Legislature(2005 - 2006)CAPITOL 106
04/26/2005 03:00 PM House HEALTH, EDUCATION & SOCIAL SERVICES
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| University of Alaska Board of Regents | |
| HCR11 | |
| HJR20 | |
| HB114 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| *+ | HCR 11 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | HJR 20 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 114 | TELECONFERENCED | |
HB 114 - TERM. PARENTAL RTS/CINA/DELINQUENCY CASES [Contains mention of HB 193.] CHAIR WILSON announced that the next order of business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 114 "An Act relating to the retaining of certain privileges of a parent in a relinquishment and termination of a parent and child relationship proceeding; relating to eligibility for permanent fund dividends for certain children in the custody of the state; relating to child in need of aid proceedings and juvenile delinquency proceedings; and providing for an effective date." [Before the committee was CSHB 114(STA).] [Although the House Health, Education and Social Services Standing Committee heard, amended, and reported HB 114 out of committee on 4/22/05, the bill had not been noticed for a hearing.] 4:28:59 PM CHAIR WILSON explained that although the committee had decided to insert certain language into [CSHB 114(STA)] last week, she has since been notified by Legislative Legal and Research Services that the title of the bill precludes the insertion of that language. Therefore, she is having Legislative Legal and Research Services draft a new bill, which will be introduced as a committee bill and which will contain the language the committee agreed upon last week. REPRESENTATIVE ANDERSON referred to proposed language authorizing the Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) to promulgate emergency regulations pertaining to the personal allowance of those residing in assisted living homes. He surmised that that proposed language would be included in the forthcoming new committee bill. CHAIR WILSON offered her belief that that proposed language was instead included in HB 193. AN UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER said, "No." REPRESENTATIVE ANDERSON relayed his understanding that the DHSS preferred to address that issue via budgetary authorization, and that the DHSS recently presented the Senate Finance Committee with an $18 million supplemental budget request "and the request for Medicaid under the Division of Senior and Disabilities Services." He questioned why the DHSS didn't simply amend its request to cover any additional needs and thereby bypass the need to promulgate emergency regulations on the aforementioned issue. The committee took an at-ease from 4:33 p.m. to 4:38 p.m. CHAIR WILSON, in response to further comments, offered her understanding that the DHSS felt it couldn't amend its supplemental budget unless either more money was put into [its] budget or funds were taken from some other program. 4:39:45 PM STEVEN P. ASHMAN, Director, Division of Senior and Disabilities Services, Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS), offered his understanding that the supplemental budget request wasn't increased because the DHSS hadn't yet had the opportunity to talk to the Office of Management & Budget (OMB) about it. He said that [the DHSS] wants to "fix this" via the most expeditious mechanism, whether that ends up being via the operating budget or via some other legislation. REPRESENTATIVE CISSNA surmised that the legislature was simply not aware until just very recently of how bad the situations regarding assisted living homes and personal care attendants (PCAs) have become. She suggested that the committee ought to address legislation pertaining to this issue in a slow and deliberate manner. 4:43:27 PM CHAIR WILSON indicated that because the aforementioned new committee bill is not yet before them, the committee would not be taking public testimony on it yet. REPRESENTATIVE GARDNER asked whether the Department of Health and Social Services could simply add the money necessary to cover the personal needs allowance for assisted living homes, or whether such had to be done via legislation. MR. ASHMAN said that the DHSS will attempt to [obtain the funds] through the supplemental budget. REPRESENTATIVE GARDNER asked whether, if that attempt succeeds, a "legislative fix" would then even be necessary. REPRESENTATIVE ANDERSON remarked upon the shortness of time left in the session. CHAIR WILSON concurred. REPRESENTATIVE ANDERSON expressed a preference for the DHSS to obtain the necessary funds via the supplemental budget. 4:45:52 PM MR. ASHMAN said he would pass that information on to the commissioner, adding that the idea behind including a mechanism [for funding] in HB 114 was to simply provide for an option should one be needed. REPRESENTATIVE GARDNER surmised, then, that providing a funding mechanism via HB 114 is not absolutely necessary; rather, the money could simply be obtained via the supplemental budget. MR. ASHMAN said that what is necessary is for the DHSS to obtain the necessary funding, and, in response to an additional comment, that the supplemental budget would address the situation for this fiscal year (FY). REPRESENTATIVE CISSNA said she is assuming that it will be difficult to get a [new] piece of legislation through the process before the end of session. CHAIR WILSON surmised that the likelihood of new legislation making through the process before the end of session would depend on the number of committee referrals a bill receives. She relayed her belief that "our best bet is a supplemental [budget request]," and explained that she is having some intent language and guidelines for PCAs included in the forthcoming new committee bill. 4:47:43 PM REPRESENTATIVE ANDERSON again remarked on the shortness of time left in the session, and suggested that efforts should be made to encourage the speaker to assign the forthcoming new committee bill to only the House Health, Education and Social Services Standing Committee and the House Finance Committee. CHAIR WILSON said her concern is that the committee has not yet had a good discussion on [the aspects that will be included in the forthcoming new committee bill]. REPRESENTATIVE ANDERSON opined that there has been sufficient discussion on the assisted living home issue, and again suggested that efforts should be made to encourage the speaker to assign the forthcoming new committee bill to only the House Health, Education and Social Services Standing Committee and the House Finance Committee. CHAIR WILSON said she would try to do that. REPRESENTATIVE CISSNA said her hope is that "these two issues" could be looked at in greater depth by the committee, and mentioned that she would be doing that herself over the interim. CHAIR WILSON indicated a willingness to have the committee do everything it can. [HB 114 was held over.]
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|