Legislature(2013 - 2014)SENATE FINANCE 532
01/30/2014 11:00 AM Senate LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
JANUARY 30, 2014
11:05 AM
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Mike Hawker, Chair
Senator Peter Micciche, Vice Chair
Representative Max Gruenberg
Representative Craig Johnson
Representative Bill Stoltze
Representative Peggy Wilson
Senator John Coghill
Senator Mike Dunleavy
Senator Dennis Egan
Senator Charlie Huggins
Senator Kevin Meyer
Senator Gary Stevens
MEMBERS ABSENT
Representative Mike Chenault
Representative Lance Pruitt
OTHER MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Les Gara
AGENDA
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
RATIFICATION OF CHARITY EVENTS
OTHER COMMITTEE BUSINESS
SPEAKER REGISTER
Kathryn Kurtz, Revisor of Statutes, Legislative Affairs Agency
Lisa Kirsch, Assistant Revisor of Statutes, Legislative Affairs
Agency
Pam Varni, Executive Director, Legislative Affairs Agency
Jessica Geary, Finance Director, Legislative Affairs Agency
11:05:19 AM
I. CHAIR MIKE HAWKER called the Legislative Council meeting to
order at 11:05 a.m. in room 532 of the State Capitol. Present
at the call were Representative Hawker; Senators Micciche,
Coghill, Dunleavy, Egan, Huggins, Meyer, and Stevens. Chair
Hawker noted that the House of Representatives was still in
legislative session which is why the other House members were
not present.
II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
a. November 21, 2013
b. December 18, 2013
11:07:00 AM
VICE CHAIR MICCICHE moved that the minutes from the Legislative
Council meetings on November 21, 2013 and December 18, 2013 be
approved.
The motion passed with no objections.
11:07:28 AM
CHAIR HAWKER stated for the record that Representatives Johnson
and Gruenberg joined the meeting at this time.
III. RATIFICATION OF CHARITABLE EVENTS
a. Alaska Governors Awards for the Arts & Humanities Reception
benefitting the Alaska Arts and Culture Foundation.
b. Tináa Art Auction benefitting the Sealaska Heritage
Institute.
c. 2014 Fahrenkamp-Kelly Classic Putting Tournament benefitting
the Armed Services YMCA and the Bartlett Foundation.
d. Girl Scout Annual Auction and Fundraiser benefitting the Girl
Scouts of Alaska.
CHAIR HAWKER said his staff and he have verified that all of
the events being ratified today benefit 501(c)(3) organizations
in good standing, the requirement for approval.
Chair Hawker noted that Representative Austerman, Council
alternate, had joined the meeting; as there were enough members
to form a quorum, Representative Austerman would not be voting.
11:08:34 AM
VICE CHAIR MICCICHE moved that 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. Alaska Governors Awards for the Arts & Humanities Reception
benefitting the Alaska Arts and Culture Foundation.
b. Tináa Art Auction benefitting the Sealaska Heritage
Institute.
c. 2014 Fahrenkamp-Kelly Classic Putting Tournament benefitting
the Armed Services YMCA and the Bartlett Foundation.
d. Girl Scout Annual Auction and Fundraiser benefitting the Girl
Scouts of Alaska.
The motion passed with no objections.
CHAIR HAWKER stated for the record that Representative Stoltze
arrived prior to the making of the motion.
IV. OTHER COMMITTEE BUSINESS
a. 2014 Revisor's Bill Approval
CHAIR HAWKER said this item was a ministerial process for
Council to approve the annual Revisor's Bill and pass it on to
the House Rules Committee. He pointed out that there was a
small issue with the "U" version that was distributed earlier
and he was just handed an "N" version, which has one minor
change from the previously distributed "U" version. He asked
Kathryn Kurtz and Lisa Kirsch to briefly testify about this
item, and to specifically address the change between the "U"
and the "N" versions of the bill.
KATHRYN KURTZ, Revisor of Statutes, introduced Lisa Kirsch, the
new Assistant Revisor, who would be presenting the bill.
LISA KIRSCH, Assistant Revisor of Statutes, said the Revisor's
Bill is designed to improve the statutes and correct and remove
any deficiencies, conflicts, or obsolete provisions.
CHAIR HAWKER requested, with the concurrence of the committee,
that Ms. Kirsch limit her comments to explaining the difference
between the two versions ("U" and "N"). He noted that the bill
itself will be entered into the record as will the sectional
summary.
Representative Peggy Wilson joined the meeting at this time.
MS. KIRSCH said the difference between the "U" version and the
"N" version appears in section 15, on page 9, line 20. The
words "but not limited to" appear in brackets and all caps in
the "N" version, which means they will be deleted. This
deletion was not present in the "U" version. There is a
statutory section in Title 1 which assumes that if the word
"including" is present, the language "but not limited to" is
there as well, so it's superfluous language. That is the only
change between the "U" version and the "N" version.
CHAIR HAWKER asked Ms. Kirsch if it would be fair to
characterize the difference between the two bills as a very
simple oversight in the first bill. She agreed that was so.
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG noted there was a time before the
statute was enacted that it was routine to use the language
"but not limited to." He said he assumed at some point the
Revisors have gone through and eliminated that language
everywhere else in the statute.
MS. KIRSCH responded that they certainly have tried to.
Occasionally, they find older places where it occurred, but in
current drafting they try to catch it and prevent it from going
into the statute.
11:14:30 AM
VICE CHAIR MICCICHE moved that Legislative Council approve the
2013 Revisor's bill version 28-LS0904\N and request the House
Rules Committee to introduce it.
The motion passed with no objections.
b. FY 13 Legislature Audit
CHAIR HAWKER said there would be no motion necessary for this
item. It is time for the annual audit report of the State of
Alaska Legislature conducted by external auditors. Ms. Varni is
here to formally present that Audit.
MS. VARNI, Executive Director of Legislative Affairs Agency,
said per statute all expenditures made by the Legislature are
subject to an annual independent audit. This is the last year
with Elgee, Rehfeld, Mertz LLC; the Agency will be going out to
bid for an independent audit for the next three years. The
total amount per year for this audit is $18,250. It is a clean
audit and there are no audit exceptions. She said she would be
glad to answer any questions for the committee.
CHAIR HAWKER emphasized that the committee had in front of them
the management letter, which is titled "Letter to the Members
of the Legislative Council and the Legislative Budget and Audit
Committee," in which there were no significant findings of
merit, as well as the Audit Report itself which had on page one
what is known as a "clean opinion." This means everything is
fairly, in all material respects, presented.
The committee had no questions about the Audit Report.
c. Late Travel and Per Diem Requests
CHAIR HAWKER said the next item is a Late Travel and Per Diem
Request from Representative Gara for travel that commenced
February 15 and 23, 2013.
REPRESENTATIVE LES GARA, District 18, said that this travel was
for two trips that are normally paid for with legislative
funds. They were constituent trips; one was the Anchorage
Caucus and one was an annual constituent get-together. He said,
like most of you, we assume that the tickets that we give end
up somewhere and the reimbursement comes, but he was not
informed until December that the boarding passes that should
have gone with those plane tickets were not submitted.
He said, in the interest of full disclosure, that with the way
the office accounts worked last year, we received a certain
amount of money. He did not spend all that money and intends to
return the remainder of the money not spent on office-related
expenses back to the general fund. He said he is requesting
reimbursement for the travel, but on the other hand, it will
probably go back to the general fund. He said he was happy with
whatever the committee decides and these are expenses that
should have been reimbursed; however, he probably made a
mistake in not submitting the boarding passes on time.
CHAIR HAWKER asked if Jessica Geary, Finance Manager of
Legislative Affairs, would please come forward to speak to this
item. He noted that it is customary to get the assurance from
LAA that all is in order supporting such a request.
JESSICA GEARY, Finance Manager for Legislative Affairs, said
that she has reviewed the documents submitted by Representative
Gara and everything is in order; the receipts match up with the
claim.
SENATOR MEYER asked if it was necessary to keep the boarding
passes and submit them.
MS. GEARY responded that her understanding was that the
paperwork was turned in to Representative Kerttula's office but
was not received by the Accounting office within the allotted
time.
SENATOR MEYER wanted to know if it was necessary to turn in
boarding passes if the reservations are made through LAA and if
the requirement was different when the reservations are self-
made.
MS. GEARY said the boarding passes should accompany the final
travel paperwork. If there is no boarding pass, such as if an
electronic boarding pass is used, then a simple statement as to
that fact is acceptable to certify travel was completed. In
this particular case, Representative Gara purchased his own
airline tickets, so Accounting did not have any record or
receive any paperwork for that travel.
SENATOR MEYER further asked how it worked if the reservations
were made through Accounting and for some reason the planes
were not flying; did Accounting get reimbursed for that travel?
MS. GEARY, in response to additional comments by Senator Meyer,
assured him that if the travel does not take place for any
reason, Accounting may change the dates of travel or request a
refund for any ticket purchased by Accounting on behalf of a
Legislator or legislative staff.
SENATE PRESIDENT HUGGINS, addressing Representative Gara
directly, said that while they certainly don't agree
politically, he considers him a friend. It seems like this is a
waste of time if the funds will be going back to the treasury
anyway. If Representative Gara wants the money, he said he was
willing to support him, but if it's going back to the treasury
anyway, this is wasting the committee's time.
REPRESENTATIVE GARA said that's why he made the disclosure. He
does not have any office expenses he can spend that money on.
If the committee decides that it's just money going from one
pot to another pot, that's totally fine and he can accept that.
It doesn't cause any major harm. His office didn't learn until
December that some documents were missing for the February
travel claims.
CHAIR HAWKER said this disclosure was new to him as the Chair,
and it was not brought forward when this travel request was
brought to his office. He asked if it was the intent that this
money would make a full circle from Legislative Council to
Representative Gara and back to the treasury.
REPRESENTATIVE GARA said yes; that he thinks legally, he can
only spend that money on office expenses and he doesn't have
any additional office expenses.
CHAIR HAWKER said that would color his opinion on the item that
he brought forward today.
REPRESENTATIVE STOLTZE said he supports Representative Gara's
request. He said Representative Gara has actually been more
thorough in coming before the committee than just about any
other late requests received. Whatever personal decision that
he makes, the way that previous office account was constructed,
one paid taxes on it, he may have reasons for doing it. He said
he would not begrudge Representative Gara's personal reasons
returning funds to the treasury. It's up to Representative Gara
and what he decides to do with that with respect to the way the
previous office account was constructed. It's certainly much
cleaner now with Chairman Hawker's motion which the committee
adopted unanimously. It's Representative Gara's personal
decision and he isn't sure it's any of the committee's business
or even relevant to the discussion on the late request.
VICE CHAIR MICCICHE, addressing Representative Gara directly,
said he personally likes him very much and this isn't a
personal comment. He said he was not in support of the past
method of office accounts; he struggled with it as well. He
said he's not aware of a way to return unspent funds. It was
his first year in office last year and it, of course, cost more
to set up a new office, but he has some funds he'd like to
return. He said he does have to agree that there is a sense of
grand-standing in this disclosure and it is a waste of staff
time for these funds to make a circle. He respects
Representative Gara's opinion to do that. He said if there is a
method of returning unspent funds, he'd like to learn about it.
CHAIR HAWKER asked Ms. Geary if she would prepare a response to
the question of the possibility of returning unspent office
funds that can then be distributed to all Legislators. Ms.
Geary agreed to do so.
CHAIR HAWKER said he wanted to emphasize that Representative
Gara's actions before this committee in no way prejudice any
Legislator who does not return any unspent, unaccounted money
that was legally, legitimately, and appropriately given to them
last year by the vote of this committee, before he became
Chairman. He noted that Representative Gara was nodding his
head, and asked for a statement on the record.
REPRESENTATIVE GARA said everyone in this building followed the
rules. He agrees with Representative Hawker's point and his
personal view is that the money should go back to the general
fund if he can't spend it. He will accept whatever decision the
committee makes.
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG asked for permission to dialogue.
CHAIR HAWKER agreed and asked that it not be a long dialogue.
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG said one transaction occurred in the
last calendar year and the reimbursement will occur in this
calendar year. The decision whether to turn the money back that
he's receiving now will not necessarily be made until much
later in the year. He may say that this is his intent now but
something could come up that could change his mind and
therefore there's a significant difference. He then asked
Representative Gara, with the Chair's permission, if it was
correct that it will be in two different years and something
could change his mind.
REPRESENTATIVE GARA responded that the funds were granted last
year, they were not spent, so what he has leftover is what he
will give to the general fund. He was just waiting to see if
these travel funds get reimbursed and he personally feels more
comfortable putting them back in the general fund. He said he
totally understands that everybody else can do whatever within
the law was that was in place.
SENATE PRESIDENT HUGGINS asked the Chair to call for the
question.
11:30:58 AM
VICE CHAIR MICCICHE moved that Legislative Council approve the
following late travel and per diem claims for travel commencing
on the following dates: Representative Les Gara for travel
commencing February 15 and February 23, 2013.
CHAIR HAWKER objected for the purpose of a roll call.
A roll call vote was taken.
YEAS: Gruenberg, Johnson, Stoltze, P. Wilson, Coghill,
Dunleavy, Egan, Stevens, Micciche
NAYS: Huggins, Meyer, Hawker
The motion to approve the late travel and per diem request
passed 9-3.
SENATE PRESIDENT HUGGINS said he would encourage LAA to
familiarize members and their staff with any new accounting
procedures as soon as possible. He said he celebrates the new
process but is not sure everybody is as familiar with what that
new process will be.
CHAIR HAWKER said that his office had just concluded going
through and revising the original draft allowance policy that
was distributed to everyone at the beginning of session. He
asked Ms. Geary when that would be going out to staff.
MS. GEARY replied that she planned to distribute it this
afternoon.
CHAIR HAWKER commended Juli Lucky of his staff and Ms. Geary
for working with him to address issues identified by other
members in the original draft policy discussed earlier. The
formal policy will be distributed shortly. He asked everyone
present, particularly on the Senate side, to bring to his
attention any issues in those policies that don't make sense or
that they don't understand, so that the policy can continue to
evolve into a workable document for the Legislature.
There being no further business before the committee, the
Legislative Council meeting was adjourned at 11:35 a.m.
11:33:47 AM
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| Agenda REVISED.pdf |
JLEC 1/30/2014 11:00:00 AM |
|
| III. Charitable Events - REVISED 1.28.pdf |
JLEC 1/30/2014 11:00:00 AM |
|
| IVa. 2014 Revisors Bill.pdf |
JLEC 1/30/2014 11:00:00 AM |
|
| IVb. FY 13 Legislature Audit.pdf |
JLEC 1/30/2014 11:00:00 AM |
|
| IVc. Late Travel Reimbursements REVISED 1.28.pdf |
JLEC 1/30/2014 11:00:00 AM |