Legislature(2001 - 2002)
04/05/2001 08:05 AM House STA
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
HB 28 - MOVE SECOND LEGISLATIVE SESSION Number 2300 CHAIR COGHILL announced that the next item of business before the committee would be HOUSE BILL NO. 28, "An Act relating to the location of legislative sessions; and providing for an effective date." He said his intention was not to hear or discuss the bill today, but simply to have it presented. Number 2360 DAVID STANCLIFF, Staff to Representative Scott Ogan, Alaska State Legislature, came forward to testify on behalf of Representative Ogan, sponsor of HB 28. He explained that many of Representative Ogan's constituents have asked why the legislature cannot conduct more of its business closer to the more populated part of Alaska. He explained that there is an initiative in statute, the so-called FRANK Initiative, that was put there to make sure that if the capital is ever moved, that the public is informed on all expenses and everything that it would take to move the capital. Moving the legislature occasionally might be a viable alternative, but that also is very expensive. So Representative Ogan decided "that maybe what we should do is give the legislature the authority to by concurrent resolution approve a change in legislative location for the first part of each two-year session based on solicitation from communities." MR. STANCLIFF said he had done some rough calculations on what the legislature brings to Juneau's economy, and found that legislators and their staff generate a little more than $5 million. He suggested that hosting the legislature meet in Anchorage or Fairbanks would not be "nearly as risky a proposition financially as the Olympics," and recalled that Anchorage "got very excited about the Olympics at one time" and had been willing to commit to major building projects. He said he thought that Fairbanks, Anchorage, the Mat Valley, the Peninsula, or some other municipality would be interested in attracting $5 million worth of business in a four-month period and might try to accommodate the legislature by offering the facilities, amenities, and the things that the legislature might need. At that point the community would offer to the legislature a proposal of what they had to offer, and the legislature would consider if it was fiscally or logistically possible to move the session there. Under HB 28, the legislature would have the authority to approve doing so by a concurrent resolution. Number 2111 MR. STANCLIFF offered reasons for considering doing so. He said HB 28 "would probably be one of the best things the legislature could do ensure that the capital always remained in Juneau," because if people "had the legislature occasionally in their part of the world, they would not be nearly as apt to want to go to the extreme of moving the entire capital." In addition, meeting in other parts of the state would contribute to a healthy perspective. "We're really a state of many states," he said, and many people do not see the diversity of Alaska's Native cultures, economy, and geography. Furthermore, many voters feel it is unfair that their government is so remote. "Our people tell us that they would like to be more involved," he said. "The constituents that many of us represent and work for do not have the same access to government as people here in Southeast do," as it is too expensive and time-consuming for them to travel to the legislature. "If you want to truly address the urban-rural divide, bringing the legislature closer to rural Alaska would be a wonderful thing to do," he added. He continued: For any major policy decision such as a fiscal plan, you have to have public trust. And if the legislature stays in Juneau in a distant place, then the ideas seem distant also. And if you were to ... show a good faith effort to take government to the people, I think it would go a long way in building more trust. Passing around the legislature and the legislative process spreads a little bit of the economy that comes with them. If you have families you can't bring down or kids you have to dislocate from other school systems, its a very costly project, but its costly in terms of more than just dollars. It's costly emotionally. Number 1784 CHAIR COGHILL asked if any municipalities have expressed interest in taking advantage of the opportunity HB 28 would present. MR. STANCLIFF said he did not think any of them will take the idea seriously until HB 28 is passed out of committee. CHAIR COGHILL asked him to let Representative Ogan know that he would be interested in knowing about any municipality that was anticipating what it might do. MR. STANCLIFF noted that there is a referendum being sponsored in the Matanuska Valley to move the legislature there. Number 1725 REPRESENTATIVE HAYES said he would appreciate knowing if there is any other state that moves its legislature around. Number 1700 REPRESENTATIVE CRAWFORD asked how the legislature would go about deciding, if there was a bidding competition between communities. MR. STANCLIFF said he thinks the community that offers the least expensive option would rank very high, but also that there would be some effort made to move to places where the legislature had not been. He said he thinks communities have the ability to make offers to the legislature that would involve little or no cost to it. Number 1540 REPRESENTATIVE WILSON asked how many places to stay a community would have to provide. MR. STANCLIFF said Juneau provides homes for approximately 200, and he thought Anchorage or Fairbanks could easily accommodate that type of influx, especially during the winter. REPRESENTATIVE WILSON asked how Gavel to Gavel would be provided. MR. STANCLIFF replied, "Hopefully, the same. We would still want to have coverage because rural Alaska especially depends heavily on that, because they don't get down here hardly at all." He expected that it would continue with electronic feeds from the alternative location. REPRESENTATIVE WILSON volunteered that North Carolina has had several places besides Raleigh as its capital, and that the legislature usually meets in each of those other locations for a day once each session. Also, she said, if the session moved to other locations, there would still be family upheaval for many legislators and staff, and that it would not make any difference to rural Alaska because there would be so few places that could accommodate it. The problem is simply displaced, she said. Number 1402 CHAIR COGHILL sent best wishes to Representative Ogan, who was in the hospital, and said he looked forward to his coming before the committee to answer questions about HB 28. MR. STANCLIFF said Representative Ogan had asked the House State Affairs Standing Committee to consider, "Is there any good reason you wouldn't want to grant the authority to a future legislature to consider ... such a proposal from another area of the state, because that's all this does." [HB 28 was held over.]
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