Legislature(2001 - 2002)
01/23/2001 01:30 PM Senate L&C
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
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ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE LABOR & COMMERCE COMMITTEE
January 23, 2001
1:30 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Randy Phillips, Chair
Senator Alan Austerman
Senator Loren Leman
Senator John Torgerson
Senator Bettye Davis
MEMBERS ABSENT
All Members Present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
SENATE BILL NO. 9
"An Act extending the termination date of the State Board of
Registration for Architects, Engineers, and Land Surveyors."
MOVED CSSB 9(L&C) OUT OF COMMITTEE
SENATE BILL NO. 10
"An Act extending the termination date of the Board of Public
Accountancy."
MOVED SB 10 OUT OF COMMITTEE
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
SB 9 - No previous action to consider.
SB 10 - No previous action to consider.
WITNESS REGISTER
Senator Gene Therriault
State Capitol Bldg.
Juneau AK 99822
POSITION STATEMENT: Sponsor of SB 9 and SB 10.
Mr. Jeffrey Wilson, President
Alaska Professional Design Council (APDC)
1405 W. 53rd Ave.
Anchorage AK 99503
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported SB 9.
Mr. Dwayne Adams
American Society of Landscape Architects
13231 Reef Place
Anchorage AK 99515
POSITION STATEMENT: Commented on SB 9.
Ms. Catherine Reardon, Director
Division of Occupational Licensing
Department of Community and Economic Development
P.O. Box 110806
Juneau AK 99811
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported CSSB 9(L&C) and SB 10.
Mr. James Bibb, President
American Institute of Architects for Alaska
No address provided
POSITION STATEMENT: Commented on SB 9.
Ms. Pat Davidson, Auditor
Legislative Budget and Audit
Alaska State Capitol
Juneau, AK 99801
POSITION STATEMENT: Commented on SB 9 and SB 10.
ACTION NARRATIVE
TAPE 01-01, SIDE A
Number 001
SB 9-EXTENDED BOARD OF ARCHITECTS ETC
CHAIRMAN RANDY PHILLIPS called the Senate Labor & Commerce
Committee meeting to order at 1:30 p.m. and announced SB 9 to be up
for consideration.
SENATOR THERRIAULT, sponsor of SB 9, testified that it extends the
sunset date of the State Board of Registration for Architects,
Engineers, and Land Surveyors to 2005. In addition, the
legislature added a temporary board member a couple of years ago
for landscape architect and the bill proposes that position also be
extended. It also extends the funding for expenses of that member.
Senator Therriault said he has heard good comments about him and
there is support for continuing his position.
Currently, there is no requirement for continuing education for
architects, engineers, or land surveyors, Senator Therriault said,
and the Board is not ready to require it and suggested the
legislature consider permissive language. Some boards require
ongoing education in statute and some simply have permissive
language. He noted that a board has the discretion to require it.
There was a question about having a mining engineer as one of the
designated seats and he wanted that to be retained. Current
members have not had a problem finding a qualified individual to
fill that spot, he said. The Board dealt with the reciprocity
issue through adopting regulations.
Number 408
SENATOR LEMAN asked if he communicated with any of the professional
societies about their positions on continuing education.
SENATOR THERRIAULT replied that he had talked to some individuals
and the head of the current board and they are still split. He did
not contact the professional societies to hear their individual
positions.
SENATOR TORGERSON asked if the per diem the individual is paid
would be computed on the fees charged back to everyone else.
SENATOR THERRIAULT replied that was right. By state law they have
to be completely self-supporting.
SENATOR TORGERSON said he thought this board was usually extended
for five years and asked why it's only four now.
SENATOR THERRIAULT answered that the audit suggested 2005.
SENATOR LEMAN explained that when he and Senator Mackie were
chairmen of the committee, they had informally agreed to not extend
a board for more than four years.
SENATOR THERRIAULT said some people who wanted a long extension
approached him, but philosophically, he felt it gives power to
nonelected board members to regulate an industry and "The
legislature should be forced to come back almost more often to make
sure the power is not being abused."
SENATOR LEMAN commented that the committee is trying to be
consistent with all professional licensees.
SENATOR THERRIAULT said the auditors also look at the timing so
that not all of the reviews come at the same time, too.
Number 735
MR. JEFFREY WILSON, President, Alaska Professional Design Council,
supported continuing the Board for the proposed year 2005. All of
the items in the legislative audit had controversy - some to all of
the professions and some to just a few. He also said, "It is the
general consensus on continuing education that the professions are
moving in that direction. While the current board supports
continuing education, they do not support a mandatory program and
there remains member controversy regarding a mandatory program,
particularly regarding the implementation details." They think
this issue should be in separate legislation. He represents nine
different professions on this board and all of them have a
different position relating to continuing education. The
architects already have a required continuing education program for
membership in the AIA. Some states require it, but it's not
universal. Standards are moving towards that.
Number 962
Removing the mining seat from the Board is another controversial
issue, Mr. Wilson said, and should not be attached to the AELS
Board extension bill. "While common sense suggests that the board
should be proportional to its members, the objective would never be
perfect and the historical record and emotion makes it a difficult
political decision, at best. Contrary to the suggestions of the
audit findings and recommendations, we do not believe the landscape
architects are currently requesting a seat on the board, i.e.
replace the mining seat or as an additional seat. There is a
consensus that the landscape architecture temporary seat should be
extended for the three-year extension period and be included as an
amendment to the proposed bill" [language in HB 50].
MR. DWAYNE ADAMS, American Society of Landscape Architects[indisc.]
asked that the committee incorporate language from HB 50 into SB 9
with respect to the landscape architecture provisions. "First of
all, it's very important that the person who sits on the Board
representing landscape architecture be allowed in order to deal
with resolution of the gray areas."
Another provision in HB 50 is that this person be compensated
through per diem and travel expenses for the work that they do. No
other profession that is licensed in the state requires a nonprofit
association to reimburse a person for their travel. Landscape
architects pay fees for the other board members and if the
interests of all the professions are being protected by the person
on the board, those who are paying for licensure fees should
provide for that reimbursement.
The question was raised that the boards are held separate from the
nonprofit associations. The nonprofits do not pay, nor do they
interject politically, except through testimony into the goings on
of the board. Recognizing that separation, it seems appropriate
that it not be held to reimburse a person for travel expenses.
CHAIRMAN PHILLIPS asked if the fiscal note for the committee
substitute would be positive or negative.
SENATOR THERRIAULT anticipated that it would show no change unless
it would cover the per diem of one more person which would be a
small amount.
MS. CATHERINE REARDON, Director, Division of Occupational
Licensing, supported CSSB 9(L&C). She explained that the funding
source will be the new Receipts Supported Services Category (RSSC)
and reflects the fact that the expenses are covered by fee revenue.
She said that the sunset statute says "Boards shall not be
continued for more than four years unless the legislature decides
to continue them for longer." Since then, that has been considered
the standard amount. Legislative Audit recommended a longer
extension for a variety of boards several years ago and at that
time legislators' response was to stick with the standard four
years.
MS. REARDON said the fiscal note would be $2,500 - $3,000 for
payment of the landscape architect. She strongly supports covering
those expenses for the reasons Mr. Adams mentioned. She noted that
the fiscal note would be ready tomorrow.
MR. JAMES BIBB, President, American Institute of Architects for
Alaska, read the following statement:
In response to Alaska State Legislative Audit Committee's
recommendation number 3, AIA Alaska recommends that any
amended language addressing clarity of the statute
semantics be put aside in order to allow the sunset bill
to move forward.
Their concern is that any modification of the language that affects
the architects or licensing could limit or unfairly restrict the
opportunity for qualified architects to become professionally
licensed in Alaska. They would like to build consensus among the
architects in the state before putting words in statute.
MS. PAT DAVIDSON, Legislative Auditor, said their first
recommendation is that the legislature provide for continuing
education of architects, engineers, and land surveyors to get
parity among the professional boards. Most of them already have
that language in statute. Historically, the board has not accepted
that recommendation, but this year they have fewer objections to
it, she said.
MS. DAVIDSON said they looked at restructuring the membership on
the board, particularly requiring a mining engineer. They
recognize that it is an important profession in Alaska, but there
are limited numbers of professionals in that specialized arena.
The Board allows for an open seat of any engineer rather than delay
in filling that one seat. Additionally, landscape engineers were
coming onboard in basically a nonpaid position. The auditors took
no position on that directly. The third recommendation of
extending the Board was housekeeping and shouldn't stall the
legislation.
MR. JEFF WILSON supported Mr. Adams' testimony saying that funding
for the landscape architect to attend meetings is appropriate.
Number 1500
SENATOR LEMAN moved to adopt the committee substitute to SB 9,
Lauterbach 22- LS 0242\C. There were no objections and it was so
ordered.
SENATOR LEMAN stated for the record that this board regulates him.
SENATOR TORGERSON moved to pass CSSB 9 (L&C) from committee with
individual recommendations with the accompanying fiscal notes.
There were no objections and it was so ordered.
SB 10-EXTENDED BOARD OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTANCY
CHAIRMAN PHILLIPS announced SB 10 to be up for consideration.
SENATOR THERRIAULT noted there were several letters of support -
one from the Alaska Society of Certified Public Accountants
[indisc].
MS. CATHERINE REARDON, Director, Division of Occupational
Licensing, supported SB 10, the extension of the Board of Certified
Public Accountants and the accompanying $0 fiscal note, which
explains there is an expense to licensing accountants and having
the Board function, but that the money is already built into the
budget.
Several recommendations in the audit were related to regulations
adopted by the Board and the Division's response on the final page
of the audit was prepared in concurrence with the Board Chairman on
those issues.
Regarding recommendation three, that appointments to the Board are
made in a timely manner, Ms. Reardon commented that it was the
Governor's intent to achieve that with all his board appointments.
MS. PAT DAVIDSON said they made three recommendations to improve
areas within the Board of Public Accountancy. She stated that she
is a CPA and the auditors in her office are either licensed CPAs or
working to attain licensure. As a result, she said, they are not
independent with respect to this Board. But she thought it was an
appearance issue, not one in fact.
The Board designates certain types of continuing professional
education if you are going to be the supervising auditor that signs
off on peoples' experience. Legislative auditors thought the
distinction was inappropriate and saw the Board setting up two
tiers of CPAs, Ms. Davidson said. A general practitioner in public
practice isn't required to have that higher threshold of continuing
professional education. This recommendation was proposed to be
dealt with in regulation, so they will monitor the Board to see if
the changes are made.
MS. DAVIDSON said the second recommendation had to do with taking
due care in licensing professionals. The auditors found that some
of the CPAs signing off experience for others hadn't been licensed
for the full two years they were attesting to. They directed the
Board to look at their procedures.
MS. DAVIDSON said that another recommendation asked the Office of
the Governor to make appointments in a timely fashion.
Number 2160
SENATOR TORGERSON moved to pass SB 10 from committee with
accompanying fiscal notes with individual recommendations. There
were no objections and it was so ordered.
CHAIRMAN PHILLIPS adjourned the meeting at 2:15 p.m.
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