ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE  LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL  APRIL 12-13, 2017  7:01 AM    MEMBERS PRESENT    Representative Sam Kito, Chair  Senator Bert Stedman, Vice Chair  Representative Matt Claman  Representative Bryce Edgmon  Representative David Guttenberg  Representative Charisse Millett (Day 2)  Representative Dan Ortiz  Representative Louise Stutes  Representative Harriet Drummond, Majority Alternate (Day 1)  Representative David Eastman, Minority Alternate  Senator Pete Kelly (Day 1)  Senator Anna MacKinnon  Senator Kevin Meyer  Senator Peter Micciche  Senator Gary Stevens  Senator Cathy Giessel, Alternate    MEMBERS ABSENT    Representative Charisse Millett (Day 1)  Representative Harriet Drummond, Majority Alternate (Day 2)  Senator Lyman Hoffman (Day 1 and 2)  Senator Pete Kelly (Day 2)    AGENDA    APPROVAL OF AGENDA  OTHER COMMITTEE BUSINESS    SPEAKER REGISTER    Tim Banaszak, IT Manager, Legislative Affairs Agency  7:01:31 AM    I. CHAIR SAM KITO called the Legislative Council meeting to  order at 7:00 a.m. in Room 519 (House Finance) of the State  Capitol. Present at the call were Representatives Claman,  Edgmon, Stutes, Eastman (alternate), and Kito; Senators  Kelly, MacKinnon, Meyer, Micciche, Stevens, Giessel  (alternate), and Stedman. Representatives Drummond and  Ortiz joined the meeting during roll call; Senator Kelly  joined the meeting during the executive session.  Representative Millett and Senator Hoffman were absent.    II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA    VICE CHAIR STEDMAN moved that Legislative Council approve  the agenda.    The motion was approved without objection.    III. OTHER COMMITTEE BUSINESS  a. IT Subcommittee Recommendations  b. Stoel Rives Update  c. West Benson LIO    a. IT Subcommittee Recommendations    TIM BANASZAK, Information Technology Manager for the  Legislative Affairs Agency, said that he was excited to  submit two IT initiatives for the Council's consideration  that will reduce costs, visibly improve technology, and  replace 20-year old manual processes. The two initiatives  are the result of collaboration with vendors, Agency staff,  a legislative focus group, the IT Subcommittee, the  Information Office, and many others, which will (1)  eliminate the bulk of the computer and equipment and move  cost and the associated two months of Legislator and staff  downtime during the move weeks; and (2) will improve the  committee room testifier and constituent communications  with House and Senate members during testimony.    Mr. Banaszak said Initiative #1 deals with workstation  mobility at a cost of $416,102. The current equipment move  program is unsustainable. The upfront investment of  $416,102 will eliminate the majority of all equipment moves  by April 2018 when the legislature adjourns. We can expect  a return on investment beginning in year three of the  program, and significant savings by year five. He  highlighted just a few of the related move costs for the  shipping program for each legislature: $12,000 for two  tractor trailer trips; 75 tons of office boxes and computer  equipment are moved between session and interim offices;  6,000 boxes are transported back and forth, two months of  Legislator and staff computer downtime during move weeks;  over $92,000 spent on travel costs; and finally, 56 travel  weeks representing 2,500 hours of staff time, or over one  FTE dedicated to just moving equipment and boxes. Mr.  Banaszak referred members to his memo with a table  summarizing the reduction in cost for the proposed  acquisition in year three; and illustrating that by year  five, the proposed initiative costs are $373,000 below the  current business-as-usual program that requires a Sisyphean  level of effort for stone rolling equipment back and forth  between offices. He concluded the presentation on  Initiative #1.    Mr. Banaszak, in response to a question by Senator  Micciche, confirmed that the table showed accumulated  savings year-by-year over a five year period, assuming  maintaining the current three year refresh program.    DISCUSSION FOLLOWED regarding equipment refresh process;  clarification of initiative proposal; tractor trailer costs  limited to just computer equipment (exclusive of moving  office materials/file boxes); and procurement process for  equipment standardization and competitive pricing through  an existing State contract with Lenovo for this  acquisition.    CHAIR KITO noted that existing desktop equipment for those  with permanent work stations in Juneau will be used through  the normal service life, then new equipment will be  purchased following this new standard.    MR. BANASZAK followed up the Chair's comment to say that in  the first phase of the initiative, they were targeting all  the equipment that was moved back and forth. Much of the  equipment that will be replaced will be put into service in  offices that are more stationary so that nothing is getting  disposed of that is still usable.    In response to a question by Representative Guttenberg, Mr.  Banaszak confirmed that the initiative would be replacing  laptops as they reached the end of their service life, not  a wholesale replacement of all current laptops. It will  happen in phases and there will be time to make sure that  it works for the legislature.    DISCUSSION FOLLOWED about timeline of initiative should  Council approve it; the process of testing the proposed  equipment with the vendor and the vendor's engineers; and  the process of testing with a legislative focus group,  which narrowed the options to what would be useful to the  legislature.    In response to a question by Senator MacKinnon, Mr.  Banaszak stated that the equipment that would be purchased  in the first phase included 57 color printers with two- sided printing capability with no scan/fax capability.    7:23:58 AM  Due to time constraints, at the urging of the Chair, Mr.  Banaszak moved to Initiative #2 - Committee Room  Enhancement Pilot Project for $22,500. He said that each  committee room is currently equipped for audio and limited  one-way video streaming. This proposal would test available  technologies to enhance information sharing between the  constituent, testifier, and committee members. It includes  a wireless projector to allow anyone in the committee room  with a tablet or laptop to view the presentation on their  device; a 17-inch touch screen for the presenter to  highlight and annotate information as it is being  considered by the committee; a 70-inch interactive work  screen to present live/real time information rather than  static slides; and capability for constituents and  testifiers to use video tools such as Polycom, Skype, Zoom  and Vidyo. He highlighted that this is only a pilot project  to test these technologies in one committee room to ensure  they will work for their intended purpose.    SENATOR MACKINNON requested that there be a lag time or  "kill button" inserted into whatever technology is being  tested so that if a presenter included an inappropriate  image, for instance, that the committee didn't want to go  digital, the committee wouldn't be distributing such  imagery.    CHAIR KITO clarified his understanding that the way this  technology would work is that it would only be information  going out to the public in a one-directional manner; that  it wasn't bi-directional in that the public would not be  able to submit images to the committee with the video  technologies being used. Mr. Banaszak confirmed that was  so.    DISCUSSION FOLLOWED about the possibility of reducing the  amount of paper being used through technologies like these;  the option of having a device only for committee documents  that does not text or have email; building the  infrastructure for these options with a cautious approach;  the concern that going paperless has been a challenge in  other state legislatures and isn't like possible at this  time.    7:31:27 AM  VICE CHAIR STEDMAN moved that Legislative Council approve  the Workstation Mobility Project in the amount of $416,102  and Committee Room Enhancement Pilot Project in the amount  of $22,500.    The motion passed without objection.    MR BANASZAK moved on to the final item in his presentation  - 2017 Interim Project Information. This was not an action  item. He said IT had three important initiatives scheduled  for the 2017 interim, all of which are included in the  current licensing agreements:    1. Email Office 365, which will increase storage capacity by  50-100 times over current capacity. It will also provide  seamless online archiving for storage needs that exceed  the new thresholds. The timeline for this project is  between October and December 2017 after the Executive  Branch completes their migration.  2. Windows 10 Desktop Computer Operating Systems Deployment,  which is necessary to keep systems and security operating  systems at an optimal level. The IT staff have taken the  time to design the Windows 10 look and feel to mirror the  current Window 7 as much as possible; this will minimize  the transition learning curve of the new operating  system.  3. Office 2016 installation to ensure we are compliant with  the current supported software. It will provide a  framework to support document collaboration, as well as  position Legislators and staff to access documents on and  off the legislative network and across multiple  platforms, including smartphones, tablets, and laptops.    Mr. Banaszak noted for members that the cost for each of  these projects is included in the annual licensing  agreements. The Executive and Legislative Branches of  government participate in a shared contract with Microsoft  to ensure the best possible government pricing.    Mr. Banaszak said that the IT staff were well-prepared and  looked forward to taking on this unprecedented volume of  work during the interim.    SENATOR MICCICHE thanked Mr. Banaszak and his team for a  seamless transition back-and-forth; that he has great  people and their customer service is unprecedented. He  noted he had been operating with a mobile work station for  over a decade and offered himself as a volunteer.    CHAIR KITO noted that the next item would first be  discussed in executive session. He said that Council had  this room until 8:30am, and that if they were not finished  by that time, the meeting would continue the following  morning beginning at 7am.    b. Stoel Rives Update    7:36:18 AM  VICE CHAIR STEDMAN moved that Legislative Council go into  Executive Session per Uniform Rule 22(b)(1) discussion of  matters, the immediate knowledge of which would adversely  affect the finances of a government unit. Any Legislators  not on Council can remain in the room along with  legislative staff that work for Legislative Council  members. In addition, the following people can be on line  or remain in the room:    Pam Varni  Doug Gardner  Kevin Cuddy  Brian Meissner  Elisha Martin  Helen Phillips  Bree Wiley  Jodie McDonnell  Ben Manly    Legislative Council went into executive session.    8:18:34 AM  Legislative Council came out of executive session.    CHAIR KITO said that Council was still engaged in the  executive session discussion so the meeting would continue  tomorrow. He said there would be one motion before Council  recessed for the day.    VICE CHAIR STEDMAN moved that Legislative Council approve  $125,000 for the legal costs associated with Stoel Rives.    The motion passed without objection.    CHAIR KITO, in response to a question by Representative  Drummond about why the Benson Building renovation  discussion was being held in executive session, said that  Council needed to have a frank and open discussion about  the potential costs of renovating the building.    8:20:22 AM  Legislative Council recessed.   April 14, 2017  7:00 AM    7:01:58 AM  CHAIR SAM KITO reconvened the Legislative Council meeting  to order at 7:00 a.m. in Room 519 (House Finance) of the  State Capitol. No roll was taken. Present for the  continuation of the meeting were Representatives Claman,  Edgmon, Guttenberg, Millett, Ortiz, Stutes, Eastman  (alternate), and Kito; Senators MacKinnon, Meyer, Micciche,  Stevens, Giessel (alternate), and Stedman. Absent were  Representative Drummond (alternate) and Senators Hoffman  and Kelly.    III. OTHER COMMITTEE BUSINESS CONTINUED  c. West Benson LIO    7:03:47 AM  Legislative Council went into executive session.    8:14:07 AM  Legislative Council came out of executive session.    VICE CHAIR STEDMAN moved that Legislative Council approve  $150,000 for the Phase 1 Construction budget to move  forward with some work on the fourth floor wiring at 1500  W. Benson Blvd from legislative capital funds.    CHAIR KITO, in response to a request for clarification by  Senator Micciche, said that the goal with the $150,000 was  to prepare the fourth floor for temporary occupancy by  Legislators and staff for the 2017 interim, so that LAA has  the ability to start transitioning offices from session to  district. The plan is to continue to work on the renovation  component and have another meeting before session is over.    The motion passed without objection.    There being no further business before the committee,  Legislative Council adjourned at 8:20 a.m.    8:17:46 AM