03/24/2008 09:00 AM Senate FINANCE

SENATE BILL NO. 259                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
     "An  Act   repealing  certain  provisions   relating  to                                                                   
     applications  for  medical assistance  coverage;  making                                                                   
     certain  provisions of  ch. 96,  SLA 2006,  retroactive;                                                                   
     providing  for   an  effective  date  by   repealing  an                                                                   
     effective  date section in  ch. 96, SLA 2006;  providing                                                                   
     for an  effective date for  certain sections of  ch. 96,                                                                   
     SLA 2006; and providing for an effective date."                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
PAM FINLEY,  REVISOR OF STATUTES, LEGISLATIVE  LEGAL COUNSEL,                                                                   
LEGISLATIVE  LEGAL  AND  RESEARCH   SERVICES  introduced  her                                                                   
assistant, Karen Kurtz, who would speak to the bill.                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
KAREN  KURTZ,  ASSISTANT REVISOR,  LEGAL  SERVICES  explained                                                                   
that  at issue  is a  special  effective date  clause in  the                                                                   
Medical Assistance  bill, Chapter 96, 2006,  that anticipated                                                                   
there  would  be one  revised  state  plan submitted  to  the                                                                   
federal government  for approval to cover the  changes in the                                                                   
bill but  that is  not what  happened. She  explained it  was                                                                   
discovered that some  of the changes did not  require federal                                                                   
approval;  others  were submitted  and  not  approved by  the                                                                   
federal  government. Ms.  Kurtz  specified that  the way  the                                                                   
effective date  clause was worded  there was a great  deal of                                                                   
uncertainty  about  the  effective   date  of  the  effective                                                                   
clauses. She  explained that this  bill repeals  the sections                                                                   
that did  not receive  federal approval,  the effective  date                                                                   
that did not work, and assigns  fixed effective dates for the                                                                   
remaining provisions.                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
Co-Chair  Stedman remarked  that the  bill involves  clean-up                                                                   
language  brought  before  the  legislature  every  year.  He                                                                   
requested an explanation of the bills for the record.                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
Ms. Finley  remarked that  both of the  bills, SB 259  and SB
 are  provided by  statute. She  indicated the purpose  of                                                                   
the bills was to make the statutes  clean without changing or                                                                   
setting,  in any  way, the  policy.  The Alaska  Constitution                                                                   
provides  for  reviser  bills  as exceptions  to  the  single                                                                   
subject rule. This has been split  into two bills because the                                                                   
Medicaid  effective   date  is   strange.  These   bills  are                                                                   
introduced through legislative council each year.                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
10:30:05 AM                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
Senator Dyson  MOVED to REPORT  SB 259 out of  Committee with                                                                   
individual  recommendations  and accompanying  fiscal  notes.                                                                   
There being NO OBJECTION it was so ordered.                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
SB  259  was REPORTED  out  of  Committee  with a  "do  pass"                                                                   
recommendation  and  the  accompanying  previously  published                                                                   
fiscal  notes  from  the  Department  of  Health  and  Social                                                                   
Services and the Legislative Affairs Agency.                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
10:30:43 AM                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
AT EASE:   10:30:54 AM                                                                                                        
RECONVENED:  10:42:59 AM                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
10:43:04 AM