Legislature(2003 - 2004)
03/08/2004 09:05 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. 353
"An Act relating to repealing a requirement for a day-care
facility in the Fairbanks courthouse; and providing for an
effective date."
This was the first hearing for this bill in the Senate Finance
Committee.
CHRIS CHRISTENSEN, Deputy Administrative Director, Alaska Court
System, gave the following testimony.
SB 353 was introduced at the request of the Supreme Court.
Back in 1986, Senator Don Bennett of Fairbanks introduced
legislation giving the Supreme Court the authority to lease-
purchase a new court facility in Fairbanks. The amount
authorized was $29,900,000. It was understood at the time that
construction of a new Fairbanks courthouse would not begin
immediately, but would instead follow construction of a new
courthouse in Anchorage
During the committee process, language was added that required
the project to include a private licensed day-care facility
rented to a provider at market rate.
In 1997, following completion of the Anchorage courthouse, the
legislature reauthorized the Fairbanks project by
appropriating planning and design funds. Construction finally
began in 1999, and the Rabinowitz Courthouse opened to the
public in August 2001, 15 years after its initial
authorization.
During the planning process for the courthouse, several
approaches to providing a day-care facility were studied,
taking into account the need to ensure the reliable, safe
operation of such a facility and state ownership of the
building. It was decided to set aside $350,000 of the bond
proceeds for a stand-alone day-care facility in the immediate
vicinity of the courthouse. A request for proposals would be
issued in which respondents could offer a property within two
blocks of the courthouse for the court system to purchase and
renovate. This facility would then be leased to the respondent
for the operation of day-care services. Standards for that
operation would be set out in the RFP.
Since provision of daycare services is not a normal
procurement activity for the court system, research was done
with other government agencies (Department of Education and
Early Development and Fairbanks North Star Borough) and a
consultant was hired to develop an RFP to solicit proposals.
The consultant performed extensive research to determine
whether properties and providers were available for response,
and to determine what criteria should be used to evaluate
proposals. A meeting was held with potential providers in mid-
2003 to discuss the process and solicit interest. Using input
gathered at that meeting, the RFP was finalized and issued.
While several suitable properties were available within two
blocks of the courthouse, only one proposal was received. This
proposal was non-responsive, in that if offered to provide
day-care services in a facility five blocks away. This outcome
was undoubtedly influenced by two things. First, there is a
private day-care facility already located within two blocks of
the courthouse. Second, the consultant we hired surveyed court
employees and persons who had served as jurors, and found
little or no demand for daycare services.
The courthouse construction project will be completed by July
1. At that time, the $350,000 set aside for day-care will be
all that remains of the bond proceeds. There are two possible
methods of dealing with these funds. First, the trust account
containing the bond proceeds could be kept open and the court
system could periodically reissue and RFP, in an effort to
find a suitable property and a day-care provider. However, as
long as a private day-care facility is already located in the
immediate vicinity of the courthouse and demand is not
demonstrated to exist, it is unlikely that the RFP will
receive a responsive bid. Moreover, there is no guarantee that
a successful bidder would remain in the State facility once it
was purchased. If it did not, heating and maintenance money
for the empty structure would become the responsibility of the
State.
Alternatively, as proposed by SB 353, the legislature could
repeal the requirement that a day-care facility be included in
the project. This option would allow $350,000 from the bond
proceeds to be transferred from the construction account to
the bond redemption account held by the State's trustee. These
funds would then be available to offset $350,000 in general
fund spending from the State's Debt Retirement Fund. Because
the private sector is already providing day-care in the
immediate vicinity of the courthouse, this option would not
disadvantage the public.
Co-Chair Green offered a motion to report SB 353 from Committee
with individual recommendations and a new fiscal note.
Without objection SB 353 MOVED from Committee with new fiscal note
from the Department of Revenue for $350,000 dated 3/1/04.
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