Legislature(2013 - 2014)SENATE FINANCE 532
02/24/2014 08:00 AM Senate FINANCE
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB119 | |
| Fy 15 Governor's Budget Overview: Department of Public Safety | |
| Fy 15 Governor's Budget Overview: Department of Environmental Conservation | |
| SB124 | |
| SB132 | |
| SB109 | |
| SB104 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | SB 119 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | SB 124 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | SB 132 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | SB 109 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | SB 104 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
SENATE BILL NO. 119
"An Act making appropriations, including capital
appropriations and other appropriations; making
appropriations to capitalize funds."
8:04:04 AM
^FY 15 GOVERNOR'S BUDGET OVERVIEW: DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC
SAFETY
8:04:51 AM
DAN SPENCER, DIRECTOR, DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES,
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY, discussed the budget for
Department of Public Safety (DPS). He outlined each request
by reference number.
RN 6121
Aircraft and Vessel Repair and Maintenance
FY2015 Request: $1,000,000
Brief Summary and Statement of Need:
This annual project provides repair and maintenance for the
Department of Public Safety's 44 aircraft and 41 vessels.
These assets are crucial tools used to achieve the
department's mission to ensure public safety and enforce
fish and wildlife laws. These funds are used to rebuild
vessel and aircraft engines and components when they r each
the limits of safe useful life.
8:05:21 AM
RN 37774
Alaska State Troopers Law Enforcement Equipment
FY2015 Request: $500,000
Brief Summary and Statement of Need:
This annual project provides various types of law
enforcement equipment that is deemed mission critical. The
Alaska State Troopers rely upon capital improvement funding
for equipment purchases for day-to-day operations in order
to meet t he department's mission of ensuring public safety
and enforcing state laws by protecting lives, property and
public peace.
RN 45300
Alaska Wildlife Troopers Law Enforcement Equipment
FY2015 Request: $500,000
Brief Summary and Statement of Need:
This annual project provides new and replacement law
enforcement equipment for use by the Alaska Wildlife
Troopers. The Alaska Wildlife Troopers rely upon capital
improvement project funding for purchase of equipment used
for day-to-day operations in order to meet the department's
mission of ensuring public safety and enforcing state laws
by protecting lives, public peace, and wildlife resources.
RN 51707
Village Public Safety Officer Equipment
FY2015 Request: $500,000
Brief Summary and Statement of Need:
This annual project provides equipment replacement to
support the Village Public Safety Officer (VPSO) program.
The Department of Public Safety supports the VPSO program
through grants to non-profit organizations and local
governments. The VPSOs rely upon capital improvement
project funding for equipment purchases for day-to-day
operations in order to meet the department's mission of
public safety and enforcing state laws by protecting lives,
property, and public peace in rural communities.
RN 35825
Marine Fisheries Patrol Improvements
FY2015 Request: $1,200,000
Brief Summary and Statement of Need:
This annual project is part of a joint enforcement
agreement (JEA) with the National Marine Fisheries Service.
The project is for federal fiscal year 2014 JEA. The JEA
federal funding has historically been part of the capital
budget since it primarily funds equipment, but it also
currently funds three positions. Federally regulated marine
fisheries occur on a year-round basis in the coastal and
offshore waters of Alaska. Both the federal and state
governments share an interest in ensuring these fisheries
are protected. This project will help the department
achieve its mission to ensure public safety and enforce
fish and wild life laws and protecting wildlife resources.
8:06:45 AM
RN 35688
Statewide Domestic Violence Shelter Improvements
FY2015 Request: $2,000,000
Brief Summary and Statement of Need:
This project provides state funds to leverage matching
funds from the Rasmuson Foundation, and possibly other
entities, to provide deferred maintenance improvements for
domestic violence shelters statewide. All domestic violence
shelters have deferred maintenance needs such as roof
repairs, window replacements, kitchen upgrades,
flooring/carpeting, furnishings, etc.
8:07:23 AM
Senator Hoffman requested a list of improvements made to
shelters in the previous fiscal year and which shelter
would benefit from the FY2015 funds.
Mr. Spencer said that he would provide the information.
8:07:50 AM
Vice-Chair Fairclough explained that Standing Together
Against Rape (STAR) would send a contractor out to each
shelter in order to determine the needs for each entity.
She wondered if the funding request would be enough to
support the 26 different programs across the state that
provided shelter for women and children facing in-home
violence.
Mr. Spencer relayed that a statewide assessment would be
done on all domestic violence shelters in the state and
then the necessary repairs and improvements would be
prioritized. The repairs and upgrades would then be handled
by a statewide group rather than turning the funding
directly over to the shelters. He understood that there was
potentially an amount of additional private funds that
could be added to the appropriation.
8:09:46 AM
Vice-Chair Fairclough understood that the Council on
Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault in coordination with
the Rasmuson Foundation would be providing the allocation
and not the state. She said that the state was trying to
fortify the shelter and was going to let the appropriation
be managed by the council.
Mr. Spencer replied that that was correct. He continued to
list the budget requests.
8:11:44 AM
RN 41788
Deferred Maintenance, Renewal, Repair and Equipment
FY2015 Request: $1,350,000
Brief Summary and Statement of Need:
This annual project allows the Department of Public Safety
to address some of the deferred maintenance needed in
buildings throughout Alaska. The department occupies
various facilities in 66 locations with a number of
electrical/mechanical code issues, as well as energy and
security improvements that need to be addressed. Storing
evidence, protecting department-owned equipment, and
providing employees with safe working conditions allows the
department to meet its mission. The following requests were
allocations under this appropriation:
RN 58735
Anchorage - Alaska Bureau of Investigation Headquarters
Roof Repair
FY2015 Request: $100,000
Brief Summary and Statement of Need:
This project will allow for the Alaska Bureau of
Investigation building roof repairs.
RN 58736
Bethel - Trooper Office Improvements and Hangar Energy
Repairs
FY2015 Request: $500,000
Brief Summary and Statement of Need:
The State Trooper office and hangar in Bethel are in need
of improvements that were identified by a survey and energy
audit done in 2011. Identified issues include repairs to
the hangar foundation, aircraft door, and ventilation
system. The office needs improvements such as energy
efficiency upgrades and windows replacement.
RN 58738
Soldotna - Trooper Post Facility Repairs
FY2015 Request: $150,000
Brief Summary and Statement of Need:
The Soldotna Alaska State Trooper office building is in
need of repair and renovations. This project will provide
separate public restrooms, exit signs, heating and
ventilation improvements, and safety and building repairs
and renovations for the Soldotna Trooper Post facility.
RN 58737
Fairbanks - Facility and Energy Repairs
FY2015 Request: $400,000
Brief Summary and Statement of Need:
The Fairbanks facility is in need of code and energy
repairs. This project will provide upgrades such as
replacing in-wall wiring, circuit breaker panels, helipad
renovations, and other building energy efficiencies or
electrical code or safety issues.
RN 58740
Statewide Facility Security Renovations and Electrical
Upgrades
FY2015 Request: $200,000
Brief Summary and Statement of Need:
This project will upgrade and secure office entrances to
protect staff and provide electric system upgrades
statewide.
8:12:38 AM
Senator Olson looked at RN 6121: Aircraft Vessel Repair and
Maintenance. He asked for more information regarding moving
the P/V Stimson from Dutch Harbor to Kodiak.
Mr. Spencer responded that the items listed on the P/V
Stimson were routine and were not dependent on where the
vessel was based. He noted that there was a proposal in the
Operating Budget to move the vessel from its base in Dutch
Harbor to Kodiak, but the move would not affect Capital
Projects.
8:13:59 AM
Senator Olson spoke to RN 45300: Alaska Wildlife Troopers
Law Enforcement Equipment. He asked how much of the
equipment replacement and repairs was related to the number
of airplane accidents over the past few seasons.
Mr. Spencer did not believe that any of the repairs were
specifically related to accidents. He said that in the past
year, aside from one helicopter crash, there had been two
incidents with aircraft booth of which had involved prop
strikes.
Senator Olson asked whether the pilots of the prop strike
incidents had been given additional training or disciplined
in any way.
Mr. Spencer responded that he would look into the situation
and get back to the committee.
8:15:25 AM
Senator Olson wondered if the troopers were still signed up
with the Medallion Program.
Mr. Spencer agreed to provide the information at a later
date.
8:15:43 AM
Vice-Chair Fairclough noticed that many appropriations were
for maintenance. She asked how much money the department
was sitting on and whether they expended each of the funds
each year.
Mr. Spencer responded no. He elaborated that the department
often found itself in the situation where there was either
not enough funding in one particular year and other years
when there was additional funding. He said that the
department needed to have an amount of money available at
any particular point in time during any particular year. He
gave an example from years past.
Co-Chair Meyer handed the gavel to Vice-Chair Fairclough.
8:16:59 AM
AT EASE
8:18:08 AM
RECONVENED
^FY 15 GOVERNOR'S BUDGET OVERVIEW: DEPARTMENT OF
ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION
8:18:16 AM
THOMAS CHERIAN, DIRECTOR, DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE
SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION,
discussed the FY15 Capital Budget requests for the
Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). He noted
that the total departmental request for RY15 was $69.3
million, 61 percent of which was funded by federal
agencies. He said that 5 percent came from other sources
and 34 percent was unrestricted general funds. He spoke to
the projects by reference number.
RN 41376
Village Safe Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Projects
FY2015 Request: $51,500,000
Brief Summary and Statement of Need:
This project provides financial and technical assistance to
rural communities to plan, design, and construct water and
sewer system improvements. 60% of the funding will provide
first-time service to communities while 40% will be used
for expansion, upgrade, and replacement of existing
service.
Mr. Cherian said that the appropriation would be allocated
to the following projects:
RN 497848
First Time Service Projects
FY2015 Request: $30,900,000
Brief Summary and Statement of Need:
This project provides funding for first time service grants
to communities to plan, design, and construct drinking
water and sanitation facilities.
RN 49749
Expansion, Upgrade, and Replacement of Existing Service
FY2015 Request: $20,600,000
Brief Summary and Statement of Need:
This project provides grant funding for expansion, upgrade,
and replacement of existing service to communities to plan,
design and construct drinking water and sanitation
facilities.
8:20:49 AM
Senator Dunleavy queried the number of different approaches
to clean water and sanitation in rural areas of the state.
BILL GRIFFITH, FACILITY PROGRAMS DIRECTOR, DIVISION OF
WATER, DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION, explained
that there were standard designs for a number of major
system components like sewage lift stations and different
treatment processes, but there were other parts if the
systems that could not be standardized because of the
variation in the environment of different communities. He
said that the typical design life of the systems was 30
years and some of the existing systems had surpassed that
and were in need of an upgrade. He added that sometimes
systems did not last as long as they were expected, did not
work as well and intended, and faced environmental
challenges such as flooding.
8:22:17 AM
Senator Dunleavy asked how many communities were without
minimal water and sewer facilities.
Mr. Griffith replied that there were 34 communities that
were without running water and sewer; the department had
ongoing construction projects in four of the communities to
provide running water and sewer to homes, but the
department did not have current funding to bring water and
sewer to the remaining 30 communities.
8:23:02 AM
Senator Dunleavy asked whether the population of a
community was a determining factor for the department when
choosing projects.
Mr. Griffith replied that under the Village Safe Water Act
there was a definition of eligibility. The minimum number
of people in a community to make that community eligible
was 25. He added that it was not always feasible or
sustainable to construct a community water and sewer system
in a community larger than 25.
8:24:06 AM
Senator Olson wondered if communities with partial water
and sewer facilities were included in the 34 communities
cited.
Mr. Griffith responded that the department defined a
community that did not have running water and sewer as
fewer than 55 percent of the homes had running water and
sewer. He said that in the 30 that he mentioned, none of
the homes had water and sewer. He said that there were many
communities where more than 55 percent, but less than 100
percent, of the homes had running water and sewer.
8:25:02 AM
Senator Olson asked for the list of projects in priority of
spending.
Mr. Griffith agreed to provide a multi-year priority list
of the projects. He added that in addition to state funds
projects were funded every year through the Indian Health
Service some of which were administered by the department
and some by the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium.
8:25:39 AM
Senator Olson asked how the projects played into the
Village Safe Water Act projects.
Mr. Griffith responded that the department worked closely
with the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium and Indian
Health Service to identify projects; all three groups used
the same data base to identify necessary projects. A
scoring system was used for state funded projects and a
different set-up criteria was used for Indian Health
Service projects.
8:26:08 AM
Senator Dunleavy requested a list of projected annual
maintenance costs for the projects statewide.
Mr. Griffith agreed to provide the information.
8:27:08 AM
Mr. Cherian continued to discuss the budget requests.
RN 49697
Drinking Water Capitalization Grant - Subsidy Funding
FY2015 Request: $2,526,300
Brief Summary and Statement of Need:
The federal Drinking Water Capitalization Grant requires
states to issue 30% of the funding as subsidies (a loan
forgiveness process). This program functioned strictly as a
loan program until FY2011 when this provision was added to
the federal budget. In order to implement this provision,
an appropriation is necessary to properly record the loan
forgiveness payment as an expense in the Alaska Drinking
Water Fund. Future requests will remain at 30% of
capitalization grants.
8:28:07 AM
RN 49698
Clean Water Capitalization Grant - Subsidy Funding
FY2015 Request: $563,200
Brief Summary and Statement of Need:
The federal Clean Water Capitalization Grant requires
states to issue subsidies (a loan forgiveness process). The
subsidy amount required was identified under the grant
terms the Environmental Protection Agency has identified
for Alaska. This program functioned strictly as a loan
program until FY2011 when this provision was added to the
federal budget. In order to implement this provision, an
appropriation is necessary to properly record the loan
forgiveness payment as an expense in the Alaska Clean Water
Fund. Future funding requests will remain at a set
percentage of each year's capitalization grant.
RN 46714
Municipal Water, Sewage, and Solid Waste Facilities Grants
(AS 46.03.030)
FY2015 Request: $14,558,203
Brief Summary and Statement of Need:
This project provides funding for grants to larger
communities to plan, design, and construct drinking water
and sanitation facilities and the associated operating
costs of the Facility Construction component within the
Division of Water.
RN 54566
Deferred Maintenance, Renewal, Repair and Equipment
FY2015 Request: $200,000
Brief Summary and Statement of Need:
This project will address deferred maintenance items in the
state Environmental Health Laboratory Building. Examples of
immediate deferred maintenance needs in the lab include
water main back- flow backup, autoclave, door locks, and
window blast films.
SB 119 was HEARD and HELD in committee for further
consideration.
8:30:28 AM
AT EASE
8:32:16 AM
RECONVENED
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| SB 124 DPS Council on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Audit 2013.pdf |
SFIN 2/24/2014 8:00:00 AM |
SB 124 |
| SB 124 Sponsor Statement.pdf |
SFIN 2/24/2014 8:00:00 AM |
SB 124 |
| CS SB132 (STA).pdf |
SFIN 2/24/2014 8:00:00 AM |
SB 132 |
| CS SB132(STA) Sponsor Statement.pdf |
SFIN 2/24/2014 8:00:00 AM |
SB 132 |
| SB 132 Fiscal Note VerA DOA.pdf |
SFIN 2/24/2014 8:00:00 AM |
SB 132 |
| SB 132 Leg Research Report.pdf |
SFIN 2/24/2014 8:00:00 AM |
SB 132 |
| SB 132 Public Opinion.msg |
SFIN 2/24/2014 8:00:00 AM |
SB 132 |
| SB 132 Summary of Changes-CS(STA).pdf |
SFIN 2/24/2014 8:00:00 AM |
SB 132 |
| SB 109 Alaska_Lands_Update_11_2013.pdf |
SFIN 2/24/2014 8:00:00 AM |
SB 109 |
| SB 109 Alaska_Lands_Update_12_2013.pdf |
SFIN 2/24/2014 8:00:00 AM |
SB 109 |
| SB 109 CACFA 2013 Annual Report.pdf |
SFIN 2/24/2014 8:00:00 AM |
SB 109 |
| SB 109 Fiscal Note.pdf |
SFIN 2/24/2014 8:00:00 AM |
SB 109 |
| SB 109 Sectional Analysis.pdf |
SFIN 2/24/2014 8:00:00 AM |
SB 109 |
| SB 109 Sponsor Statement.pdf |
SFIN 2/24/2014 8:00:00 AM |
SB 109 |
| SB 104 - Section Analysis.pdf |
SFIN 2/24/2014 8:00:00 AM |
SB 104 |
| SB 104 - Sponsor Statement.pdf |
SFIN 2/24/2014 8:00:00 AM |
SB 104 |
| SB 104 - Support Document - HB 245 1988.pdf |
SFIN 2/24/2014 8:00:00 AM |
HB 245 SB 104 |
| SB 104 - Support Document LRS - Restitution.pdf |
SFIN 2/24/2014 8:00:00 AM |
SB 104 |
| SB104-DOC-OC-01-21-14.pdf |
SFIN 2/24/2014 8:00:00 AM |
SB 104 |
| SB104-DOR-CSSD-02-01-14.pdf |
SFIN 2/24/2014 8:00:00 AM |
SB 104 |
| Summary of Changes to Senate Bill 104.pdf |
SFIN 2/24/2014 8:00:00 AM |
SB 104 |
| SB 104 - Support Document - Letter VCCB.pdf |
SFIN 2/24/2014 8:00:00 AM |
SB 104 |
| SB 104 - Support Document - Criminal Fund Appropriations - 2.pdf |
SFIN 2/24/2014 8:00:00 AM |
SB 104 |