Legislature(2011 - 2012)SENATE FINANCE 532
01/31/2012 09:00 AM Senate FINANCE
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB70 | |
| SB13 | |
| SB62 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | SB 70 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | SB 13 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | SB 62 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
SENATE FINANCE COMMITTEE
January 31, 2012
9:04 a.m.
9:04:59 AM
CALL TO ORDER
Co-Chair Stedman called the Senate Finance Committee
meeting to order at 9:04 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Bert Stedman, Co-Chair
Senator Lesil McGuire, Vice-Chair
Senator Dennis Egan
Senator Donny Olson
Senator Joe Thomas
MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator Lyman Hoffman, Co-Chair
Senator Johnny Ellis
ALSO PRESENT
Nikole Nelson, Executive Director, Alaska Legal Services
Corporation; Nancy Meade, General Council, Alaska Court
System; Senator Hollis French.
PRESENT VIA TELECONFERENCE
Fredrick Nielsen, Dillingham; Sunny Radebaugh, Wasilla;
Nancy Teitje, Ketchikan; Frances Degnan, Unalakleet; Peggy
Brockman, Anchorage; Monica M. Looney, Anchorage;
SUMMARY
SB 13 WAIVE PARK FEE FOR DISABLED VETERANS
SB 13 was HEARD and HELD in committee for further
consideration.
SB 62 CIVIL LEGAL SERVICES FUND
SB 62 was HEARD and HELD in committee for further
consideration.
SB 70 ALASKA HEALTH BENEFIT EXCHANGE
SB 70 was HEARD and HELD in committee for further
consideration
9:05:33 AM
Co-Chair Stedman stated that SB 70 was receiving its second
hearing and that Senator French had prepared responses to
questions raised at the previous meeting on the bill.
SENATE BILL NO. 70
"An Act establishing the Alaska Health Benefit
Exchange; and providing for an effective date."
9:06:41 AM
Senator Hollis French introduced SB 70 and thanked the
committee for giving thorough attention to such a complex
bill. The bill would establish an exchange that was an
outgrowth of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
(PPACA). The exchange would essentially be a state created
website that contained insurance policies; it would direct
uninsured Alaskans to select a policy and would help them
make an informed decision regarding healthcare. The website
would offer private company insurance policies and would
not be a state entity. Each state was authorized to create
its own exchange; if Alaska did not show progress towards
creating an exchange by January of 2013, the federal
government would create its own for Alaska. It was
federally mandated that by 2014 each person in America must
be covered by healthcare insurance or be able demonstrate
why they could not obtain it. He stated that the bill was a
fundamental step towards getting everyone covered by
healthcare; it was designed to eliminate the "free rider"
problem, whereby uninsured individuals enjoyed free medical
care primarily through emergency room visits. He furthered
that the legislation addressed the free rider problem by
attempting to get those people to pay into the insurance
pool. He stated that there were aspects of price control
and access issues that were designed into the federal bill,
but that SB 70 was meant to help people make the choice
about healthcare coverage. The exchange would also direct
eligible individuals to government programs that they might
not be aware of and would serve an important information
sharing function.
9:09:38 AM
Senator French addressed the questions raised during the
previous hearing on SB 70. He discussed a sectional
analysis addressing which provisions of the bill were
mandated by federal law (copy on file). He stated the "vast
majority" of the pieces of the bill were "basically"
mandated by federal law and were required in order to have
an exchange. He furthered that these provisions were mainly
designed to protect consumers by insuring that people
weren't "fleeced" and were able to find a suitable policy.
Senator French pointed out a few areas in Section 2 that
were not mandated by federal law but were necessary
additions. He explained that (a)(27) on page 8 of the bill
was not mandatory, but was added because applying for
federal planning and establishment grants was a good idea.
He pointed out that (a)(28) on page 9 of the bill also was
not mandatory, but was added in response to Co-Chair
Hoffman's inquiry about whether the state could form pools.
One of the concerns that the administration had was that
Alaska would not be a big enough pool to work efficiently
in the market; (a)(28) would allow the exchange to look at
pooling mechanisms in order to join with other northwest
states with similar populations.
9:11:28 AM
Senator Thomas asked how many people in Alaska were not
currently covered by health insurance. Senator Hollis
responded that there were about 115,000 uninsured
individuals who would be looking for insurance through the
exchange. Senator Thomas stated that in respect to forming
pools, 115,000 was a large number if only a percentage were
served by insurance
Senator Olson asked how many of the 115,000 uninsured
people in the state included members of the native
population and stated that while a majority those
individuals were not insured, they were covered by Indian
Health Services (IHS). Senator French responded that he did
not believe the figure included IHS beneficiaries. He
observed that IHS beneficiaries were a unique group as they
were not formally covered by health insurance, but still
had access to health care.
Senator Olson referenced the previously mentioned federal
mandate in 2014 and queried how a change in presidency
could affect SB 70. Senator French responded that the House
and Senate would have to agree with a president's desire to
repeal PPACA, but that the exchange would no longer be
required if it was overturned. He furthered that it was
possible that the U.S. Supreme Court could "gut" the bill
by eliminating the individual mandate from the legislation
and acknowledged there were political forces that could
undermine the legislation.
Senator Olson referenced Alaska's current lawsuit that was
challenging the federal mandate and asked how challenges to
PPACA in court could affect the legislation. Senator French
responded that many states were fighting court battles
against PPACA, but were still moving forward with their own
exchanges; Florida and Texas were good examples of this. He
furthered that it was possible to oppose PPACA through the
appropriate venue and still embrace the idea of an exchange
to comply with the law as it exists.
9:15:13 AM
Co-Chair Stedman asked if Senator French was aware of any
federal grants that were still available regarding
implementing the exchanges. Senator French indicated that
that he and the Department of Health and Social Services
(DHSS) had "battles" over the issue the prior year, but
that the state had missed out on those grants.
Senator French stated that DHSS was currently moving
forward with a plan for an exchange and stressed concern
that an issue this large was being addressed outside of the
legislature. He spoke about importance of the legislature
being involved in the formulation of the exchange and
expressed interest about where DHSS stood on the issue. He
stated that he had spoken to Commissioner Streur's office
the day before and was interested in talking to them
further in order to gauge where they stood with "respect to
this idea".
Co-Chair Stedman discussed a fiscal note from the
Department of Administration for $3.0 million in general
funds for purchasing bandwidth, hardware, software, and
maintenance of the system, a fiscal note from the
Department of Commerce Community and Economic Development
(DCCED) for $1.8247 million in general funds for 12 new
positions for program management, board costs, and
supplies. The FY 13 fiscal note from DCCED was increased by
$ 162,600 due to higher personnel service costs. He
discussed a fiscal note from DHSS for $182,700 in general
funds and $182,700 in matching federal funds for 3 new
part-time analyst positions and a zero fiscal note from the
Division of Insurance.
9:17:13 AM
AT EASE
9:17:50 AM
RECONVENED
Co-Chair Stedman asked if the bill sponsor had any closing
comments. Senator French stated that he would work outside
of the committee with Commissioner Streur to discuss DHSS's
efforts to start an exchange.
9:18:26 AM
SB 70 was HEARD and HELD in committee for further
consideration.
SENATE BILL NO. 13
"An Act providing for the waiver of certain fees and
charges in state parks for disabled veterans."
9:18:52 AM
Senator French introduced SB 13 and voiced that Alaska was
one of the most veteran rich and veteran friendly states in
the nation. He related that because of Alaskans' love of
the outdoors, it was natural to extend many of the benefits
granted to disabled veterans to areas that had been
overlooked. In the past the state had granted free and
discounted access to park facilities; the bill extended
those benefits to boat ramps, RV facilities, day parking,
and provided at least a 50 percent discount for public use
cabins.
Co-Chair Stedman asked if there was a percentage of
disability that triggered the benefit status. Senator
French replied that 50 percent was the standard that the
veteran's administration had established. Once it was
determined that the disability was service related and more
than 50 percent, the veteran would be given disabled
status. He furthered that state agencies were accustomed to
working with this definition in order to ensure that
benefits went to deserving individuals.
Co-Chair Stedman discussed an updated fiscal note from the
Department of Natural Resources requesting a $10,000
general fund appropriation for program administration
costs. He stated that $206,000 was currently in the
governor's FY 13 budget request and that approval of the
request and this fiscal note would cover the anticipated
loss in revenue resulting from SB 13.
9:22:24 AM
Senator Olson queried if federal parks had waivers or
something similar for disabled veterans. Senator French
responded that he believed that the national park system
admitted disabled veterans free of charge.
Senator Olson inquired how the bill would affect the
maintenance budgets of the parks that were covered under
the legislation. Senator French replied that the prior year
about 1,600 park passes were issued to disabled veterans;
it was a small number and had a negligible effect on the
overall budget. He acknowledged that the park's budgets
were under strain and stated that letting more demographics
in for free would leave less money for maintenance.
9:24:22 AM
SB 13 was HEARD and HELD in committee for further
consideration.
SENATE BILL NO. 62
"An Act allowing appropriations to the civil legal
services fund from court filing fees."
9:24:50 AM
Senator McGuire stated that although the constitution did
not provide a dedicated fund [for the Alaska Legal Services
Corporation], the civil legal services fund was set up to
allow for appropriations and deposits by the legislature.
SB 62 added language to existing statute that would allow
the legislature to appropriate up to 25 percent of filing
fees paid to the Alaska Court System during the previous
fiscal year into the civil legal services fund. Alaska Legal
Services Corporation (ALSC) was a nonprofit association that
helped seniors, children, and any Alaskan that was below 125
percent of the Alaska poverty ceiling. She drew the
committee's attention to a letter in the packet from the
Alaska Commission on Aging and stated that seniors were
especially susceptible to fraud and identity theft, and that
they needed help from the ALSC with guardianship and
conservatorship issues. Due to lack of funding, ALSC was
only able to help 1 out of every 5 people who called them
for assistance. She mentioned the governor's "choose
respect" campaign regarding domestic violence and referenced
a letter in the packet from the Alaska Network on Domestic
Violence & Sexual Assault (ANDVSA). The letter from ANDVSA
showed that women who choose to leave an abusive situation
often did not have the resources to seek legal assistance
and they came to ALSC for help with things like custody,
temporary housing, or lease issues; the current lack of
funding forced ALSC to turn away many of those families.
She stressed that children were present in 80 percent of
the households that had come to ALSC for assistance and
stated that the legislation and ALSC's cause was important
to her.
9:27:35 AM
Senator McGuire stated that currently, ALSC had offices in
Anchorage, Bethel, Dillingham, Fairbanks, Juneau, Kenai,
Ketchikan, Kotzebue, Nome, and Palmer; there were only 20
attorneys servicing those locations. Appropriations to the
ALSC from the legislature were at an all-time high in FY 84
at $1.2 million, but funding had since dwindled to just
over $350,000. She spoke of her efforts over 12 years in
the legislature to get consistent funding back into ALSC.
She stated that ALSC also assisted the court system by
streamlining the process and saving costs. When Alaskans
come in to court without legal-council they end up being a
drain on the legal system. The bill added to the existing
Title 37 language and would give the legislature
discretionary power to appropriate any funds it so desired
from the general fund to the civil legal services fund, but
it also allowed for an amount from the general fund that
was up to 25 percent of the filing fees received from the
Alaska Court System to be deposited into the fund. In 2011,
the court fees totaled $2.6669 million; 25 percent of that
figure would be $666,725. She stated that an appropriation
under the operating budget would be required, but that the
consistent funding would "build the office back up again".
Senator Olson queried how many more lawyers the additional
funding would provide. Senator McGuire stated that ALSC
wanted more lawyers, but that they had not yet allocated a
specific amount for that purpose. She deferred to Nikole
Nelson for further explanation.
9:30:38 AM
Co-Chair Stedman discussed a zero fiscal note from the
Department of Law, a zero fiscal note from the Alaska Court
System, and an indeterminate fiscal note from the
Department of Administration, Office of Public Advocacy.
NIKOLE NELSON, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ALASKA LEGAL SERVICES
CORPORATION, responding to an earlier question by Senator
Olson, stated that ALSC anticipated that the filing fees
would represent about a 20 percent budget increase and
would enable them to serve an additional 500 families. In
response to an earlier question, she stated that ALSC's
attorneys cost about $77,000 per year and indicated that
this was about nine attorneys. ALSC was a nonprofit law
firm that had been doing business in Alaska for the last 40
years and had made a big difference in the lives of the low
income community. In the last year ALSC had been on the
forefront of the fight against domestic violence and had
served over 550 victims; 78 percent of these cases had
children in the household. ALSC was the largest provider of
civil legal services to victims of domestic violence. Over
the last year ALSC had helped 600 seniors with financial
and physical abuse issues, wills, probates, Power of
Attorney issues, and other end of life aging issues. In the
prior year ALSC had also assisted 300 disabled individuals
gain access to healthcare coverage and social security
benefits, and prevented homelessness for over 350 families.
She related ALSC's dedication to providing service to rural
Alaska and stated that over 40 percent of their clients
were in rural Alaskan communities. Over the past year ALSC
had provided direct representation to over 2500 families,
served "countless" individuals through their website
materials, and had nearly 2000 individuals attend their
clinics. She indicated that ALSC staff was paid way below
the market rate. She stated that a staff attorney starting
for their firm in Anchorage would make about $38,000 per
year, while a first year attorney general or district
attorney made about $68,000 per year. She said that ALSC
had a strong base of volunteer attorneys, a volunteer
board, as well as widespread community support and local
financial contributions which helped ALSC "stretch their
dollars".
9:34:30 AM
Ms. Nelson stated that the "bad news" was that the prior
year ALSC had turned away hundreds of families who were
seeking help regarding issues like abuse, losing their
homes, and healthcare access; the cases were turned away
not because they lacked merit, but because ALSC did not
have the staff and resources to help. She reported that
ALSC was a very effective organization and that they had
been successful in 96 percent of the cases where they had
represented victims of domestic violence. She related how
heartbreaking it was to turn people away from services when
it was known that ALSC was so effective and that attorneys
could be hired well below the market rate. ALSC's client
base had been growing each year and funding had not kept
pace. There were an estimated 88,000 Alaskans living in
poverty and an Alaska Supreme Court task force estimated
that of the 88,000 impoverished Alaskans, 33,000 of them
would encounter a civil legal need in a given year. She
stated that the "indicators were grim" and urged the need
to bridge the gap between those who had access to ALSC's
services and those who were able to get them. She believed
that SB 62 would go a "long way" to bridging the gap by
allowing the legislature to appropriate up to 25 percent of
the Alaska Court System's filing fees to ALSC.
NANCY MEADE, GENERAL COUNCIL, ALASKA COURT SYSTEM,
introduced herself for the record.
Co-Chair Stedman queried if the filing fees that were
collected were general funds. Ms. Meade responded in the
affirmative and that the filing fees were deposited into
the general fund. Co-Chair Stedman clarified that the fees
were already general funds and were being used as general
funds. Ms. Meade stated that he was correct.
9:37:43 AM
FREDRICK NIELSEN, DILLINGHAM (via teleconference), spoke in
support of SB 62 and related a personal story about how
ALSC helped him save his house and property.
SUNNY RADEBAUGH, WASILLA (via teleconference), expressed
support of SB 62 and spoke about how ALSC had helped her
deal with a permanent disability and other issues.
9:40:59 AM
NANCY TEITJE, KETCHIKAN (via teleconference), voiced
support of SB 62 and spoke about the services ALSC provided
for seniors.
9:44:30 AM
FRANCES DEGNAN, UNALAKLEET (via teleconference), stressed
her support of SB 62 and observed the need for more
lawyers. She related how necessary ALSC's services were to
the remote communities of Alaska.
PEGGY BROCKMAN, ANCHORAGE (via teleconference), expressed
support of SB 62 and told a personal story about how ALSC
had helped her resolve two legal issues.
9:49:03 AM
MONICA M LOONEY, ANCHORAGE (via teleconference), testified
in support of SB 62. She related a personal story about
being abused by her husband and how ALSC had assisted her
with a divorce, child custody, and a long-term violence
protective order.
9:51:58 AM
SB 62 was HEARD and HELD in committee for further
consideration.
ADJOURNMENT
9:53:19 AM
The meeting was adjourned at 9:53 AM.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| SB 70 - ADN Article.pdf |
SFIN 1/31/2012 9:00:00 AM |
SB 70 |
| SB 70 - Letters Of Support.pdf |
SFIN 1/31/2012 9:00:00 AM |
SB 70 |
| SB 70 - Explanation of Changes.pdf |
SFIN 1/31/2012 9:00:00 AM |
SB 70 |
| SB 70 - Houston Chronicle Article.pdf |
SFIN 1/31/2012 9:00:00 AM |
SB 70 |
| SB 70 - NCSL Article.pdf |
SFIN 1/31/2012 9:00:00 AM |
SB 70 |
| SB 70 - Sectional.pdf |
SFIN 1/31/2012 9:00:00 AM |
SB 70 |
| SB 70 Sen. French Response to Questions 040111.pdf |
SFIN 1/31/2012 9:00:00 AM |
SB 70 |
| SB 13 - CS Sponsor Statement.pdf |
SFIN 1/31/2012 9:00:00 AM |
SB 13 |
| SB 13 - Explanation of Changes.pdf |
SFIN 1/31/2012 9:00:00 AM |
SB 13 |
| SB 13 - Support Documents-State Park Fees.pdf |
SFIN 1/31/2012 9:00:00 AM |
SB 13 |
| SB 13 -CS Sectional.pdf |
SFIN 1/31/2012 9:00:00 AM |
SB 13 |
| SB 13 Support Documents-State Parks ADA Facilities.pdf |
SFIN 1/31/2012 9:00:00 AM |
SB 13 |
| SB 62 abada letter of support.pdf |
SFIN 1/31/2012 9:00:00 AM |
SB 62 |
| SB 62 ACoA Support.pdf |
SFIN 1/31/2012 9:00:00 AM |
SB 62 |
| SB 62 ANDVSA letter of support.PDF |
SFIN 1/31/2012 9:00:00 AM |
SB 62 |
| SB 62 Letter of Support.pdf |
SFIN 1/31/2012 9:00:00 AM |
SB 62 |
| SB 62 sponsor statement.pdf |
SFIN 1/31/2012 9:00:00 AM |
SB 62 |