Legislature(1995 - 1996)
03/20/1996 02:00 PM Senate CRA
| Audio | Topic |
|---|
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
SENATE COMMUNITY & REGIONAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
March 20, 1996
2:00 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator John Torgerson, Chairman
Senator Randy Phillips, Vice Chairman
Senator Tim Kelly
Senator Fred Zharoff
Senator Lyman Hoffman
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
SENATE BILL NO. 294
"An Act relating to regional educational attendance areas."
HOUSE BILL NO. 361
"An Act relating to municipal capital project matching grants for
a municipality organized under federal law as an Indian reserve;
and providing for an effective date."
SENATE BILL NO. 287
"An Act relating to the unincorporated community capital project
matching grant program; and providing for an effective date."
PREVIOUS SENATE COMMITTEE ACTION
SB 294 - No previous action to record.
HB 361 - No previous action to record.
SB 287 - See Community & Regional Affairs minutes dated
2/28/96, 3/11/96.
WITNESS REGISTER
Senator Georgianna Lincoln
State Capitol
Juneau, AK 99801-1182
POSITION STATEMENT: Prime Sponsor of SB 294
Hugh Short, Student Intern
Senator Lincoln's Office
State Capitol
Juneau, AK 99801-1182
POSITION STATEMENT: Offered information on SB 294
Kimberly Homme, Special Assistant to the Commissioner
Department of Education
801 W. 10th St., Suite 200
Juneau, AK 99801-1894
POSITION STATEMENT:
Representative Jerry Mackie
State Capitol
Juneau, AK 99801-1182
POSITION STATEMENT: Prime Sponsor of HB 361
Deb Davidson, Committee Aide
Senate Community & Regional Affairs Committee
State Capitol
Juneau, AK 99801-1182
POSITION STATEMENT: Offered information on CSSB 287(CRA)
Walt Wrede
Borough Manager
Lake & Peninsula Borough
P.O. Box 495
King Salmon, AK 99613
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of CSSB 287(CRA)
ACTION NARRATIVE
TAPE 96-17, SIDE A
Number 001
SB 294 COMMUNITY MOVES TO DIFFERENT REAA
CHAIRMAN TORGERSON called the Senate Community & Regional Affairs
Committee meeting to order at 2:00 p.m. He brought SB 294 before
the committee as the first order of business.
Number 015
SENATOR GEORGIANNA LINCOLN, prime sponsor of SB 294, explained the
legislation has been introduced to provide the communities within
one regional educational attendance area (REAA) the ability to
become part of a different educational service area in the same
regional corporation boundary with the approval of the commissioner
of the Department of Education.
Under existing law, a community within an REAA can only become part
of another REAA within the boundaries of a separate regional
corporation. SB 294 provides that a community could merge with an
REAA that has common interests, yet is in the same regional
corporation.
Senator Lincoln said passage of the legislation would enable the
REAA's to become more cohesive and coordinated. Some communities
in rural and bush Alaska feel special bonds with other communities
that are in other REAA's, for example, their language, culture,
family and friends are shared between them. The ability to
administer a school district between these types of communities
could be beneficial in both cultural and fiscal terms.
Senator Lincoln said SB 294 will facilitate improvement in the
state's educational system by allowing schools to transfer to
closely related, adjacent REAA's using stringent guidelines to
insure a responsible, consistent process.
Number 075
HUGH SHORT, student intern, directed attention to a map and the
village of Chistochina and the community of Gustavus, both which
have requested to move within a like regional corporation.
Number 092
SENATOR LINCOLN pointed out that in order for a community to become
part of a different educational service area, it must have a
population of at least 25 residents; the majority of residents that
are qualified voters have to vote upon the move; and the
commissioner of the Department of Education has 30 days in which
disapprove a move from one REAA into another.
Number 140
KIMBERLY HOMME, Special Assistant, Department of Education, stated
the department is in the process of reviewing SB 294 and they
haven't assessed any of its costs to the state. She added the
department recognizes there are a number of communities within
Alaska in REAA's that do feel that they are not properly aligned
with the proper school district, and the bill would give them an
opportunity to move where they feel they would be more culturally,
or economically, or linguistically aligned.
Number 155
SENATOR TORGERSON asked for the pleasure of the committee on SB
294.
SENATOR ZHAROFF moved that SB 294 be moved out of committee with
individual recommendations. Hearing no objection, it was so
ordered.
HB 361 CAP PROJ MATCHING GRANT FOR INDIAN RESERV
SENATOR TORGERSON brought HB 361 before the committee as the next
order of business.
Number 165
REPRESENTATIVE JERRY MACKIE, prime sponsor of HB 361, explained he
introduced the legislation at the request of the Metlakatla Indian
Community when their FY 96 Municipal Assistance Matching Grant
Program appropriation was eliminated from last year's budget.
Metlakatla qualified for this program under the Department of
Administration regulations definition for "municipality."
HB 361 amends AS 37.06 (Capital Project Matching Grants Programs)
by adding a new section that includes a municipality organized
under federal law as an Indian reserve. The bill has been drafted
to specifically include the Metlakatla Indian Community within the
Municipal Assistance Matching Grant Program. It also provides that
Metlakatla may not receive a grant under the Unincorporated
Community Capital Project Matching Grant Program.
Representative Macki said it was clearly the intent of the original
Act to include Metlakatla, but because it has a little different
classification meaning a municipality organized under federal law
as an Indian Reserve, the technical language didn't cover that.
Representative Macki noted there has been some question as to
whether or not this would open up the door to issues relating to
Indian lands and tribal status in qualifying for these grants, but
he has received an opinion from the attorney general that says it
will not because it is very specific in the legislation that it has
to be a municipality organized under federal law that existed
before enactment of 43 U.S.C. 1618(a).
Number 215
SENATOR TORGERSON pointed out the most recent fiscal note on the
bill shows that $16,609 would need to come out of other
communities' grants to make this transition. REPRESENTATIVE MACKI
responded he does not think it is an added fiscal note; it shows
how the $19,000 that should have gone to Metlakatla last year was
actually distributed. In his opinion it is a positive fiscal note
for the other communities until this legislation is passed and the
statute is clarified. He does not believe that it should be
interpreted as taking away from other communities because they've
actually been getting extra money because Metlakatla was not
included.
Number 250
SENATOR ZHAROFF moved HB 361 be passed out of committee with
individual recommendations. Hearing no objection, it was so
ordered.
SB 287 UNINCORP. COMMUNITY MATCHING GRANTS
SENATOR TORGERSON brought SB 287 before the committee and directed
attention to a draft committee substitute dated 3/20/96.
DEB DAVIDSON, committee aide to the Senate Community & Regional
Affairs Committee, explaining the changes in the committee
substitute, said the current program provided that unincorporated
communities in the unorganized borough who had participated in
revenue sharing the preceding fiscal year would be eligible to
participate, whereas the committee substitute opens it to any
unincorporated community in the state that was a place in which 25
or more individuals resided as a social unit. A qualified entity
would be a nonprofit corporation or a Native village council that
would be required to meet standards that are currently in
regulation under the revenue sharing program.
Under the current program, when there was an appropriation made to
the fund, it was divided equally among all of the eligible
communities regardless if they had requested a project or not.
Under the committee substitute, instead of an appropriation that is
divided equally among all of the communities, the appropriation is
allocated on the basis of the projects they request. The list of
requested projects is submitted to the governor and the governor
places that list in the budget request.
The qualified entity must have the written approval and designation
of the borough assembly.
The current program has a five-year lapse provision for projects
that do not have substantial, ongoing work being done, and the
committee substitute changes the lapse period to three years.
Under the local share requirement, communities within boroughs have
their local share calculated on the same basis as the boroughs in
which they reside, which for most of the boroughs is a 30 percent
calculation. The local share outside of the borough will remain at
5 percent.
Number 334
SENATOR HOFFMAN voiced his concern with changing the lapse time
from three years to five years, because in a lot of cases, many of
the small communities are in rural areas of the state where
construction costs are higher and it's very hard to fund any
sizable project for $75,000. It will be minimizing the scope of
any project by reducing that lapse time.
SENATOR TORGERSON commented that one of the things he is trying to
change in this bill is that the money is driving the project
instead of the project looking for money. He said that is the main
difference in the approach he is trying to take.
MS. DAVIDSON pointed out that the way the lapse funds work, it
would be possible for a community to come in in phases for a
project request. If a community got an allocation over a three-
year period, it would have to begin the project within the three
years, but it could continue the project and the lapse date would
be three years from each year that the allocation was received.
Number 385
WALT WREDE, Borough Manager, Lake & Peninsula Borough, stated the
borough's strong support for SB 287. He said the borough has
communities that have suffered greatly under the current program.
The borough has a total of 17 communities and 11 of them are
unincorporated communities. For the last two years in a row, the
borough has received a total of only $44,000 for those 11
communities, which works out to about $4,000 a community. He added
that penalizing unincorporated communities that are within
organized boroughs, as is happening under the current program, is
a disincentive to form new boroughs, and he believes it is in the
state's interest to encourage borough formation at this time.
Mr. Wrede said the borough supports changes that have been made to
the legislation with the exception of the change in the lapse time
from five years to three years.
Number 440
SENATOR KELLY moved that on page 4, line 3 the lapse date be
changed from three years to four years. Hearing no objection the
Chairman stated the motion carried.
SENATOR KELLY moved the adoption of CSSB 287(CRA) as amended.
Hearing no objection, the motion carried.
SENATOR KELLY moved CSSB 287(CRA) out of committee with individual
recommendations. Hearing no objection, it was so ordered.
There being no further business to come before the committee, the
meeting was adjourned at 2:35 p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|