Legislature(2021 - 2022)ADAMS 519
05/03/2021 01:30 PM House FINANCE
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB34 | |
| HB151 | |
| HB19 | |
| HB157 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | HB 34 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | HB 19 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | HB 157 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | HB 182 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| += | HB 151 | TELECONFERENCED | |
HOUSE BILL NO. 151
"An Act relating to unemployment benefits during a
period of state or national emergency resulting from a
novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak; and
providing for an effective date."
1:56:08 PM
Representative Rasmussen MOVED to ADOPT Amendment 1, 32-
LS0704\I.3 (Wayne, 4/26/21) (copy on file):
Page 1, line 8, through page 2, line 3:
Delete "To the extent consistent with federal law, an
insured worker who is otherwise qualified to receive a
benefit under AS 23.20 (Alaska Employment Security
Act) may not be disqualified for failure to comply
with AS 23.20.378(a) because of conduct by the insured
worker or the employer of the insured worker related
to an outbreak of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-
19), including conduct involving
(1) providing care, including medical care, to one or
more persons;
(2) preventing or limiting the spread of COVID-19; or
(3) preventing or limiting economic loss or harm.
(b)"
Reletter the following subsections accordingly.
Page 2, line 6, following "AS 23.20.375(a).":
Insert "in this subsection, "insured worker" has the
meaning given in AS 23.20.520."
Page 2, line 11:
Delete all material.
Co-Chair Merrick OBJECTED for discussion.
[Note: the following discussion through 1:57 p.m.
inadvertently addressed Amendment 2 (not yet offered).]
Representative Rasmussen explained that the amendment
repealed the additional benefit date to September 6, 2021
to align with the current federal date for extended
unemployment insurance (UI) benefits. She stated it would
cover the state through the tourist season. She recognized
the tourism industry would continue to be greatly impacted
by the aftereffects of the pandemic. She believed the
amendment was a compromise given that many businesses in
Anchorage were uncomfortable expanding the UI benefits.
Co-Chair Merrick WITHDREW the OBJECTION.
Representative Josephson OBJECTED.
Representative Josephson asked if the amendment would
shorten the period of the benefits from the end of the year
to September.
Representative Rasmussen answered that the amendment would
align with the federal UI extension date of September 6,
2021.
Representative Josephson requested an "at ease."
1:57:57 PM
AT EASE
1:59:08 PM
RECONVENED
Representative Rasmussen apologized and relayed she had
inadvertently been describing Amendment 2 in her previous
explanation. She clarified that Amendment 1 would delete
the work requirement exemption from the bill. She believed
her office had worked with the bill sponsor's office on the
language in the amendment.
Representative Josephson OBJECTED for discussion. He
requested time to look at Amendment 1.
1:59:41 PM
AT EASE
2:00:15 PM
RECONVENED
Representative Josephson MAINTAINED the OBJECTION.
A roll call vote was taken on the motion.
IN FAVOR: Rasmussen, Thompson, Carpenter, Johnson, LeBon,
Ortiz, Merrick
OPPOSED: Edgmon, Josephson, Foster
The MOTION PASSED (7/3). There being NO OBJECTION,
Amendment 1 was ADOPTED.
Representative Wool was absent from the vote.
2:01:37 PM
Representative Rasmussen MOVED to ADOPT Amendment 2, 32-
LS0704\I.2 (Wayne, 4/21/21) (copy on file):
Page 2, line 28:
Delete "Section 1 of this Act is"
Insert "Sections 1 and 2 of this Act are"
Page 2, line 29:
Delete all material
Renumber the following bill sections accordingly.
Representative Josephson OBJECTED.
Representative Rasmussen explained that Amendment 2 would
repeal the additional benefits date to September 6, 2021
and aligned with the federal extension for UI benefits.
Representative Wool asked if the amendment sponsor would
consider splitting the difference and shortening the
extension date to December 6 instead of September 6. He
thought extending the state assistance several months would
help bridge the gap after federal assistance ended in
September. His proposal would give extra dependent
assistance for three additional months instead of going to
March 31 [2022].
Representative Rasmussen stated that she did not support
amending the amendment date. She shared that she had heard
from close to 50 businesses in the Anchorage area, mostly
in retail and hospitality. She was concerned that extending
the benefits through the holiday season would make it even
more difficult for businesses to find employees. She
remarked that November and December were very busy months
for retail and hospitality. She wanted to have something in
place for people who were struggling, but she did not want
to impact job positions in the $15 to $20 per hour range.
She did not want to make it too difficult for small
businesses to keep their doors open due to lack of
personnel during the holidays.
Representative Wool understood and appreciated the
comments. He was familiar with the challenge in finding
employees. He remarked that Alaska's state unemployment was
one of the lowest in the nation. He speculated that someone
getting a supplemental from the federal government that
expired on September 6 would want to try to find a job. He
expounded that if the person could not find a job and they
had kids at home, the extension to December would give them
an additional $50 above the state amount per child per
week. He did not believe it was a lot of money and it would
help make the transition easier after the federal money
ended. He stated he may move to amend Amendment 2 by
changing the date to December 6.
2:05:16 PM
AT EASE
2:06:57 PM
RECONVENED
Representative Wool MOVED to AMEND Amendment 2. He proposed
changing the date on page 2, line 29 to December 6, 2021.
Representative Rasmussen OBJECTED. She relayed that she had
learned that many small businesses in her district were
opposed to a longer extension. She believed the September 6
date in the original amendment was a fair compromise.
2:07:47 PM
Representative Wool provided wrap up to conceptual
Amendment 1 to Amendment 2. He stated that the additional
federal unemployment payments ended on September 6. He
pointed out that the bill included an extension to March.
He viewed December as the compromise. He stated that
September was the same cutoff as the federal government. He
highlighted that Alaska was one of the lowest unemployment
reimbursement states. He understood the disincentive to go
back to work if someone was receiving too much, but he did
not believe people would be receiving too much after
September 6. He stated there may be people who abused the
system, but he noted there were many people who did not who
had kids at home and were actively looking for work.
A roll call vote was taken on the motion.
IN FAVOR: Wool, Edgmon, Josephson, Ortiz, Foster
OPPOSED: Thompson, Carpenter, Johnson, LeBon, Rasmussen,
Merrick
The MOTION to ADOPT conceptual Amendment 1 to Amendment 2
FAILED (5/6).
2:10:09 PM
Co-Chair Merrick returned to Amendment 2 for consideration.
Vice-Chair Ortiz OBJECTED to the amendment. He understood
the anecdotal comments some members had been receiving from
their districts; however, the impact of the amendment would
be statewide. He stated the committee had heard in public
testimony there were large sections of the state that could
use the unemployment benefit. He recognized there may be
businesses in certain areas that saw themselves as being
negatively impacted by the benefits; however, based on
testimony, a broader range of people needed the resources
and would continue to need them.
Representative Wool stated that if a person did not have
children, they would lose any federal subsidy to their
unemployment. He remarked that Alaska was at the lowest
reimbursement rate, and he did not believe it was a
disincentive to go back to work. He elaborated that if a
person had a couple of kids, they would receive $100 per
week. He stated it was not a lot of money and would not
prevent people from looking for work. He pointed out that
people looking for work needed daycare for their children,
which was an added expense. As a small business owner, he
was very familiar with the trouble of finding workers. He
noted that pre-pandemic the situation was real, and it had
been worsened by the pandemic. He remarked that adding the
supplemental for a dependent on top of the state's low
unemployment reimbursement only brought the amount up to
what an average state paid. He did not view the money as a
disincentive. He thought extending the benefits several
more months was the moderate approach. He thought September
may be hard for many people.
Representative Edgmon agreed with the comments by the past
two members. He viewed the benefits as a safety net. He
stated that based on the testimony heard from the
department, it had a rigorous eligibility process. He read
from the brochure that once a person opened a claim, they
needed to file every two weeks to receive payments and
actively looking for jobs. He stated that with respect to
the maker of the motion and the reference to businesses, he
believed the businesses were all Southcentral based. He
pointed out that the issue was statewide in scope. He noted
that perhaps schools may not be open in the fall, including
in the Anchorage School District. He surmised that the
issue came down to a personal legislative philosophy. He
stated that if he could help one single mother with
children who could not go to school for whatever reason and
legitimately needed unemployment, he would vote in that
direction. He did not support the amendment.
2:14:21 PM
Representative Carpenter noted that the amendment did not
eliminate help for anyone. He highlighted that the
amendment would reduce the benefit from the high levels
that resulted from the COVID response. He believed it was
necessary to pick a date at some point in time to return to
normal. He remarked that there would always be an excuse,
reason, or justification to continue spending money. He
noted it was a difficult conversation to select a date. He
stated it was hard to predict what the conditions would be
in September, December, or March. He elaborated that it
would be a busy year except for some industries that were
already covered. He did not want to set the busy season
going into the winter with a challenge for employment. He
believed the amendment included the right timing. He added
that the legislature could always come back and readdress
the issue if needed.
2:15:43 PM
Representative Rasmussen provided wrap up on the amendment.
She noted that a single mom who was not working would
qualify for state assistance for many things including
daycare and food. She believed if the concern was that
Alaska had the lowest UI benefits it should be addressed in
a separate bill not related to the Coronavirus pandemic but
related to an intent to permanently raise UI. She stressed
that the situation was not anecdotal. She underscored that
the private sector was struggling, and businesses were
closing because they could not find enough personnel. She
was concerned the benefits would become an additional state
expense when the federal money was gone. She stated the
federal money was available through September 6. She
highlighted that the Alaska tourism season had
predominantly been shut down due to the Center for Disease
Control (CDC) and Canadian decisions on borders and cruise
ships, which had impacts throughout the state. She agreed
with Representative Carpenter about the need to look
towards an end date to get back to normal.
Representative Rasmussen referenced statements made by
others about a mom who could not put her child in daycare.
She emphasized that if there were not any personnel for
businesses, there would not be daycare available for people
to go to. She recalled testimony from an owner of a large
daycare in Southcentral who talked about the difficulty
telling families they could not provide care due to a lack
in staff. She stated it was a double-sided issue. She
reiterated her earlier statements that the amendment was a
compromise and aligned with the federal date.
Representative Josephson MAINTAINED the OBJECTION.
A roll call vote was taken on the motion.
IN FAVOR: Carpenter, Johnson, LeBon, Rasmussen, Thompson,
Merrick
OPPOSED: Wool, Edgmon, Josephson, Ortiz, Foster
The MOTION PASSED (6/5). There being NO OBJECTION,
Amendment 2 was ADOPTED.
2:18:28 PM
Representative Thompson MOVED to ADOPT Amendment 3, 32-
LS0704\I.1 (Wayne, 4/20/21) (copy on file):
Page 1, lines I - 2:
Delete "during a period of state or national emergency
resulting from a novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19)
outbreak"
Page 2, lines 3 - 4:
Delete "For the duration of a state or national
emergency for an outbreak of novel coronavirus disease
(COVID-19), the"
Insert "The"
Page 2, lines 14 - 15:
Delete "DURING NOVEL CORONA VIRUS DISEASE OUTBREAK"
Page 2, lines 16 - 17:
Delete "for the duration of a state or national
emergency for an outbreak of novel coronavirus disease
(COVID-19),"
Representative Josephson OBJECTED for discussion.
Representative Thompson asked to hear from the bill sponsor
about the reason for the amendment.
REPRESENTATIVE IVY SPOHNHOLZ, SPONSOR, spoke to the reason
for Amendment 3. She thanked Representative Thompson for
introducing the amendment on her behalf. She detailed that
her office had worked with the amendment sponsor to remove
the reference to the state or national emergency relating
to COVID from the legislation after consulting with the
department and learning the specific language was
unnecessary.
Representative Josephson WITHDREW the OBJECTION.
There being NO further OBJECTION, Amendment 3 was ADOPTED.
Co-Chair Foster MOVED to REPORT CSHB 151(FIN) out of
committee with individual recommendations and the
accompanying fiscal note.
There being NO OBJECTION, it was so ordered.
CSHB 151(FIN) was REPORTED out of committee with a "no
recommendation" recommendation and with one new zero fiscal
note from the Department of Labor and Workforce
Development.
2:20:24 PM
AT EASE
2:21:27 PM
RECONVENED