Legislature(2005 - 2006)BELTZ 211
03/02/2006 03:30 PM Senate STATE AFFAIRS
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Alaska 20/20: Alaska Progress Report | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
JOINT MEETING
SENATE STATE AFFAIRS STANDING COMMITTEE
HOUSE STATE AFFAIRS STANDING COMMITTEE
March 2, 2006
3:35 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
SENATE STATE AFFAIRS
Senator Gene Therriault, Chair
Senator Charlie Huggins
Senator Bettye Davis
HOUSE STATE AFFAIRS
Representative Berta Gardner
OTHER LEGISLATORS PRESENT
Representative Mary Kapsner
MEMBERS ABSENT
SENATE STATE AFFAIRS
Senator Thomas Wagoner, Vice Chair
Senator Kim Elton
HOUSE STATE AFFAIRS
Representative Paul Seaton, Chair
Representative Carl Gatto, Vice Chair
Representative Max Gruenberg
Representative Jim Elkins
Representative Bob Lynn
Representative Jay Ramras
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
Alaska 20/20 Annual Report
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record.
WITNESS REGISTER
Ken Osterkamp, Chief Executive Officer
Alaska 20/20
510 L Street, Suite 585
Anchorage, AK 99501
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented Alaska 20/20 Second Annual Report
ACTION NARRATIVE
CHAIR GENE THERRIAULT called the joint meeting of the Senate and
House State Affairs Standing Committees to order at 3:35:28 PM.
Representative Berta Gardner, Senator Bettye Davis, Senator
Charlie Huggins and Chair Gene Therriault were present.
Representative Mary Kapsner was also in attendance.
^Alaska 20/20: Alaska Progress Report
CHAIR GENE THERRIAULT asked Mr. Osterkamp to come forward and
present the Alaska 20/20 annual report.
3:37:06 PM
KEN OSTERKAMP, Chief Executive Officer for Alaska 20/20,
explained that in 1999 Alaska 20/20 began as an Alaska
Humanities Forum project to determine how the public wanted to
measure progress in Alaska. Objectives were established to track
progress over time and to compare Alaska with other states. He
described the current process as the best effort ever made to
canvas the public to see how Alaskans define public objectives.
He noted that Alaska is the fourth state in the nation to
complete this citizen driven process, which establishes a broad
measure of the quality of life in Alaska.
Conferences were held in 2001 and 2004. In the intervening time
about 120 public meetings were held and telephone and Internet
surveys were conducted on the general population and particular
groups.
MR. OSTERKAMP reviewed the state of the state in terms of 49
individual measures.
49 Measures for the 49th State
3:39:34 PM
General measures
1. Demographics
2. Disparities
3:41:40 PM
Education:
Children will enter school ready to learn
3. Ready to Learn
Students will graduate prepared for postsecondary
opportunities
4. Students
5. Teachers
6. Schools
7. Curricula
Postsecondary institutions will enable personal and
professional development
8. Postsecondary Institutions
9. Higher Degrees
3:47:09 PM
Economy:
Alaskans will have access to quality jobs at livable
wages
10. Income
11. Poverty
12. Employment & Wages
13. Unemployment
14. Workforce Development
Businesses will be encouraged to innovate and grow
15. Small Business
16. Costs of Business
17. Transportation
Economic growth will be sustainable
18. Diversification
19 Federal spending
3:49:11 PM
Environment:
Biological diversity and wilderness areas will be
preserved
20. Biodiversity
21. Wilderness
High air, land and water quality will be maintained
22. Air Quality
23. Land Quality
24. Water Quality
Energy and natural resource conservation will be
encouraged
25. Fisheries
26. Energy
27. Waste
3:53:37 PM
Community:
Communities will be safe
28. Crime
29. Courts
30. Corrections
Communities will be healthy
31. Access to Health Care
32. Mothers and Infants33. Children and
Teens
34. Physical Health
35. Mental Health
Substance Abuse
37. Risky Behavior
Communities will be livable
38. Housing and Utilities
39. Social Services
40. Caring and culture
41. Subsistence
3:59:31 PM
Government:
Government will be trusted
42. Public Opinion
43. Voter Turnout
44. Public Management
Government will be effective
45. Cost of Government
46. Missions & Measures
Government will be sustainable
47. Balanced Budget
48. Net Assets
49. Public Debt
The following questions were asked during the course of the
presentation.
REPRESENTATIVE KAPSNER asked if the education information is
broken down by region.
MR. OSTERKAMP said it is, but not when there are so few students
in a region that breaking the information out would violate
privacy.
REPRESENTATIVE KAPSNER asked if students with limited English
proficiency are impacting the ready-to-learn indicator.
MR. OSTERKAMP replied the categories are broken out differently
so it's not indicated by the data. However, No Child Left Behind
requires K-12 data be broken out that way so you could get the
information from the Department of Education and Early
Development (DEED), website. That data indicates that group
consistently underperforms across all areas. He noted that
Alaska is the only state without a state-sponsored pre-K
program, which probably contributes to that dynamic.
3:50:37 PM
REPRESENTATIVE KAPSNER referenced page 27 and questioned why
Alaskans generate 50 percent more waste per person than the
national average.
MR. OSTERKAMP replied it was difficult to find good data about
solid waste generation in Alaska. The Anchorage landfill is a
notable success, but for the most part Alaska has problems with
recycling and the fact is it's frequently not cost effective.
REPRESENTATIVE KAPSNER questioned how much waste the government
might generate from activity such as asbestos abatement.
MR. OSTERKAMP said it's difficult to break out; the
Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) website has the
data broken out in terms of different material, but public
versus private sector waste production isn't addressed.
He reiterated there is room for improvement as far as collecting
data on environmental measures.
SENATOR CHARLIE HUGGINS questioned the student dropout rate
listed on page 4.
MR. OSTERKAMP pointed out that the narrative states that the
measure isn't adequate because the Department of Education
tracks graduation rates while the Department of Labor tracks
dropout rates.
SENATOR HUGGINS questioned the utility of the document.
MR. OSTERKAMP explained that the 20/20 project was designed to
give a common set of measurements to discuss public objectives.
The report is cited in public policy debates with greater
frequently and it's difficult to find the same data anywhere
else.
SENATOR BETTYE DAVIS asked for a copy of the 2004 report.
MR. OSTERKAMP agreed.
REPRESENTATIVE KAPSNER asked if Alaska 20/20 works with First
Alaskans.
MR. OSTERKAMP said yes; for instance Alaska 20/20 would be
working with First Alaskans to develop performance measures for
rural economic development.
CHAIR THERRIAULT recessed the meeting to the call of the Chair
at 4:14:52 PM. [The Senate State Affairs Committee reconvened at
9:00 a.m. March 6, 2006.]
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