03/17/1993 03:00 PM House HES

  HB 30:  HUMAN SERVICES MATCHING GRANTS                                       
                                                                               
  REP. TOM BRICE spoke as PRIME SPONSOR of HB 30.  He said the                 
  bill would allow second-class boroughs over 65,000                           
  population participate in human services community matching                  
  block grant programs, and disqualifies from such programs                    
  cities which lie within boroughs that do participate in such                 
  programs.  The effect of the bill would be to allow the                      
  Fairbanks North Star Borough (FNSB) to get into the                          
  community matching block grant program if the borough's                      
  voters voted to assume human services responsibilities for                   
  the borough.                                                                 
                                                                               
  Number 161                                                                   
                                                                               
  CHAIR BUNDE asked if Rep. Brice had received support from                    
  the city and the borough.                                                    
                                                                               
  REP. BRICE said the bill packets included resolutions of                     
  support from the governments of the Fairbanks North Star                     
  Borough and the cities of Fairbanks and North Pole.                          
                                                                               
  Number 170                                                                   
                                                                               
  REP. VEZEY said he disagreed with Rep. Brice.  He said the                   
  citizens of the FNSB have long resisted increasing                           
  government responsibility and attendant taxes.  He called                    
  the bill an effort by the governments to use the chance for                  
  matching grant money to entice voters into accepting human                   
  services responsibilities.                                                   
                                                                               
  CHAIR BUNDE asked Rep. Vezey's reaction to the resolutions                   
  of support for HB 30.                                                        
                                                                               
  Number 200                                                                   
                                                                               
  REP. VEZEY responded that the FNSB had changed its position                  
  several times on the issue over the past 10 years, and that                  
  voters have more than once declined to pay more fees for                     
  more services.  The city of North Pole was not really                        
  involved because it was not their tax base, he said.  He                     
  stated that the city of Fairbanks was probably eager to have                 
  the FNSB remove the possibility that the city might have to                  
  assume human services responsibilities.                                      
                                                                               
  REP. BRICE agreed that only those whose taxes paid for a                     
  service should be allowed to use it.  He said the bill made                  
  it possible for the FNSB to receive matching grant funds if                  
  it chose to accept health care responsibilities, but did not                 
  mandate the borough take such responsibilities on.  He said                  
  the bill would not raise the cost to the borough much, as                    
  the changes to the definition of the term "municipality"                     
  would allow many nonprofit corporations, when making                         
  applications to the federal government, to cite the entire                   
  borough as their service areas.                                              
                                                                               
  Number 252                                                                   
                                                                               
  CHAIR BUNDE said he did not want to get entangled in the                     
  issue of imposition of services.  He said he would feel more                 
  comfortable by having a teleconference to gather public                      
  testimony before making a decision.  He announced his                        
  intention to hold the bill for a week so that a                              
  teleconference could be arranged.                                            
                                                                               
  REP. B. DAVIS asked whether the House Community and Regional                 
  Affairs Committee (CRA) had had a teleconferenced hearing on                 
  HB 30.                                                                       
  AN UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN'S VOICE answered that CRA had not had                  
  a teleconferenced hearing on HB 30.                                          
                                                                               
  Number 272                                                                   
                                                                               
  CHAIR BUNDE announced his intention not to hold the bill                     
  indefinitely, but until there had been time for a                            
  teleconference to be arranged.                                               
                                                                               
  REP. BRICE asked if the bill was held to a time certain, but                 
  he was not answered.                                                         
                                                                               
  CHAIR BUNDE then ADJOURNED the meeting a second time, at                     
  4:53 p.m.