03/01/2013 01:00 PM House JUDICIARY

        HB 100 - GEOGRAPHIC COLA FOR JUSTICES AND JUDGES                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
1:06:38 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR KELLER announced  that the first order of  business would be                                                              
HOUSE BILL  NO. 100, "An Act  relating to the  geographic cost-of-                                                              
living  adjustment  to the  salaries  of supreme  court  justices,                                                              
superior court  judges, and district  court judges;  and providing                                                              
for an effective date."                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
1:07:32 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
DOUG  WOOLIVER,  Deputy  Administrative  Director,  Administrative                                                              
Staff,  Office  of  the  Administrative   Director,  Alaska  Court                                                              
System  (ACS), explained  that HB  100 would  update the  statutes                                                              
governing   the  geographic   cost-of-living   adjustment   (COLA)                                                              
applied  to  the  salaries  of  Alaska's  [justices  and]  judges.                                                              
Under current  law, employees in  both the judicial  and executive                                                              
branches  of  government receive  a  COLA  based  on the  cost  of                                                              
living in  the communities  in which they  work, and this  COLA is                                                              
applied to  their entire  yearly salary.   However, for  [justices                                                              
and] judges,  the COLA  is only  applied to  the first  $40,000 of                                                              
their  yearly salary,  and the  maximum percentage  by which  that                                                              
portion  of their salary  can then  be adjusted  is 17.5  percent,                                                              
[but  then  only  for  justices   and  judges  living  in  certain                                                              
communities,] resulting  in a maximum  yearly COLA of  only $7,000                                                              
for such  a [justice or]  judge under current  law.   In contrast,                                                              
many [other  ACS] employees  receive a yearly  COLA far  in excess                                                              
of $30,000.                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
MR.  WOOLIVER explained  that  via COLAs,  the  salaries of  those                                                              
serving  in rural  areas of  the  state can  be made  commensurate                                                              
with the salaries  of those serving in urban  areas, something the                                                              
legislature  has long  recognized  the value  of, having  provided                                                              
for  COLAs  in  statute  since  1966.    The  cost  of  living  in                                                              
Kotzebue, for example,  is 60 percent higher [than  in Anchorage].                                                              
However,  under  current law,  a  [justice  or] judge  working  in                                                              
Kotzebue "makes  essentially the same  as a [justice or]  judge in                                                              
Anchorage,"  he  remarked, [instead  of  being provided  the  same                                                              
COLA as  other ACS  employees serving in  Kotzebue].   For Bethel,                                                              
especially, recruitment  of [justices and]  judges has been  a big                                                              
challenge,  in part because  of the  high cost  of living  in that                                                              
community  - approximately  50 percent higher  than in  Anchorage.                                                              
Remarking on  difficulties the Alaska  Judicial Council  (AJC) has                                                              
had in  filling judicial  positions in  rural communities,  and on                                                              
anticipated upcoming  judicial vacancies, he acknowledged  that an                                                              
increase in  the COLA  for justices  and judges won't  necessarily                                                              
solve the  AJC's recruitment problem,  but again pointed  out that                                                              
the high cost  of living in rural  communities is one  of the main                                                              
hurdles to judicial recruitment.                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
1:11:41 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
MR. WOOLIVER  noted that under current  law, the COLAs  applied to                                                              
the  salaries of  justices  and  judges are  not  also applied  to                                                              
their  retirement  [contributions/benefits];   HB  100  would  not                                                              
change  this.    Again,  the  goal   is  to  update  the  statutes                                                              
governing the COLA  applied to the salaries of  Alaska's [justices                                                              
and] judges.   Under the bill, the  COLA would only be  applied to                                                              
the first  $100,000 of  a [justice or]  judge's salary,  but would                                                              
be equal to  the COLA received by other  judicial-branch employees                                                              
assigned to serve in that particular community.                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
MR.  WOOLIVER, in  response to  questions, relayed  that the  base                                                              
salary of a supreme  court justice, a superior court  judge, and a                                                              
district court  judge is  [$196,224], [$181,440], and  [$153,840],                                                              
respectively; that  the COLA currently applied to  the salaries of                                                              
justices and  judges serving in  Fairbanks is [3.5  percent]; that                                                              
currently  the only  Alaska  Supreme  Court justice  whose  salary                                                              
would be impacted  by the bill is Justice Daniel  E. Winfree; that                                                              
the reason for having  the bill's proposed COLA apply  only to the                                                              
first $100,000  of a justice or  judge's base salary is  mainly to                                                              
minimize the  bill's fiscal  impact as much  as possible,  as well                                                              
as in recognition  of the fact that  at a certain point,  a higher                                                              
cost of  living won't necessarily  result in a continued  increase                                                              
in spending;  and that  no other state  employee has  his/her COLA                                                              
applied to  only a portion of  his/her salary - all  COLA's except                                                              
for  those applied  to the  salaries  of justices  and judges  are                                                              
applied  to  the  employee's  entire   base  salary,  though  what                                                              
specific  COLA  is  used varies  [depending  on  which  particular                                                              
statute governs the employee's salary].                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  GRUENBERG said  he  wouldn't have  a problem  with                                                              
having the COLA apply to a justice or judge's full salary.                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
MR. WOOLIVER  - in  response to other  questions - indicated  that                                                              
compared  to other  states, Alaska  ranks about  in the middle  in                                                              
terms of what it  pays its state justices and  judges, and offered                                                              
to  research nationwide  statistics  regarding  such salaries  and                                                              
associated  COLAs  further and  provide  that information  to  the                                                              
committee.                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR  KELLER  indicated  that  he  didn't  have  a  problem  with                                                              
providing  for a  fair salary  for Alaska's  justices and  judges,                                                              
taking  into  account  the  state's   current  fiscal  restraints,                                                              
however.                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  PRUITT characterized  the bill's proposed  changes                                                              
as substantial.                                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
MR. WOOLIVER  mentioned  that via  a past iteration  of the  bill,                                                              
the proposal  was to  have a  justice or  judge's COLA  applied to                                                              
his/her  entire  salary,  and  relayed   that  the  ACS  would  be                                                              
amenable  to  working  on  additional  compromises  regarding  the                                                              
bill's proposed  changes.   In response  to further questions  and                                                              
comments,  he  provided  additional information  about  the  AJC's                                                              
judicial-recruitment challenges  in rural areas of  the state, and                                                              
again acknowledged  that an increase in the COLA  for justices and                                                              
judges won't  solve those challenges,  adding, however,  that what                                                              
can be done  is to at least  make the salaries  more commensurate,                                                              
in a real sense, with that received in the urban areas.                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR KELLER relayed that HB 100 would be held over.