HB 150-PAY, ALLOWANCES, BENEFITS FOR MILITIA MEM  1:58:49 PM CHAIR TUCK announced that the final order of business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 150, "An Act relating to pay, allowances, and benefits for members of the organized militia." CHAIR TUCK stated that HB 150 would authorize the same pay allowance and benefits for the organized militia, whether they are called into state active duty by the governor or adjutant general, or called to serve under federal active duty by the president. 1:59:33 PM REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER stated that he protests the bill being introduced as a committee bill. He said he thinks it is a good bill, he appreciates the indeterminate fiscal note, but he has some questions about the costs. CHAIR TUCK reviewed the costs of HB 150. He explained that without knowing what natural disasters may happen in the future, determining set costs is difficult. He stated that the department detailed the costs of the 2015 "Sockeye Fire" under the current system, which required classification of all activities performed by any member of the organized militia under a call by the governor. The classification and payment are based on what other employees across the state get paid. He explained that an individual may be on as many as eight different pay scales in one day under the current system. He expressed that HB 150 would simplify the payments for the department. He detailed that under the current system, the cost of [the Sockeye Fire] was $30,681.93, while under the new system, [the cost of the Sockeye Fire would have been] $31,046.33. REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER asked for clarification on whether the pay listed on the "Sockeye Fire Spreadsheet" [included in the committee packet] is per hour or per day. CHAIR TUCK answered that it is per day. REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER noted that according to the spreadsheet, a corporal with 11 or more years of service would make $17 more per day under the current system. 2:02:08 PM REPRESENTATIVE SPOHNHOLZ explained that the difference in total salary paid under the current system and the proposed system in HB 150 for the 2015 Sockeye Fire is a net increase of $364.40. She noted that the calculation does not account for the administrative cost-savings of the service members and department staff calculating multiple changes in work duty. She offered her intuition that the costs would result in a "net zero" after accounting for "the administrative simplicity that would be implemented." 2:03:15 PM REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER mentioned to "always label your numbers." He asked what the column header in the spreadsheet, labeled "What if 4+ years" means. CHAIR TUCK offered his understanding that "years" refers to the years of experience per individual. He asked Mr. Brian Duffy if that is correct. 2:03:56 PM BRIAN DUFFY, Director, Administrative Services Division, Department of Military & Veterans Affairs (DMVA), confirmed Chair Tuck was correct. REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER again asked if the aforementioned column header assumes four years of service "in that rank." MR. DUFFY answered that is correct. He stated that a captain at grade O-3 in military vernacular, who had over 11 years of service, would receive the rate listed in the top column based on rank and experience. 2:04:55 PM REPRESENTATIVE PARISH expressed that HB 150 is a good bill that lifts an administrative burden from the state and individual service members, who have "better things to be doing than checking their watches before and after fighting a fire to estimate the amount of time that they're spending on a given task." He stated that he supports the bill. He thanked the chair for being gracious and "sharing the credit" by making the bill a committee bill. REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER commented that HB 150 is indexed to the federal pay levels: If there is an increase in salary for a certain range across all the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), then the pay would also be increased in the state salaries. 2:05:48 PM CHAIR TUCK responded that is correct. He offered his experience that as a foreman, keeping time for all the different duties on a construction jobsite required a lot of time to document paperwork and took away from his time supervising the work. He speculated that the department would be more efficient without the detailed time cards and variable pay scales. 2:06:40 PM REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX moved to report HB 150 out of House Special Committee on Military and Veterans' Affairs with individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal notes. There being no objection, HB 150 was moved from committee.