01/24/2013 01:30 PM Senate LABOR & COMMERCE
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB14 | |
| Adjourn |
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | SB 8 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | SB 14 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | SB 16 | TELECONFERENCED | |
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE LABOR AND COMMERCE STANDING COMMITTEE
January 24, 2013
1:30 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Mike Dunleavy, Chair
Senator Peter Micciche, Vice Chair
Senator Bert Stedman
Senator Johnny Ellis
MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator Donald Olson
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
SENATE BILL NO. 14
"An Act relating to the term of office of directors of telephone
or electric cooperatives."
- MOVED SB 14 OUT OF COMMITTEE
SENATE BILL NO. 8
"An Act establishing procedures and guidelines for auditing
pharmacy records; and providing for an effective date."
- BILL HEARING POSTPONED
SENATE BILL NO. 16
"An Act relating to the Board of Registration for Architects,
Engineers, and Land Surveyors and to the Department of Commerce,
Community, and Economic Development."
- BILL HEARING POSTPONED
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: SB 14
SHORT TITLE: ELECTRIC/TELEPHONE COOPS: BOARD TERMS
SPONSOR(s): SENATOR(s) DYSON
01/16/13 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
01/16/13 (S) L&C
01/24/13 (S) L&C AT 1:30 PM BELTZ 105 (TSBldg)
WITNESS REGISTER
SENATOR FRED DYSON
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Sponsor of SB 14.
PHIL STEYER, Director
Government Relations & Corporate Communications
Chugach Electric Association
Anchorage, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of SB 14.
ACTION NARRATIVE
1:30:12 PM
CHAIR MIKE DUNLEAVY called the Senate Labor and Commerce
Standing Committee meeting to order at 1:30 p.m. Present at the
call to order were Senators Micciche, Stedman, Ellis, and Chair
Dunleavy.
SB 14-ELECTRIC/TELEPHONE COOPS: BOARD TERMS
CHAIR MIKE DUNLEAVY announced the consideration of SB 14, "An
Act relating to the term of office of directors of telephone or
electric cooperatives." He stated that his intention was to hear
and move the bill from committee today if that was the will of
the committee.
1:31:16 PM
SENATOR FRED DYSON, sponsor of SB 14, introduced SB 14 speaking
to the following sponsor statement:
Senate bill 14 will change the term limit for
directors on the boards of telephone and electric
cooperatives. Current statute, AS 10.25.160, states
that terms for directors can only be three years, and
this bill will allow cooperatives to lengthen director
terms to four years. This change will allow
flexibility among cooperatives and will increase the
effectiveness of this important industry in the
following ways:
Longer terms will allow more stability and continuity
to each cooperative board; each director will have
more time to be productive after going through the
learning curve of the industry. It will give the
additional option of having elections for directors
[every two years], potentially saving money on
elections for cooperatives that choose to do so. The
change in term length will not be mandatory for
cooperatives that prefer to maintain the three-year
terms for directors.
Senate Bill 14 will amend current Alaska Statute to
provide more flexibility to telephone and electric
cooperatives by giving the option to lengthen the
terms for directors allowing them to be more effective
in their industry.
SENATOR DYSON noted that the packets contained letters of
support from a number of utilities. He said his staff, Joshua
Banks, was available to answer questions from the committee.
CHAIR DUNLEAVY opened public testimony and recognized Mr.
Steyer.
1:32:51 PM
PHIL STEYER, Director, Government Relations & Corporate
Communications, Chugach Electric Association ("Chugach"), stated
that the board of directors of Chugach was interested in
changing the statute relating to electric and telephone
cooperatives. It was specifically interested in amending AS
10.25.160 to allow a director to serve up to four years rather
than the current statutory limit of three years. He said the
statute further provides that the terms of directors shall be
staggered so that [not all terms expire at the same time.]
MR. STEYER explained that a seven-member board of directors
governs Chugach. Its bylaws comply with the current statute and
state that directors will be elected to a three-year term, and
may run for three terms. Elections are held annually and the
election pattern is that three directors run the first year, two
run the second year, and two run the third year. The pattern
repeats every fourth year.
He informed the committee that Chugach initiated the proposed
statutory change primarily to give the board more stability and
continuity, because it can be destabilizing to turn over three
of seven directors in one year. The situation is exacerbated
when an additional member leaves the board unexpectedly. He
noted that this circumstance had occurred twice during his
tenure with Chugach; both times it was a year that three seats
were up for election. The board agreed that having four new
members on a seven-member board can induce a lot of change in an
organization. He said that with four-year terms, Chugach would
have an annual election pattern of two, two, two, and one with
the pattern repeating every fifth year.
MR. STEYER relayed that in addition to providing more stability,
the board felt that serving a four-year term would allow
directors to be more productive; the learning curve wouldn't be
as steep. He highlighted that the bill provided flexibility. A
cooperative that did not want to hold annual elections would
have the option of electing half its members every other year.
He said he had spoken with other electric and telephone
cooperatives and had found no opposition to the bill. He noted
that there was at least one other letter of support in the
packets.
1:37:11 PM
SENATOR MICCICHE asked if members elected to a three-year term
would automatically have an additional year added to their term
if the bill were to pass.
MR. STEYER said no; each cooperative would have to change its
bylaws before the term limits could be extended to four years.
The proposed statutory change simply provides cooperatives the
option of putting a change to their bylaws before the
membership.
SENATOR MICCICHE asked if a cooperative would have the option of
not changing its bylaws and keeping election terms that did not
exceed three years.
MR. STEYER said yes; the language in the bill is permissive and
does not compel a cooperative to do anything different than it
is doing today.
CHAIR DUNLEAVY found no further public testimony and closed it.
Finding no further questions or discussion, he asked the will of
the committee.
1:40:14 PM
SENATOR MICCICHE moved to report SB 14, labeled 28-LS0269\U,
from committee with individual recommendations and attached
fiscal note(s).
CHAIR DUNLEAVY announced that without objection, SB 14 moved
from the Senate Labor and Commerce Standing Committee.
1:40:49 PM
There being no further business to come before the committee,
Chair Dunleavy adjourned the meeting at 1:40 p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| SB 14 Full Text.pdf |
SL&C 1/24/2013 1:30:00 PM |
SB 14 |
| SB 14 Sponsor Statement.pdf |
SL&C 1/24/2013 1:30:00 PM |
SB 14 |
| SB14-DCCED-CBPL-01-18-13_Fiscal_Note.pdf |
SL&C 1/24/2013 1:30:00 PM |
SB 14 |
| SB 14 - APA Letter of Support and Resolution.pdf |
SL&C 1/24/2013 1:30:00 PM |
SB 14 |
| SB 14 - Letter of Support Chugach Electric.pdf |
SL&C 1/24/2013 1:30:00 PM |
SB 14 |