03/28/2024 08:00 AM House COMMUNITY & REGIONAL AFFAIRS

        HB 133-PUBLIC MEETINGS: EXEMPT MUNI SVC AREA BD                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
8:16:22 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR MCCORMICK announced  that the next order  of business would                                                               
be HOUSE BILL  NO. 133, "An Act exempting  municipal service area                                                               
boards  from  the requirements  of  the  Open Meetings  Act;  and                                                               
providing for an effective date."                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
8:16:34 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  JESSE  SUMNER,  Alaska State  Legislature,  prime                                                               
sponsor, presented HB 133.   He paraphrased the sponsor statement                                                               
[included  in  the  committee  packet],  which  read  as  follows                                                               
[original punctuation provided]:                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
     House Bill 133 would  give specific exemptions to local                                                                    
     municipalities on the Open Meetings Act.                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
     Currently, the  Open Meetings  Act (OMA)  doesn't allow                                                                    
     for  Board   Supervisors  on   the  Road,   Safety  and                                                                    
     Assessment  (RSA) board  to ride  in the  same vehicle,                                                                    
     because of the  quorum statute in OMA.  For example, in                                                                    
     the Mat-Su  Borough, RSA is  an advisory  only position                                                                    
     appointed by  the Mayor.  These positions  are strictly                                                                    
     voluntary; with  no power to  contract or spend  any of                                                                    
     the Borough's money.                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
     Not  only would  this  change  incentivize local  board                                                                    
     members; which has  been a problem filling,  but in the                                                                    
     Mat-Su  Valley,   it  is  critical   to  get   all  the                                                                    
     Supervisors  together and  brainstorm  on  how best  to                                                                    
     solve Borough issues, without the cloud of the OMA.                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
     Currently,  in practice,  if a  board member  found out                                                                    
     something wrong  with a road,  he or she does  not have                                                                    
     the ability  to call others  on the board to  come look                                                                    
     at said  problem and discuss  solutions on  solving the                                                                    
     issue, because of the Open  Meetings Act. This is a big                                                                    
     problem for local municipalities  with an easy solution                                                                    
     set forth in this bill.                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
     Please join us in supporting HB 133.                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
8:18:29 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CLARK BICKFORD, Staff, Representative  Jesse Sumner, Alaska State                                                               
Legislature, on  behalf of  Representative Sumner,  prime sponsor                                                               
of  HB 133,  presented the  sectional analysis  [included in  the                                                               
committee packet],  which read  as follows  [original punctuation                                                               
provided]:                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
     Section I:                                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
     Just a  small grammatical amendment  AS 44.62.310(d)(5)                                                                    
     from UPON to ON.                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
     And                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
     Removes a  portion of AS 44.62.310(d)(8)  to ultimately                                                                    
     read  "meetings   of  municipal  service   area  boards                                                                    
     established under  AS 29.35.450    29.35.490."  This is                                                                    
     the heart of the Bill that  will give the power back to                                                                    
     local   municipalities   to  function   reasonable   in                                                                    
     deciding on  how best  to problem-solve  and not  be in                                                                    
     violation of the Open Meetings Act.                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
     Section II:                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
     If passed, this would  take effect immediately under AS                                                                    
     01.10.070©.                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR MCCORMICK opened invited testimony.                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
8:19:49 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
JILL PARSON,  board member,  Big Lake  Road Services  Area (RSA),                                                               
gave  invited  testimony during  the  hearing  on  HB 133.    She                                                               
informed the committee that she was  a member of the Big Lake RSA                                                               
board of  supervisors, adding  that the  Open Meetings  Act (OMA)                                                               
greatly hindered the board's ability  to observe road issues in a                                                               
timely  manner and  research possible  solutions.   Ideally,  she                                                               
explained that the  board would like to be able  to ride together                                                               
in one  van with the  borough road maintenance  superintendent to                                                               
view and  discuss road problems  as a  group.  This  way, options                                                               
and research  could be conducted more  efficiently while learning                                                               
from  other  board  members  in  preparation  for  the  quarterly                                                               
meetings.   However, subject to  the OMA, supervisors  must drive                                                               
in three  separate cars so that  no one car has  a board majority                                                               
during a  "ride around," which is  far more time consuming.   She                                                               
said  RSA  supervisors welcomed  more  efficient  ways to  handle                                                               
their  responsibilities and  preparation for  regularly scheduled                                                               
meetings.                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR MCCORMICK sought questions from committee members.                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
8:23:25 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE MEARS asked  whether the bill would  be limited to                                                               
these types of boards.                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE SUMNER answered yes.                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE MEARS  asked whether the bill  would impact boards                                                               
all across  the state or  only those in  Matanuska-Susitna ("Mat-                                                               
Su").                                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  SUMNER said  the  bill would  apply to  municipal                                                               
service  area   boards  established  under  AS   29.35.450     AS                                                               
29.35.490.  He added that  a forthcoming amendment would make the                                                               
exemption even more narrowly tailored.                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
8:24:56 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE HIMSCHOOT  sought to  confirm that the  bill would                                                               
remove the language  "when meeting solely to act  on matters that                                                               
are administrative or managerial in nature."                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  SUMNER  confirmed.   He  noted  that rather  than                                                               
removing the language in question,  a forthcoming amendment would                                                               
add one more exception for fact finding missions.                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE HIMSCHOOT  said she  supported the  bill's intent,                                                               
but wanted to make sure that it was being done properly.                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  SUMNER   stated  that  the  Mat-Su   borough  was                                                               
particularly  cautious about  violating the  OMA, as  it was  the                                                               
only municipality with a standing injunction for OMA violations.                                                                
                                                                                                                                
8:26:36 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  HIMSCHOOT sought  to verify  that the  OMA was  a                                                               
state  law, so  exemptions  could not  be  made without  changing                                                               
state statute.                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE SUMNER  answered yes, any exemption  would need to                                                               
be made through statute.                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
8:27:25 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENATIVE BAKER shared his understanding  that under the OMA,                                                               
a meeting can be  held as long as 24 hours' notice  is given.  He                                                               
asked, "Is  there a specific reason  for this kind of  board, why                                                               
they had to  go a month out because of  the cancelled meeting ...                                                               
'meeting for the record.'"                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE SUMNER  shared his understanding that  it required                                                               
at least  two weeks  to notice  a meeting  because of  the timing                                                               
requirements for publication.                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
8:29:05 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
SANDRA  MOLLER,  Director,  Division of  Community  and  Regional                                                               
Affairs,   Department   of   Commerce,   Community   &   Economic                                                               
Development  (DCCED), stated  that there  was strong  interest in                                                               
maintaining the OMA and looked forward to hearing amendments.                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
8:29:42 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE HIMSCHOOT  asked for  examples of  other municipal                                                               
service area boards.                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE SUMNER  stated that  fire service area  boards are                                                               
the most common.                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE HIMSCHOOT  asked whether  the bill would  apply to                                                               
all service area boards.                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE SUMNER answered yes.                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
8:30:44 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR MCCORMICK announced that HB 133 would be held over.