Legislature(2007 - 2008)
05/10/2007 03:09 PM Joint HB171
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
CONFERENCE COMMITTEE ON HB171
May 10, 2007
3:09 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
HOUSE
Representative Gruenberg
Representative Johnson
Representative Coghill
SENATE
Senator Wilken
Senator Stevens
Senator McGuire
MEMBERS ABSENT
HOUSE
All members present
SENATE
All members present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
HOUSE BILL NO. 171
"An Act relating to the terms of legislators, the date and time
for convening regular legislative sessions, adoption of uniform
rules of the legislature and to certain of those rules, the date
for organizing the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee, and
deadlines for certain matters or reports to be delivered to the
legislature or filed; prohibiting bonuses for legislative
employees; and providing for an effective date."
- MOVED CCS HB 171 OUT OF COMMITTEE
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: HB 171
SHORT TITLE: ACCOMMODATE 90-DAY SESSION/LEG PROCEDURES
SPONSOR(s): RULES
03/01/07 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
03/01/07 (H) STA
03/06/07 (H) STA AT 8:00 AM CAPITOL 106
03/06/07 (H) Scheduled But Not Heard
03/15/07 (H) STA AT 8:00 AM CAPITOL 106
03/15/07 (H) Heard & Held
03/15/07 (H) MINUTE(STA)
03/22/07 (H) STA AT 8:00 AM CAPITOL 106
03/22/07 (H) Heard & Held
03/22/07 (H) MINUTE(STA)
03/24/07 (H) STA AT 10:00 AM CAPITOL 106
03/24/07 (H) Heard & Held
03/24/07 (H) MINUTE(STA)
03/29/07 (H) STA AT 8:00 AM CAPITOL 106
03/29/07 (H) Moved CSHB 171(STA) Out of Committee
03/29/07 (H) MINUTE(STA)
03/30/07 (H) STA RPT CS(STA) NT 1DP 3NR 2AM
03/30/07 (H) DP: COGHILL
03/30/07 (H) NR: JOHNSON, ROSES, LYNN
03/30/07 (H) AM: GRUENBERG, DOLL
04/03/07 (H) BEFORE THE HOUSE
04/03/07 (H) TRANSMITTED TO (S)
04/03/07 (H) VERSION: CSHB 171(STA) AM
04/04/07 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
04/04/07 (S) STA
04/12/07 (S) STA AT 9:00 AM BELTZ 211
04/12/07 (S) Heard & Held
04/12/07 (S) MINUTE(STA)
04/17/07 (S) STA AT 9:00 AM BELTZ 211
04/17/07 (S) Heard & Held
04/17/07 (S) MINUTE(STA)
04/19/07 (S) STA AT 9:00 AM BELTZ 211
04/19/07 (S) Moved SCS CSHB 171(STA) Out of
Committee
04/19/07 (S) MINUTE(STA)
04/20/07 (S) STA RPT SCS 4DP 1NR SAME TITLE
04/20/07 (S) DP: MCGUIRE, FRENCH, STEVENS, GREEN
04/20/07 (S) NR: BUNDE
04/27/07 (S) VERSION: SCS CSHB 171(STA)
05/02/07 (S) RECEDE MESSAGE READ AND TAKEN UP
05/02/07 (S) CONFERENCE COMMITTEE APPOINTED
05/02/07 (S) MCGUIRE (CHAIR), STEVENS, WILKEN
05/03/07 (H) CONFERENCE COMMITTEE APPOINTED
05/03/07 (H) COGHILL (CHAIR), JOHNSON, GRUENBERG
05/08/07 (H) HB171 AT 1:00 PM BUTROVICH 205
05/08/07 (S) ACCOMMODATE 90-DAY SESSION/LEG
PROCEDURES
05/09/07 (S) LIMITED POWERS FREE CONFERENCE GRANTED
05/09/07 (H) HB171 AT 3:00 PM CAPITOL 106
05/09/07 (H) Heard & Held
05/09/07 (H) MINUTE(HB171)
05/10/07 (H) HB171 AT 3:00 PM CAPITOL 106
WITNESS REGISTER
PAMELA A. VARNI, Executive Director
Legislative Affairs Agency
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified during the hearing on HB 171.
ACTION NARRATIVE
CHAIR JOHN COGHILL called the Conference Committee on HB 171
meeting to order at 3:09:28 PM. Present at the call to order
from the house were Representatives Coghill, Gruenberg, and
Johnson. Present from the senate were Senators McGuire,
Stevens, and Wilken.
HB 171-ACCOMMODATE 90-DAY SESSION/LEG PROCEDURES
3:09:54 PM
CHAIR COGHILL announced that the first order of business would
be HOUSE BILL NO. 171, "An Act relating to the terms of
legislators, the date and time for convening regular legislative
sessions, adoption of uniform rules of the legislature and to
certain of those rules, the date for organizing the Legislative
Budget and Audit Committee, and deadlines for certain matters or
reports to be delivered to the legislature or filed; prohibiting
bonuses for legislative employees; and providing for an
effective date." [Before the committee were CSHB 171(STA) am
and SCS CSHB 171(STA).]
CHAIR COGHILL moved that the committee adopt Amendment 1, which
read:
Page 2, lines 18 - 22:
Delete all material.
Insert "legislature shall convene at the capital
each year on the [SECOND MONDAY IN JANUARY AT 10:00
a.m.; HOWEVER, FOLLOWING A GUBERNATORIAL ELECTION
YEAR, THE LEGISLATURE SHALL CONVENE ON THE] third
Tuesday in January at 1:00 p.m. Each [10:00 a.m.
EXCEPT AS PROVIDED IN THIS SECTION, EACH] legislature
has [SHALL HAVE] a duration"
Page 3, lines 15 - 24:
Delete all material.
Renumber the following bill sections accordingly.
Page 6, line 21:
Delete "fifth"
Insert "15th"
Page 6, line 24:
Delete "15th"
Insert "30th"
Page 7, following line 30:
Insert a new bill section to read:
"* Sec. 17. The uncodified law of the State of
Alaska is amended by adding a new section to read:
REPORT ON 90-DAY REGULAR SESSION. The Alaska
Legislative Council shall prepare and deliver a report
to each house of the legislature considering issues
related to the duration of the regular session and
making recommendations regarding the amendment or
repeal of any statutes or Uniform Rules implementing
the 90-day regular session. The report may be
delivered at any time before the regular session is
convened in 2010. By July 1, 2008, the Alaska
Legislative Council shall notify the chief clerk, the
senate secretary, and each of the presiding officers
of the date the report will be delivered."
Renumber the following bill sections accordingly.
Page 8, line 2:
Delete "Section 7"
Insert "Section 6"
Page 8, line 3:
Delete "Sections 7 and 18"
Insert "Sections 6 and 18"
Page 8, line 4:
Delete "Sections 1 - 6 and 8 - 17"
Insert "Sections 1 - 5 and 7 - 17"
3:10:22 PM
CHAIR MCGUIRE objected for purposes of discussion.
CHAIR COGHILL informed the committee that Amendment 1 is a
compromise that would designate the third Tuesday in January for
the legislative session start date. This date is after the
gubernatorial inauguration and the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
holiday. In addition, the amendment would also add "fifteenth"
day to the deadline for supplemental appropriations, also known
as the fast track. On page 6, line 24, the amendment would
insert "thirty days" for the time allowed to propose operating
budget amendments. Chair Coghill continued to say that the
amendment will allow the report from the Alaska Legislative
Council to be delivered by 2008.
3:11:04 PM
CHAIR MCGUIRE characterized the proposed amendment as a fair
compromise, but expressed concern that landlords in Juneau may
charge for the full month of January.
CHAIR COGHILL agreed with Chair McGuire's comment.
3:12:08 PM
SENATOR STEVENS stated his appreciation of the compromise.
3:12:27 PM
CHAIR MCGUIRE removed her objection to Amendment 1.
3:12:33 PM
SENATOR WILKEN asked whether there will be sanctions applied to
the administration if the specified deadlines are not met.
CHAIR COGHILL related his understanding that to date there have
been no sanctions applied when amendments have been submitted
past existing dates.
3:13:16 PM
SENATOR WILKEN said that he asked the aforementioned question to
highlight that the dates are meaningless because amendments to
the operating and capital budgets are submitted at the last
minute. "So, if we think we're going to move folks quickly,
we're not," he remarked.
3:13:45 PM
CHAIR COGHILL pointed out that the budget close-out procedure
puts the administration in "the driver's seat" unless there is a
special session.
3:14:09 PM
SENATOR STEVENS clarified then that under Amendment 1 the start
date and time would be the third Tuesday in January, at 1:00
p.m., for both sessions.
CHAIR COGHILL replied yes.
3:14:33 PM
CHAIR MCGUIRE asked for assurance that Amendment 1 does not
delete Section 7 of SCS CSHB 171(STA).
CHAIR COGHILL announced that he intends to offer a separate
amendment to address Section 7.
3:15:22 PM
A roll call vote was taken. Representatives Gruenberg, Johnson,
and Coghill, and Senators Wilken, Stevens, and McGuire voted in
favor of Amendment 1. Therefore, Amendment 1 was adopted by a
vote of 6-0.
3:15:36 PM
CHAIR COGHILL moved that the committee adopt Amendment 2, which
read [original punctuation provided]:
Page 4, line 4-12:
Delete all material
CHAIR MCGUIRE objected.
3:16:16 PM
CHAIR COGHILL explained that Amendment 2 removes language
regarding the ability of Legislative Budget and Audit to
transfer money during special sessions. He expressed concern
that the language allows the transfer of funds without
sufficient accountability. Chair Coghill stated that funds can
be transferred through a full committee, or by a vote through
Legislative Council. He opined that the regular appropriation
process should work.
SENATOR STEVENS stated that Section 7 has never been abused and
has been used often when small amounts of money need to be
transferred. He said he saw no reason to delete [Section 7] and
then suggested the committee hear testimony from Pam Varni.
3:16:57 PM
PAMELA A. VARNI, Executive Director, Legislative Affairs Agency,
Alaska State Legislature, urged members not to delete Section 7.
She opined that the language [in Section 7 of SCS CSHB 171(STA)]
protects those who are in charge of the funds better than
existing statutory language due to the last sentence of Section
7. Since 1960, the legislature has had the ability to direct
the transfer of funds between appropriations. Eliminating this
ability in conjunction with a 90-day session, she suggested, may
result in additional special sessions. In fact, the 14 members
of the Legislative Council has directed the executive director
to transfer funds between appropriations about 30 times since
1960. The language in Section 7 of SCS CSHB 171(STA) specifies
that transfers are to be approved by signed authorizations from
the chair of the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee, and by
the chair of the recipient committee. She emphasized that the
decisions [on matters of these sort] are made by the entire
Legislative Council. Furthermore, when funds needed to be
transferred this ability to transfer funds with the legislature
has helped the legislature continue to conduct its business.
3:19:56 PM
CHAIR COGHILL relayed his understanding that the chair of the
Legislative Council and the chair of the Legislative Budget and
Audit Committee could agree to transfer funds [without the
approval] of the Legislative Council.
3:20:27 PM
MS. VARNI related her disagreement, and specified that it would
require eight members of the full Legislative Council, in a
meeting, to agree to a transfer. She highlighted that the
language in Section 7 of SCS CSHB 171(STA) refers to "the
council" not just the chair, and therefore refers to the full
body of the Legislative Council.
CHAIR COGHILL withdrew Amendment 2.
3:21:14 PM
MS. VARNI further explained that an appropriation that is not in
the fast track supplemental, or that is held for the governor's
signature may be received by her office as late as June 30. In
such a situation, per diem checks could not be issued. Ms.
Varni concluded by saying that the Legislative Council needs the
present authority for operations to continue.
3:22:07 PM
REPRESENTATIVE JOHNSON asked whether the legislature operates
under one budget review unit (BRU).
MS. VARNI responded that the legislature now operates under
three result delivery units (RDU), which have different
components within them.
3:23:04 PM
REPRESENTATIVE JOHNSON asked whether [Section 7] allows
transfers within the RDUs.
MS. VARNI replied that her office can transfer between
components; however, it can not transfer between appropriations
without the direction of the Legislative Council.
3:23:34 PM
CHAIR COGHILL moved to report CCS HB 171 out of committee with
individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal notes.
A roll call vote was taken. Representatives Gruenberg, Johnson,
and Coghill, and Senators Wilken, Stevens, and McGuire voted in
favor of the motion. Therefore, CCS HB 171 was reported from
the Conference Committee on HB 171 with limited powers of free
conference.
3:24:26 PM
SENATOR WILKEN informed the committee that he did not believe he
had to sign the report from the Conference Committee on HB 171
with limited powers of free conference, and thus would not do
so.
3:24:41 PM
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the Free
Conference Committee on HB 171 meeting was adjourned at 3:24
p.m.
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