Legislature(2013 - 2014)SENATE FINANCE 532
02/26/2013 04:30 PM Senate LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
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| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
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+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
FEBRUARY 26, 2013
4:30 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Mike Hawker, Chair
Senator Peter Micciche, Vice Chair
Representative Mike Chenault
Representative Max Gruenberg
Representative Craig Johnson
Representative Lance Pruitt
Representative Bill Stoltze
Senator John Coghill
Senator Dennis Egan
Senator Charlie Huggins
Senator Lesil McGuire
Senator Kevin Meyer
MEMBERS ABSENT
Representative Peggy Wilson
Senator Gary Stevens
OTHER MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Alan Austerman
Senator Anna Fairclough
AGENDA
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
RATIFICATION OF CHARITY EVENTS
CONTRACT APPROVALS
OTHER COMMITTEE BUSINESS
SPEAKER REGISTER
TINA STRONG, Procurement Officer, Legislative Affairs
Agency
4:31:18 PM
I. CHAIR MIKE HAWKER called the Legislative Council meeting
to order at 4:30 p.m. in room 532 of the State Capitol.
Present at the call were Representatives Hawker, Chenault
and Stoltze; Senators Micciche, Huggins, Coghill, Egan,
McGuire and Meyer.
Chair Hawker noted that Legislative Council alternate
Representative Alan Austerman was present although not
needed as there was a quorum to conduct business. The
Chair further noted that Senator Fairclough was present
in the audience.
II. APPROVAL OF JANUARY 17, 2013 MINUTES
VICE CHAIR MICCICHE moved that the minutes from the
Legislative Council meeting on January 17, 2013 be
approved as presented.
The minutes were approved with no objections.
III. RATIFICATION OF CHARITY EVENTS
CHAIR HAWKER noted that the sanctioning of charity events
is necessary in order for tickets to be provided to
Legislators in accordance with AS 24.60.080(a)(2)(b). The
Chair has confirmed that the recipients of the proceeds
from the following charity events are 501(c)(3)
organizations, has sanctioned the events, and is bringing
them to the committee for ratification.
Representative Max Gruenberg joined the meeting at this
time.
VICE CHAIR MICCICHE moved that the Legislative Council
ratify the following charity events, which were
previously sanctioned by the Legislative Council Chair in
accordance with AS 24.60.080(a)(2)(b):
(a) 24th Annual FahrenkampKelly Classic Putting
Tournament benefitting the Armed Services YMCA and
the Bartlett Foundation;
(b) Mat-Su Kids Ice Fishing Derby benefitting the
MakeAWish Foundation;
(c) Girl Scouts of Alaska Annual Celebration Fundraiser
benefitting the Girl Scouts of Alaska;
(d) Kenai Peninsula Fair Celebrity Waiter Event
benefitting the Kenai Peninsula Fair Association;
(e) Sham Jam benefitting the Canvas;
(f) Kenai River Classic, Kenai River Women's Classic and
Kenai River Jr. Classic, all benefitting the Kenai
River Sportfishing Association;
(g) Legislative Skits benefitting Big Brothers Big
Sisters of Alaska, The Alaska Association for the
Education of Young Children and AWARE; and
(h) Bowl for Kids' Sake benefitting Big Brothers Big
Sisters of Alaska.
Representative Lance Pruitt joined the meeting at this
time.
All of the events previously sanctioned by Chair Hawker
ratified without objections.
IV. CONTRACT APPROVALS
a. Ombudsman Lease
CHAIR HAWKER asked Tina Strong, Procurement Officer for
the Legislative Affairs Agency, to give a brief
explanation about the lease process and confirm that it
was conducted according to state procurement statutes.
TINA STRONG stated that she worked with Ombudsman Linda
Lord-Jenkins and her staff, who reviewed several options
and settled on four that provided enough space for their
office. They then sent out a request for quote (RFQ) to
all four places and the current landlord was the only one
who responded. The current landlord does have the
necessary space and Ms. Lord-Jenkins would like to stay.
VICE CHAIR MICCICHE moved that Legislative Council
authorize the chairman to approve a threeyear lease term
with three, oneyear renewals, between the Office of the
Ombudsman and Ship Creek Center, LLC and JMW Ventures,
for a cost of $40,103.52 per year (plus yearly CPI
increases beginning in 2014) and a onetime payment of
$5,152 for leasehold improvements.
SPEAKER CHENAULT objected to ask if CPI increases are
normally included in contracts for legislative lease
space. Ms. Strong confirmed that all legislative leases
do have a yearly CPI increase. Speaker Chenault removed
his objection.
The lease was approved with no objections.
V. OTHER COMMITTEE BUSINESS
a. FY 12 LEGISLATURE AUDIT
CHAIR HAWKER stated that the Legislative Council has been
provided a copy of the FY 12 Legislature Audit conducted
by independent auditor Elgee Rehfeld Mertz, LLC. The FY
12 Legislature Audit had no management points identified
and, as the independent auditor reported in the last
paragraph, found that the schedules referred to above
present fairly, in all material respects, the
appropriations, expenditures, encumbrances and revenues
of the Legislature for the year ended June 30, 2012, in
conformity with accounting principles generally accepted
in the United States of America. That is a clean and
unqualified opinion and the Chair congratulated everyone
that is involved in maintaining the Legislature's books.
In response to a question by Representative Bill Stoltze,
Chair Hawker noted that the issue of the allowance
accounts was identified in the process of conducting this
audit. They raised the issue and brought it to the
attention of Legislative Council. The Legislative Affairs
Agency also sought an additional legal opinion from local
counsel that verified the concerns raised by the
independent auditors. Although the election has been made
for this calendar year, Chair Hawker noted that he
continues to pursue the issue of the Legislature's
allowance accounts and will bring it before the Council
with plenty of time to discuss and evaluate possible
alternatives before elections are made for the coming
calendar year.
The audit required no further action.
b. FY 14 LEGISLATURE BUDGET
CHAIR HAWKER stated that he has worked with House and
Senate leadership, Finance Committee Chairs in the House
and Senate, as well as the Legislative Auditor, and the
Legislative Budget and Audit Chair in order to comply
with AS 24.20.132, which requires that the estimate of
operating expenses for the Legislature be included in the
annual budget submitted by the Legislative Council and a
detailed budget document be submitted by Legislative
Council to the House and Senate Finance Committees.
The role of Legislative Council is to propose a budget
for all the aspects of the Legislature. It moves from
Council to the Finance Committees in both the House and
the Senate where they continue to exercise their due
diligence obligation and responsibilities as they do with
any other State agency. This is the check and balance on
the Legislature's process, the place where the
legislative budget really begins.
The FY 14 budget offered for consideration is a reduction
from the FY 13 management plan of a little over $1,400.0
and a reduction from the Governor's Request of a little
over $500.0. In this process, the Legislative Affairs
Agency (LAA) brought requests for increases in various
LAA components that totaled $435.2. Chair Hawker rejected
those requests and suggested they could be accommodated
in existing base budgets. He noted that such an action
can only be done for so long and he will be watching to
see where it stands for the FY 15 budget.
The FY 13 management plan was $74,928.0 and the FY 14
request is $73,527.0 for that reduction of $1,401.3.
Chair Hawker noted some of the changes: the 100 Year
Legislative Anniversary Commission had a second year
fiscal note that did not need to be funded, resulting in
a $25.0 budget reduction; for the purposes of improved
budget transparency and accountability, the cost of
facilities rented or leased for legislative purposes was
aggregated in a single legislative appropriation line
item, similar to what other State agencies do. These
items are detailed in the Legislative Council packet.
Chair Hawker pointed out that prior to this budget,
session expenses and the interim operations of the
Legislature were in separate appropriations and the money
could not legally be moved between them, which caused
problems for the Rules Chairs and the Presiding Officers.
Over time, the budget authority for the operations of the
legislative sessions on a daily basis has really evolved
from a strong Legislative Council Chair to strong
leadership chairs, but the budget structure hasn't been
modified to accommodate that change in practice. He felt
it would be more appropriate to place the appropriations
for both the interim and regular session operations of
the Legislature in a single appropriation, of which the
authority to spend is delegated to leadership so that
they have the greatest latitude in managing the costs
between regular and interim operations. There was some
concern that session expenses were a little bit tight
this year, but by placing them in the same category there
will be adequate funding available. He said he will be
working very carefully with House and Senate leadership
during the course of the year to ensure that there is
adequate funding in this category and as we come forward
with next year's budget, we'll have to see where we need
to be. This was done to truly respect and have the budget
reflect how the Legislature currently operates, not how
it operated 20 years ago.
Chair Hawker said there was one increment of $100,000
requested by Legislative Audit, which he felt appropriate
to honor, and which he off-set by asking for a $100,000
decrement from the committee expenses of the Legislative
Budget & Audit Committee (LB&A); these are expenses that
are used largely for procurement of consultants. He spoke
with the Chair of the LB&A Committee, and as he had just
served as chair of that same committee, there was the
latitude to accommodate the decrement without
compromising the legislature's ability to provide all the
qualified, competent, professional services needed for
oil and gas continued hearings in the Legislature this
year.
Also removed from the FY 14 proposed budget were two one-
time items that were in the FY 13 management plan. The
first was $750.0 for a Large Mine Development Study that
had been carried forward; an item appropriated in FY 11
that has not been undertaken. At this point, if someone
wishes to pursue something on that order it should go
back through the appropriation process again. The second
was $423.7 for The Speakers' Conference that was
conducted in Anchorage in 2012.
Representative Craig Johnson joined the meeting at this
time.
Chair Hawker asked the Council to support moving this
proposed budget forward to the Finance Committee Chairs
for further consideration and refinement, which reduces
the Finance Committee expenses by $250.0 ($125.0 each
from House and Senate) and the LB&A Committee expenses by
$250.0, for a total of $500.0. This results in the
aggregate reduction in the request from the Governor's
budget of the $537.7. The Council members have the detail
in the format everyone is familiar with. This has been
looked at by LAA Executive Director Pam Varni and by
Legislative Finance Director David Teal in preparing the
documents that have been brought to Council.
4:55:48 PM Chair Hawker called a brief at-ease at the
request of Senate President Huggins.
4:56:48 PM Chair Hawker called the meeting back to order.
Chair Hawker asked if there were any questions or
concerns with the budget proposal he is requesting be
moved forward to the Finance Chairs for further
consideration. In response to a light-hearted question by
Senate President Huggins, he noted that it is protocol to
remove the one-time appropriation for hosting conferences
after the conference is over, as was done with the CSG-
WEST conference in 2008.
4:58:19 PM
VICE CHAIR MICCICHE moved that that, in accordance with
AS 24.40.130, Legislative Council approve the FY 14
proposed legislature budget and transmit it to the House
and Senate Finance Committees for their review and
action.
The motion passed with no objections.
CHAIR HAWKER thanked members for their indulgence, noting
the process had really been a collaborative effort with
everyone to put this together, particularly Senator
Fairclough and the Finance Committee Chairs in both the
House and Senate have been very helpful.
Formation of Subcommittees
CHAIR HAWKER notified members that he will form two
subcommittees of Legislative Council. The first, the
Steering Committee for Building Restoration, will be for
the repair, corrections and renovations to the envelope
of the Capitol Building. There has been a contracting
process, engineering work has taken place and proposals
have been approved by the previous Legislative Council.
He appointed to the committee himself as Chair, Presiding
Officers Speaker Mike Chenault and Senate President
Huggins, and Senator Dennis Egan, the Council member
representing Juneau. The second will be the Anchorage LIO
Steering Committee. The lease for the current space in
Anchorage will be up at the end of May 2013 and there
remains one one-year renewal. This Legislative Council
must reach some finality on this issue. In addition to
himself as Chair, he appointed House and Senate Rules
Chairs, Representative Craig Johnson and Senator Lesil
McGuire.
VICE CHAIR MICCICHE thanked Ms. Tina Strong, Procurement
Officer, and Mr. Doug Gardner, Legal Services Director,
for closing the loop on the 2013 walrus pin saga, and for
ensuring we received the best price possible.
There being no further business before the committee, the
Legislative Council meeting was adjourned at 5:02 p.m.
5:02:24 PM
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| Agenda 02.26.pdf |
JLEC 2/26/2013 4:30:00 PM |
|
| Charitable Events for Ratification 02.26.pdf |
JLEC 2/26/2013 4:30:00 PM |
|
| Ombudsman Lease Information.pdf |
JLEC 2/26/2013 4:30:00 PM |
|
| FY 12 Legislature Audit.pdf |
JLEC 2/26/2013 4:30:00 PM |
|
| FY 14 Legislature Budget Documents.pdf |
JLEC 2/26/2013 4:30:00 PM |
|
| Legislature Budget Documents Cover memo.pdf |
JLEC 2/26/2013 4:30:00 PM |