
agencies, she said the Office of the Ombudsman has routed 50
percent or more complaints related to the Office of Children's
Services (OCS) through the process and "they frequently come
back." Regarding the contention that there are available
processes for people to follow, she stated that OCS, which is
one of the Office of the Ombudsman's biggest individual agency
complaint loads, for years had a very confusing grievance
process - like "a black hole" - for individuals who were unaware
of how to follow statutes and regulations policies and
procedures. She said in 2011, the Office of the Ombudsman
opened up an investigation into the efficiency and effectiveness
of the OCS grievance process. She said she assigned an attorney
to review the entire process, and that revealed many
misunderstandings about what the grievance process was. The
statutes and regulations were contradictory, and grievances got
lost. She said the Office of the Ombudsman recommended that OCS
completely revise its grievance process, and it did so and
brought the new process on line in the spring of 2013. She said
it is good that an agency has a complaint process, but that does
not guarantee the process is effective. Many agencies have
oversight - Medicaid looks at money and OSHA looks at workplace
safety - and even with that oversight there are still problems,
which is one of the reasons the Office of the Ombudsman
considered trying to expand its jurisdiction.
REPRESENTATIVE HUGHES asked how many of the calls that come in,
related to what Amendment 1 addresses, and are routed back to
internal processes are not addressed.
MS. LORD-JENKINS answered that the Office of the Ombudsman has
not tracked that aspect of it. She said a complainant whose
complaint is not within the jurisdiction of the Office of the
Ombudsman and is routed back to the agency and finds the agency
has not acted fairly, reasonably, and in accordance with its
policies, procedures, regulations, and statutes can return to
the Office of the Ombudsman; however, if the Office of the
Ombudsman finds that the agency has acted fairly and followed
procedure, then it is not going to advocate for the complainant
just because he/she does not like the finding or answer.
REPRESENTATIVE HUGHES stated:
Before we began, I knew this amendment had something
to do with voluntary versus not voluntary, and then we
learned that ... in these residential facilities it is
actually directed by the court, so it's not voluntary.
And so, I'm struggling a little bit. ... I was
wondering if Kate and others believe that it's not
necessary for the Ombudsman to have jurisdiction, then
I would think that they would assume everything can be
solved through the internal processes, right? And if
everything can be resolved through the internal
processes, then there wouldn't be anybody leftover at
the end of that process that would need the Ombudsman.
So, if the Ombudsman had oversight ... just in that
rare case that it might not be resolved, ... I guess
I'm struggling with why they might want it removed,
because they're confident that they're handling it
already, and so, ... the Ombudsman wouldn't be
knocking at their door. And so, it seems like it
could be a safety, and since these aren't truly
voluntary, ... I need somebody to convince me that
this amendment is necessary, and I'm sorry that nobody
came to talk to me beforehand and I wasn't better
educated.
9:08:16 AM
CHAIR LYNN said the Office of the Ombudsman might want to check
into cases that relate to being voluntary. He said we all go to
a doctor voluntarily, but may find there is something about that
experience that needs the intervention of the Office of the
Ombudsman.
9:08:56 AM
MS. BURKHART stated, "First and foremost, these are issues
between private parties - a private health care provider and a
patient and the patient's family, and as such they are not
suitable for Ombudsman jurisdiction." In a case where a youth
or child has been committed to the custody of the Department of
Health and Social Services, whether to OCS or the Division of
Juvenile Justice, both the child and parent(s) have an attorney.
The child will always have a guardian ad litem (GAL), and often
also have a court-appointed special advocate. She said youth or
children are committed to residential psychiatric treatment with
the parents' consent or by court order. In situations where the
child is in custody, the parents are typically asked to consent
to the treatment recommendation. If there are issues with
medication, the court, all advocates, and the parents are
involved. She said the court exercises oversight on a regular
basis. She related that she has been involved in cases where
there have been monthly status hearings to ensure that the
treatment was responsive to the needs of the youth and met the
concerns of the parent. She cautioned equating grievance
procedures set out by executive agencies with the patient
advocacy and grievance procedures set out by health care
organizations. She said the venues, situations, and content are
completely different, because it is a health care setting.
Further, she said the health care organizations providing the
services have grievance procedures separate from the court
process by which the child or youth and parent(s) can have their
complaints resolved. Those procedures are governed by the
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the entity which has
established patient rights, grievance parameters, rules and
regulations guiding access to patients - "quality of care, not
just funding" - and all the procedures are federally compliant.
She indicated involvement in the procedures by the creditors of
the residential psychiatric treatment.
MS. BURKHARDT said the department, through its licensing and
funding procedures, has the ability to resolve patient and
parent complaint. She said when a child is admitted through the
court process, the court-appointed social advocates and GAL
communicate with the department, the court, and the treatment
team. She said Alaska is committed to patient-centered
treatments. She said the system is complex, with a lot of
avenues, by which people can have their concerns addressed. She
said it is not a perfect system, but opined that to provide
jurisdiction to the Office of the Ombudsman over a health care
complaint between private parties is not appropriate and -
considering the greater context by which concerns about
treatment can be resolved - unnecessary, especially when
considering "we've yet to hear a quantified demand for the
service." She said the department and the providers can all
speak to the numbers of concerns and complaints that they have
addressed; therefore, they have a better understanding of the
demand that is being expressed by the patients and their
families and how it is being addressed.
9:14:53 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS recollected that Ms. Lord-Jenkins
had said there is no record of the number of calls that have
been turned away because of lack of jurisdiction. He ventured
that the anticipated discussion relating to the Alaska Bar
Association (ABA) will be similar to the current discussion. He
mentioned a memorandum dated 2/26, from ABA to the House State
Affairs Standing Committee, in which ABA indicated the Office of
the Ombudsman had said it turned away 11 calls between 1993 and
2013 because they were outside its jurisdiction. He said that
is a numerical quantitative answer, and he questioned why "a
similar numerical quantitative answer doesn't exist for cases
that would apply to what we're talking about right now."
9:16:19 AM
MS. LORD-JENKINS explained the reason is that all along the
Office of the Ombudsman has maintained that the ABA was subject
to its jurisdiction, and it was clear that "these contract
agencies" were not subject to its jurisdiction, so "tracking
them was different on our case management systems." She said
when the office receives calls about entities that are not State
of Alaska agencies or an instrumentality "as the Bar contends it
is," then those entities are tracked differently and it is
difficult to cull information about them. She explained that
the Office of the Ombudsman has an intake log on which it tracks
its cases; however, it would be an onerous search. She said
with the ABA, "we just hit a couple buttons and we have that
information."
9:17:47 AM
REPRESENTATIVE HUGHES said it was helpful to hear [from Ms.
Burkhardt] that the children have two different advocates. She
said "our" job is to protect the people of Alaska, not to
protect agencies, which is why the Office of the Ombudsman
exists. She indicated that in agencies with internal processes,
there could be a tendency for bias; therefore, she said she was
glad to hear about those looking out for the sole interest of
the children.
9:18:49 AM
MS. LORD-JENKINS responded that individuals being watched out
for by guardians ad litem or court appointed special advocates
(CASAs) or caseworkers or attorneys often do not agree with them
or think their decision making is appropriate. Sometimes there
is a difference of opinion as to what the best interest is, and
the Office of the Ombudsman often receives complaints of that
nature.
9:19:32 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS offered his understanding that the
purpose of a GAL is to have an independent, impartial, objective
person looking at a situation with focus on the child's best
interest. He said it is managed through the court process and,
as such, strives for objectivity. He asked Ms. Burkhardt if she
sees the proposed expansion of the jurisdiction of the Office of
the Ombudsman to be duplicative to the process that already
exists with guardians ad litem and the court process. He
requested that Ms. Lord-Jenkins elaborate on her previous
response as to how she sees what the Office of the Ombudsman
would do as not being duplicative to what already happens within
the court process.
9:20:53 AM
MS. LORD-JENKINS responded that a GAL starts at the beginning of
the case and follows it through to the end, and in many cases
makes parental decisions on behalf of a child or sometimes an
adult in adult protective service cases. She said the Office of
the Ombudsman comes in part way through a case to look at
individual, specific complaints. She said the complainant may
be in an adversarial position with his/her guardian ad litem,
and the Office of the Ombudsman looks to see "how they're both
behaving," including what decisions are being made and whether
the complainant is being heard. She said sometimes, in OCS
cases, the Office of the Ombudsman has records that the
guardians ad litem have not seen. She stated, "We're different.
I mean, we're impartial and they're supposed to be impartial
also, but I think it's a different role. I guess I can't
articulate it any better than that." Ms. Lord-Jenkins said
there are cases related to Adult Protective Services and the
Office of Public Advocacy (OPA) where adults are unhappy with
their GALs and they complain about them a lot. In those cases,
the Office of the Ombudsman looks to see if the GAL is
responding adequately, if the GAL is granting enough funds for
the adult to live - "that sort of thing." She indicated that
these are cases where there are differences of opinion.
REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS asked what kind of oversight role
the court plays with GALs who may be deemed to be performing
unsatisfactorily or not to the best interest of whom they
represent.
9:23:31 AM
MS. LEIBOWITZ said the GAL is generally selected by the court,
and she offered her understanding that the GAL will usually be
either an OPA employee or contractor. She said the court can
pick the GAL to some extent, and it can also dismiss the GAL.
9:24:25 AM
The committee took an at-ease from 9:24 a.m. to 9:28 a.m.
9:28:00 AM
CHAIR LYNN reminded those testifying that before the committee
was the proposed Amendment 1 to HB 127, Version G, and comment
should be limited to the amendment.
9:28:26 AM
LAURA MCKENZIE, Director, Quality Improvement and Risk
Management, North Star Behavioral Health (NSBH), testified in
support of the proposed Amendment 1 to HB 127, Version G. She
concurred with the testimony of Ms. Burkhardt. She stated that
NSBH not only has an internal grievance procedure, but also has
external grievance procedures that are overseen by at least six
different entities. She said patient residents at NSBH are
admitted at the request of their guardians, and the decision to
admit and discharge is based on medical necessity, not court
order. Additionally, she said all the treatment at NSBH is
externally reviewed for appropriateness, to ensure that lengths
of stay are not inappropriately extended.
9:30:10 AM
KAREN PERDUE, President/CEO, Alaska State Hospital and Nursing
Home Association (ASHNHA), relayed that she was a former
commissioner of DHSS for eight years, under Governor Tony
Knowles. She stated support of the proposed Amendment 1 to HB
127, Version G. She said even though the focus is on juveniles
in the custody of the department, she foresees there would be
jurisdiction over private facilities and patients, because the
Office of the Ombudsman would look at processes and the entire
practice of an entire facility in the context of an individual
investigation. She said she thinks it is a big step to have the
legislature become involved in the regulation of private health
care facilities through the Office of the Ombudsman. She said
it would be a big move in an area that is highly regulated. She
recollected testimony had been given that judges provide
oversight; however, she said she thinks there are many other
agencies that do so. She concluded, "I think we do care that
the children are watched out for, very much. I think when you
have many different parties trying to make a decision, you ought
to have one person in charge, and that is the judge." She urged
the committee to support the proposed Amendment 1.
9:32:09 AM
REPRESENTATIVE HUGHES recollected that someone had remarked that
if the jurisdiction is extended, the Office of the Ombudsman
would not have the expertise to "delve into things ... with
health care providers."
MS. PERDUE said she agrees. She said the children are under
direct medical care of physicians. She said the process is
directed by the judge, and the care is directed by the
physician.
9:32:58 AM
CHAIR LYNN asked who is responsible for [overseeing] the
regulations that ASHNHA is required to follow.
MS. PERDUE responded that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid
Services have "real teeth" and can make unannounced visits in
response to grievances and can remove state licenses or
accreditation and funding.
9:33:54 AM
MS. MCKENZIE recapped her previous testimony.
9:35:32 AM
TOM CHARD, Director, Alaska Behavioral Health Association
(ABHA), indicated that ABHA oversees 50 members, including
behavioral health centers, drug and alcohol treatment centers,
and mental health centers. He said ABHA supports the proposed
Amendment 1 to HB 127, Version G. He noted that the committee
had heard from its member, North Star Behavioral Health, as well
as received written testimony from Juneau Youth Services, and he
mentioned testimony from "Providence" regarding the levels of
oversight. He said there has been a lot of discussion regarding
detention and how many layers of oversight there are; North Star
Behavioral Health testified that "this is a medical placement."
He said detention is not being considered, because the Office of
the Ombudsman already has oversight over OCS and the Division of
Juvenile Justice (DJJ). He highlighted that the issue is
whether the Office of the Ombudsman should oversee private
medical providers and what the benefit would be if it did. He
expressed appreciation for Representative Hughes' previous
question asking what the harm would be in adding one more layer
of oversight. He opined that the harm would be allowing people
to do something without the necessary level of expertise. He
said with its fiscal note and current capacity, [the Office of
the Ombudsman] is just going to send people back to the existing
grievance procedures, thus, he does not know what the value
would be for anyone.
9:37:46 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER observed that the use of the word
"oversight" is interesting, because the Office of the Ombudsman
does not oversee - it investigates in an attempt to solve a
problem. He stated, "I think oversight is a bit of a stretch,
and I've noticed that as a consistent concern ... that I think
may be an overreaction, for what it's worth."
MR. CHARD responded that he appreciates Representative Keller's
comment; he concurred that [the work of the Office of the
Ombudsman] is investigatory, not oversight.
CHAIR LYNN said the Office of the Ombudsman may take its
investigation to the legislature, which, at some point may have
to weigh in on it, and he remarked that the legislature is not
an expert in health care.
MR. CHARD offered his understanding that under current statute,
if there is a complaint that does not get satisfied, the Office
of the Ombudsman has oversight over the departments and the
divisions; therefore, it can ask the divisions of DHSS how the
grievances are being settled within the department, and if the
Office of the Ombudsman is not satisfied with the answers, it
can, within its current jurisdiction, "address the oversight, or
the investigation, of those complaints."
9:39:29 AM
CHAIR LYNN asked Representative Keller if he maintained his
objection to the motion to adopt Amendment 1 to HB 127, Version
G.
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER removed his objection, but said he thinks
a question has been put on the table that is much larger than
the issue with the resident care facilities. He clarified that
removing his objection does mean he is convinced that the
jurisdiction of the Office of the Ombudsman does not cover the
residential facilities, but explained that he needs legal
clarification before deciding what other amendments may be
needed. He opined that [the proposed Amendment 1] is a step in
the right direction, but warned that "we may be going down a
rabbit trail that we can't finish here." He indicated that
exempting some agencies may be confusing for the ones that are
not listed, because it may imply that they are not under the
Office of the Ombudsman's jurisdiction. He said he thinks the
legislature, as the entity that signs checks and makes
appropriations, owes it to the public to provide a means for
investigation into serious complaints by a citizen.
9:42:11 AM
CHAIR LYNN stated an objection to Amendment 1. He said he
thinks the committee needs "other people to speak to this."
9:42:26 AM
REPRESENTATIVE HUGHES said she finds it odd that the Office of
the Ombudsman came forward to request something without having
done some kind of tracking to assess the need for it. She said
she sees what Representative Keller is saying and agrees that
the legislature has the responsibility to protect Alaska
citizens. She said she respects those who testified, but
ventured that if all their grievance processes are working, it
should not be a big deal to give the Office of the Ombudsman the
jurisdiction it has requested. She indicated the same applies
to the Alaska Bar Association, which she acknowledged is a
different topic.
CHAIR LYNN remarked, "If they believe that their processes are
working, we've kind of got the fox watching the chickens here."
9:43:52 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS said he supports Amendment 1, not
because he is convinced the internal grievance processes are
completely objective, but because there already exists an
"inherently independent" process through the court-appointed
guardians ad litem. He said he wished he had asked Ms.
Leibowitz how the Office of the Ombudsman's investigatory
recommendations would differ from that of the judge. He opined
that having both is unnecessary. He said he thinks there is
merit to the concerns raised that there should be a fiscal note
and some sort of "professional capacity or expertise within the
Office of the Ombudsman to review these cases"; however,
ultimately.
9:45:44 AM
A roll call vote was taken. Representatives Hughes, Keller,
Millett, Kreiss-Tomkins, and Gattis voted in favor of the motion
to adopt Amendment 1 to HB 127, Version G. Representative Lynn
voted against it. Therefore, Amendment 1 was adopted by a vote
of 5-1.
9:46:32 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GATTIS indicated she wanted to wait until HB 127
was heard by the House Judiciary Standing Committee to offer
another amendment.
9:46:52 AM
REPRESENTATIVE MILLETT said if the amendment needs to be
offered, she would do so during the House Judiciary Standing
Committee's hearing on HB 127.
CHAIR LYNN announced that HB 127 was held over.
HJR 24-ARCTIC COUNCIL
9:47:24 AM
CHAIR LYNN announced the last order of business was HOUSE JOINT
RESOLUTION NO. 24, Urging the United States Department of State
to consider the priorities of the state while it holds the
position of chair of the Arctic Council; requesting that the
United States Department of State work in partnership with state
officials to appoint a chair of the Arctic Council; and
supporting the strategic recommendations of the January 30,
2014, preliminary report of the Alaska Arctic Policy Commission.
9:48:00 AM
REPRESENTATIVE BOB HERRON, Alaska State Legislature, Juneau,
Alaska, as sponsor, presented HJR 24. He said in approximately
14 months, the United States will assume the chair of the Arctic
Council. He stated, "As Alaskans, we all believe that it's
better for the United States to work with us to outline our
priorities, because we are the reason the United States is an
Arctic state - an Arctic nation." He indicated that the
proposed house joint resolution stops short of stating that an
Alaskan should be appointed as chair of the Arctic Council,
because he said he thinks that would "set the bar way to high,"
and in many ways may limit Alaska's participation in the
discussion of who that chair should be. The proposed joint
resolution asks that Alaska be included in that discussion and,
because there are Alaskans who have all the abilities the U.S.
needs in a council chair, it may be an Alaskan who becomes the
chair.
9:49:48 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER moved to adopt Amendment 1, labeled 28-
LS1325\A.1, Nauman, 2/26/14, which read as follows:
Page 1, line 4:
Delete "recommendations"
Insert "recommendation"
Page 3, line 3:
Delete "recommendations"
Insert "recommendation"
Page 3, line 4:
Delete ", including continuing to ""
Insert "to "continue to"
There being no objection, Amendment 1 was adopted.
9:50:59 AM
CHAIR LYNN, after ascertaining that there was no one who wished
to testify, closed public testimony on HJR 24.
9:51:05 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER offered his understanding that Legislative
Legal and Research Services had made a mistake in Amendment 1
and, thus, it should be submitted as a conceptual amendment.
9:51:27 AM
REPRESENTATIVE HUGHES queried as follows:
I'm looking in the bill title. We're supporting the
strategic recommendation .... Did the Alaska Arctic
Policy Commission have more than one strategic
recommendation; do we need to specify what it is?
REPRESENTATIVE HUGHES ventured that the commission does have
more than one recommendation.
REPRESENTATIVE HERRON responded as follows:
The advice was that we should not ... expand it to all
recommendations. This one is specific to the effort
that we're respectfully asking the United States to
included Alaskans into the dialog of choosing the
chair, and so, we didn't want it to be, "Make sure you
look at all these others, as well."
REPRESENTATIVE HUGHES indicated that she just wanted to know
that the prime sponsor is comfortable that the language is
clear.
REPRESENTATIVE HERRON responded, "I'm just taking the advice of
others that we should not have recommendations in plural."
9:53:12 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER commended the prime sponsor for bringing
forward HJR 24, because he opined that the appointment of the
chair is incredibly important.
9:53:21 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER moved to report HJR 24, as amended, out of
committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying
fiscal notes. There being no objection, CSHJR 24(STA) was
reported out of the House State Affairs Standing Committee.
9:54:01 AM
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
State Affairs Standing Committee meeting was adjourned at 9:54
a.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| 01 HJR24 ver A.PDF |
HSTA 2/27/2014 8:00:00 AM |
HJR 24 |
| 02 HJR24 Sponsor Statement.pdf |
HSTA 2/27/2014 8:00:00 AM |
HJR 24 |
| 03 HJR24 Request for Equipment.pdf |
HSTA 2/27/2014 8:00:00 AM |
HJR 24 |
| 04 HJR24 AAPC Preliminary Report Excerpt.pdf |
HSTA 2/27/2014 8:00:00 AM |
HJR 24 |
| 05 HJR24-LEG-SESS-2-21-14.pdf |
HSTA 2/27/2014 8:00:00 AM |
HJR 24 |
| 06 HJR24 amendment a.1.pdf |
HSTA 2/27/2014 8:00:00 AM |
HJR 24 |
| 07 Explanation for amendment a.1 to HJR 24.pdf |
HSTA 2/27/2014 8:00:00 AM |
HJR 24 |
| Governor Appointment Commissioner Administration - Thayer.pdf |
HSTA 2/27/2014 8:00:00 AM |
|
| Governor Appointment Commissioner Public Safety - Folger.pdf |
HSTA 2/27/2014 8:00:00 AM |
|
| 08 HJR24 Support Letter_Trimble.pdf |
HSTA 2/27/2014 8:00:00 AM |
HJR 24 |