Legislature(2021 - 2022)GRUENBERG 120
04/13/2021 03:00 PM House STATE AFFAIRS
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB5 | |
| HB55 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | HB 5 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 55 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
HB 55-PEACE OFFICER/FIREFIGHTER RETIRE BENEFITS
4:33:39 PM
CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS announced that the final order of business
would be HOUSE BILL NO. 55, "An Act relating to participation of
certain peace officers and firefighters in the defined benefit
and defined contribution plans of the Public Employees'
Retirement System of Alaska; relating to eligibility of peace
officers and firefighters for medical, disability, and death
benefits; relating to liability of the Public Employees'
Retirement System of Alaska; and providing for an effective
date."
4:34:01 PM
CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS opened public testimony on HB 55.
4:34:36 PM
ANGELINA FRAIZE, Communications Officer, Anchorage Police
Department Employees Association, informed the committee that
this was her twentieth year working in Alaska law enforcement.
She noted that she was grandfathered into PERS Tier III, which
provided a twenty-year pension. She reported that her 2017
Anchorage Police Department academy started with 21 officers of
which only two were still with the department in 2021. She
recounted her experience training officers and watching them
leave after five years to work in other states. She said Alaska
had many great selling points but lacked a pension. She
expressed concern for the future of the Anchorage Police
Department, as officers were being recruited by other
departments after receiving expensive training in Alaska. In
conclusion, she opined that money was being wasted to train
individuals who ended up leaving.
4:38:58 PM
DOUG SCHRAGE, University Fire Department, spoke in support of HB
55. He informed committee members that as a 39-year
practitioner in Alaska fire departments, the goal of his
testimony was to share his observations on the outmigration of
Alaska's firefighters. He indicated that municipal fire
departments in Alaska had become revolving doors and essentially
training grounds for fire departments in other states. He
explained that firefighters in Alaska were receiving training
and serving out their probationary periods; subsequently, some
were being recruited by fire departments in Washington and the
Pacific Northwest. Those recruitments were through lateral
hires, indicating that those out-of-state departments saved the
cost of recruiting and training. Meanwhile, Alaska's fire
departments were recruiting, training, and equipping
firefighters at significant expense on a perpetual basis. He
suggested that the outmigration "blossomed" following the
implementation of Tier IV. He recalled that prior to 2008,
firefighters leaving for other states was "virtually unheard
of." Furthermore, he noticed that fewer Alaskans were applying
for firefighting jobs in Alaska, which he assumed was also due
to Tier IV. He urged committee members to recommend a "do pass"
for the proposed legislation.
4:40:55 PM
JACOB WILSON, Business Agent, Alaska Correctional Officers
Association (ACOA), expressed his support for HB 55. He noted
that during the 10 years he represented correctional officers in
Alaska he had spoken with hundreds if not thousands of officers
concerning their retirement, as well as their reasons for coming
to/leaving the Department of Corrections (DOC). He indicated
that Alaska was facing a significant recruitment and retention
crisis. One of the root causes of this crisis, he said, was the
defined contribution retirement system and its inability to
compete with the benefits offered by other law enforcement
agencies around the country. He reported that between January
2015 and January 2021, 652 correctional officers had left ACOA's
bargaining unit, which was just under 70 percent of the total
workforce. He explained that every time DOC lost an experienced
officer, the department was forced to backfill that position
with an inexperienced recruit, which costed the state money.
Further, when the department was forced to hire over 100 new
recruits per year, it systematically compromised safety and
security in the state. In summary, he asserted that Alaska
needed to address its recruitment and retention problems. He
concluded that HB 55 would be a huge step in the right
direction.
4:43:37 PM
COREY LUCK, Firefighter/EMT, Capital City Fire/Rescue ("CCFR")
stated his support for HB 55. He reported that 25 percent of
CCFR's staff was hired prior to 2006; 50 percent were currently
eligible for retirement and 40 percent would be eligible to
retire within the next two years. Additionally, 50 percent of
CCFR's staff had less than five years on the job and 30 percent
of CCFR's Tier IV employees planned on leaving in the next five
years. He included himself in the latter group, explaining that
he had been recently offered a position with a fire department
in Washington with a defined benefit plan. He said, "to be
quite honest, it would be hard to turn that [down] at this
point." He encouraged the committee to move the proposed
legislation forward, later adding his belief that public safety
in Alaska depended on it.
4:45:32 PM
GERARD ASSELIN, Deputy Chief of Operations, Anchorage Police
Department, stated his support for HB 55 and provided a brief
description of his work experience within APD. He relayed that
demands on the policing profession had increased, which made it
harder to recruit and caused officers to reevaluate their desire
to stay. He recounted that police officers had been leaving
every month for departments across the nation and emphasized the
loss of productivity that occurred, as well as the decrease in
proficiency that came with lack of experience. Further, patrol
sergeants reported that in addition to recruitment and
retention, the biggest problem was the age of officers, as the
workforce was skewing younger. He indicated that the proposed
legislation presented an opportunity to put Alaska in a
competitive posture to maintain the best public safety
professionals. He urged the committee to support the bill and
thanked them for their efforts on this issue.
4:49:23 PM
JUSTIN MACK, Alaska Professional Fire Fighters Association
(APFFA), indicated that there was widespread support for HB 55
within APFFA. He explained that since 2006 when Alaska began
placing all new state and municipal employees into the defined
contribution system known as Tier IV, Alaska had experienced
many unintended consequences. He said the clearest consequence
was the competitive disadvantage in recruiting and retaining
public safety employees. He stated that there was a significant
cost to doing nothing and reported that too many public safety
employees had cited "lack of retirement" as the primary reason
for leaving the state. Further, departments across Alaska were
hiring and training officers that had no long-term plans to stay
in the state. Alaska was becoming a training ground, he said.
He explained that recruitment and retention dollars were having
to be reinvested several times over, which was wreaking havoc on
public safety budgets. Not only was it financially impacting
municipalities and the state but a widening gap in experience
was being noticed as well, as the most talented public safety
workers were leaving. He reiterated APFFA's strong support for
the bill.
4:52:22 PM
LIZ JONES, read the following prepared remarks on behalf of her
husband, Jeffrey Jones:
I am a fire medic and have been with the department
since July of 2007 making it 14 years in a few months.
A return to a DB plan can help the state and
municipalities mitigate the costs associated with
training and turnover (indisc.) with existing DB
plans.
In my time with the department, I received multiple
certifications. I am a Fire Officer III, Firefighter
II, Paramedic - I also have my associates degree in
paramedicine - Fire Instructor II, CPR and multi-level
EMT instructor, and am the only child passenger safety
technician in Ketchikan. This was all accomplished
with a cost to the city. I'm not saying that I'm not
irreplaceable, but I can tell you, it will be a very
long time and a lot of money before someone earns all
the certifications that I have.
My family is actively searching for a new place to
call home to a state that has a DB program. My family
has roots here in Alaska and I don't want to relocate
them, but it is well known that if a fire fighter
works after 55 it puts them at a greater risk of dying
due to line of duty deaths, including heart attacks.
I would like to be able to hold my grandchildren and
to enjoy my retirement.
I started when I was 28 and will not realistically be
able to retire at an age that affords me the ability
to do so. At 58 I will have 30 years in my DC plan;
still, not enough to retire. Can you imagine a 58-
year-old carrying someone down a flight of stairs and
out of a fire? Not saying that it cannot be done or
won't be attempted, but it puts me, the public, and my
coworkers at a higher risk.
The relatively small increase in the cost of the
proposed DB program is money well spent when you
consider the value of retaining employees throughout a
career as opposed to training new people and not
having benefits in place to keep them. This cycle is
already happening, resulting in the export of home-
grown talent to states with better options for
retirees. I encourage you to pass HB 55. Thank you
for your time and consideration for this bill.
4:55:32 PM
CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS closed public testimony on HB 55 and
invited questions from committee members.
REPRESENTATIVE TARR said, "don't give up on us yet," to those
who were considering leaving the state.
REPRESENTATIVE EASTMAN asked when Tier I obligations and
liabilities would be paid without the bill compared to when they
would be paid if HB 55 were to pass. Additionally, he
questioned whether documents had been provided to the committee
that addressed that timeline.
4:57:18 PM
ELISE SORUM-BIRK, Staff, Representative Andy Josephson, Alaska
State Legislature, on behalf of Representative Josephson, prime
sponsor, directed Representative Eastman to an actuarial report
[included in the committee packet], which was conducted by the
state's actuary, [Buck Global, LLC]. She deferred the question
to Mr. Puckett, Division of Retirement and Benefits, Department
of Administration (DOA).
4:57:58 PM
CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS announced that HB 55 was held over.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| HB 5 Letters of Support (All) 4.09.2021.pdf |
HSTA 4/13/2021 3:00:00 PM |
HB 5 |
| HB 55 Additional Emails of Support 4.7.21.pdf |
HSTA 4/13/2021 3:00:00 PM |
HB 55 |
| HB 55 Additional Emails of Support 4.12.21.pdf |
HSTA 4/13/2021 3:00:00 PM |
HB 55 |
| HB 55 Additional Info - DPS R&R study.pdf |
HSTA 4/13/2021 3:00:00 PM |
HB 55 |
| HB 55 Additional Info - FY21 Cost of a New Trooper.pdf |
HSTA 4/13/2021 3:00:00 PM |
HB 55 |
| HB 55 Additional Info - Training Cost per APFO 3.30.21.pdf |
HSTA 4/13/2021 3:00:00 PM |
HB 55 |
| HB 55 Letter of Support - Munoz 4.12.21.pdf |
HSTA 4/13/2021 3:00:00 PM |
HB 55 |
| HB 55 Letter of Support - Schrage 2.24.21.pdf |
HSTA 4/13/2021 3:00:00 PM |
HB 55 |
| HB 55 Letter of Support - Stoddard 3.31.21.pdf |
HSTA 4/13/2021 3:00:00 PM |
HB 55 |
| HB 55 Response to Committee Questions - Miranda 4.1.21.pdf |
HSTA 4/13/2021 3:00:00 PM |
HB 55 |