Legislature(2011 - 2012)HOUSE FINANCE 519
04/05/2011 01:30 PM House FINANCE
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB197 | |
| HCR9 | |
| HB173 | |
| HB30 || HB31 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | HB 30 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | HB 31 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | HB 197 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | HB 173 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | HCR 9 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
HOUSE BILL NO. 197
"An Act recognizing the Alaska Housing Finance
Corporation as the authorizing agency to approve home
energy rating systems for the state; and providing for
an effective date."
1:41:20 PM
Co-Chair Stoltze stated that after the initial
presentation, HB 30 and HB 31 would be further discussed in
subcommittee.
REPRESENTATIVE LANCE PRUITT, SPONSOR, introduced the
legislation.
Vice-chair Fairclough MOVED to ADOPT work draft CSHB
197(FIN) as a working document before the committee.
Co-Chair Stoltze OJBECTED for further discussion.
JEREMIAH CAMPBELL, STAFF, REPRESENTATIVE LANCE PRUITT,
explained that the bill recognized the Alaska Housing
Finance Corporation (AHFC) as the home energy rating system
authorizing agency for the purpose of approving energy home
rating systems used in the state. Currently, non-
governmental, third-party, for-profit party companies were
attempting to become federally recognized, which would
result in the parties controlling state policy on the issue
of energy home rating. The bill was crafted to protect the
investment of the state (via AHFC) in AkWarm; the software
used for energy design, retrofit, and in determining energy
ratings. The software was specifically designed for Alaska
and was recognized by the Alaska building, real estate, and
home loan industries. The software was directly tied to
AHFC's weatherization rebate programs, interest rate
reductions for home loans, and the Alaska Building Energy
Efficiency Standards. The bill would enable the AHFC to
insure that home energy rating systems utilized in the
state were appropriate for Alaska's climates.
Co-Chair Stoltze queried the technical changes in the CS.
Mr. Campbell replied that the CS changed "may" to "shall"
on page 1 line 9; this was to clearly define AHFC's scope
of responsibility. Secondly, the word "any" was removed
from page 1 line 9. There had been concern that having
"any" in the bill would put homebuilders, who used a system
that was not approved, in violation of the law. Thirdly,
"system" was changed to "systems" on page 1 line 10 to
imply that more than one system may be approved for use in
the state.
1:45:04 PM
Co-Chair Stoltze REMOVED his OBJECTION. There being NO
further OBJECTION CSHB 197(FIN) was ADOPTED as a working
document before the committee.
Mr. Campbell introduced his support staff available for
technical questions.
BOB BREAN, DIRECTOR, RESEARCH AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT, ALASKA
HOUSING FINANCE CORPORATION, DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE,
testified in support of the legislation. He shared that
AHFC had the authority by statute to ensure that any homes
that the corporation issued home loans on met a minimum
building and energy efficiency standard. The way to measure
the standard was through the home energy rating software
system, which the AHFC had developed, maintained, upgraded,
and trained approximately 100 energy raters to utilize. The
software was used for home loans, weatherization, and the
energy rebate program. There were approximately 50 thousand
home energy ratings in the system based on the software.
Mr. Brean stated that industry supported the legislation.
The software ensured that appropriate home energy rating
systems were utilized in the state. He relayed that the
software recognized five different climactic regions
statewide, which made the program unique to different
programs used in other parts of the country. He believed
that it was prudent to link AkWarm with the building
industry.
Representative Edgmon questioned whether there could be a
bill introduced in the future that would speak to the role
of AHFC in the commercial property aspect of the energy
efficiency revolving loan program.
Mr. Brean responded that the AkWarm rating system was used
primarily for residential properties. However, the platform
was used to build the additional libraries for the
revolving loan fund; this would include calculations more
relative to the commercial aspect of the system.
Representative Edgmon asked if there were any justifiable
reason to remove the word "home" from Home Energy Rating
System. Mr. Brean replied that he did not think that was
necessary at the present time. He added that commercial
tables and libraries were being developed for the software.
The corporation would clearly differentiate between the
two.
1:50:36 PM
Representative Edgmon thought that there could be
opportunity in the future to add clean-up language.
Representative Gara understood that the commercial
revolving loan program would be available to the public
regardless of which department ended up housing it. Mr.
Brean replied in the affirmative. He added that AHFC was
confident in the research that had gone into developing the
commercial system and that other agencies would benefit
from access to the system.
Representative Guttenberg understood that the AHFC rating
system was not recognized by the Internal Revenue Service
(IRS) for an energy efficient home tax credit.
Representative Pruitt responded that that was correct.
Representative Guttenberg asked whether people who took
advantage of the program the previous year would have to
apply for an updated rating to receive credits under the
program.
Mr. Brean said that to receive the tax credit the rating
would have to be performed by an approved agency that had
been vetted by a national organization. Home energy rebates
in the state were done using AkWarm; if a resident wanted
to go back retroactively a rating would need to be done by
nationally approved software.
Representative Guttenberg wondered if the legislation were
to pass giving federal recognition to the AHFC program
could residents who participated in the program in the past
receive tax credits retroactively. Mr. Brean believed that
the question would be referred to AHFC's legal tax counsel.
Representative Guttenberg hypothesized that if a person
wanted to sell their home using a past AHFC rating and the
bank required a current rating that the house would need to
be rated again.
Representative Pruitt responded that the resident should
not have to have their house rerated. He shared that one of
the most important reasons for the legislation was that
AHFC could not purchase homes that did not meet the home
energy rating standards. If the house was rated using the
AkWarm program the AHFC could purchase the home loan.
Representative Costello asked whether HB 197 would address
federal recognition of the AkWarm program.
1:56:37 PM
Representative Pruitt replied that it would not
automatically give recognition, but that it would begin the
process.
Representative Costello asked what steps would be taken
after passage of the bill to ensure that the AkWarm program
was federally recognized. Mr. Brean said that the next step
would be to approach the IRS and inform them that AHFC was
the authorized state agency for a state recognized rating
system. On the federal level there were two current methods
of approval: one was to approve a rating system that was
vetted by another organization in the Lower 48, or a state
acknowledged comparable system. The IRS had been approached
for the second status and had taken the software and sent
it to the third party in the Lower 48 for vetting. He
believed that once the legislation was passed Alaska would
have equal standing with other states in the country that
had in-state recognized systems. The passage of the
legislation would give the state firm standing on the
federal level to engage in conversations with the federal
government on certification of the home energy rating
software.
Co-Chair Stoltze OPENED public testimony.
Co-Chair Stoltze CLOSED public testimony.
Vice-chair Fairclough MOVED to report CSHB 197(FIN) out of
Committee with individual recommendations and the
accompanying fiscal note. There being NO OBJECTION, it was
so ordered.
CSHB 197(FIN) was REPORTED out of Committee with a "do
pass" recommendation and with previously published fiscal
note: FN1, REV.
2:00:05 PM
AT EASE
2:00:24 PM
RECONVENED