Legislature(2023 - 2024)GRUENBERG 120
03/30/2023 03:00 PM House STATE AFFAIRS
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB140 | |
| HB129 | |
| HB130 | |
| HB131 | |
| HB132|| HB129|| HB130|| HB131 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | HB 130 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | HB 131 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | HB 132 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| *+ | HB 140 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 129 | TELECONFERENCED | |
HB 140-LEG SALARIES; STATE OFFICERS COMP COMM
3:04:03 PM
CHAIR SHAW announced that the first order of business would be
HOUSE BILL NO. 140, "An Act relating to the State Officers
Compensation Commission; and relating to policies of the Alaska
Legislative Council regarding allowances and reimbursement for
moving expenses."
3:04:38 PM
HEATH HILYARD, Staff, Representative Cathy Tilton, Alaska State
Legislature, presented HB 140 on behalf of the House Rules
Standing Committee, sponsor by request. He paraphrased the
sponsor statement [included in the committee packet], which read
as follows [original punctuation provided]:
The goal of HB 140 was not to institute sweeping
changes to the statute, but otherwise update and
refine them with an eye to protecting and maximizing
public transparency, de-politicizing the actions or
lack of actions taken by the Legislature in responding
to specific recommendations and allowing the
commission adequate time to complete their work and
the Legislature adequate time to thoughtfully
deliberate on those recommendations.
After conferring with several different parties who
were directly involved in the recommendations or were
otherwise involved in the process, it became apparent
that there were several changes needed to the statutes
governing the Alaska State Officers Compensation
Commission (ASOCC) and the work they are tasked with.
Among other things, HB 140 expands the amount of time
ASOCC has to make recommendations and the amount of
time the Legislature has to respond and dictates that
changes to legislative salaries go into effect only
after an intervening election cycle.
MR. HILYARD summarized the sectional analysis [included in the
committee packet], which read as follows [original punctuation
provided]:
SECTION 1 & 2 Sections 1 & 2 codify existing
practice that the Legislative Council is responsible
for establishing annual allowances, including per diem
and relocation expenses.
SECTION 3 Section 3 establishes a new section in the
statute articulates the policy and purpose of the
commission to "attract and retain talented, capable
individuals to serve in the highest leadership roles
of the state".
SECTION 4 Section 4 stipulates that ASOCC will
review and make salary recommendations ONLY once every
two years.
SECTION 5 Section 5 does two things. First it starts
the process two weeks earlier than current statute
(from November 15th to November 1st); and secondly it
structures the two-year cycle so that there will be an
intervening election between when the recommendations
are made by the commission and when those
recommendations go into effect for the Legislature.
SECTION 6 Section 6 also does three things. It
expands the amount of time the Commission has to
submit their recommendations to the Legislature,
expands the amount of time the Legislature has to act
in response to the recommendations, and stipulates
that salary recommendations for the Legislature can
only go into effect at the start of a new Legislature.
SECTION 7 Finally, section 7 provides greater
clarity about the amendment process, by providing
clean-up language, creating a specific deadline for
amendments to be submitted and expressly providing
that an amended report does not reset the timeline by
which the legislature must act.
CHAIR SHAW invited questions from members of the committee.
3:09:22 PM
REPRESENTATIVE STORY inquired about the meaning of "reasonable
public notice" in Section 5 of the bill.
MR. HILYARD said "reasonable public notice" was held over from
the existing statutory language, adding that the phrase mirrored
language in the Open Meetings Act. He noted that a forthcoming
amendment would stipulate a 5-day public notice protocol.
3:10:37 PM
REPRESENTATIVE ALLARD asked whether the commission had violated
its own 20-day public notice requirement.
MR. HILYARD answered no. He clarified that the 20-day notice
referenced in the governing statutes applied to the commission
members not the public.
REPRESENTATIVE ALLARD asked whether the commission had suspended
public notice.
MR. HILYARD clarified that the commission had suspended the 20-
day notice to themselves.
3:11:34 PM
CHAIR SHAW opened public testimony on HB 140. After
ascertaining that no one in the room or online wished to
testify, he announced that public testimony would be left open.
He announced that HB 140 was held over.