Legislature(2003 - 2004)
05/06/2004 04:55 PM Senate STA
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
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ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE STATE AFFAIRS STANDING COMMITTEE
May 6, 2004
4:55 p.m.
TAPE (S) 04-33
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Gary Stevens, Chair
Senator John Cowdery, Vice Chair
Senator Bert Stedman
MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator Gretchen Guess
Senator Lyman Hoffman
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
CONFIRMATION HEARING:
Ray Matiashowski, Commissioner designee, Department of
Administration
CONFIRMATION ADVANCED
CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 536(MLV)
"An Act relating to applications for permanent fund dividends by
certain individuals serving in the armed forces, and to payment
of certain 2003 and 2004 dividends; and providing for an
effective date."
MOVED CSHB 536(MLV) OUT OF COMMITTEE
CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 551(JUD) am
"An Act relating to the issuance of teacher certificates to and
revocation of teacher certificates of persons convicted of
certain felony drug offenses and to the issuance of limited
teacher certificates to persons convicted of certain crimes
involving a minor and felony drug offenses."
MOVED SCS CSHB 551(STA) OUT OF COMMITTEE
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: HB 536
SHORT TITLE: PFUND APPLICATION DEADLINES FOR MILITARY
SPONSOR(s): RULES BY REQUEST OF ECON DEV, INT TRADE & TOURISM
03/15/04 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
03/15/04 (H) MLV, STA
04/06/04 (H) MLV AT 1:00 PM CAPITOL 124
04/06/04 (H) Moved CSHB 536(MLV) Out of Committee
04/06/04 (H) MINUTE(MLV)
04/07/04 (H) MLV RPT CS(MLV) NT 4DP 1NR
04/07/04 (H) DP: LYNN, MASEK, CISSNA, STEPOVICH;
04/07/04 (H) NR: DAHLSTROM
04/30/04 (H) STA AT 8:00 AM CAPITOL 102
04/30/04 (H) Moved CSHB 536(STA) Out of Committee
04/30/04 (H) MINUTE(STA)
05/01/04 (H) STA RPT CS(STA) NT 3NR 2AM
05/01/04 (H) NR: SEATON, HOLM, WEYHRAUCH;
05/01/04 (H) AM: GRUENBERG, LYNN
05/01/04 (H) TRANSMITTED TO (S)
05/01/04 (H) VERSION: CSHB 536(MLV)
05/02/04 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
05/02/04 (S) STA, FIN
05/06/04 (S) STA AT 4:45 PM BELTZ 211
BILL: HB 551
SHORT TITLE: DRUG FELONY DISQUALIFIES TEACHER
SPONSOR(s): JUDICIARY
04/05/04 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
04/05/04 (H) EDU, JUD
04/13/04 (H) EDU AT 11:00 AM CAPITOL 124
04/13/04 (H) Scheduled But Not Heard
04/15/04 (H) EDU AT 11:00 AM CAPITOL 124
04/15/04 (H) Moved Out of Committee
04/15/04 (H) MINUTE(EDU)
04/19/04 (H) EDU RPT 1DP 1NR 2AM
04/19/04 (H) DP: WOLF; NR: OGG; AM: SEATON, GATTO
04/22/04 (H) FIN REFERRAL ADDED AFTER JUD
04/23/04 (H) JUD AT 1:00 PM CAPITOL 120
04/23/04 (H) Moved CSHB 551(JUD) Out of Committee
04/23/04 (H) MINUTE(JUD)
04/26/04 (H) JUD RPT CS(JUD) NT 3DP 2NR
04/26/04 (H) DP: SAMUELS, OGG, MCGUIRE;
04/26/04 (H) NR: GARA, GRUENBERG
04/28/04 (H) FIN REFERRAL WAIVED
04/29/04 (H) RLS RPT CS(JUD) NT 3DP 4NR
04/29/04 (H) DP: KOTT, MCGUIRE, ROKEBERG;
04/29/04 (H) NR: BERKOWITZ, COGHILL, MORGAN,
04/29/04 (H) KERTTULA
04/29/04 (H) RLS AT 9:00 AM FAHRENKAMP 203
04/29/04 (H) Moved CSHB 551(JUD) Out of Committee
04/29/04 (H) MINUTE(RLS)
05/01/04 (H) TRANSMITTED TO (S)
05/01/04 (H) VERSION: CSHB 551(JUD) AM
05/02/04 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
05/02/04 (S) STA, HES
05/04/04 (S) STA AT 3:30 PM BELTZ 211
05/04/04 (S) Heard & Held
05/04/04 (S) MINUTE(STA)
05/06/04 (S) STA AT 4:45 PM BELTZ 211
WITNESS REGISTER
Ray Matiashowski,
Commissioner designee
Department of Administration
PO Box 110200
Juneau, AK 99811-0200
John Bittner
Staff to Representative Cheryll Heinze
Alaska State Capitol
Juneau, AK 99801-1182
POSITION STATEMENT: Introduced CSHB 551(JUD) am for sponsor
ACTION NARRATIVE
TAPE 04-33, SIDE A
CHAIR GARY STEVENS called the Senate State Affairs Standing
Committee meeting to order at 4:55 p.m. Present were Senators
Cowdery, Stedman and Chair Gary Stevens.
Confirmation Hearing
CHAIR GARY STEVENS announced the committee would take up
confirmations. He asked Mr. Ray Matiashowski, Commissioner-
designee for the Department of Administration to come forward
and introduce himself.
RAY MATIASHOWSKI, Acting-Commissioner for the Department of
Administration, introduced himself.
SENATOR BERT STEDMAN expressed pleasure that someone who
graduated from the Ketchikan school system was standing for
confirmation as commissioner.
SENATOR JOHN COWDERY motioned to forward Acting Commissioner
Matiashowski's name to the full body for confirmation. There
being no objection, it was so ordered.
HB 551-DRUG FELONY DISQUALIFIES TEACHER
CHAIR GARY STEVENS announced CSHB 551(JUD) to be up for
consideration. He noted that there was a proposed committee
substitute (CS) and asked for a motion to adopt it as the
working document.
SENATOR JOHN COWDERY made a motion to adopt the \I version
Senate CS CSHB 551 for discussion purposes.
CHAIR GARY STEVENS explained that the \I version is a compromise
and provides a 10 year look-back for felony offenses for teacher
certification purposes rather than the 35 year look-back. The
compromise is an acknowledgement that people make mistakes and
they can change their behavior.
SENATOR BERT STEDMAN questioned the viability of the bill since
there was little support and that the industry thought they
could take care of the problem within their own system without
this legislation.
CHAIR GARY STEVENS agreed there was resistance, but he thought
it was important to make the bill a little better and send it to
the Health Education and Social Services Committee. The
Professional Practices Commission and the Anchorage School Board
acknowledge that the change to 10 years is better, but they
still weren't entirely happy with it, but it's better than
before.
SENATOR JOHN COWDERY asked whether "controlled substance"
includes alcohol.
CHAIR GARY STEVENS informed him it doesn't include alcohol or
marijuana.
SENATOR STEDMAN reiterated that he wasn't sure there was a need
for the bill.
CHAIR GARY STEVENS said it was late in the session and it might
not make it through the system, but he didn't want to hold the
bill.
SENATOR COWDERY motioned to report SCS CSHB 551(STA) from
committee with individual recommendations and zero fiscal note.
There being no objection, it was so ordered.
CSHB 536(MLV)-PFUND APPLICATION DEADLINES FOR MILITARY
CHAIR GARY STEVENS announced CSHB 536(MLV) to be up for
consideration.
JOHN BITTNER, staff to Representative Cheryll Heinze, introduced
the bill for the sponsor. He explained that the bill allows
Alaskans who are members of the armed services and are serving
in war-zone situations extensions on their permanent fund
dividend (PFD) application period. As soon as they are out of a
war-zone situation, they have 90 days to submit their PFD
application. It's also retroactive for two years to cover
members of the armed services who were serving in the previous
Iraqi war or the war in Afghanistan.
CHAIR GARY STEVENS recapped and added that this applies only to
those who are under hostile fire or imminent danger pay.
MR. BITTNER agreed.
SENATOR BERT STEDMAN asked how that is verified.
MR. BITTNER said it's a military pay type.
SENATOR STEDMAN asked for further clarification.
MR. BITTNER said the permanent fund dividend office has had to
address the same type of thing when verifying whether or not
members of the armed services were in the state for the
requisite periods of time. The military has certain forms that
members of the armed services have to turn in to prove that they
are a resident of Alaska and they were in Alaska for the minimum
amount of time necessary. He continued to say that, "In a case
like this, [Director] Barton ... has told me that they would
require some sort of verification like a pay stub or a military
form of that nature."
SENATOR STEDMAN asked if this would include people in the
military that transferred here, lived here for the requisite
time to qualify for the PFD and then transferred off into the
battle zone. He questioned, "Would they be able to claim
residency in Alaska if they were really from Georgia and collect
that dividend?"
MR. BITTNER said there are certain requirements for being a
member of the state and spending a majority of the time outside
the state. He pointed to the absence guidelines for information
in the packet.
SENATOR STEDMAN said the short answer was no. He then asked how
many PFD checks go out to military members that aren't
technically Alaska residents; they just apply because they're
stationed here. He assumed that military members would apply for
residency to collect the dividend.
MR. BITTNER said it's possible to do something of that nature,
but he didn't have a number to give. He added that the permanent
fund has safeguards in place to try to eliminate any abuses.
CHAIR GARY STEVENS said there's a bill in the House that would
make serious changes to address students and people in the
military, but that's not this bill. This bill only deals with an
application extension for those under hostile fire or imminent
danger.
SENATOR JOHN COWDERY asked about leaving the state for medical
services.
MR. BITTNER replied this bill wouldn't address that situation,
but if you're injured while in a war zone there is leeway for
the commissioner to extend the application period indefinitely
if you can prove reasonable cause.
There were no further questions.
SENATOR COWDERY motioned to report CSHB 536(MLV) from committee
with individual recommendations and attached zero fiscal note.
There being no objection, it was so ordered.
CHAIR GARY STEVENS adjourned the meeting at 5:10 p.m.
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