Legislature(2007 - 2008)BELTZ 211
03/01/2007 01:30 PM Senate LABOR & COMMERCE
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Confirmation Hearing|| Workers' Compensation Appeals Commission | |
| Confirmation Hearing || Alcoholic Beverage Control Board | |
| Alaska Workers Compensation Board | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE LABOR AND COMMERCE STANDING COMMITTEE
March 1, 2007
1:32 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Johnny Ellis, Chair
Senator Gary Stevens, Vice Chair
Senator Bettye Davis
Senator Con Bunde
MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator Lyman Hoffman
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
Confirmation Of Governor's Appointees:
Alcoholic Beverage Control Board - Shirley A Gifford
Alaska Workers' Compensation Appeals Commissioner - Stephan T.
Hagedorn
Alaska Workers' Compensation Board - Mark A. Crutchfield, Gloria
O'Neill, Janet L. Waldron, William K. Williams
CONFIRMATIONS ADVANCED
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to consider
WITNESS REGISTER
STEVE HAGEDORN, Risk Manager
Alaska Railroad Corporation
Anchorage
POSITION STATEMENT: Appointee to the Worker's Compensation
Appeals Commission.
SHIRLEY GIFFORD, Retired
Soldotna AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Re-appointee to the Alcoholic Beverage
Control Board (ABC).
GLORIA O'NEILL, CEO
Cook Inlet Tribal Council
Anchorage AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Appointee to the Alaska Workers'
Compensation Board.
JANET WALDRON, Director
Human Resources
Harbor Enterprises, Inc.
POSITION STATEMENT: Appointee to the Alaska Workers'
Compensation Board.
MARK CRUTCHFIELD, Business Manager
Alaska Millwrights and Machine Erectors - Local 1501
Anchorage AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Appointee to the Alaska Workers'
Compensation Board.
ACTION NARRATIVE
CHAIR JOHNNY ELLIS called the Senate Labor and Commerce Standing
Committee meeting to order at 1:32:51 PM. Members present were
Senators Bunde, Davis, Stevens and Ellis.
^Confirmation Hearing
^Workers' Compensation Appeals Commission
1:36:56 PM
CHAIR ELLIS announced the committee would take up the Governor's
appointees.
STEVE HAGEDORN, appointee to the Worker's Compensation Appeals
Commission, was the first appointee.
CHAIR ELLIS thanked him for his willingness to serve and asked
him for some highlights of his background and to tell them why
he wanted to serve.
MR. HAGEDORN said he came to Alaska in 1971 and took his Army
discharge here. He worked for the Alaska Railroad for the past
32 years as its risk manager. He already served on the Alaska
Workers' Compensation Board for many years and has always been
interested in workers' compensation issues.
SENATOR BUNDE asked if he felt the state's Workers' Compensation
Program needed any changes.
MR. HAGEDORN replied that he thought that the system was working
well. Approximately 24,000 claims were filed with the State of
Alaska last year and very few came before the court - and now
the Commission. He recalled that he handled 300 - 350 hearings a
year and about 50 of those dealt with either legal issues or an
unusual claim.
CHAIR ELLIS said if there were no further comments, his name
would be forwarded to the full body.
^Confirmation Hearing
^Alcoholic Beverage Control Board
1:39:00 PM
SHIRLEY GIFFORD, re-appointee to the Alcoholic Beverage Control
Board (ABC), said she is a retired Chief of Police of the
Soldotna Police Department after serving 28 years in law
enforcement. She has already served the remainder of the term
for Dwayne Udland's position on this Board from October 2005
until today and reapplied for the position when it came open.
CHAIR ELLIS thanked her for serving and asked her to comment on
where the Board is going in the future.
MS. GIFFORD related that before being on the Board she already
had a lot of experience with overseeing licenses, checking
backgrounds and meeting with bar owners on violations being a
part of the Anchorage police department. Being on the Board is a
little different because she is responsible for controlling the
manufacture, possession, sale and bartering of alcoholic
beverages and for reviewing all the applications and meeting out
sanctions for violations. To that extent it has been a learning
process that she has enjoyed. She said the Board is a good one
because it has a good mix - not all members think alike. She has
is diligent about reading and studying her packet so she can be
prepared for the meetings. She has vast experience with boards.
CHAIR ELLIS thanked her and noted complimentary letters in her
packet. He hoped other members of the Board would follow her
example.
1:43:00 PM
CHAIR ELLIS asked how transferring the Board from the Department
of Revenue (DOR) to Department of Public Safety (DPS) to upgrade
enforcement and compliance functions has worked. Some in the
liquor and hospitality industry think it should go back to the
DOR because of heavy-handed tactics. He didn't necessarily agree
with them and supported reasonable professional enforcement of
the state's laws.
MS. GIFFORD replied that she is biased toward enforcement and
good public safety and thought it important to keep the Board
under DPS.
I think enforcement is very very important. We have
some pretty serious alcohol abuse throughout our state
and it's critical for this to be regulated and
overseen by communities and for us to listen to what
those community issues are. To have the enforcement
means that you're also going to have compliance.
During the time I was Chief of Police in Soldotna I
was very pleased with the level of compliance that we
had here in the community and it took a community
effort to have that and to establish good
relationships with the bar owners. I absolutely
believe in free enterprise and that people should be
able to have their businesses.
You know, not having alcohol doesn't work and that's
been proven out and so I think we need to have
regulations and we need to have enforcement of the
regulations. It not only makes people, the law abiding
citizens who are going to follow the rules - it makes
them feel pretty good, too, to know that they're in
compliance and they're doing the right thing and
they're not serving to minors. You know, kudos to the
bar owners who make every effort to do that. If we
don't have any enforcement, nobody recognizes that
effort in taking care of our kids. There have been
times I've been accused of being heavy handed and I've
been accused of that by our chair and you know, he's a
bar owner - and Mike Gordon is our chair - and I have
a lot of respect for Mike and worked with him during
the time I was in Anchorage and with his violations -
and he was tenacious and he was responsible and he
came in and talked with me when there were issues -
and I would hope that all bar owners would follow his
lead on that.
1:47:00 PM
CHAIR ELLIS asked her to have the Board review some of the
procedures used by enforcement officers for professionalism.
MS. GIFFORD responded that was excellent advice and she would
follow up on it.
CHAIR ELLIS went to a very complimentary letter from Gustavus on
her efforts on their behalf from the mayor. However, it was also
critical of some of the outdated information provided by the ABC
Board staff about a local ballot measure for a package store. He
said the point is that the ABC Board seemed ill-equipped to deal
with small communities on "some of these contentious liquor
issues." He asked for her thoughts on that.
MS. GIFFORD replied she was disappointed to see what had
happened and hoped the Board would be more diligent in the
future. She knows the staff of the ABC Board works very hard and
a lot of issues before it aren't easy. She explained that the
director wants to do the right thing and the Board is not a
predictable group. It seems to be split, but not always exactly
the same way. Some procedural issues need to be looked at within
its staff and Board standards can be reviewed. She stated:
It's critical that they have up-to-date information. I
don't know how that happened. That was a travesty
right there that they were working so closely with the
staff and trying so hard to do exactly the right
thing, following the procedures. They're a new city;
they want to do everything right.
I saw no hidden agendas with the representatives of
Gustavus. I thought they were doing a great job. You
know how I voted. I had hoped that we could back them
up in what they were trying to do and just attack the
other issue of having a package store in a different
way. But, in my view, I think they were trying to do
everything right and they just got slammed. I don't
know how else to put it....My personal opinion is that
we should have backed up the city, but I'm just one
vote.
CHAIR ELLIS noted that the Board voted two or three times to
deny the Council's request as "arbitrary, capricious, and
unreasonable." It was protesting the issuance of the package
store based on the lack of public safety and health care
facilities that might have been impacted by an increase in the
presence of alcohol in their community.
He wanted to use this as an example of the need for the Board to
have training and greater sensitivity to small communities in
general, not just rural communities. He has been told that the
Board rejected the advice of its assigned legal counsel numerous
times for reasons that are not explained on the public record.
This happened in cases other than the Gustavus case.
MS. GIFFORD responded that she would love to see that training.
She thought the frustration level would decrease with it.
CHAIR ELLIS concluded and thanked her for serving. He said they
would forward her name on to the full body.
1:56:00 PM
^Alaska Workers Compensation Board
CHAIR ELLIS announced that that there were other appointees for
the Alaska Workers' Compensation Board, but he had selected four
names for the committee to review today. He started with Gloria
O'Neill and asked her for background highlights and why she
wanted to serve on the Board.
GLORIA O'NEILL, CEO, Cook Inlet Tribal Council, said she has
been with the organization for 15 years. She works very closely
with the Anchorage Museum Association and serves as Vice Chair;
she also serves on a couple of national committees - one being
the U.S. Census Board for Race and Ethnicity and another working
with the Bureau of Indian Affairs' budget committee. She works a
lot with people in developing resources to bring more
opportunities to the community in general. She looks forward to
contributing her experience to the Board and learning about the
workers' compensation program.
CHAIR ELLIS thanked her for her willingness to serve. He asked
if service on a state board was new to her. She replied no and
that she had already served on the Alaska Mental Health Board.
CHAIR ELLIS said the committee would forward her name to the
full body. He next asked Ms. Waldron to give the highlights of
her background that lent themselves to service on this board.
2:00:00 PM
JANET WALDRON, appointee to the Workers' Compensation Board,
said her background is in human resources management (PHR). She
is familiar with working with workers' compensation from the
management side. As an employer cost containment - looking at a
balance between what the employee rights are versus what the
fiscal requirements are - is a role she is very familiar with.
She has enjoyed hearing a few cases so far. She enjoys the work.
For background, she has worked in the oil and insurance
industries and most of her HR background has been focused on the
benefits arena working on the vendor side for the insurance
companies. She promised to resign from some other volunteer
boards to be able to give enough time to this one.
CHAIR ELLIS asked how she strikes the balance between employer
interests and labor.
MS. WALDRON replied that she listens a lot. There are always two
sides to a story and an issue is before the Board for a reason.
She evaluates the issues, looks at what has been done in the
past, looks at the kind of precedents that are being set, and
goes from there.
2:04:00 PM
MARK CRUTCHFIELD, Business Manager, Alaska Millwrights and
Machine Erectors - Local 1501, said he has been in Alaska since
2000 and had been in this position since 2003. Before that he
was a millwright working in the field; he has also worked in the
power generation, oil and gas and conveyor industries.
He thought his background with labor relations would help
further the Board's aims. He has a little different philosophy
as far as most unions go. They try to work with their
contractors and employers as partners rather than adversaries
believing if they can work together, they can further the
industry for everybody. He said he would carry that attitude
forward to the Workers' Compensation Board. He said workers
definitely need protection, but he emphasized the protection has
to be fair.
CHAIR ELLIS said he appreciated Mr. Crutchfield's can-do
attitude. He asked how often the Board's decisions are
overturned on appeal.
MR. CRUTCHFIELD replied that he didn't know.
CHAIR ELLIS thanked him for his willingness to serve and said
his name would be forwarded on. He invited Mr. Williams to
testify next - mentioning that he was a former Representative in
the Alaska Legislature.
2:08:00 PM
WILLIAM K. WILLIAMS, appointee to the Workers' Compensation
Board, said he had been in the Union since 1963 and has worked
with both employers and union groups in what they called a Joint
Court Labor Relations Committee. He mentioned that his
legislative experience and being co-chair of Finance would be a
good background for this Board and he also looked forward to
doing something new.
CHAIR ELLIS thanked him for his willingness to continue serving
and said he was confident he would bring his good qualities to
this position.
SENATOR BUNDE quipped that dropping a cribbage board on the foot
wouldn't be considered a workers' compensation claim.
2:12:00 PM
SENATOR STEVENS jested why he didn't fund the Kodiak Bridge when
he was co-chair of Finance.
MR. WILLIAMS replied because it was already built.
CHAIR ELLIS thanked him again and said his name would be
forwarded on to the full body for conformation. He said that
there were other appointees, but he didn't think it was
necessary to bring them all before the committee. He asked
members to let him know if they had concerns about the others.
That being said he stated that the other names would be
forwarded on also. There being no further business to come
before the committee, he adjourned the meeting at 2:13:53 PM.
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