Legislature(2021 - 2022)BUTROVICH 205
04/05/2022 03:30 PM Senate STATE AFFAIRS
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB188 | |
| SB221 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | SB 188 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | SB 221 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | SB 194 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
SB 221-CHANGING RPL PROCESS
4:37:32 PM
CHAIR SHOWER announced the consideration of SENATE BILL NO. 221
"An Act relating to appropriations of federal receipts; and
relating to an increase of an appropriation based on additional
federal receipts."
He noted that this was the first hearing and there was a
committee substitute (CS) for the committee to consider after
the introduction.
4:37:52 PM
SENATOR BILL WIELECHOWSKI, Alaska State Legislature, Juneau,
Alaska, sponsor of SB 221, stated that this legislation seeks to
change the way appropriations are handled when the legislature
is not in session. Art. IX, sec. 13 of the Constitution of the
State of Alaska clearly states that the legislature is the
appropriating body. However, a statute called the revised
program legislative (RPL) delegates the power of appropriation
to the executive branch when the legislature is not in session.
He suggested that this law is unconstitutional. He reported that
a lawsuit on this issue last year went to the superior court but
the legislature reconvened before the court ruled on that
particular issue.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI questioned the wisdom of giving one
individual the sole authority to decide where hundreds of
millions of dollars should go, particularly with little to no
public process or legislative oversight. SB 221 seeks to restore
the legislature's constitutional role in budgeting and to
streamline the process to address the situation of unexpected
revenue.
He summarized that SB 221 is about protecting the budgeting
process, restoring balance between the legislative and executive
branches, and giving the public more say in how state money is
spent.
CHAIR SHOWER asked the members if they had any questions.
4:40:31 PM
SENATOR REINBOLD stated appreciation for the bill and relayed
her frustration with the RPL process.
CHAIR SHOWER solicited a motion to adopt the committee
substitute (CS) for SB 221.
4:41:13 PM
SENATOR REINBOLD moved to adopt CSSB 221, work order 32-
LS1472\I, as the working document.
CHAIR SHOWER objected for discussion purposes.
4:41:43 PM
SENATOR COSTELLO observed that the CS probably will require a
title change because it brings up AS 24.05.100 related to
special session. She asked the sponsor to respond.
4:42:00 PM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI thanked her for pointing that out and
acknowledged that a title change may be required. He noted that
making the change in committee would require just a majority
vote.
SENATOR COSTELLO expressed her preference to ask for a new title
so it reflects everything in the bill.
CHAIR SHOWER asked if she wanted to offer the motion.
SENATOR COSTELLO replied not now.
4:42:56 PM
CHAIR SHOWER removed his objection. Finding no further
objection, version I was adopted as the working document.
He asked Ms. Kawasaki to introduce the committee substitute.
4:43:32 PM
SONJA KAWASAKI, Staff, Senator Bill Wielechowski, Alaska State
Legislature, Juneau, Alaska, introduced SB 221, version I, on
behalf of the sponsor by paraphrasing the sponsor statement for
version I that read as follows:
SB 221 reforms the statutory revised program
legislative (RPL) process that arguably render it
unconstitutional.
I believe that the current RPL law is unconstitutional
both on its face and in practice. The legislature is
the constitutionally authorized appropriating body;
this means that, under the Alaska Constitution, the
legislature possesses both the power and the duty of
appropriations. The governor cannot overstep this
legislative authority, and the legislature cannot
avoid its duty.
Current law unconstitutionally delegates the power and
the duty of appropriations to the governor. When the
legislature is not meeting in session, AS 37.07.080(h)
permits the governor to expend additional revenue
received by the Statewith the governor acting as the
appropriating authority, setting state funding
priorities. Facially, the law expressly assigns the
governor the ability to determine spending of "federal
and other program receipts" when the funds were "not
specifically appropriated by the full legislature."
These provisions enable impermissible actions; they
appear to allow the governor to spend not only federal
dollars but also, potentially, other funds like
general fund surplus dollars that would yet be
available for appropriation during the next regular
session, while explicitly acknowledging that the full
legislature has never appropriated the funds.
Procedurally, to the extent that the Legislative
Budget & Audit Committee (LB&A) is given an oversight
role over the governor's RPL submissionsthis too is
an unconstitutional delegation of authority. LB&A may
not stand in place of the full legislature, but under
current law, LB&A can approve the RPL spending to
occur in less than 45 days after submission. Moreover,
the law allows the governor to spend the funds
unilaterally after 45 days, regardless of whether LB&A
ever takes up the matter in committee or even if it
actually disapproves itso long as in the governor's
sole discretion, the governor "determines to authorize
the expenditure." I believe this process violates the
constitution by its express provisions as well as in
separation of powers and checks and balances
principles.
SB 221 rectifies these defects while still enabling a
mechanism for spending federal dollars when the
legislature is not meeting in session. The bill
eliminates the governor's ability to use the RPL
process for revenue generated from sources that are
not federal. It provides a process that empowers the
legislature to appropriate the federal funds by
establishing increased amounts in an enacted
appropriations bill to be spent on budget items when
federal revenue exceeds State forecasts, but only when
the legislature has specifically identified those
items and set permissible increase limits. The limits
may be provided for by percent increases, which would
allow the legislature to thoughtfully consider the
amounts of potential increases to budget items
relative to their base appropriations and to one
another.
Under SB 221, the governor may submit RPLs to LB&A for
confirmation that spending proposals are maintained
within budget items and limits restricted by the
legislature in an enacted appropriations bill. LB&A
may also make other recommendations for the spending.
Finally, under SB 221, the governor may not spend the
funds until 45 days have elapsed from the date of the
LB&A confirmation, unless LB&A recommends the
expenditures are made earlier.
Concerns over the constitutionality of the RPL process
notably arose in 2020 when the legislature recessed
the regular session due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and
the State received large sums of federal dollars that
could be spent to address the public health disaster.
In particular, the State was given $1.25 billion in
Coronavirus Relief Funds that could be expended in a
relatively discretionary manner, on "necessary
expenditures incurred due to the public health
emergency with respect to the Coronavirus Disease 2019
(COVID19)." The governor purportedly exercised his
authority under the current RPL process, including
attempting to expend: $569 million for direct
municipal relief, and $290 million for small business
grants, but only $10 million on relief to individual
Alaskans to prevent homelessness. A Juneau resident
sued the State, arguing the governor's spending was
unconstitutional. The lawsuit prompted the legislature
to return to the Capitol to "ratify" the governor's
RPL expenditures before the final day of the regular
session. The superior court decided the ratification
remedied any failure to appropriate the funds. The
ruling was not appealed, so there is no final
precedent on the issue.
There are only two types of bills contemplated by the
Alaska Constitution: (1) substantive bills, like those
establishing or changing laws, and (2) bills for
appropriations. Because no appropriation bill was
passed addressing the governor's RPL spending, to this
day I contend that the governor's unconstitutional act
could not simply be "ratified."
We should avoid a repeat of what happened with RPL
spending in 2020. Please join me in fixing the
defective RPL process and ensuring the legislature
retains its control over its discretionary
appropriations authority as mandated by the Alaska
Constitution.
CHAIR SHOWER found no questions and asked Ms. Kawasaki to
proceed with the sectional analysis.
4:47:35 PM
MS. KAWASAKI provided the sectional analysis for SB 221, version
I. It read as follows:
Section 1 Governor May Call Special Session in Less
than 30 Days
Section 1 provides an express exception to allow the
governor to call a special session in less than 30
days to address appropriations of additional federal
receipts in excess of those accounted for under the
amendments of this legislation.
Section 2 Amending the RPL Process
Section 2 amends the revised program legislative (RPL)
process to provide that, for the State to expend
additional funds it receives above the appropriations
made in an appropriation bill, the funds may only be
federal funds and may only be spent in accordance with
the following procedure:
In an appropriation bill, the legislature may provide
for an amount that is a specific maximum increase of
an appropriation item above the amount actually
appropriated by the appropriation bill; the specific
maximum increase may be provided as a percentage of an
appropriation item, and
(1) The governor may submit a proposal for spending
the additional federal funds via a "revised program"
to the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee for
review;
(2) The Legislative Budget and Audit Committee reviews
the governor's revised program proposal and may
recommend alternative funding amounts or distributions
among multiple items, not to exceed any specific
maximum increases previously provided by an
appropriation bill;
(3) The governor may submit a corrected or changed
revised program proposal to the Legislative Budget and
Audit Committee for review;
(4) Once the governor submits a final revised program
proposal, the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee
confirms the proposal does not exceed any specific
maximum increases previously provided by an
appropriation bill; and
(5) Revised program amounts confirmed by the
Legislative Budget and Audit Committee may be expended
after 45 days, unless the committee recommends an
earlier date of the expenditures.
4:49:49 PM
Section 3 Calling a Special Session to Spend Amounts
Above Permissible RPL Subjects
To expend amounts exceeding those permissible under
the RPL process, including applying funds to other
items not previously addressed with a specific maximum
increase in an appropriation bill, the governor must
call a special session.
Section 4 Limiting Applicability of the Effective
Date of the Bill
This section establishes that the new RPL process
would not apply to items funded under the previous RPL
provisions as they read and were applicable before the
effective date of the act.
CHAIR SHOWER asked if she had any comment on the fiscal note.
MS. KAWASAKI replied the bill doesn't have a fiscal note.
4:50:43 PM
SENATOR REINBOLD offered her view of special sessions in Juneau
and posed the possibility of an amendment.
CHAIR SHOWER asked the sponsor if he had any comments.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI replied he had no comment.
4:51:25 PM
CHAIR SHOWER asked if he had seen the governor's bill SB 241,
"An Act making appropriations for the operating expenses of
state government and certain programs; making capital
appropriations and supplemental appropriations; capitalizing
funds; and providing for an effective date."
CHAIR SHOWER said none of the senators he'd asked had seen the
bill and it's an example of legislators not having a chance to
look at where the money goes even though it's important to be
able to offer that kind of input. The amount of money is almost
irrelevant, he said. It's the process that's important and it
should follow the constitution. He expressed frustration at
being cut out of the loop even inside the legislative branch. He
continued to comment:
This is after the subcommittee process, by the way,
it's all closed out and now here we go and we're going
to hand almost a billion dollars to the Senate Finance
co-chairs to come up with a plan, and the governor,
and I'm going 'Where are we in the process?'
He expressed appreciation for SB 221. He emphasized that the
constitution should be followed, the statute should be changed
so it's correct, and every legislator should have a chance to
have input.
4:54:13 PM
SENATOR COSTELLO stated that it is fundamentally wrong to hand
off the constitutional power of the legislature to a single
committee when the legislature is not in session. She expressed
appreciation for SB 221 and posited that it will resolve much of
the conflict with the RPL process.
4:55:10 PM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI commented that it is even more shocking
that even the committee that the legislature defers its power to
during the interim doesn't have the ability to stop the
governor.
SENATOR COSTELLO said the sponsor statement does a good job of
outlining that point. The balance of power is important and the
current process undermines the power of the legislature. She
said she has no problem with the legislature returning to
address such issues.
CHAIR SHOWER mentioned the possibility of amending the bill to
address what he has experienced in the RPL process. He
reiterated that an important part of the process is to give
individual legislators an opportunity to give input and talk
about the needs in their districts. It should not fall to just
the governor or a handful of legislators.
SENATOR REINBOLD emphasized that the current RPL process is
entirely unacceptable.
4:57:38 PM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI said he was pleased to see so much interest
in the bill but suggested that while the committee was
interested in other areas, SB 221 deals solely with RPLs and the
process. Adding more may make its progress through this and the
other body more difficult.
4:58:45 PM
CHAIR SHOWER opened public testimony on SB 221; finding none, he
closed public testimony.
CHAIR SHOWER held SB 212 in committee.