Legislature(1997 - 1998)
03/31/1998 09:10 AM Senate FIN
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
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= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
SENATE BILL NO. 334
"An Act relating to guidelines and standards for state
training programs; and relating to the Alaska Human
Resource Investment Council."
Co-Chair Sharp noted this bill had been before the committee
the week before.
Senator Torgerson had prepared several amendments to offer.
He assured the other members that most were technical
changes. He shared that the program director had initially
submitted many times the amount of amendments seen here and
the senator had been able to whittle the number down.
Senator Torgerson moved for adoption of the CS Workdraft
version "K". Senator Adams objected to ask a question. He
wanted to know how many of the amendments before the
committee were included in the revised bill. Senator
Torgerson replied that it included Amendments 1-7 that the
committee had adopted during the other meeting. Senator
Adams removed his objection. Without objections, Version
"K" was adopted.
Senator Torgerson moved for adoption of Amendment #8. It
was pointed out there already existed another Amendment #8.
Senator Torgerson's amendment was renumbered to be Amendment
Senator Torgerson spoke to the amendment saying, it had been
requested by Mike Andrews, the program director. It would
identify ways for operating agencies to share resources and
structures and curriculum through the collaboration of other
public and private entities to increase opportunities and
reduce costs. He detailed the specific changes, siting page
and line items and which words would be deleted and
inserted. Amendment #8A was adopted without objection.
Senator Torgerson moved for adoption of Amendment #9 and
spoke to the amendment. He told the committee it was also
brought to him by Mr. Andrews and would define the term
"program". Basically, their intention was to limit the
activities of the Human Investment Resources Council to
programs that are directly underneath its control, according
to the senator. In many cases, the institutions did a lot
more than just training programs and the sponsor didn't want
them to come under the administrative cap and other
provisions. Therefore, this amendment would define a
program to include certificates for associate degree courses
related to the employment offered by the institutions or
contracted by the private sector.
Senator Parnell tried to figure out how it fit into the
referenced page 7, line 8. There was discussion as to the
proper placement of the language. Senator Torgerson amended
his amendment to ask the drafter to insert the conceptual
language in the proper order in the bill. The intention of
the amendment was to define the programs outlined in the
section, according to Senator Torgerson. Co-Chair Sharp
instructed the secretary and the bill drafter to work with
Senator Torgerson to ensure his amendment was incorporated
into the legislation. Without objection, Amendment #9 was
adopted.
Senator Torgerson moved for adoption of Amendment #10,
saying they were all technical changes. He detailed the
specific changes, and described each. There was no
objection or further discussion and the amendment was
adopted.
Senator Torgerson moved for adoption of Amendment #11. He
spoke to the changes it made, moving the Employment Services
Division, Department of Labor language from Section F to
Section G. Instead of coming under the direct
responsibility of the AHRIC committee, the AHRIC committee
would include assessor programs in their annual report, he
explained. He stressed that this program was more broad-
based that just job placement and training programs. The
last part of the amendment inserted a new Section H, which
read, "The University of Alaska shall evaluate the
performance of its training program using the standards of E
of this section and shall provide a report on the results to
the council for inclusion in the council's annual report to
the Legislature." That was language given to him by the
university, who really like the efforts being made with this
bill and wanted to be included, he attested.
Without objection, Amendment #11 was adopted.
Senator Torgerson spoke to Amendment #12 telling the
committee it was an all-encompassing language that said if
there were any new programs enacted by the federal
government, AHRIC was to review each of those programs and
make recommendations to the governor and the Legislature.
He then moved for adoption of Amendment #12. There was no
objection and it was adopted.
Senator Torgerson moved for adoption of Amendment #13. He
explained it would just delete a duplicated section in the
bill. Without objection or discussion, Amendment #13 was
adopted.
Senator Torgerson moved for adoption of Amendment #14. In
speaking to the amendment, he said the Office of Management
and Budget came to him with an amendment that basically
deleted the three-quarters language that was in the bill for
the assessment of AHRIC. There was some concern the bill
would create a different mechanism than what was currently
in statutes. After double-checking with the drafter, the
amendment would take out the assessment of one-half of one
percent on the program that AHRIC was to just assess and
review. It was determined the extra was not needed and the
fiscal note was reduced by about half, according to Senator
Torgerson. He detailed the new language. Amendment #14 was
adopted without objection.
Senator Torgerson moved for adoption of Amendment #15 and
told the committee of another bill currently in the finance
committee. SB 245 would extend the date of the State
Training and Employment Program from 1998 to 2002. The
language matched the amendment and would essentially roll
that bill into this one.
Senator Parnell asked if there was a Legislative Budget and
Audit report on the STEP program. When told there was none,
he commented that the committee usually relied on those
audits when determining extensions. Senator Torgerson gave
a background on the program sharing that when it was last
before the Legislature, because the program had been
spending well over 40 percent on administrative costs, they
capped the administrative costs of the program at 20 percent
and added the two-year sunset. The sunset was so the
program would come back before the Legislature so they could
see if the 20 percent cap was being observed. As this bill
was written, the cap would drop down to 15 percent, he
pointed out. Although there was not a report done by LB&A,
he assured the committee he had looked at their accounting
extensively.
Senator Adams expressed a desire that SB 245 go to the
Senate Rules Committee for review. Senator Torgerson hinted
that this would ensure that the sunset bill would begin to
move through the process, if attached to the training bill.
Without objection, Amendment #15 was adopted.
Co-Chair Sharp noted several individuals signed up to answer
questions. He announced that unless he heard objections
from any of them, he would assume concurrence with the
actions taken by the committee today. DWIGHT PERKINS,
Special Assistant with the Department of Labor wished to
comment.
He expressed concerns similar to Senator Adam's regarding SB
245. He noted if the sunset provision were not adopted the
training employment program would halt. He said there was a
companion bill in the House, which may be adequate.
Senator Torgerson offered to rescind action on Amendment #15
if that would help. Senator Adams suggested passing both
bills from committee. Co-Chair Sharp agreed, saying they
could take action on SB 245 later if necessary.
Co-Chair Sharp assigned Senator Torgerson to work with the
co-chairs on amending the fiscal notes because of the many
changes made to the bill. He ordered the bill held in
committee until new fiscal notes were prepared.
Co-Chair Sharp announced upcoming subcommittee meetings to
hear public testimony on SJR 42, Constitutional Amendment
RE: Same Sex Marriage. He announced a full committee
meeting scheduled for 9:00am the next morning.
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