HB 236-EXTEND SENIOR BENEFITS PAYMENT PROGRAM  4:27:11 PM CHAIR SPOHNHOLZ announced that the final order of business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 236, "An Act extending the Alaska senior benefits payment program." 4:27:29 PM MERCEDES COLBERT, Staff, Representative Scott Kawasaki, Alaska State Legislature, paraphrased from the Sponsor Statement [included in members' packets, which read as follows [original punctuation provided]: House Bill 236 would extend the Senior Benefits Program sunset clause to 2022, ensuring another four years of support for low income seniors across Alaska. Without action, the program would end in 2018. The Senior Benefits Program protects low-income seniors by providing them with modest cash assistance to pay for expenses like food, heating, electricity, transportation and prescription medication. The program was established in 2007 and currently provides assistance to nearly 12,000 Alaskans ages 65 and older with incomes at 75 percent, 100 percent, and 175 percent of the federal poverty level. Assistance ranges from $47 to $250 a month for eligible seniors depending on income and the size of the appropriation from the Alaska State Legislature. The Senior Benefits Program is a successor to the Longevity Bonus, which was created in 1972. This important program protects seniors who have spent a lifetime building this state. It lends a small hand to low-income seniors who need assistance to help make ends meet. Terminating this program would put thousands of seniors at risk for losing means to buy essential items necessary for maintaining a healthy lifestyle. 4:28:43 PM REPRESENTATIVE EASTMAN asked what determined the amount of the benefit. 4:28:54 PM MS. COLBERT explained that the assistance amounts were based on income level relative to the federal poverty level, from 75 percent to 175 percent, dependent on the award. She reported that there were also other eligibility requirements, that assets were not counted toward income, that the income levels changed annually as the federal poverty level changed, and that an eligible senior could not be in jail, and could not be in the Alaska Pioneer Home, the Alaska Veterans' home, a nursing home, or a public or private institution for mental disease. 4:29:49 PM REPRESENTATIVE EASTMAN asked about the goal for each of the calculations. As eligibility was based on the federal poverty level, what was the desired level to raise each individual in the program. 4:30:37 PM MONICA WINDOM, Director, Division of Public Assistance, Department of Health and Social Services, explained that the dollar amounts for senior benefits were set in statute. She stated that she did not know the reason for the exact dollar amounts. 4:30:54 PM REPRESENTATIVE EASTMAN asked how long it had been since those figures had been re-calculated. MS. WINDOM replied that it had been since 2007. 4:31:10 PM REPRESENTATIVE JOHNSTON reported that previously there had been a longevity bonus for which every senior over 65 years of age qualified, which had been changed to a needs-based program during the administration of Governor Murkowski. 4:31:53 PM REPRESENTATIVE TARR offered her belief that although the percentage amount was set in statute, the dollar amount was annually adjusted for inflation. 4:32:11 PM MS. WINDOM clarified that the income limit for each level increased with the federal poverty level. 4:32:23 PM CHAIR SPOHNHOLZ asked if the dollar amount allowed was set in statute, and not by budget. 4:32:35 PM MS. WINDOM expressed her agreement, with one exception. She explained that the regulations had been updated to allow an adjustment of the benefit levels if the appropriation was not enough to meet the needs based on the caseload size. She pointed out that in the past year, the bottom two income tiers had been fully funded, whereas the top income tier was given a flat amount of $76, based on a projection of the appropriation and the number of recipients in the program, rather than $125. 4:33:23 PM REPRESENTATIVE JOHNSTON mused that the governor had removed the top tier from the current budget. MS. WINDOM replied, "I don't recall." CHAIR SPOHNHOLZ asked that Ms. Colbert report back to the committee. 4:33:59 PM REPRESENTATIVE EASTMAN asked about projections for the next few years and any impacts to the program. 4:34:19 PM MS. WINDOM replied that based on history, it was estimated that caseloads would increase about 2 percent each year. 4:34:30 PM CHAIR SPOHNHOLZ asked how this annual increase of caseloads was reflected in "hard numbers." MS. WINDOM reported that in FY17, the highest income level was the only level that had decreased. She shared that this highest income level had 5066 recipients in FY14, and currently there were 4873 recipients. 4:35:54 PM CHAIR SPOHNHOLZ asked for a follow up with this information to better understand the trend and the baseline in order to grasp the scope of the program. 4:36:04 PM REPRESENTATIVE SULLIVAN-LEONARD directed attention to page 2 of the senior benefits program fact sheet, which reported the increase for the number of recipients from 2011 to 2015. MS. WINDOM reported that in 2011 there were 10,576 recipients in the program, and that in the current year, 2016, there were 11,629 recipients. 4:37:14 PM CHAIR SPOHNHOLZ appointed a subcommittee to work on HB 236 over the interim with the bill sponsor and the departments: Chair Spohnholz, Representative Tarr, and Representative Sullivan- Leonard. [HB 236 was held over.]