Legislature(2023 - 2024)
2024-05-15 Senate Journal
Full Journal pdf2024-05-15 Senate Journal Page 2866 HB 29 CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 29(JUD) am "An Act prohibiting certain insurance decisions based solely on a person's status as an elected official" was read the third time. Senator Giessel moved the bill be returned to second reading for all amendments offered today. Without objection, the bill was returned to second reading. Senator Bjorkman, Chair, moved and asked unanimous consent for the adoption of the Labor and Commerce Senate Committee Substitute offered on page 2464. Without objection, SENATE CS FOR CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 29(L&C) was adopted. Senator Hughes offered Amendment No. 1 : Page 1, line 1, following "Act": Insert "relating to group insurance coverage and self-insurance coverage for school district employees, employees of the University of Alaska, and employees of other governmental units in the state" Page 1, line 2, following "official": Insert "; and providing for an effective date" Page 1, following line 3: Insert new bill sections to read: "* Section 1. AS 14.08.101 is amended to read: Sec. 14.08.101. Powers. A regional school board may (1) sue and be sued; (2) contract with the department, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, or any other school district, agency, or regional board for the provision of services, facilities, supplies, or utilities; 2024-05-15 Senate Journal Page 2867 (3) determine its own fiscal procedures, including policies and procedures for the purchase of supplies and equipment; the regional school boards are exempt from AS 37.05 (Fiscal Procedures Act) and AS 36.30 (State Procurement Code); (4) appoint, compensate, and otherwise control all school employees in accordance with this title; these employees are not subject to AS 39.25 (State Personnel Act); (5) adopt regulations governing organization, policies, and procedures for the operation of the schools; (6) establish, maintain, operate, discontinue, and combine schools subject to the approval of the commissioner; (7) recommend to the department projects for construction, rehabilitation, and improvement of schools and education-related facilities as specified in AS 14.11.011(b), and plan, design, and construct the project when the responsibility for it is assumed under AS 14.11.020; (8) by resolution adopted by a majority of all the members of the board and provided to the commissioner of the department, assume ownership of all land and buildings used in relation to the schools in the regional educational attendance area, as provided for in AS 14.08.151(b); (9) provide housing for rental to teachers, by leasing existing housing from a local agency or individual, by entering into contractual arrangements with a local agency or individual to lease housing that will be constructed by the local agency or individual for that purpose, or, without using for the purpose that portion of public school funding that consists of state aid provided under AS 14.17, by constructing or otherwise acquiring housing that is owned and managed by the regional educational attendance area for rental to teachers; (10) employ a chief school administrator; (11) apply for and use the proceeds of a loan from the Alaska energy efficiency revolving loan fund (AS 18.56.855); (12) establish and maintain participation in a policy of insurance as authorized by AS 14.27.010; (13) exercise those other functions that may be necessary for the proper performance of its responsibilities. * Sec. 2. AS 14.14.090 is amended to read: Sec. 14.14.090. Duties of school boards. In addition to other duties, a school board shall 2024-05-15 Senate Journal Page 2868 (1) determine and disburse the total amount to be made available for compensation of all school employees and administrative officers, including, when applicable, the amount necessary to pay for the district's participation in a policy of insurance under AS 14.27.010; (2) provide for, during the school term of each year, an educational program for each school age child who is enrolled in or a resident of the district; (3) withhold the salary for the last month of service of a teacher or administrator until the teacher or administrator has submitted all summaries, statistics, and reports that the school board may require by bylaws; (4) transmit, when required by the assembly or council but not more often than once a month, a summary report and statement of money expended; (5) keep the minutes of meetings and a record of all proceedings of the school board in a pertinent form; (6) keep the records and files of the school board open to inspection by the public at the principal administrative office of the district during reasonable business hours; (7) establish procedures for the review and selection of all textbooks and instructional materials at least once every 10 years, including textbooks and curriculum materials for statewide correspondence programs, before they are introduced into the school curriculum; the review includes a review for violations of AS 14.18.060; nothing in this paragraph precludes a correspondence study student, or the parent or guardian of a correspondence study student, from privately obtaining or using textbooks or curriculum material not provided by the school district; (8) provide prospective employees with information relating to the availability and cost of housing in rural areas to which they might be assigned, and, when possible, assist them in locating housing; however, nothing in this paragraph requires a school district to provide teacher housing, whether district owned, leased, rented, or through other means, nor does it require a school board to engage in a subsidy program of any kind regarding teacher housing; (9) train persons required to report under AS 47.17.020, in the recognition and reporting of child abuse, neglect, and sexual 2024-05-15 Senate Journal Page 2869 abuse of a minor; (10) provide for the development and implementation of a preventive maintenance program for school facilities; in this paragraph, "preventive maintenance" means scheduled maintenance actions that prevent the premature failure or extend the useful life of a facility, or a facility's systems and components, and that are cost-effective on a life-cycle basis; (11) establish procedures for providing the training under AS 14.18.060, AS 14.20.149, 14.20.680, AS 14.30.355, 14.30.356, 14.30.362, AS 14.33.100, AS 18.66.310, and AS 47.17.022; the procedures established under this paragraph must include a training schedule that ensures that not less than 50 percent of the total certificated staff employed by the district receive all of the training not less than every two years and that all of the certificated staff employed by the district receive all of the training not less than every four years. * Sec. 3. AS 14.17.300 is amended by adding new subsections to read: (c) Notwithstanding (a) and (b) of this section, the commissioner of administration (1) may expend from the public education fund to the group health and life benefits fund under AS 39.30.095 amounts necessary for the commissioner of administration to pay claims submitted by district employees who are covered by a policy of self-insurance that is provided by the Department of Administration under AS 39.30.091; (2) shall, over a period of 10 years from the date the first expenditure authorized under this subsection occurs, reimburse the public education fund for money expended under this section from the public education fund using appropriations for that purpose. (d) Total expenditures from the public education fund under (c) of this section may not exceed $100,000,000. * Sec. 4. AS 14 is amended by adding a new chapter to read: