02/11/2011 08:00 AM House EDUCATION

                     HB 6-REMOVING A REGENT                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR DICK  announced that the  final order of business  would be                                                               
HOUSE BILL NO.  6, "An Act authorizing the governor  to remove or                                                               
suspend a  member of the  Board of  Regents of the  University of                                                               
Alaska  for good  cause;  and establishing  a  procedure for  the                                                               
removal or suspension of a regent."                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
9:35:46 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE   MAX   GRUENBERG,   Alaska   State   Legislature,                                                               
introduced  HB 6  paraphrasing from  the sponsor  statement which                                                               
read [original punctuation provided]:                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
      This bill creates a statutory due process procedure                                                                       
        under which the governor may suspend or remove a                                                                        
     University of Alaska regent for good cause.                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
     This bill is in response to  a 2007 incident in which a                                                                    
     regent  was federally  indicted on  multiple counts  of                                                                    
     fraud.    He  refused  to  resign  his  position  until                                                                    
     impeachment proceedings began.   The boards of regents'                                                                    
     by-laws  do  not set  forth  a  procedure to  remove  a                                                                    
     regent.   The legislative  legal counsel  has concluded                                                                    
     that regents serve at the  pleasure of the governor and                                                                    
     thus can  be removed.   An informal  attorney general's                                                                    
     opinion  states that  the governor  does  not have  the                                                                    
     authority to  remove a regent  without cause.   That AG                                                                    
     opinion  concluded  that  the governor  does  have  the                                                                    
     authority  to  remove a  regent  so  long as  cause  is                                                                    
     established and due process granted.                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
     It  should be  noted that  during the  25th legislature                                                                    
     letters were sent  to the board of  regents asking that                                                                    
     it,  under  the  authority  of  14.40.170(b)(1),  adopt                                                                    
     procedures  for  the  removal and/or  suspension  of  a                                                                    
     regent, but it has not done so.                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
     It is  important to  acknowledge that  the constitution                                                                    
     does bear upon  this bill due to  the governor's powers                                                                    
     being  enumerated   in  Article   III  of   the  Alaska                                                                    
     Constitution while the board  of regents is established                                                                    
     in Article  VII, section 6.   The Alaska  Supreme Court                                                                    
     has  ruled  that the  UA  is  subject  to a  degree  of                                                                    
     legislative  control.    For example,  the  legislature                                                                    
     can,  without approval  of the  regents, dispose  of UA                                                                    
     land.  Additionally, the  legislature has, through law,                                                                    
     provided  the  UA  with a  broad  degree  of  autonomy;                                                                    
     however, this implies  the UA is still  subject to laws                                                                    
     enacted by  the legislature.  The  legislature has been                                                                    
     given  broad authority  under the  constitution, indeed                                                                    
     the  only constitutional  constraints on  the power  of                                                                    
     the legislature  to make laws regarding  other agencies                                                                    
     of the  State of  Alaska deal with  the rules  of court                                                                    
     and  the  repeal  of  initiatives.     In  effect  this                                                                    
     legislation  provides a  check upon  the powers  of the                                                                    
     university.                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
     This  bill   secures  the  state's  interest   and  the                                                                    
     university's interest.   This  legislation will  keep a                                                                    
     cloud from  hovering over the  UA in a  future scenario                                                                    
     in  which a  regent must  be removed  or suspended  for                                                                    
     cause.                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
9:38:45 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG explained  that the procedure, presented                                                               
in  the bill,  is modeled  on the  worker's compensation  appeals                                                               
board legislation,  and other statutory  framework in  the state.                                                               
The  procedure is  designed  to be  above  reproach, and  handled                                                               
through the governor's office.                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
9:40:44 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE P. WILSON moved to  have committee substitute (CS)                                                               
HB 6, 27-LS0027\D,  Mischel, 2/9/11, before the  committee as the                                                               
working draft.   There being  no objection, Version D  was before                                                               
the committee.                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
The committee took an at-ease from 9:40 a.m. to 9:42 a.m.                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
9:41:57 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG stressed  the need to have  a process in                                                               
place to remove a regent.                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON asked to have the CS explained.                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
9:43:47 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
TED  MADSEN, Staff,  Representative Max  Gruenberg, Alaska  State                                                               
Legislature,  explained the  changes in  version D,  paraphrasing                                                               
from  a  prepared  statement, which  read  as  follows  [original                                                               
punctuation provided]:                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
     There are a  number of changes between the  "A" and "D"                                                                    
     versions,  including  minor grammatical  and  stylistic                                                                    
     changes, and substantive changes.                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
     There was  one major change  to Section 1 of  the bill.                                                                    
     Subsection (a)  paragraph (3) of the  "A" version (page                                                                    
     2 lines  2-7) was deleted and  subsection (a) paragraph                                                                    
     (2) of the  "D" version (page1 lines  12-13) was added.                                                                    
     The  effect  of  this  change   is  to  show  that  the                                                                    
     legislature   has   legislative  authority   over   the                                                                    
     University of Alaska.                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
     There  were a  few changes  to Section  2 of  the bill.                                                                    
     Subsection (e)  of the "A"  version (page  3lines 7-10)                                                                    
     was deleted,  as with the  addition of  new subsections                                                                    
     and  language in  the "D"  version it  was unnecessary.                                                                    
     Specifically, with designation  that the proceedings in                                                                    
     this  section   fall  under   the  guidelines   of  the                                                                    
     Administrative   Procedures   Act,  the   language   in                                                                    
     subsection (e) was not needed.                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
     The other major change to Section 2 of the "A" version                                                                     
     was a reordering of the subsections to better reflect                                                                      
     the flow of the proceedings.                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
9:46:34 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG interjected that  precedent can be cited                                                               
for  the legislative  authority  over the  University of  Alaska.                                                               
Further, with  respect to the removal  of sec. E lines  7-10, the                                                               
language  was   redundant  and   new  language   established  the                                                               
administrative  adjudication procedures,  modeled on  the federal                                                               
adjudication act.                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
9:48:13 AM