Legislature(2017 - 2018)HOUSE FINANCE 519
01/26/2017 01:30 PM House FINANCE
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Fy 18 Budget Overview: Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | HB 57 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 59 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
HOUSE FINANCE COMMITTEE
January 26, 2017
1:31 p.m.
1:31:23 PM
CALL TO ORDER
Co-Chair Seaton called the House Finance Committee meeting
to order at 1:31 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Neal Foster, Co-Chair
Representative Paul Seaton, Co-Chair
Representative Les Gara, Vice-Chair
Representative Jason Grenn
Representative David Guttenberg
Representative Scott Kawasaki
Representative Dan Ortiz
Representative Lance Pruitt
Representative Steve Thompson
Representative Cathy Tilton
Representative Tammie Wilson
MEMBERS ABSENT
None
ALSO PRESENT
Michael Johnson, Commissioner, Department of Education and
Early Development; Heidi Teshner, Director, Administrative
Services, Department of Education and Early Development;
Patience Frederiksen, Director, Division of Libraries,
Archives, and Museums, Department of Education and Early
Development; Stephanie Butler, Executive Director, Alaska
Commission on Postsecondary Education, Department of
Education and Early Development; Walt Monegan,
Commissioner-Designee, Department of Public Safety; Kelly
Howell, Director, Division of Administrative Services,
Department of Public Safety; Greg Jones, Interim Chief
Executive Officer, Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority;
John Morrison, Executive Director, Trust Land Office,
Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority; Jeff Jessee,
Legislative Liaison, Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority.
SUMMARY
HB 57 APPROP: OPERATING BUDGET/LOANS/FUNDS
HB 57 was HEARD and HELD in committee for further
consideration.
HB 59 APPROP: MENTAL HEALTH BUDGET
HB 59 was HEARD and HELD in committee for further
consideration.
FY 18 BUDGET OVERVIEWS:
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND EARLY DEVELOPMENT
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY
ALASKA MENTAL HEALTH TRUST AUTHORITY
Co-Chair Seaton addressed the meeting agenda.
^FY 18 BUDGET OVERVIEW: DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND EARLY
DEVELOPMENT
1:32:4v1 PM
MICHAEL JOHNSON, COMMISSIONER, DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND
EARLY DEVELOPMENT, introduced a PowerPoint presentation
titled "Alaska Department of Education and Early
Development: Department Overview, House Finance Committee"
dated January 26, 2017 (copy on file). He referred to slide
2 and addressed the department's mission statement: to
ensure quality standards-based instruction to improve
academic achievement for all students. He noted that the
State Board of Education was updating its mission statement
to: An excellent education for every student every day. He
read from slide 2. The performance review performed under
HB 30 had proved an asset for the department and was being
used for restructuring the department, however, the budget
documents reflected the current structure.
Co-Chair Seaton recognized Representative Kawasaki had
joined the meeting. He reminded the committee that the
overview would be identifying questions for the
subcommittees to delve into.
1:36:24 PM
HEIDI TESHNER, DIRECTOR, ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES,
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND EARLY DEVELOPMENT, addressed a
chart from the Legislative Finance Division on slide 3:
The chart on Slide 3 shows a 10-year look back of the
non-formula appropriations in the department's budget,
for both unrestricted and designated general funds,
compared to all agencies budgets.
The department's total general fund budget is
$50,144,400, of which $35,822,900 is unrestricted
general funds and $14,321,500 is designated general
funds.
Since FY2015, the unrestricted general funds in
department's non-formula appropriations have been
reduced $21.6 million or 37.6%.
Of particular note on this slide is the increase in
FY2015, which was attributed to the passage of HB278,
which was the Education Bill. Some of the items
included in that legislation were:
· Funds for the College and Career Readiness
Assessment ($525.0);
· Middle School STEM 3-year pilot program
($3,000.0); and
· School Broadband Access Grants ($5,000.0)
Ms. Teshner turned to slide 4 and read from prepared
remarks:
The chart on Slide 4 shows a 10-year look back of the
formula and non-formula appropriations in the
department's budget, for both unrestricted and
designated general funds, compared to all agencies
budgets.
The graph on the previous slide is shown on this graph
as the blue bars.
As you can see with the purple bars, the Formula
programs are the largest part of the department's
general funds. Included in the formula is:
Foundation, Pupil Transportation, Boarding Home
Grants, Special Schools, Youth in Detention; and the
Alaska Performance Scholarship.
Formula is 95% of the general funds, and non-formula
is 5%.
Of particular note on this slide is the increase to
the formula funding in FY2015, which was attributed to
the passage of HB278, the Education Bill.
1:38:31 PM
Ms. Teshner moved to slide 5 and addressed all funds:
The chart on Slide 5 shows a 10-year look back of the
non-formula appropriations in the department's budget,
by line item, for all fund sources. The department
receives unrestricted and designated general funds,
federal funds, and other funds.
As noted by the purple bars, grants to school
districts and other grantees is the majority of the
department's non-formula budget. Most of this grant
funding is from federal funds.
Of particular note is the spikes in FY2010 and FY2012.
In FY2010, this was attributed to ARRA funding (the
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009).
In FY2012, this was attributed to the addition of the
BTOP grant (which was the Broadband Technology
Opportunities Program); funding for the Education Jobs
Fund which was part of ARRA ($649.0).
I would also like to point out that the FY2018
personal services, travel, and commodities lines are
all below the FY2012 level.
1:39:46 PM
Ms. Teshner addressed slides 6 through 8:
The chart on Slide 6 shows a 10-year look back of the
non-formula appropriations in the department's budget,
broken down by appropriations, for all fund sources.
Teaching and Learning Support (the blue line towards
the top of the graph) contains the largest percentage
of federal funding compared to the other
appropriations; thus the gap between that blue line
and the rest.
The chart on Slide 7 shows a 10-year look back of the
non-formula appropriations in the department's budget,
broken down by appropriations, for unrestricted and
designated general funds only.
Teaching and Learning Support, which has the largest
unrestricted and designated general fund budget
compared to the other non-formula appropriations, is
shown on the green line. Please note that the
Governor's FY2018 proposed budget shows the TLS budget
below the FY2009 levels.
· Increases from FY2008 through FY2013 included items
such as:
o Funding for programs such as the Alaska Native
Science and Engineering Program (ANSEP), Best
Beginnings, and Parents as Teachers; among
others.
· Reductions from FY2015 through FY2017 included items
such as:
o Repeal of the HSGQE (which was the High School
Graduation Qualifying Exam); as well as
reductions in personal costs and budgeted
positions (a total reduction of 28 positions
since FY2013)
The chart on Slide 8 shows a 10-year look back of the
total funding comparison by fund category:
unrestricted and designated general funds, federal
funds, and other funds.
As noted in the blue bars, unrestricted general funds
are the largest percentage of DEED's overall budget,
followed by federal, other, then designated general
funds.
Again, the increases in federal funds from FY2010 to
FY2012 were attributed to ARRA, Education Jobs Funds,
and BTOP funds.
And the increase in unrestricted general funds in
FY2015 was attributed to the passage of HB278, the
Education Bill.
1:42:36 PM
Ms. Teshner addressed slides 9 through 11:
On the next 6 slides, we break down the department by
results delivery units and component/allocations, this
is shown in the 1st column. The remaining columns
contain the information that this committee asked us
to prepare.
Column 7 is the Rating of Effectiveness. For this we
used a "grade" of A, B, or C - where A means we are
getting the job done; B means we are getting the job
but there are areas for improvement; and C we are not
getting the job done with limited opportunity for
improvement. These ratings are of the department's
performance in our ability to get the job done to meet
the mission and is not a ranking of the school
district's in Alaska.
The other columns contain the funding breakdown by
fund category; the total # of positions; the # of
Alaskan's served; the % cost through fees; the rating
of importance to mission (which will have a rating of
critical, important, beneficial, or status quo); and
the final three right-hand columns show the
constitutional, federal, and statutory requirements.
In the interest of time, I will not go over these
slides line by line but will address some FY2018
budget highlights.
· Foundation - fully funded at the statutory Base
Student Allocation (BSA) of $5,930
· Pupil Transportation - Funding maintained at the
FY2017 funding level of $72,619.8
Within the Education Support Services Results Delivery
Unit,
Administrative Services -
· Transfer 1 PFT position to Department of
Administration for Shared Services of Alaska
Implementation
· $9.5 Other (I/A receipt authority) decrement -
savings from Shared Services of Alaska
Implementation
Information Services -
· $110.0 Other (I/A receipt authority) decrement to
reduce uncollectible inter-agency receipt authority
and delete 1 PFT position
· Transfer 1 PFT position to Department of
Administration for Centralized Office of Information
Technology Implementation
Within the Teaching and Learning Support results
delivery unit,
Student and School Achievement -
· Delete two vacant positions
State System of Support -
· $250.0 UGF one-time increment request for the
Innovative Best Practice Initiative
1:45:24 PM
Ms. Teshner moved to slide 12 related to commissions and
boards, Mount Edgecumbe High School, and state facilities
maintenance:
Within the Commissions and Boards results delivery
unit,
Alaska State Council on the Arts -
· Transfer 1 PFT position to Department of
Administration for Shared Services of Alaska
Implementation
· $6.6 decrement [$2.1 Fed; 4.5 G/F Match] - savings
from Shared Services of Alaska Implementation
Within Mt. Edgecumbe High School (MEHS) -
· $100.0 UGF increment request for the warm storage
and maintenance costs for the new MEHS Aquatic
Center
Ms. Teshner turned to slide 13:
Within the Alaska State Libraries, Archives, and
Museums results delivery unit,
Library Operations -
· Transfer 2 PFT position to Department of
Administration for Shared Services of Alaska
Implementation
· $25.6 UGF decrement - savings from Shared Services
of Alaska Implementation
· Delete 2 long-term non-perm positions
Museum Operations -
· Delete 1 PFT vacant position due to a reorganization
with that component
1:46:47 PM
Ms. Teshner addressed program administration and operations
on slide 14.
Within the Program Administration & Operations results
delivery unit -
· $625.1 Other decrement and delete 7 vacant positions
(4 PFT and 3 NP)
· $125.0 DGF increment request for the Alaska
Education Grants, which is a needs-based grant
program that is set in statute to equal half the
amount allocated to the APS
· Transfer 1 PFT position to Department of
Administration for Shared Services of Alaska
Implementation
· $7.8 Other decrement - savings from Shared Services
of Alaska Implementation
Within the WWAMI Medical Education results delivery
unit -
· $106.0 DGF increment request to cover program
contractual increases
· And within the Alaska Performance Scholarship (APS)
Awards results delivery unit -
· $250.0 DGF increment request to cover the expected
demand increases
1:48:03 PM
Vice-Chair Gara spoke to the department's mission
statement. He said that, according to the Division of
Legislative Finance, the state was behind two years
previous by around $31 million in terms of classroom
funding and pupil transportation. There had been a
classroom funding grant of $43 million that was no longer
available, and $6 million for pupil transportation had been
vetoed. He asked if the department was able to meet its
mission.
Commissioner Johnson answered that, during his state-of-
the-state address, the governor had stated that for far too
long too many of Alaska's students were near the bottom,
which indicated that the department had work to do to meet
its mission. He spoke to an achievement gap in the schools.
He referred to it as "Alaska's education challenge" and
indicated that they were planning to spend the next several
months presenting legislators with a series of
recommendations and five priorities the department believed
needed addressing, including a discussion of finances.
Vice-Chair Gara spoke to the $6 million veto for pupil
transportation which the governor had proposed for a second
year. He asked if some districts had economized on pupil
transportation, or if the money was coming out of
classrooms.
Commissioner Johnson answered that it differed between
districts. There were some districts that had to use
operating budget money to fund pupil transportation, while
others had not.
Co-Chair Seaton mentioned that the subcommittee would
address pupil transportation, whether it was by adjusting
school bus routes or getting money from other places. He
asked the finance subcommittee to look into the issue.
Representative Kawasaki spoke to the Washington, Wyoming,
Alaska, Montana, and Idaho (WWAMI) program and performance
scholarship rewards on slide 14. He asked about whether
funding was coming from the Higher Education Trust Fund.
Ms. Teshner answered in the affirmative.
Representative Kawasaki asked if it was an appropriate use
of the funding.
1:52:48 PM
Ms. Teshner replied it had been done for the past few
years. She did not know a further answer.
Co-Chair Seaton noted the subcommittee would look at the
history and designated uses of the fund.
Representative Kawasaki commented that he would like to
know whether the trust fund was solvent.
Co-Chair Seaton stated the high-level overview would
identify areas needing answers in subcommittee, as well as
indicating for the department which answers they would need
to present.
Representative Pruitt noted some of the designated general
fund (DGF) had been changed in the past several years that
he had disagreed with. He wondered about the aquatic
facility at Mount Edgecumbe. He asked for a repeat of the
information.
Ms. Teshner answered that the facility was currently under
construction and set to open in November 2017. The total
operating cost was $583,000. The request for $100,000 was
to keep the facility in warm storage until it could be
fully operational. There were currently no revenue sources
to open the facility.
Representative Pruitt noted the information had been
brought up in an audit. He stated the audit had identified
the facility may not be needed. He wondered if there would
ever be a request to complete the facility or whether the
legislature would be asked for funding to keep the building
warm year after year.
Ms. Teshner answered that other revenue sources were being
pursued in Sitka, including opening it for public use and
developing a fee structure. She did not know the time
frame. The department wanted to find the revenue to ensure
that it could open.
1:56:56 PM
Representative Wilson spoke to boarding home grants, youth
in detention and special schools on slide 9. She asked
whether the Base Student Allocation (BSA) was included in
the amounts on the slide.
Ms. Teshner answered that the BSA was only included within
the foundation program itself. The others were in addition
to the BSA.
Representative Wilson noted that the boarding home grants
called for $16,784 each, however the slide showed $3,055 to
Youth in Detention and $4,949 for Special Schools, and
asked about the significant difference. She remarked that
the boarding home and detention facility would not require
as much for transportation.
Ms. Teshner answered that the programs had a specific
formula set in statute. For example, the boarding homes saw
funds through a statewide program and/or a stipend program
and a set amount went to the Special Education Service
Agency which was also set in statute.
Representative Wilson hoped the subcommittee would look at
the large difference. She asked if the formula money
followed a child in a boarding home rather than going into
the district, and whether it was half to the district and
half to the boarding home, or whether all of the money went
to one place.
Ms. Teshner responded there was a variable term and a 180-
day term. For the 180-day term, the money would stay, for
example, in Galena in its residential school. For the
variable term, she gave the example of the Chugach Voyage
to Excellence Program, where the students come in for two-
week periods. She detailed that if the students came from
Kashunamiut, the funding would remain in Kashunamuit and
Chugach would only receive funding to board the pupils for
the two-week period.
1:59:53 PM
Representative Ortiz referred to slide 6 and the graph
showing a reduction in funding for teaching and learning
support services. He asked what kinds of things were not
happening in teaching and learning support that did happen
when larger funding sources had been available.
Ms. Teshner said that the peaks showing in the graph
indicated funding from the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act (ARRA) which were one-time items for
school districts. Since then there had been a decline from
FY 13 to the FY 18 governor's budget. The Alaska Statewide
Mentor Project (ASMP) had ended, and the Alaska Native
Science and Engineering Program (ANSEP) no longer received
state funding.
Representative Ortiz asked about the statewide mentoring
program.
Ms. Teshner did not have the background history on the
program. The department would address the issue in the
subcommittee.
Representative Guttenberg spoke to slide 13 related to
Online with Libraries and e-rates. He brought up the huge
differential in costs between different communities. The
state had cut its participation in the previous year. He
asked about the impact.
Ms. Teshner deferred to a colleague.
2:02:50 PM
Representative Guttenberg asked for a graph showing the
different costs that libraries faced for broadband around
the state and what e-rate covered, which he thought was
around 90 percent. He asked whether there was a coordinated
plan to deal with costs of library operations and broadband
for schools and how that was broken out.
PATIENCE FREDERIKSEN, DIRECTOR, DIVISION OF LIBRARIES,
ARCHIVES, AND MUSEUMS, DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND EARLY
DEVELOPMENT,
Ms. Frederiksen answered that library operations were not
shown in the charts.
Representative Guttenberg stated that he was looking for
graphs. He asked what portion of broadband was used for
Live Homework Help and whether it was also discounted.
Ms. Frederiksen indicated that Live Homework Help was
provided over the web to students directly, so there were
no internet costs for that service. Additionally, the
legislature had provided $138,200 for Live Homework Help
annually, and that had been supplemented with library grant
funding to make the remaining cost. Each tutoring session
was $7.50 and federal funds were covering the remaining
amount. There were no internet costs associated with it, as
students were using it in their homes.
Co-Chair Seaton asked the department to bring performance
data on Live Homework Help to the subcommittee.
Ms. Frederiksen complied.
2:05:51 PM
Vice-Chair Gara spoke to the merit-based Alaska Performance
Scholarship (APS) and questioned whether it represented a
stable or rising cost.
Ms. Teshner deferred the question to a colleague.
Co-Chair Seaton asked for clarification on the question.
Vice-Chair Gara clarified he was only interested in the
information related to the non-needs-based portion of the
scholarship.
STEPHANIE BUTLER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ALASKA COMMISSION ON
POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION, DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND EARLY
DEVELOPMENT, replied that now that there was a full cohort
of students, costs were fairly stable. Total rewards had
been $11.5 million and the program was asking for an
additional $250,000 for FY 18 and did not expect an
increase.
2:08:07 PM
Co-Chair Seaton mentioned the Parents as Teachers and a
pre-K pilot project. He asked the department to provide any
performance data to the subcommittee. He was interested in
comparing the results of the programs.
Ms. Teshner replied in the affirmative.
Representative Wilson spoke to the teaching and learning
component. She asked if the department had looked at
financial participation by the school districts rather than
the money coming from the state. She asked the subcommittee
to look at the detail.
2:10:05 PM
AT EASE
2:12:02 PM
RECONVENED
^FY 18 BUDGET OVERVIEW: DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY
2:12:18 PM
WALT MONEGAN, COMMISSIONER-DESIGNEE, DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC
SAFETY, introduced a PowerPoint presentation titled
"Department of Public Safety Department Overview, House
Finance Committee" dated January 26, 2017 (copy on file).
He referred to the department's mission on slide 2 and
pointed to various website links included on the slide.
KELLY HOWELL, DIRECTOR, DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE
SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY, addressed slide 3
showing a 10-year lookback of the department's budget
produced by the Legislative Finance Division. She spoke to
growth in the Alaska State Troopers, Village Public Safety
Officer (VPSO), and Council on Domestic Violence and Sexual
Assault (CDVSA) appropriations. The FY 18 budget request
was slightly over FY 12 levels, with a difference of about
$2.2 million. The chart on slide 4 showed the department's
budget by line item. The travel line item was lower than
the FY 08 level.
2:15:31 PM
Ms. Howell spoke to slide 5 which provided a 10-year
lookback at the General Fund (GF) budget by appropriation.
Alaska State Troopers made up 71 percent of the budget and
included both State Troopers and Alaska Wildlife Troopers.
Statewide support, Fire and Life Safety, and Alaska Fire
Standards Council appropriations were below FY 12 levels.
The Alaska State Troopers and VPSO levels were below FY 13
levels, with the Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault
appropriation close to FY 13 levels.
2:16:23 PM
Ms. Howell turned to slide 6 and addressed the department's
appropriations for all funds. Alaska State Troopers
represented 67 percent, the largest share of the FY 18
proposed budget. The note from the Legislative Finance
Division identified that a portion of the appropriation was
attributable to funding from the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and capital improvement program
receipts for the Bureau of Highway Patrol. She moved to
slide 7 and addressed the department's total funding by
fund group. The unrestricted general fund (UGF) budget
category comprised 81 percent of the department's FY 18
proposed budget. The next five slides provided a breakdown
of the department's budget by allocation. She highlighted
some of the significant budget changes proposed for FY 18.
2:18:00 PM
Ms. Howell spoke to fire and life safety on slide 8. There
was a proposed reduction of $170,000 in two permanent full-
time positions, namely a building plans examiner in
Anchorage and office assistant II position in Fairbanks.
The Alaska State Troopers detachments (slide 9) allocation
was the fourth row down and was the largest allocation in
the department's budget in terms of cost and personnel. The
allocation saw a total reduction of $403,100 by deleting
three administrative positions at the Anchorage
headquarters, namely a state trooper captain position, an
environmental services journey position in Fairbanks, and a
criminal justice technician position in Anchorage. She
spoke to the Alaska Wildlife Troopers allocation on
slide 9. Two positions were vacant in Ketchikan and Kodiak.
2:20:20 PM
Ms. Howell skipped to slide 11 and spoke to the
administrative services and statewide information
technology services allocations. Some positions would be
transferred to Department of Administration under the
Office of Shared Services and the Office of Information
Technology for a total savings to the department of $25,100
in UGF. One significant change was in the prisoner
transport allocation on slide 8. The department was
proposing a $500,000 reduction based on a decreased need
for physical prisoner transportation due to the use of
video arraignments.
Co-Chair Seaton asked for verification she was speaking to
the line at the bottom of slide 8.
Ms. Howell answered in the affirmative. The allocation was
primarily composed of travel and services for troopers,
whether they be in the judicial services or detachment
allocations. The funding was also used to assist local
police departments when they assisted in transporting
prisoners.
2:23:08 PM
Ms. Howell remained on slide 8. She highlighted a newly
proposed fund under the Alaska Bureau of Highway Patrol,
the Alaska Transportation Maintenance Fund, which was a
significant change in the governor's FY 18 proposed budget.
Ms. Howell turned to slide 10 and addressed the CDVSA in
the last row. The department was requesting an increase of
$1 million in federal receipt authority due to an increase
in federal grants. The $1 million designated general
fund (DGF) was associated with the passage of SB 91 in the
previous session and reflected recidivism reduction
efforts.
2:25:03 PM
Ms. Howell turned to slide 11 and the $1.2 million increase
related to the transfer in of nine positions from
Department of Revenue (DOR). These were investigator
positions which would operate within the commissioner's
office and would focus on revenue investigations concerning
tax, child support, and Permanent Fund Dividend fraud. She
spoke to the statewide information technology services
allocation request for $600,000 in federal receipt
authority for the grant funds related to improving the
history of criminal records and National Instant Check
System (NICS) improvement program grants which assist in
transmitting mental health records to the court system.
Representative Ortiz asked about overall staff reductions
in the Alaska State Troopers and how those were determined.
Ms. Howell deferred the question to Commissioner Monegan.
Commissioner Monegan cited Haines as an example and
explained that its police department would continue to
staff a wildlife trooper for the community. The department
would hesitate to pull staff from an area in which there
was not another form of law enforcement.
Representative Ortiz spoke to total existing trooper
forces. He asked about the percentage of troopers in areas
with no other law enforcement agency.
Commissioner Monegan would follow up with the information.
Representative Ortiz asked if it would also include
communities without VPSOs.
Commissioner Monegan replied the department recognized
there were about 100 communities in rural Alaska with no
form of law enforcement. The goal was, at a minimum, to
provide support to communities with no protection by
operating out of a hub location. He gave the example of
Bethel and the 56 villages in the area. It was based on
which community had the greatest need.
2:29:33 PM
Representative Guttenberg asked about CDVSA and a
$1 million savings from SB 91 [omnibus crime legislation
passed in 2016]. He asked where the savings had come from.
Ms. Howell answered that the Recidivism Reduction Fund had
been created with $1 million to the CDVSA. She did not know
the formula for how the fund was filled.
Representative Guttenberg noted that many of the fund
sources had not yet materialized. He was concerned that the
department was factoring in the funding that had not yet
come about. He recognized that it was not possible to
compare Alaska to other states. There were no police
officers in his borough. He was concerned about a lack of
backup for troopers in the field. He asked if a report was
available showing the appropriate level of staff. He
related a report from a trooper who had said his backup in
a given situation was 30 miles away.
2:32:27 PM
Commissioner Monegan answered it was a true statement that
haunted the department on a daily basis. There were many
challenges related to the safety of troopers and the people
that the department was aiming to protect. He believed all
police departments nationwide were having difficulty
finding enough qualified individuals to apply. He stated
there was an unfavorable light cast upon the job of a
police officer due to recent events in the Lower 48. He
believed everything was cyclical and the number of
applicants would increase. The department had some small
ideas about how to increase recruitment. He related that
Colonel Jim Cockrell, Director, Division of Alaska State
Troopers, Department of Public Safety, would agree that
troopers were being asked to work without immediate
assistance. He believed it spoke volumes about the
character of the employed individuals.
2:34:56 PM
Representative Guttenberg clarified the finger pointing was
at the legislators as policy makers, and not at the
department.
Representative Grenn turned to rural trooper housing on
slide 9. He asked for detail.
Ms. Howell turned to the second row of the slide to
explain. The state provided housing for troopers stationed
in remote areas of the state. The collective bargaining
agreement provided housing for troopers in remote areas and
allowed rent to be charged or, if the agreement was not
applicable, then the troopers were charged rent at market
value and the rent was deposited back into the allocation.
A portion of the facilities were state-owned, some were
from federal sources, and the majority were leased from
private landlords.
Representative Grenn asked if the allocation pertained to
VPSOs as well.
Ms. Howell answered that VPSOs were not covered under the
collective bargaining unit. They were employees of other
entities and therefore were not covered under the
allocation.
Vice-Chair Gara stated that one of the problems was the
state was not able to pay a competitive rate for troopers
and that municipalities generally paid more. He asked
whether the department could address the issue.
2:38:05 PM
Commissioner Monegan spoke to unique challenges for
troopers in Alaska. He stated that when the department
engaged with communities, villages, and tribes, it needed
to engage via acts of kindness and role-modelling to
inspire the youth to do the same. He referred to an email
from Colonel Jim Cockrell which related an act of kindness
performed by a trooper, and how it demonstrated mutual
respect and trust. He hoped it would inspire others to do
the same.
Vice-Chair Gara asked how many unfilled Alaska State
Trooper positions there were at present. He asked about the
differential in pay with police departments around the
state.
Commissioner Monegan answered there were 19 trooper
vacancies. The two largest police entities were the
Anchorage Police Department (APD) and the Alaska State
Troopers. The difference in starting pay was $10 per hour.
The department had recently lost four troopers to the APD.
He did not know how to address the issue without hindering
something else in the budget. The department recognized
that once the fiscal gap had been filled perhaps the issue
could be revisited. He recalled when he had worked for APD
many years earlier, he was earning about $6.25 per hour. He
stated that money was valued, but the hope was the
tradition of standing up to do something bigger than
oneself was important. He did not see a quick answer at
present.
2:44:02 PM
Representative Wilson spoke about nine individuals moving
over from DOR [to the Department of Public Safety (DPS)].
She stated that the move was related to the legalized
marijuana industry and the fact they would be carrying a
gun. She asked if the individuals would go through trooper
training. She was concerned about safety. She wondered if
it was really where the individuals belonged.
Commissioner Monegan answered that most of the
investigators transferring over were former, certified
officers under DPS and had been trained. The department
wanted to ensure that the individuals underwent the same
training as the Alaska State Troopers.
Representative Wilson did not want to send a message to a
legalized business that the officers would be more
endangered than in another business. She did not know if it
was the message they wanted to send.
Co-Chair Seaton believed part of the issue was related to
cash and whether the state wanted to send someone in where
there was a large cash situation without personal defense
or training. He indicated that this would be dealt with in
subcommittee.
2:47:12 PM
AT EASE
2:50:37 PM
RECONVENED
^FY 18 BUDGET OVERVIEW: ALASKA MENTAL HEALTH TRUST
AUTHORITY
2:50:37 PM
GREG JONES, INTERIM CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, ALASKA MENTAL
HEALTH TRUST AUTHORITY, introduced a PowerPoint
presentation titled "Legislative Presentation, House
Finance Committee" dated January 26, 2017 (copy on file).
He reviewed slide 2:
Trust Duties
· Enhance and protect the trust
· Provide leadership in advocacy, planning,
implementing, and funding of a Comprehensive
Integrated Mental Health Program
· Propose a budget for the Comprehensive Integrated
Mental Health Program
· Coordinate with state agencies on programs and
services that affect beneficiaries
· Report to the Legislature, the governor and the
public about the Trust's activities
2:52:42 PM
Mr. Jones stated that he was the interim CEO of the rust,
charged with guiding it through a series of challenges,
including an ongoing legislative audit. He briefly outlined
the background of the audit. A few years previous,
commodity prices, upon with the trust based the bulk of its
revenue, began to drop. Subsequently, it began investing in
commercial real estate with great success for about five
years. However, there had been questions raised about its
authority to do so, and the audit was in place to remove
any cloud from the trust.
2:54:00 PM
Mr. Jones stated that the trust had about $460 million in
the Permanent Fund currently. It took a payout every year
based on a 4-year trailing average of the percentage of
market value (PMV) of its portion. Each year the trust took
4.25 percent, and while this percentage grew each year as
it funded its budget reserve and inflation-proofed the
fund, the trust was comfortable with 4.25 percent.
2:54:54 PM
JOHN MORRISON, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, TRUST LAND OFFICE,
ALASKA MENTAL HEALTH TRUST AUTHORITY, reviewed slide 7. He
explained that the Trust Land Office was tasked with
managing the 1 million acre land base for the trust. He
stated that his office could be thought of as a "mini DNR."
In regulation, their task had a five point mission:
maximize revenue, protect the corpus, enhance the long-term
productivity of trust land, and diversify revenue streams
prudently and with accountability to the trust. He pointed
to the diverse revenue streams portrayed in the slide and
how these had changed over time. He explained that the
majority of the revenue was principle-based. The principle
related to one time activities and revenue that had to be
reinvested. He pointed to the blue bar representing real
estate investments.
2:56:55 PM
Mr. Morrison jumped to slide 23. He discussed the forest
service land exchange and timber revenue over the years.
The trust had endeavored to proceed with the Forest Service
land exchange in Southeast Alaska, a value-for-va1ue
exchange with 18,000 acres of trust land for 20,000 acres
of US Forest Service land. On the federal level, there was
legislation in place (S.131 & H.R.513) He highlighted that
there was a need for accompanying state legislation which
he believed was coming up for consideration.
2:58:25 PM
Mr. Jones returned to slide 8 and addressed AMHTA funding
history. He moved to the top three numbers on slide 9
including payout for FY 18 of $21 million payout,
$3 million prior year's average lapse, and $4.5 million
land office income, for a total of just under $29 million
for the current year. He emphasized the trust was fully
self-supporting and did not receive GF. Just over 25
percent of funds was used to run the Trust Authority and
Land Office.
3:00:24 PM
Co-Chair Seaton referred to slide 9. He spoke to the
$3 million in lapsed unused grant funds. He asked if the
amount was normal and whether it was allocated for treating
beneficiaries.
Mr. Jones answered that the number was not unusual and that
it varied from year to year. He addressed new initiatives
and underlined that these were sometimes harder to get
started than one may think, and therefore the funds would
lapse back.
Co-Chair Seaton asked that they bring the numbers for the
past three years before the subcommittee.
Representative Guttenberg addressed Trust Land Office
spendable income. He noted the office had received a
$4 million appropriation the prior year from the
legislature. He wondered whether that was different from
the spendable income.
Mr. Jones answered that the bulk of the revenue was
principle, which the trust had to reinvest and could not
spend on programs. He thought the representative may be
referring to operating costs.
Representative Guttenberg noted AMHTA had received a direct
appropriation to the Land Office and asked about spendable
income.
Mr. Jones answered that the $4.4 million was overhead cost,
the $4.5 million was separate and invested in the Land
Trust Office, and a third amount was principle income for
reinvestment.
Representative Guttenberg was specifically asking about the
$4 million. He was trying to determine the difference.
3:03:26 PM
Mr. Morrison replied that the Trust Land Office generated
income and principle though its activities. The principle
must be reinvested, whereas the income went into a 4-year
average, and the average was what was available for Trust
activities in the subsequent fiscal year.
Co-Chair Seaton believed clarification was needed regarding
a line item from GF from the previous year.
Mr. Jones clarified there was a Mental Health Trust
Authority Authorized Receipts (MHTAAR) grant of roughly
$4.5 million that went to Department of Natural Resources
for the TLO and which the legislature had to agree to
accept. He thought this might have been the appropriation
that the representative was referring to.
Representative Guttenberg asked whether the proposal that
was about to be rewarded of $25,000 was to go to public
relations campaigns.
Mr. Jones replied in the affirmative; the funds would come
from the normal annual operating budget.
Vice-Chair Gara asked for verification the costs for
running the land office were not $4 million and the office
was only generating $4.5 million.
Mr. Jones responded that it was generating much more than
that. The money from the principle had to be invested in
stewardship of the land to increase its value, in the real
estate program, or in the Permanent Fund. The amount was
well above the $4.5 million.
Vice-Chair Gara spoke to an investment controversy with the
Attorney General's Office. He asked whether the trust had
begun to invest separately from the TLO.
Mr. Jones clarified that the TLO was making investments on
behalf of the trust.
Vice-Chair Gara surmised the TLO was also investing in
items which were not related to the land given to the trust
by the state.
Mr. Jones replied in the affirmative. The trust was
purchasing new real estate.
Vice-Chair Gara asked whether Mr. Jones had an estimate on
how much was being spent on that portion of the
investments.
Mr. Jones asked whether he was referring to how much
overhead was being spent or how much had been invested.
Vice-Chair Gara was interested in the overhead.
3:07:54 PM
Mr. Morrison replied the number was very low and the TLO
did not even have an entire position dedicated to those
operations in the administrative budget.
Co-Chair Foster believed the controversy concerned
investments made outside of Alaska.
Mr. Jones answered the trust had investments in Alaska and
in the Lower 48. The real estate investments were based on
the strength of tenants and the type of lease, as well as
location and quality of the property.
Co-Chair Foster asked for verification the out-of-state
nature of the investments was not the issue.
Mr. Jones agreed.
Co-Chair Seaton asked whether the controversy regarded the
use of cash assets to reinvest while the statute required
that those assets be managed by the Permanent Fund.
Mr. Jones agreed that the allegation was as stated. He
stated that the trust was working with the Attorney General
to determine whether it had the authority to do so.
Co-Chair Seaton stated it was not the management of the
land, but rather that the board had decided to invest the
money instead of the Permanent Fund.
Mr. Jones believed the assessment was fair.
Co-Chair Seaton believed they would get further into the
topic during the subcommittee meetings.
Mr. Jones turned to slide 11 showing a representation of
the beneficiaries of the Trust.
34,000
· Mental Illness
13,000
· Developmental Disabilities
20,000
· Chronic Alcoholism/Substance-
Related Disorders
6,000
· Alzheimer's Disease and Related
Dementias
12,000
· Traumatic Brain Injury
Mr. Jones believed that those served in Alaska totaled
around 85,000. He clarified that the slide numbers did not
represent a census, but was based on national averages.
3:10:31 PM
Co-Chair Seaton asked about the trust's role in treating
mental illness. He asked if the trust was working on
preventing disabilities.
Mr. Jones answered the trust worked hard on prevention,
diagnosis and early treatment. The goal was to intercept
conditions as early as possible.
Representative Ortiz spoke to the state's aging population
and increasing problem with Alzheimer's. He asked how a
resident of Alaska could access the resources provided by
the trust.
JEFF JESSEE, LEGISLATIVE LIAISON, ALASKA MENTAL HEALTH
TRUST AUTHORITY, answered that the trust could be viewed as
venture capital. He stated that the trust did not provide a
lot of base services, but looked to use the trust funds to
improve efficiency or effectiveness of the mental health
system. It worked to improve training by developing
programs. The trust did not want to create a separate
system of care, but to act as venture capital for the
system already in place.
3:13:05 PM
Mr. Jones turned to slide 13 titled "General Fund/Mental
Health Base." There was a separate capital budget including
bonds and construction for beneficiary housing. He moved to
slide 15 and spoke to MHTAAR grants, which were the
authorized receipts which went out to agencies, and must be
legislatively approved.
3:14:06 PM
Mr. Jones moved to slide 16 titled "Established Focus
Areas:
1. Disability Justice
2. Substance Abuse Prevention & Treatment
3. Beneficiary Employment & Engagement
4. Housing and Long-term Services & Supports
Mr. Jesse relayed there was a repeating theme in the focus
areas. He spoke to treatment and support, safe and secure
housing, and employment as the key priorities for a
beneficiary to be successful. He moved to slide 17 and
addressed current priorities including Medicaid redesign
and justice reinvestment. He stated if the efforts of SB 91
th
from the previous year [29 Legislature] were going to be
successful and whether it was necessary to view Medicaid
differently, and not just as medical model paying for
activity rather than for outcomes. The current system was
unsustainable, in that it paid for events. The more service
provided, the more they were able to bill. Similarly, with
justice reinvestment, if there is no upfront investment for
treatment services, beneficiaries that already have higher
rates of recidivism and serve longer sentences will not be
successful in the community.
3:17:31 PM
Mr. Jessee addressed legislative priorities briefly on
slide 18:
· Criminal Justice Reform + Reinvestment
· Medicaid Reform Efforts
· Alcohol Excise Tax
· Title 4 Revisions
· Forest Service Land Exchange -Trust Land Office
Mr. Jessee turned to slide 19 and spoke to criminal justice
reform and reinvestment:
· Continue efforts to ensure the successful diversion
and re-entry of beneficiaries
· Committed nearly $4 million in FY18 for community
prevention, diversion and re-entry programs
· Support Criminal Justice Commission recommendations
Mr. Jessee noted he was a member on the Alaska Criminal
Justice Commission. He said that the term "reinvestment"
was not accurate. The savings anticipated from criminal
justice reform would not happen right away, but would occur
downstream. This would occur not only in corrections, but
in public safety and the court system. In order to achieve
the savings, it was essential to make investment upfront.
In the beginning it was not reinvestment because the
savings had not yet occurred. The investment upfront
enabled the system to reap the long-term financial and
societal benefits. Investing upfront was a problem in the
current fiscal environment. He spoke to the previous year
and the fiscal notes for SB 91. Senator Anna Mackinnon had
been creative in using prospective marijuana tax funds as a
way to jump start the services. He explained there was a
risk of not achieving goals established by SB 91 if the
state was unable to resource the services individuals
needed in order to get out of the criminal justice system.
3:20:21 PM
Mr. Jessee turned to slide 20 and addressed Medicaid reform
efforts:
· Approved nearly $10 million on reform efforts over
three years
· Advocating for maintaining same optional services that
the state currently provides which allows
beneficiaries to remain in their community and often
at a lower cost of care
· Build flexibility into programs to accommodate
potential federal funding changes
Mr. Jessee elaborated that trustees had approved over $10
million over three years to support the department with the
resources they needed to make good on commitments made in
SB 74 of the previous year [Medicaid reform legislation
passed by the 29 Legislature]. The trust was hoping it
could work with the legislature in the current year to
avoid doing things to the Medicaid program that would not
only harm beneficiaries but put the success of the entire
reform program at risk, just to gain some short-term
savings.
3:21:14 PM
Mr. Jessee addressed the alcohol excise tax priority on
slide 21:
· Increased alcohol excise tax generates much needed
revenue which could be used to fund programs that
reduce the negative impacts of alcohol abuse and state
general fund costs for the consequences
Mr. Jessee stated that it was often said that Alaska had
one of the highest alcohol tax rates in the country. This
was close to being true if only looking at the excise tax.
He underscored when considering the total tax burden Alaska
was not near the top in terms of state taxation. He moved
to Title 4 on slide 22:
· Multi-year effort to rewrite Title 4 statue
· Balance the interests of alcohol industry, public
health and public safety
Mr. Jessee expounded that the previous year the trust had
thought it had agreement with the Alaska Cabaret, Hotel,
Restaurant and Retailers Association (CHARR), but the
agreement had not come to fruition. They had however been
able to get reforms in the areas of minor consuming, and
the makeup of the Alcohol Beverage Control board. He spoke
to Senator Peter Micchiche's work during the interim.
Mr. Jessee moved to slide 24 and addressed FY 18 operating
increments. The Alaska Justice Information Center had
completed a cost-benefit analysis and had examined whether
the system was employing evidence-based practices. There
were 52 adult criminal justice programs that had been
reviewed, 56 percent of which were state funded. He
specified that 57 percent of the programs had matched an
evidence-based strategy. However, of the $23 million that
the state spent on those programs, 89 percent of the
programs funded by the legislature matched evidence-based
practices. The Justice Information Center would begin
looking at the outcomes of the programs and track the
system across seven different criminal offences. The
increment on slide 24 was to take the operations of the
Justice Information Center to the next step to develop an
integrative data platform. Much information could be
gathered and analyzed by the information center in order to
receive feedback. Bring the Kids Home had been a data-
driven effort as it was modified as data was collected and
evaluated. He spoke to IT Application/Telehealth service
system improvements as an advanced view by the Senior and
Disabilities Services Division of the use of telehealth
systems in their purview. The division had been very
proactive and it had started when they received a backlog
of assessments in the state. It provided a mechanism to
maximize the use of telehealth to assess, evaluate, and
monitor people, particularly in rural areas, to avoid the
cost of transportation and remote treatment and to deal
with the health issues early on before they became more
expensive.
3:28:15 PM
Mr. Jessee turned to slide 25 and addressed the Trust's
capital budget. He stated that the trust partner was the
Alaska Housing Finance Corporation but that areas such as
the Homeless Assistance Project and special needs housing
grants were largely operational in nature, and provided
operating base funding for projects that had been provided
previously. He moved to slide 26 showing a "roll up" of
FY 18 mental health budget bill increments. He referred to
operating totals and relayed that the trust was providing
over $8 million MHTAAR and was looking for a $250,000
General Fund increment. He noted that the governor's
proposed budget had reduced much of the funding for capital
projects. He referred to administrative costs and
underlined that the trust was self-funded and reducing the
increments did not save the state any money. He stated that
the trust would be working with the subcommittee to restore
the funds in the budget.
3:29:31 PM
Co-Chair Seaton asked the trust to bring information on
telehealth compliance rates to the subcommittee.
Representative Wilson stated she had recently learned the
trust had put a social worker in the public defender's
office in Bethel. She requested any data showing how
successful it had been. She was interested in considering
whether something similar could be done in other areas.
Mr. Jessee replied in the affirmative.
Co-Chair Foster addressed the schedule for the following
meeting.
ADJOURNMENT
3:31:21 PM
The meeting was adjourned at 3:31 p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 Leg PowerPoint HFIN.pdf |
HFIN 1/26/2017 1:30:00 PM |
AMHTA Budget Overview FY 18 |
| 1-26-17 HFIN Overview FINAL.pdf |
HFIN 1/26/2017 1:30:00 PM |
DEED Budget Overview HFIN |
| DPS H FIN Dept Overview 01_26_17.pdf |
HFIN 1/26/2017 1:30:00 PM |
DPS Budget Overview HFIN |
| DEED Response HFIN FY2017 BAG Awards.pdf |
HFIN 1/26/2017 1:30:00 PM |
DEED Budget Overview Response HFIN |
| DEED HFIN Budget Overview Response Alaska Pre-Elementary Outcome Information 2-17.pdf |
HFIN 1/26/2017 1:30:00 PM |
DEED Overview Response HFIN |