03/01/2022 11:30 AM House WAYS & MEANS
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Presentation(s): New York State Spending and Government Efficiency Commission | |
| HB223 | |
| Adjourn |
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| += | HB 223 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS
March 1, 2022
11:33 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Ivy Spohnholz, Chair
Representative Andy Josephson
Representative Calvin Schrage
Representative Andi Story
Representative Mike Prax
MEMBERS ABSENT
Representative Adam Wool, Vice Chair
Representative David Eastman
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
PRESENTATION(S): NEW YORK STATE SPENDING AND GOVERNMENT
EFFICIENCY COMMISSION
- HEARD
HOUSE BILL NO. 223
"An Act relating to the curriculum improvement and best
practices fund; relating to the fuel emergency fund and fuel
emergency grants; relating to the Railbelt energy fund; relating
to the Alaska affordable energy fund; relating to the special
Alaska Historical Commission receipts account; relating to the
rural electrification revolving loan fund and loans from the
fund; relating to the Southeast energy fund and grants from the
fund; and relating to the Exxon Valdez oil spill unincorporated
rural community grant fund and grants from the fund."
- HEARD & HELD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: HB 223
SHORT TITLE: REPEALING FUNDS, ACCOUNTS, AND PROGRAMS
SPONSOR(s): REPRESENTATIVE(s) KAUFMAN
01/18/22 (H) PREFILE RELEASED 1/7/22
01/18/22 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
01/18/22 (H) W&M, FIN
02/24/22 (H) W&M AT 11:30 AM DAVIS 106
02/24/22 (H) Heard & Held
02/24/22 (H) MINUTE(W&M)
03/01/22 (H) W&M AT 11:30 AM DAVIS 106
WITNESS REGISTER
PAUL FRANCIS, Senior Advisor to the Commissioner
New York State Department of Health
(No address provided)
POSITION STATEMENT: Provided a PowerPoint, entitled "Discussion
of the New York SAGE Commission Report," during the New York
State Spending and Government Efficiency Commission
presentation.
ACTION NARRATIVE
11:32:53 AM
CHAIR IVY SPOHNHOLZ called the House Special Committee on Ways
and Means meeting to order at 11:33 a.m. Representatives
Josephson, Schrage, Story, Prax, and Spohnholz were present at
the call to order. Representatives * arrived as the meeting was
in progress.
^PRESENTATION(S): New York State Spending and Government
Efficiency Commission
PRESENTATION(S): New York State Spending and Government
Efficiency Commission
11:33:55 AM
CHAIR SPOHNHOLZ announced that the first order of business would
be a presentation on the New York State Spending and Government
Efficiency Commission.
11:34:26 AM
PAUL FRANCIS, Senior Advisor to the Commissioner, New York State
Department of Health, stated that he is testifying in a personal
capacity, not on behalf of Governor Hochul. He began a
PowerPoint presentation, titled "Discussion of the New York SAGE
Commission Report" [hard copy included in the committee packet].
He noted the commission convened from 2011 to 2013. This
commission focused on state government operations as opposed to
programs funded by the state government. The SAGE commission
consisted of members of the legislature, local elected
officials, representatives of organized labor, and business
leaders. The mission of the SAGE Commission charter was to
"modernize and right-size government to make it more efficient,
effective, and accountable." It included four missions:
reorganize state government; reduce costs; improve services;
build a culture of performance and accountability; and focus on
core mission and implementation.
11:38:48 AM
MR. FRANCIS said that reorganizing the government involved
consolidating and merging agencies and authorities while
integrating agencies with a clear chain of command. There were
issues with merging certain agencies with differing labor
unions, for example the New York Department of Transportation
and the Thruway Authority. It was important to merge horizontal
functions across the state, like procurement and real estate,
which created less bureaucratic resistance to change.
Horizontal consolidation was more successful in consolidating
the state's "footprint" and helped to shrink the facilities and
workforce needed. However, a tradeoff was employment security.
The centralization of Information Technology (IT) helped to
avoid redundancy and achieve economies of scale. Common data
centers and cloud hosting helped to increase efficiency at IT.
Significant progress was made in digital delivery of government
services, such as functions at the New York Department of Motor
Vehicles, grant applications, and business licenses. Efforts to
reduce costs and improve services involved modernizing the
workforce through ongoing replacement of civil service workers
with contracted services including those from the non-profit
sector.
11:55:06 AM
MR. FRANCIS noted that unlike the private sector, the New York
State government lacked an incentive system to reward employees
for better performance. Improvements in performance management
metrics involved finding a balance between governmental
transparency and strategic metrics. There was reluctance among
political leaders to be specific about targets for metrics such
as crime rates. There was also resistance from state agencies
about measuring performance because employees don't always have
full control over whether goals can be achieved or not. Mr.
Francis urged the committee to create a similar commission to
the SAGE commission by creating a team with an unbiased view and
identifying options for improving efficiency and effectiveness.
11:58:49 AM
MR. FRANCIS, in response to committee questions, emphasized the
benefits of horizontal consolidations over merging vertical
state agencies. Fiscal austerity forced innovation for systemic
changes recommended by the SAGE commission. He detailed the
timeline for implementation which took 12-18 months to develop
recommendations and 4-5 months to develop a final report from
SAGE. Mr. Francis looked to Maryland, Washington, and New York
City governments for performance management system
recommendations. He also recommended that performance
measurement should capture the whole chain from input to
outcome.
MR. FRANCIS, in response to a question about tradeoffs for
efficiency versus employment security, mentioned in example that
one area of state government has been moved 75 percent into the
private or nonprofit sector, which saves the state money; the
only reason that the other 25 percent hasn't been moved out of
government is for the employment security of those workers. The
state offers more financial benefits to its employees than the
private sector and "the governor politely believes that that is
how he would like all workers to be treated, but for competitive
reasons, can't impose it on the private sector, but it is
willing to impose it on itself."
HB 223-REPEALING FUNDS, ACCOUNTS, AND PROGRAMS
12:16:25 PM
CHAIR SPOHNHOLZ announced that the final order of business would
be HOUSE BILL NO. 223, "An Act relating to the curriculum
improvement and best practices fund; relating to the fuel
emergency fund and fuel emergency grants; relating to the
Railbelt energy fund; relating to the Alaska affordable energy
fund; relating to the special Alaska Historical Commission
receipts account; relating to the rural electrification
revolving loan fund and loans from the fund; relating to the
Southeast energy fund and grants from the fund; and relating to
the Exxon Valdez oil spill unincorporated rural community grant
fund and grants from the fund."
12:16:49 PM
CHAIR SPOHNHOLZ opened public testimony on HB 223. After
ascertaining that no one wished to testify, she closed public
testimony.
12:17:09 PM
CHAIR SPOHNHOLZ announced that HB 223 was held over.
12:17:48 PM
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Special Committee on Ways and Means meeting was adjourned at
12:17 p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| SAGE Commission Presentation, 3.1.22.pdf |
HW&M 3/1/2022 11:30:00 AM |
|
| HB 223 Sponsor Statement.pdf |
HW&M 2/24/2022 11:30:00 AM HW&M 3/1/2022 11:30:00 AM |
HB 223 |
| HB 223 Supporting Document - Legal Memo.pdf |
HW&M 2/24/2022 11:30:00 AM HW&M 3/1/2022 11:30:00 AM |
HB 223 |
| HB 223 Supporting Document - Fund Table.pdf |
HW&M 2/24/2022 11:30:00 AM HW&M 3/1/2022 11:30:00 AM |
HB 223 |
| HB 223 Fiscal Note, OMB, 2.23.22.pdf |
HW&M 2/24/2022 11:30:00 AM HW&M 3/1/2022 11:30:00 AM |
HB 223 |