Legislature(1993 - 1994)
01/25/1994 09:03 AM Senate CRA
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
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+ teleconferenced
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SENATE COMMUNITY & REGIONAL AFFAIRS
January 25, 1994
9:03 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Randy Phillips, Chairman
Senator Robin Taylor, Vice Chairman
Senator Loren Leman
Senator Al Adams
Senator Fred Zharoff
MEMBERS ABSENT
All Members Present
OTHER MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Tim Kelly
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
SENATE BILL NO. 136
"An Act relating to a curriculum for Native language education; and
providing for an effective date."
SENATE BILL NO. 203
"An Act requiring unified municipalities to provide police
protection and law enforcement services; and providing for an
effective date."
SENATE BILL NO. 255
"An Act establishing a comprehensive policy relating to human
resource development in the state."
PREVIOUS SENATE COMMITTEE ACTION
SB 136 - See Community & Regional Affairs minutes dated
1/11/94, 1/20/94.
SB 203 - See Community & Regional Affairs minutes dated
11/3/93, 1/13/94, 1/20/94.
SB 255 - No previous action to record.
WITNESS REGISTER
Scott Brandt-Erickson
P.O. Box 196650
Anchorage, Alaska 99519
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported Senator Kelly's language to SB 203. .
Duane Udland, Deputy Chief
Anchorage Police Department
4501 S. Bragaw
Anchorage, Ak. 99507
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported Senator Kelly's language to SB 203. .
Barbara Weinig
P.O. Box 113849
Anchorage, Ak. 99507
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported Senator Rieger's language to SB 203. 3.
Paul Lance
18530 Kittiwake
Anchorage, Ak. 99516
POSITION STATEMENT: Commented on SB 203.
Richard Weinig
800 E. Dimond, Suite 3620
Anchorage, Ak. 99515
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported Senator Rieger's language to SB 203. 3.
Connie Livsey
8690 Paine Rd.
Anchorage, Ak. 99516
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported Senator Rieger's language to SB 203. 3.
Bill Lamoreaux
Southeast Anchorage Homeowner and Landowners Association (HALO)
Anchorage, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported Senator Rieger's language to SB 203. 3.
Debra Call, Chairman
Alaska Job Training Council
Anchorage, Ak.
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported SB 255.
Bruce Geraghty, Deputy Commissioner
P.O. Box 112100
Juneau, Alaska 99811-2100
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported SB 255.
ACTION NARRATIVE
TAPE 94-6, SIDE A
The Senate Community & Regional Affairs Committee was called to
order by Chairman Randy Phillips at 9:03 a.m. He brought CSSB 136
(CRA) (NATIVE LANGUAGE EDUCATION) before the committee and asked
for the pleasure of the committee.
Number 009
SENATOR ADAMS moved and asked unanimous consent that CSSB 136(CRA)
with the attached fiscal note be moved out of committee with
individual recommendations. There being no objection, it was so
ordered.
Number 012
SENATOR RANDY PHILLIPS introduced SB 203 (MUNICIPAL POLICE
SERVICES) as the next order of business.
SCOTT BRANDT-ERICKSON, Anchorage, said there were some problems
with administering the police force in Anchorage with this bill.
If you were able to do the services as cheaply as it is done now,
the additional service would cost a half million dollars. It is
not clear whether they could provide the investigative and control
services necessary to cover a wide range of crimes. He said there
are 1.24 officers per 1,000 people now in the (indistinct) service
area.
Number 133
DUANE UDLAND, Deputy Chief of the Anchorage Police Department, said
he has testified before on this issue and will answer questions.
SENATOR KELLY asked if they have a position on the proposed Rieger
language and the proposed new language based on the final report on
the Task Force on Government roles from the last legislature.
MR. UDLAND said they support the Rieger proposal.
SENATOR KELLY asked what the position would be of the Anchorage
Municipal Police Department Union on an effort to contract with
State Troopers to patrol the Hillside.
MR. UDLAND replied that he was told the Union would file legal
action.
SENATOR RIEGER asked if the mayor's position was that the Municipal
Charter should be overridden. MR. UDLAND said his Community
Council thinks that Senator Kelly's proposal is very consistent
with the recommendations of the Task Force.
Number 229
BARBARA WEINIG, State Community Council, said she supported Senator
Rieger's bill.
SENATOR KELLY asked for a copy of the survey that states what the
Hillside residents are willing to pay for. The Committee reviewed
the survey. SENATOR KELLY said while it seemed like most of the
people were willing to pay something to get the issue off their
back, they weren't willing to pay enough to cover what the State
Troopers and Anchorage Police say they need.
SENATOR RIEGER said he drew the exact opposite conclusion, that the
willingness to pay is adequate.
SENATOR KELLY said it looked like the upper levels of the Hillside
were only prepared for burglary patrol. Everyone else in Anchorage
is willing to pay for the infrastructure that protects other areas
of town. He didn't think it was fair for the rest of the borough
to be paying for the infrastructure - the drug units, laboratories,
etc. and have the Hillside get off with just burglary patrol.
MS. WEINIG said she agreed with Senator Kelly. She said that many
of them have businesses and pay taxes. They also pay taxes when
they shop in town.
SENATOR KELLY pointed out that everyone pays those taxes. Everyone
who has a business and doesn't live on the Hillside is paying twice
for what the Hillside pays only once.
Number 298
PAUL LANCE, Hillside resident, supported the State Troopers for
protection of his neighborhood. They are better equipped and
positioned than the Anchorage Police Department. He said there
have not been open meetings on this issue in the Hillside area
which should be done. He thought facts and figures were also
lacking in the hearing process - like how many crimes are
committed in that area.
MR. LANCE said they pay probably more than their share, because
they represent a large assessed valuation in the Municipality of
Anchorage.
The valuation is $325 per $100,000 for a home and people want to
know what they are paying $1,000 for. He doesn't think this issue
has been well presented to the public.
Number 348
SENATOR ZHAROFF asked how many households on the Hillside are
affected by this.
SENATOR PHILLIPS said the survey was mailed to 10,546 households in
Southeast Anchorage.
SENATOR KELLY said the assessed evaluation of the areas outside the
police service areas as of January 1, 1994 is about $1.3 billion.
The rest of the Municipality is about $9.5 billion.
He said the areawide mill rate that everyone else pays except the
Hillside is 3.34 mills which is $334 per $100,000 assessed
valuation. What is being asked here is that Hillside pays the same
valuation that everyone else pays. When you decide to buy a more
expensive home, the assessment is one of the things you take into
consideration before purchase, he reasoned. If the millage rate
goes down, it should go down for everyone in the Municipality, not
just the Hillside. He said there are a lot of areas on the east
side of Anchorage that don't often have major problems metropolitan
police have to address, like drug problems, etc., but his people
have to pay the same 3.3 mills, too. The Hillside is not the only
area that doesn't have all of the problems that need to be
addressed by government and people acting in concert to protect
themselves from various kinds of criminal activity.
Number 400
RICHARD WEINIG, member of the Hillside Task Force, felt that what
the people want still isn't clear. He disagreed with the premise
that everyone on the Hillside is not paying for the infrastructure,
because he rents an office and into the cost of this office is
factored the property taxes the owner of the building pays. That's
where everyone pays for infrastructure. He noted that the rest of
Anchorage voted to become part of the Anchorage service area. This
was a voluntary choice on their part.
He supported Senator Rieger's bill as being the proper vehicle for
meeting people needs as opposed to municipal greed. The survey
indicates that 83% of the residents rejected the Anchorage Police
Department.
Number 477
CONNIE LIVSEY, Bear Valley Community Council representative to the
Police Protection Task Force, supported Senator Rieger's bill,
because it is consistent with the views expressed in the Community
Council meetings on this issue. She said the Troopers have greater
professionalism and greater familiarity with their community and
its rural residential flavor. She said her area desires to have
control over their level of service. They do want to be able to
call a trooper when they need one and want a reasonable response
time.
MS. LIVSEY explained that while the Council had not actually seen
Senator Rieger's bill, they had discussed the issues many times and
it is consistent with their wishes.
Number 504
PAT ABNEY, an Anchorage Assembly Member from South Anchorage,
supported Senator Rieger's bill, because it addresses concerns we
have throughout the state and the municipality. She thought the
issue is local control in reference to the City Charter which
grants that right. She said Hillside residents have consistently
expressed a preference to have, and pay for, state police. The
rest of the bill allows other municipalities to tax themselves for
troopers if that's what they want.
Number 528
BILL LAMOREAUX, Southeast Anchorage Homeowner and Landowners
Association (HALO), supported the findings in the Police Protection
Survey. Senator Rieger's bill is consistent with these findings.
SENATOR KELLY stated there were 4 approaches on the table and it's
clear that Senator Rieger's proposal is not acceptable to the
municipality, the Anchorage Police Department Union, or to the
Department of Public Safety. Had he known it existed, he would
have begun with the recommendations in the Task Force on Government
Roles Report which are essentially to allow the local assembly to
work this out regardless of local charter.
SENATOR RANDY PHILLIPS stated the Committee would get position
papers and fiscal notes on all the approaches. He said they would
get the statistic on criminal activities on Hillside. They would
then take up SB 203 again on Thursday.
Number 575
SENATOR RANDY PHILLIPS introduced SB 255 (STATE POLICY ON HUMAN
RESOURCE DEVELOPMT) as the next order of business.
TAPE 94-6, SIDE B
Number 001
DEBRA CALL, Chairman of the Alaska Job Training Council, stated
their support for SB 255. She pointed out that there is a
nationwide movement to establish comprehensive policies of human
resources elements, and the Council believes this particular policy
needs to start with the State of Alaska as it begins to address
the budget concerns within the state.
Number 012
SENATOR RANDY PHILLIPS directed attention to some suggested changes
to language in the bill that have been submitted by the Alaska Job
Training Council.
Number 015
SENATOR ADAMS commented that the Governor promised a thousand jobs
in rural Alaska and that he has not kept up with that particular
promise. He expressed his hope that through this bill the
Legislature will try to find ways in making people in rural Alaska
a productive work force. He then asked why the Department of Fish
and Game is not included in the list of departments that will plan
and implement programs to better achieve the state's primary goal.
MS. CALL replied that they weren't aware that Fish and Game had any
training or employment programs.
Number 030
SENATOR TAYLOR asked what the bill does other than renders a report
every two years to the Legislature. MS. CALL answered that they
are trying to develop a human resource policy for the state, and
one of things SB 255 does is to see where certain programs can be
combined, or to know exactly which programs may be duplicative of
another program, and to develop a comprehensive policy for the
state. She said she would like to see the state programs working
together more to supply qualified skilled workers for major
employers in the State of Alaska.
Number 075
SENATOR TAYLOR asked if anyone can show him how by passing this
legislation the educational community, especially those involved in
vocational education, will somehow be better prepared by this bill.
MS. CALL answered that there are many programs within the state,
but part of the problem is that there are different goals for
different educational programs, especially between urban and rural
areas. In rural areas the programs need a simple focus which is to
get people ready and skilled for economic opportunities that could
happen in their village like mining, petroleum, retail business,
etc.
Number 125
SENATOR LEMAN said the language in subsection(e) on page 2, lines
17 - 18 could be strengthened to do more than "provide the avenue",
by "requiring" the transition from welfare to employment.
MS. CALL supported his statement.
Number 160
BRUCE GERAGHTY, Department of Community and Regional Affairs, said
he supports this bill.
SENATOR TAYLOR asked how much money was being spent on these
programs. MR. GERAGHTY said they do a good job of coordinating.
Job Training Council does a two-year plan which affects a number of
departments. Specifics on the federal legislation side of things
make it so complex to have one entity, at this point, directing
federal dollars into the state programs. Meeting all of their
requirements becomes rather cumbersome and almost frightening.
MR. GERAGHTY informed the Committee that they tried to draft
legislation last year that would consolidate everything. There are
about 8 pieces of federal legislation, one of which is 400 - 500
pages long.
He said this bill establishes a policy that will basically be the
umbrella so they can eliminate some of the problems of
interpretation between the various coordination departments. It's
premature at this point to bring them all together under one roof.
Number 180
SENATOR PHILLIPS reiterated the question of why was ADF&G omitted
from the list of state agencies. MR. GERAGHTY answered that
perhaps the reason was that the departments listed have on-going
training in transition programs that prepare people for the work
force. ADF&G might have training programs for their employees which
is different.
SENATOR PHILLIPS thanked everyone for their participation and
adjourned the meeting at 10:07 a.m.
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