Legislature(2003 - 2004)
03/10/2003 01:32 PM Senate HES
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
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+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
SB 124-ALCOHOLISM AND DRUG ABUSE GRANTS
CHAIR DYSON announced SB 124 to be up for consideration.
MR. ELMER LINDSTROM, Special Assistant to Commissioner
Gilbertson, Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS),
said SB 124 is very straightforward. He thought these grants are
the only ones that require a state match that is specified in
statute. Typically, the local match is 25%. [SB 124] would
actually save state general funds with the expectation that the
state grant funds would be replaced by larger matches provided
by local communities. He said the bill has four fiscal notes and
a spreadsheet is available that lists all of the grants provided
by the division based on FY 03 activity.
CHAIR DYSON asked which programs are protected from the match
increase from 75% to 90%.
MR. LINDSTROM referred the committee to the second column of the
spreadsheet entitled "Notes," [which lists] a number of
exemptions from the match. They are grants of $30,000 or less
with the assumption that they would have a very difficult time
making any local match requirement. For the most part they are
associated with the community based suicide prevention program
($10-$17,000 grants) and grants to the very small communities
throughout Alaska. A number of items are in the 10% column and
those have been held harmless for the increase in the local
match requirement. Those are programs that provide treatment
services for families, particularly for women with children. The
fiscal note was predicated on those assumptions.
MR. LINDSTROM noted that under existing law, the department has
the ability to waive the local match requirement and that is
their intent - as indicated on the spreadsheet. He thought there
would be requests from other grantees to waive the match in
whole or in part. Any relief given to another grantee would by
definition be at the expense of someone else and he assumed what
would happen would be very close to what is described on the
spreadsheet.
SENATOR DAVIS asked if he would consider in-kind contributions
or volunteer labor as a match to make up the 25%.
MR. LINDSTROM said he didn't know for certain, but he thought
some types of in-kind support might be accepted.
2:05 p.m.
MS. KAREN PEARSON, Acting Director, Division of Alcoholism and
Drug Abuse, added that the in-kind match could probably be
managed, but because of the change in the fiscal note, it will
mean a decrease in actual dollars going to that grantee.
SENATOR GUESS asked her how DHSS determined who would be exempt.
MR. LINDSTROM replied that he thought the rule was $30,000 or
less or providing treatment services to families, particularly
women with children. He asked her if she was referring to a
unique situation.
SENATOR GUESS said the Alaska Military Youth Academy and
Community Prevention [grants] were less than $30,000 but they
still have a match. She was trying to understand that.
MR. LINDSTROM admitted she was correct and said he would try to
find out why.
SENATOR GUESS added there are a handful of such cases and asked
why the Fairbanks Memorial Hospital was held harmless.
MR. LINDSTROM said he didn't know, but would find out.
SENATOR GUESS said she wouldn't waste the committee's time, but
would give him a list of her concerns afterwards and he could
get back to her with information. She asked how 25% was chosen
and not something based on wealth in a community.
MR. LINDSTROM replied the reason is because that tends to be the
norm in the department.
SENATOR GUESS asked how many waivers DHSS provides now with 10%.
MR. LINDSTROM replied that he thought the community-based
suicide projects have historically been waived from the local
community match. The ASAP programs have not had a match
historically, but he thought the grantees had a provision for
sliding fee scales. He knew that some of them had been fairly
aggressive in that respect, but it hadn't been shown as a match
requirement. Those are the two that leapt out at him when he
reviewed the document.
SENATOR GUESS asked how many on the list that normally received
waivers in the past would not receive waivers under the $30,000
rule.
MR. LINDSTROM said he would have to tabulate that for her.
SENATOR GUESS asked how he determined the $30,000.
MR. LINDSTROM replied that it was as simple as looking at the
total project cost that determined whether or not something was
greater or lesser than $30,000.
SENATOR GUESS asked why DHSS picked $30,000 as a number.
MR. LINDSTROM replied that he didn't know.
SENATOR GUESS asked if it was a policy call by the department
and whether anything in regulation or statute says there is no
match for grants that are $30,000 or less.
MR. LINDSTROM replied that is correct, but the community-based
suicide prevention projects have historically been exempt for
the local match requirement and they are all under $20,000.
There will be an administrative process where the division will
petition the commissioner for approval to waive the local match
requirement and the commissioner would make the decision.
SENATOR GUESS asked if that is the current process and whether
DHSS is changing it.
MR. LINDSTROM replied DHSS is not changing the process.
SENATOR GUESS referred to the department's statement that there
would be no impact on services at the community level and asked
whether DHSS had done an analysis of any decreases. She thought
local communities would have to either raise taxes or, in places
like Anchorage with a tax cap, choose to fund those services and
not fund something else. She asked if DHSS had done an estimate
of the services he thought would be impacted.
MR. LINDSTROM replied that DHSS had not done so and that she is
correct, but it was DHSS's belief that by exempting the small
grantees, the others would have the ability to come up with the
local match. He based that assumption on DHSS's experience with
other grant programs.
CHAIR DYSON noted that very few of the programs fall close to
the $30,000 rule.
SENATOR GUESS asked whether the community match funds come from
a city or a borough. Basically, she wanted to know what the
restrictions are for the match relating to Senator Davis's
question about in-kind matches.
MS. PEARSON responded that the grantee has the responsibility to
find the match. Grantees sometimes get the funds from another
entity, but the administrative entity handling the cash has to
be the grantee.
CHAIR DYSON announced an at-ease from 2:05 to 2:06 p.m.
SENATOR GREEN moved to pass SB 124 with its accompanying fiscal
notes from committee with individual recommendations. There were
no objections and it was so ordered.
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