Legislature(1993 - 1994)
04/23/1993 09:10 AM Senate STA
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
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= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
SENATE STATE AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
April 23, 1993
9:10 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Loren Leman, Chairman
Senator Mike Miller, Vice Chairman
Senator Robin Taylor
Senator Jim Duncan
MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator Johnny Ellis
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
SENATE BILL NO. 199
"An Act relating to employees of the division of elections."
CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 206(STA) am
"An Act amending provisions of the Alaska Elections Code
relating to election campaigns to exempt from the election
campaign reporting requirements a candidate whose campaign
contributions and campaign expenditures do not exceed
$1,000, and to extend the Alaska Public Offices Commission's
regulation of election campaigns to elections to boards of
directors of electrical cooperatives and telephone
cooperatives who serve at least 10,000 customers."
SPONSOR SUBSTITUTE FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 196
"An Act relating to the state employment preference for
veterans and prisoners of war."
PREVIOUS SENATE COMMITTEE ACTION
SB 199 - No previous action to record.
HB 206 - No previous action to record.
HB 196 - No previous action to record.
WITNESS REGISTER
Senator Randy Phillips, Chairman of Legislative
Budget & Audit Committee
State Capitol
Juneau, AK 99801-1182
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of SB 199
Duncan Fowler, Ombudsman
Office of the Ombudsman
P.O. Box 113000
Juneau, AK 99811-3000
POSITION STATEMENT: Offered information on SB 199
Randy Welker, Legislative Auditor
Legislative Audit Division
P.O. Box 113300
Juneau, AK 99811-3300
POSITION STATEMENT: Offered information on SB 199
James Pound, Chief of Staff
Office of the Lieutenant Governor
P.O. Box 110015
Juneau, AK 99811-0015
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in opposition to SB 199
Mike McMullen, Manager of System Services
Division of Personnel & Equal Employment Opportunity
Department of Administration
P.O. Box 110201
Juneau, AK 99811-0201
POSITION STATEMENT: No position on SB 199
Testified in support of HB 196
Representative Eldon Mulder
State Capitol
Juneau, AK 99801-1182
POSITION STATEMENT: Prime Sponsor of HB 206
Brooke Miles
Alaska Public Offices Commission
Department of Administration
P.O. Box 110222
Juneau, AK 99811-0222
POSITION STATEMENT: Present to respond to questions on
HB 206
George Dozier, Jr., Staff to Representative Pete Kott
State Capitol
Juneau, AK 99801-1182
POSITION STATEMENT: Offered information on HB 196
ACTION NARRATIVE
TAPE 93-31, SIDE A
Number 001
The meeting of the Senate State Affairs Committee was called
to order by Chairman Loren Leman at 9:10 a.m.
SENATOR LEMAN introduced SB 199 (ELECTIONS EMPLOYEES IN
CLASSIFIED SERVICE) as the first order of business. He
invited Senator Randy Phillips, Chairman of the Legislative
Budget & Audit Committee to present an overview on the
legislation.
Number 020
SENATOR RANDY PHILLIPS explained that the legislation was
introduced by the Legislative Budget & Audit Committee and
that there was no objection by any of the 10 members of the
committee to having it introduced.
SB 199 is the result of the Legislative Budget & Audit
report of February 27, 1993 and also the Ombudsman's report
of April 8, 1993. Both conclude that the legislation should
be considered by the legislature. Basically, it would
remove the employees of the Division of Elections, except
for the director, from the exempt service and classify them
as employees with a limited right to strike. LB&A and the
Ombudsman both recommend that these employees be classified
service employees.
Number 070
DUNCAN FOWLER, Ombudsman, State of Alaska, said the
recommendation to move the majority of the employees in the
Division of Elections into the merit system, was to make
sure that the employees there would not be hired, fired or
promoted for reasons other than merit.
Currently, there are only two employees remaining in the
Division of Election who were there more than two years ago.
The concern is that if there continues to be a turnover of
election employees over the years, it has the tendency to
shake the consistency and the ability of the division to be
able to run good elections.
Number 100
SENATOR LEMAN asked why the regional directors were not kept
in the exempt service as was done with the director. DUNCAN
FOWLER responded that he thinks it is a policy call, but it
is his understanding that there has been some litigation
involving the Division of Elections for some terminations
that occurred. The court has indicated that they believe
that regional directors are not policy makers and that
regional managers are the kinds of people who should be in a
more protected situation.
Number 112
DUNCAN FOWLER pointed out that he has recommended that
Section 3 of the bill be deleted because there is already a
very good system in place to protect those employees who
move from exempt service into the merit system. SENATOR
PHILLIPS added that he has prepared an amendment which would
delete that section.
Number 135
SENATOR LEMAN asked if there have been similar turnovers in
the 32-year history of the State of Alaska when new
administrations have come in. DUNCAN FOWLER answered that
he did not go back and do a study of the turnover of prior
administrations. However, they did survey other election
systems in other states and found that the other states do
tend to have systems that protect the employees within those
divisions so that they are not subject to political
pressures. He added that his sense is that in working for
the state for several years and watching these things, that
with the current administration this is one of the larger
turnovers of this division's personnel that he can recall.
Number 160
JAMES POUND, Chief of Staff to the Lieutenant Governor,
State of Alaska, said after reviewing SB 199, the Lieutenant
Governor must oppose the legislation as it is presently
written.
There are two basic reasons for the Lieutenant Governor's
opposition. First, the bill was drafted in part as a
reaction to a Legislative Budget & Audit report in which
Randy Welker indicates that employees of the elections
division should be non-exempt. Mr. Pound directed attention
to a transcript of a deposition from Jerry Reinwand, Chief
of Staff to Former Governor Jay Hammond. The deposition is
from the Crane v. Coghill civil suit and in it Mr. Reinwand
explains in detail why employees in the Governor's Office
and the Lieutenant Governor's Office, including the Division
of Elections, were placed into and need to remain in an
exempt status.
The second reason for opposition to the bill is that the
Lieutenant Governor's office is in the process of doing a
complete management analysis of the Division of Elections.
The report, once completed, will give a picture of what has
been done in the division and where the division should go.
Mr. Pound related that the Lieutenant Governor requests that
the committee hold SB 199 in abeyance until their report is
complete.
Number 200
MIKE MCMULLIN, Division of Personnel & Office of Equal
Employment Opportunity, Department of Administration, stated
the department did not have a position on SB 199, but that
he was available to respond to questions from the committee.
Number 210
There being no further witnesses present to testify on SB
199, SENATOR LEMAN said the bill would be held over and that
he did not expect that there would be another hearing on it
until the next legislative session.
Number 225
SENATOR LEMAN introduced CSHB 206(STA) am (ELECTIONS AND
ELECTRIC COOP ELECTIONS) as the next order of business.
REPRESENTATIVE ELDON MULDER, prime sponsor of HB 206,
explained the legislation addresses a problem which they
have been experiencing throughout the railbelt in recent
years as it relates to electrical and telephone cooperative
elections. In the past, many of the these elections were
"run out of the pocket", but now that whole focus has
changed. Because there are vested interests that lie within
these boards, the elections now cost thousands and thousands
of dollars. However, with those elections, no changes have
been brought to bear in relation to election financing and
restrictions, Currently there are no restrictions or
reporting requirements by people who run for the boards.
HB 206 will require the people running for the boards of
electrical and telephone cooperatives to file APOC reports,
and they will have the same restrictions that legislators
face when they run for election. There is a limitation
whereby it will only be placed on those cooperatives which
serve over 10,000 customers. In essence, that means it
would only apply to five electrical utilities and one
telephone cooperative in the state.
Representative Mulder also pointed out the bill provides
that if an individual raises and spends less than $1,000,
that individual does not have to file a report.
Number 305
SENATOR LEMAN noted Brooke Miles of the Division of
Elections was present to respond to questions.
Number 342
SENATOR LEMAN moved that CSHB 206(STA) am be passed out of
committee with individual recommendations. Hearing no
objection, it was so ordered.
Number 350
SENATOR LEMAN introduced SSHB 196 (STATE EMPLOYMENT VETERANS
PREFERENCE) as the next order of business.
GEORGE DOZIER, staff to Representative Pete Kott, said the
legislation addresses veterans employment preference
statutes in the State of Alaska. The current statutes
permit a total of 10 points to be awarded to disabled
veterans, 10 points to be awarded to former prisoners of war
and five points to veterans in general. Pursuant to the
existing statute, the points can only be used once to obtain
a permanent position and may not be used for promotional
purposes.
HB 196 modifies the existing veterans preference statute by
permitting veterans to utilize their points to obtain entry
level permanent positions more than once. It retains the
previous state policy of not allowing veterans to use their
points for obtaining promotions within the classified
service.
Number 383
MIKE MCMULLEN, Division of Personnel & Office of Equal
Employment Opportunity, Department of Administration, voiced
the department's support for veteran hire. The bill would
expand existing preference which currently is utilized by
about five to six percent of state job applicants. He added
the bill carries a zero fiscal note.
Number 397
SENATOR TAYLOR moved and asked unanimous consent that SSHB
196 be passed out of committee with individual
recommendations. Hearing no objection, it was so ordered.
Number 400
SENATOR TAYLOR brought SB 199 (ELECTIONS EMPLOYEES IN
CLASSIFIED SERVICE) back before the committee to give Randy
Welker an opportunity to testify on the legislation.
RANDY WELKER, Legislative Auditor, Legislative Audit
Division, said both the audit done by the Legislative Audit
Division and the investigation conducted by the Ombudsman
point to the fact that part of the cause for the problems in
the Division of Elections are the result of lower morale and
personnel matters that they believe would best be solved by
putting these positions in the classified service. To even
have doubt cast on the appearance of impartiality in the
Division of Elections warrants removing any doubt or any
appearance of impairment from that division. SB 199 will
accomplish that by placing all employees, other than the
director, into classified service. All of the division
employees will be on equal footing, they will all understand
the rules and will know how things will happen.
The audit review found that one of the biggest morale
problems in the Division of Elections was not knowing or not
understanding how people were promoted, how people were
demoted or the reasons for it.
Number 435
SENATOR LEMAN restated his question on why regional
directors were not kept in the exempt category. RANDY
WELKER answered that he thought it was a policy call that
the legislature could make. He added that he didn't think
there was any clear line drawn between the regional
supervisors and the director.
Number 456
SENATOR LEMAN said SB 199 would be held over in committee
until the next legislative session.
There being no further business to come before the
committee, the meeting was adjourned at 9:42 a.m.
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