ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE  SENATE LABOR AND COMMERCE STANDING COMMITTEE  February 23, 2010 2:02 p.m. MEMBERS PRESENT Senator Joe Paskvan, Chair Senator Joe Thomas, Vice Chair Senator Bettye Davis Senator Kevin Meyer Senator Con Bunde MEMBERS ABSENT  All members present COMMITTEE CALENDAR  SENATE BILL NO. 247 "An Act extending the termination date of the Board of Pharmacy; and providing for an effective date." - MOVED CSSB 247(L&C) OUT OF COMMITTEE SENATE BILL NO. 248 "An Act extending the termination date of the Board of Marital and Family Therapy; and providing for an effective date." - MOVED CSSB 248(L&C) OUT OF COMMITTEE PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION  BILL: SB 247 SHORT TITLE: EXTENDING BOARD OF PHARMACY SPONSOR(s): SENATOR(s) OLSON 01/29/10 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS 01/29/10 (S) L&C, FIN 02/09/10 (S) L&C AT 2:00 PM BELTZ 105 (TSBldg) 02/09/10 (S) Heard & Held 02/09/10 (S) MINUTE(L&C) BILL: SB 248 SHORT TITLE: EXTEND BD OF MARITAL & FAMILY THERAPY SPONSOR(s): SENATOR(s) OLSON 01/29/10 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS 01/29/10 (S) L&C, FIN 02/09/10 (S) L&C AT 2:00 PM BELTZ 105 (TSBldg) 02/09/10 (S) Heard & Held 02/09/10 (S) MINUTE(L&C) WITNESS REGISTER TIM BENINTENDI Staff to Senator Olson Alaska State Legislature Juneau, AK POSITION STATEMENT: Commented on SB 247 and SB 248 for the sponsor. JENNIFER STRIKLER, Operations Manager Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development (DCCED) POSITION STATEMENT: Answered questions on SB 248. ACTION NARRATIVE 2:02:26 PM CHAIR JOE PASKVAN called the Senate Labor and Commerce Standing Committee meeting to order at 2:02 p.m. Present at the call to order were Senators Bunde, Thomas, Davis, and Paskvan. SB 247-EXTENDING BOARD OF PHARMACY    2:04:07 PM CHAIR PASKVAN announced SB 247 to be up for consideration. He said that no opposition had been heard on either bill (SB 247 and SB 248) since the first hearing, and the auditor recommended extending both boards. However, he said, SB 247 requires a simple committee substitute (CS) which makes the sunset bill compliant with the recommendation of the audit. 2:04:12 PM SENATOR MEYER joined the committee. 2:04:22 PM TIM BENINTENDI, Staff to Senator Olson, sponsor of SB 247, said they would entertain a change to the bill that would extend the board to 2018 as opposed to 2015, the original term. 2:05:16 PM SENATOR BUNDE moved to adopt CSSB 247(L&C) as the working document. SENATOR MEYER objected for an explanation. MR. BENINTENDI explained that the CS would simply extend the Board of Pharmacy to June 30, 2018 instead of June 30, 2015. He said the audit gave high marks to the board, although it had a few criticisms for the administration that didn't impact it directly in a substantive way. SENATOR MEYER removed his objection. 2:06:07 PM CHAIR PASKVAN closed the public hearing. SENATOR THOMAS moved to report CSSB 247(L&C) from committee with individual recommendations and no attached fiscal note(s). There were no objections and it was so ordered. 2:07:56 PM At ease 2:09:40 PM Back to order SB 248-EXTEND BD OF MARITAL & FAMILY THERAPY  2:09:48 PM CHAIR PASKVAN announced SB 248 to be up for consideration. SENATOR THOMAS moved to bring CSSB 248(L&C) before the committee. SENATOR MEYER objected for discussion purposes. 2:09:53 PM TIM BENINTENDI, Staff to Senator Olson, sponsor of SB 248, testified that the audit found that revenues from licensing fees from the Board of Marital and Family Therapy don't cover the cost of regulatory changes, an issue from previous years. The audit recommended the board be extended to 2014, but SB 248 was originally drafted to sunset in 2015. The sponsor agreed with auditor's sunset recommendation as well as the findings, one of which was to address some administrative issues in the department. SENATOR BUNDE said he has heard frequent concerns about price of license versus actual cost, and state regulation says they should equal each other. In this case they do not, and he wanted to know how far out of balance they are. MR. BENINTENDI answered that the board had closed the deficit substantially in the last several years and it is down to less than $30,000 (from around $100,000 eight or nine years ago). The problem is that the pool of licensees is real small. The board actually chose to keep working at reducing their deficit as opposed to paying to have regulations processed that should be in place. He suspected the audit had found that the regulations that had not been advanced weren't fatal to the mission of the board. It hasn't jeopardized the public. SENATOR BUNDE asked if the deficit would be cured by the next sunset. MR. BENINTENDI said he hadn't heard that at a public discussion. SENATOR DAVIS said she wanted that question answered. 2:13:57 PM JENNIFER STRIKLER, Operations Manager, Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing, Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development (DCCED), said as of this month, the board's deficit is down to $2,000 and it should be take care of by the next renewal cycle unless an investigation comes forward that is usually the one item that drives expenses up. SENATOR MEYER removed his objection. CHAIR PASKVAN closed public testimony. SENATOR THOMAS moved to report CSSB 248(L&C) from committee with individual recommendations and attached fiscal note(s). There were no objections and it was so ordered. 2:17:10 PM CHAIR PASKVAN, finding no further business, adjourned the meeting at 2:17 p.m.