04/22/2021 03:00 PM House HEALTH & SOCIAL SERVICES

           HB 133-AK ED SAVINGS PROGRAMS/ELIGIBILITY                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
3:13:54 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR  ZULKOSKY announced  that  the first  order of  business                                                               
would  be HOUSE  BILL NO.  133, "An  Act relating  to the  Alaska                                                               
savings program  for eligible individuals; relating  to education                                                               
savings  programs; relating  to  the Education  Trust of  Alaska;                                                               
relating  to the  Alaska advance  college  tuition savings  fund;                                                               
relating to  the Alaska education  savings program  for children;                                                               
and  relating  to  the Governor's  Council  on  Disabilities  and                                                               
Special Education."                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  FIELDS,  as  prime  sponsor,  offered  to  answer                                                               
questions on HB 133.                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
3:14:44 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
STUART  SPIELMAN,  Senior  Vice President  for  Advocacy,  Autism                                                               
Speaks,  testified in  support  of  HB 133.    He explained  that                                                               
Autism  Speaks is  dedicated to  promoting  solutions across  the                                                               
spectrum   and  throughout   the  lifespan   for  the   needs  of                                                               
individuals  with  autism  spectrum   disorder  (ASD)  and  their                                                               
families.  He highlighted that one  of the needs of the community                                                               
is to provide  for the expenses that are incurred  as a result of                                                               
disability.    He noted  that  Autism  Speaks has  supported  the                                                               
Achieving  a Better  Life Experience  (ABLE) Act  and legislation                                                               
surrounding the ABLE Act, including  the proposed legislation [HB
].   He  explained that  individuals with  autism often  incur                                                               
extra expenses,  and the  ABLE Act allows  for family  members to                                                               
plan and provide for those expenses.   He added that the ABLE Act                                                               
became law  in 2014  and the first  programs were  established in                                                               
2017.  He  relayed that he has  data that shows that,  at the end                                                               
of 2020, there  were 82,019 accounts with $643  million in assets                                                               
invested.  He compared this to  2017 when there were no accounts.                                                               
He concluded that Autism Speaks  supports HB 133 because it would                                                               
conform Alaska law to the changes in federal law.                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
3:17:08 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
MR. SPIELMAN  in response to  Representative McCarty,  noted that                                                               
the  accounts  and  assets  data was  sourced  from  "ISS  Market                                                               
Intelligence."     In  response  to  a   follow-up  question,  he                                                               
clarified that the data relates to ABLE programs nationwide.                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  MCCARTY asked  Mr.  Spielman whether  he has  the                                                               
numbers for Alaska.                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
MR. SPIELMAN responded that he does not.                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
3:18:26 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
PAMELA  LEARY, Treasury  Division, Department  of Revenue  (DOR),                                                               
responded  to  Representative  McCarty's question,  stating  that                                                               
there are currently over 620  ABLE Accounts in Alaska which total                                                               
$5 million in assets.                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
3:19:06 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  KURKA  noted that  it  had  been mentioned  in  a                                                               
previous hearing  that a benefit  of the proposed  legislation is                                                               
that it would support individuals  who require federal assistance                                                               
in  becoming  independent.   He  asked  Representative Fields  to                                                               
describe how the  process would work and how  it would facilitate                                                               
independence.                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE FIELDS responded  with the example of  his dad who                                                               
was a social  worker, and some of his dad's  clients would need a                                                               
lot of help, and some did not.   He shared that some of his dad's                                                               
clients  had jobs  but didn't  necessarily make  enough money  to                                                               
live  independently.   He explained  that an  ABLE account  would                                                               
allow an individual able to  live independently right now to save                                                               
up  and  invest  in  avenues  such  as  education  so  that  this                                                               
individual  could become  more  independent in  the  future.   It                                                               
would  also  ensure  that,  while   working  and  saving  up  for                                                               
education,  an  individual  wouldn't lose  the  critical  support                                                               
necessary to  get by.   He agreed that  a cap on  provided public                                                               
assistance is  necessary but opined  that the caps  are currently                                                               
so  low  that individuals  can  be  disincentivized to  save  for                                                               
things like education.                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  KURKA   offered  his  understanding   that  these                                                               
programs  seem to  be  an "on  or off  switch,"  not a  graduated                                                               
"weaning  off."     He  said  that  it  seemed  to   him  like  a                                                               
disincentive  to being  independent and  to working  within one's                                                               
capacity.   He applauded the  concept of allowing  individuals to                                                               
find personal freedom and provide for themselves.                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
3:22:29 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  SPOHNHOLZ  commented  that  many  benefits  being                                                               
discussed  are related  to financial  subsidies, but  many others                                                               
are  related to  home and  community-based waivers  services that                                                               
are  designed to  pay for  people who  do the  kind of  work like                                                               
Representative Fields' dad did, or  like she herself did early on                                                               
in her career.   She shared that part of  her work involved going                                                               
into   the  homes   of  people   with   disabilities  who   lived                                                               
independently in  the community, most  of whom had jobs,  but due                                                               
to  cognitive disabilities,  these individuals  were not  able to                                                               
earn enough  money to live  financially independently  and needed                                                               
people to help  them do things like balance  their checkbooks and                                                               
go  grocery shopping.    She shared  that  if these  individuals'                                                               
income got too high, these  services would no longer be available                                                               
to  them, and  these  individuals would  have to  go  live in  an                                                               
assisted living facility  or something similar.   A facility like                                                               
this, she noted,  costs the state much more money  and allows for                                                               
less autonomy and dignity for the individuals.                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
3:24:31 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE MCCARTY referred  to page 2, section  6, lines 30-                                                               
31 of HB 133, which read:                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
      (1) "department" means the Department of Health and                                                                   
     Social 31 Services [REVENUE];                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  MCCARTY asked  Representative  Fields the  reason                                                               
for removing  revenue if  the bill deals  with the  management of                                                               
money.                                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE    FIELDS    responded   that    he    understands                                                               
Representative McCarty  to be  referring to a  draft of  the bill                                                               
that  was originally  considered in  a House  Labor and  Commerce                                                               
Standing  Committee,  but  that   committee  passed  a  committee                                                               
substitute  [CSHB   133  (L&C)]   to  change   it  back   to  the                                                               
responsibility of the Department of  Revenue (DOR).  He explained                                                               
that individuals  had different perspectives on  the most logical                                                               
department to  house the proposed legislation,  and the committee                                                               
decided to leave it in DOR.                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE MCCARTY asked which draft is being considered.                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  ZULKOSKY offered  clarification that  the version                                                               
before members should be [CSHB 133 (L&C)].                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  FIELDS added  that that  was the  one substantive                                                               
change  that  was  made  to  the previous  version  of  the  bill                                                               
introduced during the Thirty-First Alaska State Legislature.                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
3:26:35 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR SNYDER moved  to report CSHB 133 (L&C)  out of committee                                                               
with  individual  recommendations  and  the  accompanying  fiscal                                                               
notes.   There  being no  objection, CSHB  133(L&C) was  reported                                                               
from the House Health and Social Services Standing Committee.