Legislature(2021 - 2022)GRUENBERG 120
03/22/2022 03:00 PM House STATE AFFAIRS
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB401 | |
| HB396 | |
| SB95 | |
| HB309 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | HB 401 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 396 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 142 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | SB 95 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 309 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
SB 95-SEARCH AND RESCUE SURPLUS STATE PROPERTY
3:39:21 PM
CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS announced that the next order of business
would be CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 95(STA), "An Act relating to the
right of first refusal of a volunteer search and rescue group
with respect to obsolete or surplus state property."
3:39:42 PM
SENATOR DAVID WILSON, Alaska State Legislature, prime sponsor,
introduced CSSB 95(STA). He paraphrased the sponsor statement,
which read as follows [original punctuation provided]:
Search and rescue operations across the State of
Alaska are largely done by volunteer organizations
dispatched by the Alaska State Troopers. These groups
provide lifesaving services to our state at minimal
cost. SB 95 provides assistance to the groups at no
cost to the state. While search and rescue groups can
be reimbursed for costs incurred during specific
operations, the state does not generally provide them
with equipment.
This legislation allows a volunteer search and rescue
organization to exercise the right of first refusal on
items related to search and rescue before the property
is sold, leased, licenses, or disposed of. Right of
first refusal means the organization can buy the
equipment at a fair market value set by the department
of administration. This bill enables these volunteer
search and rescue groups to more easily obtain the
equipment they need to fulfill their lifesaving
mission.
Thank you for your consideration of this important
legislation.
3:42:22 PM
JASMIN MARTIN, Staff, Senator David Wilson, on behalf of Senator
Wilson, prime sponsor, summarized the intent of the bill and
presented a sectional analysis of CSSB 95(STA) [included in the
committee packet], which read as follows [original punctuation
provided]:
Section 1: Names this act the Ellie Mae Act.
Section 2: Amends AS 44.68.110 to allow an organized
volunteer search and rescue group to exercise right of
first refusal for surplus state items related to
search and rescue before they are disposed of by the
state.
3:44:11 PM
MARK STIGAR, President, Alaska Search and Rescue Association,
explained that the goal of the legislation was to allow the
volunteer search and rescue groups to fulfill their purpose as
easily as possible by making equipment available to them. He
explained that the groups were made up of volunteers and relied
entirely on fundraising, as they didn't receive any money from
state entities.
REPRESENTATIVE VANCE asked how these groups were defined in
statute and whether they were required to meet certain criteria
so that they weren't receiving an unfair advantage over other
groups.
MR. STIGAR shared his understanding that the search and rescue
operations groups were identified by a resource list maintained
by the Alaska State Troopers (AST).
SENATOR WILSON directed attention to page 1, lines 8-10, which
defined the groups as "A group of volunteers that is organized
to provide search and rescue services in the state, including
participation in a search and rescue party under AS 18.60.120".
3:49:08 PM
REPRESENTATIVE KAUFMAN wondered whether procurement items could
be influenced by those receiving the first option to refuse.
MS. MARTIN assured Representative Kaufman that state property
was disposed of by the Department of Administration (DOA) in the
best interest of the state; further that the responsibility was
taken very seriously.
3:50:16 PM
CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS asked how common it was for personal
property to be used to execute the missions carried out by the
search and rescue organizations.
MS. MARTIN deferred to Mr. Stigar.
MR. STIGAR estimated that at least 90 percent of the property
was personal property. For example, he said all of the 25
search and rescue canines were "personal property" of their
handlers. He said the exception was a small number of radios
provided by the state.
CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS asked how DOA would interpret the language
on page 1, line 8.
3:53:11 PM
THOR VUE, Chief Procurement Officer, DOA, attempted to clarify
the question.
CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS asked how to determine which entities were
eligible and which individuals in said entities were eligible.
MR. VUE explained that DOA worked closely with the Department of
Public Safety (DPS) to ensure that the organizations were
recognized. In regard to individual eligibility, he imagined
that officers within the eligible entities would be selected as
the organizations' representatives.
CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS asked how DPS would assess which entities
were eligible, should the legislation pass.
3:55:12 PM
PAUL FUSSEY, Lt., Alaska State Troopers, DPS, stated that he
would work closely with Mr. Vue to establish the appropriate
qualifications.
3:55:54 PM
REPRESENTATIVE EASTMAN asked whether loans should be added to
the list on page 1, line 12, of the bill.
MS. MARTIN pointed out that "leased" was included in the list,
which could capture the intent described by Representative
Eastman. She recalled a discussion that took place in the
Senate Finance Committee about making this a leasing program;
however, the property in question would be past its valuable
life, so keeping it as inventory would no longer benefit the
state.
REPRESENTATIVE EASTMAN asked whether it was the bill sponsor's
intent for a volunteer group to have priority over a borough
search and rescue team.
MS. MARTIN answered yes, the bill would apply to volunteer
organizations. She reasoned that organizations with a payroll
have more resources and wouldn't necessarily need to purchase
state equipment at a reduced cost.
3:58:51 PM
REPRESENTATIVE STORY asked how big the surplus [of equipment]
was and whether other groups should be included in the scope of
the bill.
SENATOR WILSON opined that the bill would be a "nominal" way for
the state to assist search and rescue groups at zero cost. He
said his intent was to help search and rescue groups across
Alaska that were in need of goods and services, which the state
would typically donate.
REPRESENTATIVE STORY requested a response from DOA.
4:01:05 PM
JOHN HARSHFIELD, State Property Manager, Shared Services of
Alaska, DOA, reported that between 30-50 items were posted per
day. The auction averaged 300 items at any given point, he
said.
4:02:34 PM
REPRESENTATIVE EASTMAN directed attention to the language "state
property that may assist in carrying out search and rescue
services". He asked who was being granted the authority to make
that determination.
MS. MARTIN said DOA would be empowered to make that
determination. She reiterated that the department was required,
by statute, to dispose of equipment in the best interest of the
state.
REPRESENTATIVE EASTMAN posed a scenario in which multiple search
and rescue groups were interested in the same item. He asked
how that would be handled.
MS. MARTIN shared her understanding that it would be resolved
with a bidding procedure.
CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS expressed his interested in hearing a
response from DOA; additionally, he inquired about the process
by which property was currently disposed of.
4:04:39 PM
MR. HARSHFIELD said currently, the state used www.govdeals.com
to source out its auction items. He explained that the website
had the capability to create multiple tiers of bidders, which
included a public tier and a tier for state employees. He said
if the bill were to pass, an additional tier would be created
for search and rescue groups.
CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS sought to confirm that state employees had
the right to first refusal and could effectively flag interest
in an item, which in turn, would remove it from the public
bidding process.
MR. HARSHFIELD clarified that the item would be moved to the
state employee tier, wherein the item could be pulled for state
use only.
CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS asked how the right of first refusal
functioned with the multi-tier system described by Mr.
Harshfield. He considered a scenario in which a surplus DPS
airplane was up for auction and asked whether any bid
constituted the right of first refusal.
MR. HARSHFIELD answered yes, the winning bidder on the tier
would obtain the property. He explained that any item in the
search and rescue tier would not be available to the public.
CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS sought to confirm that any single bid would
effectively block an item from advancing to the public tier.
MR. HARSHFIELD confirmed.
4:08:10 PM
MS. MARTIN added that DOA had mentioned a "buy it now" price or
a minimum bid for a scenario in which multiple search and rescue
groups were not bidding on the same item.
CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS asked how a minimum bid or a "buy it now"
price would work.
MR. HARSHFIELD explained that DPS would set an estimate on the
price of an item before it was sent to the surplus program. The
surplus program would then list the item for search and rescue
groups to purchase at that set price.
4:09:18 PM
MR. HARSHFIELD, in response to a question from Representative
Eastman, stated that set prices would be a rarity and something
that would require further discussion.
CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS asked how common it was for a minimum bid
to be exceeded in an auction scenario.
MR. HARSHFIELD said most items with a set price sold well above
the set price. He noted that typically, set prices were
reserved for higher value items to accrue more money for the
state.
CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS asked how much revenue DOA grossed in a
fiscal year through the surplus property program.
MR. HARSHFIELD said DOA grossed zero, as all the income from the
program went straight to the general fund (GF).
CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS asked for the gross figure from sales.
MR. HARSHFIELD answered slightly over $260,000 in 2021. He
noted that the figure excluded vehicles and heavy equipment,
which were sold through DOT&PF.
CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS asked Mr. Harshfiled to follow up with the
total sales for vehicles and heavy equipment.
4:12:01 PM
REPRESENTATIVE VANCE asked why the act was referred to as the
Ellie Mae Act.
SENATOR WILSON said he wanted to honor a service [indisc.] that
passed away.
4:12:23 PM
REPRESENTATIVE TARR asked whether in general, the surplus
property program secured an appropriate price for the items'
real value.
MR. HARTFIELD estimated that most auction items brought in 5-15
percent of their original value.
SENATOR WILSON pointed out that the items were originally
purchased for state use. He said the intent was for the items
to remain in state service for the remainder of their useful
life.
CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS remarked, "How do you assess the
potentially expanding the class of volunteers in communities
who might benefit from state surplus equipment?"
4:16:38 PM
SENATOR WILSON clarified that the equipment in question would go
to organizations - not individuals.
CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS asked how the program would work for an
informally organized group, such as [the search and rescue
group] in Cake, Alaska, which lacked a tax status and bank
account.
MS. MARTIN said the groups must be organized to access the DOA
portal. She believed that the term "organized" would best
capture the search and rescue groups in Alaska without being
overly prescriptive.
CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS announced that CSSB 95(STA) was held over.