Legislature(2011 - 2012)BELTZ 105 (TSBldg)
02/09/2011 08:00 AM Senate EDUCATION
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB43 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | SB 43 | TELECONFERENCED | |
SB 43-ALASKA PERFORMANCE SCHOLARSHIPS
8:05:15 AM
CO-CHAIR THOMAS announced the consideration of SB 43. He said
the purpose of the meeting was to continue hearing proposed
conceptual amendments for SB 43.
8:06:38 AM
CO-CHAIR MEYER moved to adopt Amendment A.5 as a conceptual
amendment.
27-GS1893\A.5
CONCEPTUAL AMENDMENT A.5
OFFERED IN THE SENATE BY SENATOR THOMAS
TO: SB 43
Page 1, lines 2 - 4:
Delete "establishing the Alaska performance
scholarship investment fund and the Alaska performance
scholarship award fund and relating to the funds;"
Insert "relating to AlaskAdvantage education
grant funding and to Alaska performance scholarship
funding and establishing an account and funds for
those purposes; repealing the Alaska capital income
fund and a provision relating to the Alaska capital
income fund;"
Page 4, line 24:
Delete "Sec. 14.43.845."
Insert "Sec. 14.43.915. AlaskAdvantage education
grant and"
Page 4, line 24, following "The":
Insert "AlaskAdvantage education grant and"
Page 4, line 26, following "for":
Insert "AlaskAdvantage education grant awards
under AS 14.43.400 - 14.43.420 and"
Page 4, line 28, following "pay":
Insert "grants awarded under AS 14.43.400 -
14.43.420 and"
Page 4, line 31, following "awarding":
Insert "grants under AS 14.43.400 - 14.43.420
and"
Page 5, following line 8:
Insert new bill sections to read:
"* Sec. 9. AS 37.07.020(b) is amended to read:
(b) In addition to the budget and bills
submitted under (a) of this section, the governor
shall submit a capital improvements program covering
the succeeding six fiscal years. The governor shall
also submit a fiscal plan with estimates of
significant sources and uses of funds for the
succeeding 10 fiscal years. The fiscal plan
(1) must include sufficient details to
identify
(A) significant sources of funds;
(B) significant uses of funds, including
lump sum projections of
(i) operating expenditures;
(ii) capital expenditures;
(iii) debt service expenditures;
(iv) fund capitalizations;
(v) appropriations of income of the Alaska
permanent fund (art. IX, sec. 15, Constitution of the
State of Alaska), if any;
(2) must balance sources and uses of funds
held while providing for essential state services and
protecting the economic stability of the state;
(3) must include projected balances of
significant funds held in separate accounts, including
the budget reserve fund (art. IX, sec. 17,
Constitution of the State of Alaska), the public
education fund (AS 14.17.300), and the AlaskAdvantage
education grant and Alaska performance scholarship
fund (AS 37.14.750) [ALASKA CAPITAL INCOME FUND
(AS 37.05.565)];
(4) must set out significant assumptions
used in the projections with sufficient detail to
enable the legislature to rely on the fiscal plan in
understanding, evaluating, and resolving issues of
state budgeting, including information that supports
major areas of operating increases, such as population
demographics that affect the need for particular
government services.
* Sec. 10. AS 37.13.145(d) is amended to read:
(d) Notwithstanding (b) of this section, income
earned on money awarded in or received as a result of
State v. Amerada Hess, et al., 1JU-77-847 Civ.
(Superior Court, First Judicial District), including
settlement, summary judgment, or adjustment to a
royalty-in-kind contract that is tied to the outcome
of this case, or interest earned on the money, or on
the earnings of the money shall be treated in the same
manner as other income of the Alaska permanent fund,
except that it is not available for distribution to
the dividend fund or for transfers to the principal
under (c) of this section, and shall be annually
deposited into the AlaskAdvantage education grant and
Alaska performance scholarship fund (AS 37.14.750)
[ALASKA CAPITAL INCOME FUND (AS 37.05.565)]."
Renumber the following bill sections accordingly.
Page 5, line 10, following "8A.":
Insert "AlaskAdvantage Education Grant and"
Page 5, line 11, following "Sec. 37.14.750.":
Insert "AlaskAdvantage education grant and"
Page 5, line 12, following "The":
Insert "AlaskAdvantage education grant and"
Page 5, line 15:
Delete "and"
Page 5, line 16, following "assets":
Insert "; and
(4) money deposited to the fund under
AS 37.13.145(d)"
Page 6, line 2, following "the":
Insert "AlaskAdvantage education grant and"
Page 6, line 3:
Delete "AS 14.43.845"
Insert "AS 14.43.915"
Page 6, line 4, following "award":
Insert "grants under AS 14.43.400 - 14.43.420
and"
Page 6, line 6, following "the":
Insert "AlaskAdvantage education grant and"
Page 6, line 11, following "the":
Insert "AlaskAdvantage education grant and"
Page 6, line 26, following "the":
Insert "AlaskAdvantage education grant and"
Page 7, line 9, following "the":
Insert "AlaskAdvantage education grant and"
Page 7, line 11:
Delete "is"
Insert "and AS 37.05.565 are"
Page 7, following line 11:
Insert a new bill section to read:
"* Sec. 15. Section 28, ch.134, SLA 1992, is
repealed."
Renumber the following bill sections accordingly.
Page 8, following line 13:
Insert a new bill section to read:
"* Sec. 19. The uncodified law of the State of
Alaska is amended by adding a new section to read:
TRANSITION: ALASKA PERFORMANCE SCHOLARSHIP
INVESTMENT FUND. The money deposited in the Alaska
capital income fund established under AS 37.05.565
shall be transferred to the Alaska performance
scholarship investment fund established under
AS 37.14.750 on July 1, 2011."
Renumber the following bill sections accordingly.
Page 8, line 14:
Delete "Section 15"
Insert "Section 18"
Page 8, line 15:
Delete "Section 11"
Insert "Section 13"
Page 8, line 16:
Delete "secs. 16 and 17"
Insert "secs. 20 and 21"
CO-CHAIR THOMAS objected for the purposes of discussion.
CO-CHAIR MEYER said that the amendment would direct the proceeds
from the Amerada Hess Fund to be used for the funding of the
scholarship program. He explained that the Amerada Hess Fund was
a result of a law suit that took place in 1977 for the amount of
$902 million. The settlement from this lawsuit was made into a
subset of the Permanent Fund principal but is tracked
separately. The current balance of that account is about $424
million dollars and the interest it generates each year is the
amount needed for the scholarship fund. He explained that this
funding base was recommended by the Scholarship Funding Task
Force and has been acceptable to the members of the committee
who he has spoken with.
SENATOR FRENCH asked for confirmation that the Amerada Hess Fund
was a separate subset of the permanent fund principal and if the
earnings of the fund are transferred into the Capital Income
Fund.
CO-CHAIR MEYER answered yes.
SENATOR FRENCH asked if any of the money from the Capital Income
Fund has been spent.
8:10:40 AM
JERRY BURNETT, Deputy Commissioner, Treasury Division,
Department of Revenue, replied that, generally, there has not
been a regular pattern of appropriations from that fund.
SENATOR FRENCH said this was his recollection as well.
MR. BURNETT continued that the rest of the Permanent Fund is
subject to inflation proofing; however, none of the income from
the Amerada Hess Fund goes back into the fund or the principal
for this purpose. The income from the Amerada Hess Fund is
transferred as net income into the Capital Income Fund.
SENATOR FRENCH asked if that was because of the legal outcome of
the lawsuit or a practice that was adopted.
MR. BURNETT replied that originally the legislature restricted
the funds so it could not be used for dividends. He explained
that subsequently, in 2005, the Capital Income Fund and the
mechanism for transferring the money were created. Prior to this
date, "this amount had been included in the inflation proofing
every year."
SENATOR FRENCH asked what he meant by "this amount".
MR. BURNETT answered that the corpus of the Amerada Hess
settlement was inflation-proofed prior to 2005.
SENATOR FRENCH asked for confirmation that inflation proofing to
the fund has stopped since that time.
SENATOR FRENCH replied yes, the net income now goes to the
Capital Income Fund.
CO-CHAIR THOMAS withdrew his objection to conceptual amendment
A.5. Finding no further objection, he announced that conceptual
amendment A.5 is adopted.
8:14:07 AM
CO-CHAIR MEYER moved to adopt Amendment A.9 as a conceptual
amendment.
27-GS1893\A.9
CONCEPTUAL AMENDMENT A.9
OFFERED IN THE SENATE BY SENATOR THOMAS
TO: SB43
Page 5, line 16, following "assets":
Insert "and appropriated to the fund"
CO-CHAIR THOMAS objected for the purpose of discussion.
8:14:29 AM
MURRAY RICHMOND, Staff to Senator Joe Thomas said SB 43
established a fund for scholarships to be paid out of. The
intent of this fund was to generate a five-percent income to be
re-deposited. He explained that in order for the earned interest
to be legally re-deposited into the fund, it must be
appropriated. This amendment makes the earnings of the fund
subject to appropriation.
CO-CHAIR THOMAS added that the amendment would add a five-word
phrase to the bill on page 5, line 16.
MR. RICHMOND said the previous lines, 14 and 15, state that the
fund consists of extra appropriations and donations to the fund.
SENATOR FRENCH asked if the amendment was designed to reduce the
likelihood that this fund would be seen as a dedicated fund.
MR. RICHMOND replied yes.
CO-CHAIR THOMAS withdrew his objection. Finding no further
objection, he announced that conceptual amendment A.9 passes.
8:17:06 AM
SENATOR STEVENS moved to adopt Amendment A.10 as a conceptual
amendment.
27-GS1893\A.10
CONCEPTUAL AMENDMENT A.10
OFFERED IN THE SENATE
TO: SB 43
Page 3, line 26, following "regional":
Insert "or national"
CO-CHAIR THOMAS objected for the purposes of discussion.
SENATOR STEVENS explained that the amendment addresses the
conflict between regional and national accreditation within the
scholarship bill. He said there are a lot of legitimate
institutions that can only receive national accreditation and
are thus excluded from the scholarship bill.
8:18:17 AM
TIM LAMKIN, Staff to Senator Gary Stevens, explained that
regional accreditation includes traditional universities;
whereas nontraditional institutions such as faith-based
institutions, technical training schools, flight schools, and
salon/beauty schools are typically accredited through a national
agency. These groups are often recognized federally through the
United States Department of Education and are authorized to
receive federal financial aid. He explained that, as the bill is
currently written, there are some schools where a student could
not apply their scholarship because the schools are not
regionally accredited.
CO-CHAIR THOMAS turned to the training program list created by
the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development (DOLWD)
and asked what the "ETP status" column refers to.
MR. LAMKIN said that he assumes it has to do with an
institution's eligibility status. He referred the committee
members to Paula Scavera regarding any further questions about
the list.
SENATOR FRENCH asked if all of the institutions listed on the
DOLWD handout would be eligible for the scholarship.
MR. LAMKIN answered that the vast majority of institutions are
already eligible. He noted that it is presumed that when a
student enters an institution they are aware of the certificate
quality they will receive and whether their scholarship funds
will apply.
SENATOR FRENCH asked if any institution with an ETP status of "1
or 2" were eligible for the scholarship program and an
institution with a "3" is not.
CO-CHAIR THOMAS said DOLWD should respond to that question.
SENATOR STEVENS added that, currently, students can use loan
money from the Alaska Commission on Postsecondary Education
(ACPE) to attend these institutions.
MR. LAMKIN concurred.
8:22:34 AM
DR. KEITH HAMILTON, President, Alaska Christian College, said
the Alaska Christian College serves students for two years
before they transfer to a four-year institution. He reiterated
that the college is FAFSA [Free Application for Federal Student
Aid] approved and is in the process of becoming fully authorized
by ACPE. He explained that the college represents a segment of
Alaska's students that desire to have access to this scholarship
program. However, the college is currently unable to receive
scholarship recipients because it is not regionally accredited.
CO-CHAIR THOMAS asked Ms. Scavera to explain what the "1, 2 and
3" eligibility requirements mean.
8:24:31 AM
PAULA SCAVERA, Special Assistant, Commissioner's Office, Alaska
Department of Labor and Workforce Development (DOLWD), explained
that the eligible training provider [ETP] list includes
institutions where Federal Workforce Investment Funds can be
used for training.
8:25:33 AM
DIANE BARRANS, Executive Director, Alaska Commission of
Postsecondary Education (ACPE), Department of Education and
Early Development (DEED), said ACPE and DOLWD have worked
closely to provide a list of schools and training providers
which will be eligible to receive scholarship recipients. She
explained that at this time there isn't a definitive list of
eligible institutions but an application and participation
agreement has been developed for institutions to submit. She
said that the application is due by March 15th and the
commission hopes to have a finalized list in early April. She
explained that for institutions that are not otherwise
authorized, some evidence is required of its financial and
administrative capacity.
SENATOR STEVENS asked her for confirmation that the list will
only include Alaska institutions. He continued by asking her
what a qualifying institution in Alaska needs to include in
comparison to institutions that are located outside of the
state.
MS. BARRANS answered that the commission reviews the applying
institution's financial information and performs background
checks on the proprietors and owners. ACPE also looks at the
physical plant, equipment, and requests information on all of
the institution's training and trainers. She added that the
institution must also be physically located in Alaska.
SENATOR STEVENS asked if she is concerned that this will allow
unethical institutions to offer degrees in Alaska and make use
of these funds.
MS. BARRANS replied that she believes the commission has
sufficient controls in its regulatory requirements to prevent
that from happening.
SENATOR FRENCH pointed out that the bill already includes both
universities and colleges and career-technical schools. He asked
how big of a change this amendment would be to the program.
MS. BARRANS answered that the amendment would add four or five
additional institutions.
SENATOR FRENCH asked how large the current list is.
MS. BARRANS replied that there isn't a definitive list but she
guessed there to be around 40 institutions.
SENATOR FRENCH asked how many institutions are currently
qualified to receive students with AlaskAdvantage grants.
MS. BARRANS answered about 40.
SENATOR FRENCH asked whether the amendment would add to the list
of institutions that could accept the AlaskAdvantage grant or if
the institutions are already included.
MS. BARRANS replied that these institutions are already
included.
SENATOR FRENCH asked for confirmation that this amendment would
make the scholarship program more consistent with the
AlaskAdvantage grant.
MS. BARRANS concurred.
SENATOR FRENCH asked if the commission has already been
overseeing the same types of grants that this amendment
envisions.
MS. BARRANS answered yes.
CO-CHAIR MEYER explained that initially he was afraid the
amendment would open up the program too much. He said, "however,
I don't think we should care. The overall goal is to raise the
overall academic standards of our K-12 kids." He asked if this
was Ms. Barran's understanding as well and if she supports the
amendment.
MS. BARRANS replied yes; she would support this amendment. She
pointed out that AVTEC [Alaska Vocational Technical School] is
nationally accredited but not regionally accredited. However,
the school would have been covered under the process that DOLWD
has built with the commission. Some of the other institutions
could be covered in this regard as well but it is one more
bureaucratic step to take that the regional schools do not have
to go through.
SENATOR STEVENS said he understands Co-Chair Meyer's concerns.
He noted that the Alaska Christian College is a legitimate
institution which deals with a lot of students from rural areas
of Alaska.
CO-CHAIR THOMAS asked for confirmation that the list from DOLWD
is not necessarily the list of eligible institutions who could
receive scholarship recipients; the institutions would still
need to take the extra step she had discussed earlier.
MS. BARRANS answered yes.
CO-CHAIR THOMAS removed his objection. Hearing no further
objection, he announced that Amendment A.10 is adopted.
8:37:09 AM
CO-CHAIR MEYER moved to adopt Amendment A.11 as a conceptual
amendment.
CONCEPTUAL AMENDMENT A.11
27-GS1893\A.11
OFFERED IN THE SENATE BY SENATOR THOMAS
TO: SB 43
Page 1, lines 2 - 4:
Delete "establishing the Alaska performance
scholarship investment fund and the Alaska performance
scholarship award fund and relating to the funds;"
Insert "relating to AlaskAdvantage education
grant funding and to Alaska performance scholarship
funding; establishing an account and funds for those
purposes;"
Page 3, following line 18:
Insert a new bill section to read:
"* Sec. 5. AS 14.43.825(f), as enacted by sec. 5,
ch. 14, SLA 2010, is amended to read:
(f) Payment of a scholarship is subject to
appropriation. [IF INSUFFICIENT FUNDS ARE APPROPRIATED
TO PAY ALL ELIGIBLE SCHOLARSHIPS, THE COMMISSION SHALL
PAY EXISTING AWARDS ON A PRO RATA BASIS.]"
Renumber the following bill sections accordingly.
Page 4, line 24:
Delete "Sec. 14.43.845."
Insert "Sec. 14.43.915. AlaskAdvantage education
grant and"
Page 4, line 24, following "The":
Insert "AlaskAdvantage education grant and"
Page 4, line 26, following "for":
Insert "AlaskAdvantage education grant awards
under AS 14.43.400 - 14.43.420 and"
Page 4, line 28, following "pay":
Insert "grants awarded under AS 14.43.400 -
14.43.420 and"
Page 4, line 31, following "awarding":
Insert "grants under AS 14.43.400 - 14.43.420
and"
Page 5, following line 1:
Insert new subsections to read:
"(c) The amount annually awarded by the
commission for payment of grants awarded under
AS 14.43.400 - 14.43.420 may not be less than one-
third of the amount awarded for scholarships under
AS 14.43.810 - 14.43.849.
(d) If insufficient funds are appropriated to
pay all eligible grants and scholarships, the
commissioner shall divide the available fund balance
to provide for not less than one-third of the balance
to be paid for grant awards and,
(1) if the fund balance on July 1 is less
than $80,000,000, pay grant and scholarship awards on
a pro rata basis only to eligible individuals who
received a grant or scholarship in the previous fiscal
year;
(2) if the fund balance on July 1 is
$80,000,000 or more, pay eligible grant and
scholarship awards to eligible individuals who
received a grant or scholarship in the previous fiscal
year and pay all other awards on a pro rata basis."
Page 5, line 10, following "8A.":
Insert "AlaskAdvantage Education Grant and"
Page 5, line 11, following "Sec. 37.14.750.":
Insert "AlaskAdvantage education grant and"
Page 5, line 12, following "The":
Insert "AlaskAdvantage education grant and"
Page 6, line 2, following "the":
Insert "AlaskAdvantage education grant and"
Page 6, line 3:
Delete "AS 14.43.845"
Insert "AS 14.43.915"
Page 6, line 4, following "award":
Insert "grants under AS 14.43.400 - 14.43.420
and"
Page 6, line 6, following "the":
Insert "AlaskAdvantage education grant and"
Page 6, line 11, following "the":
Insert "AlaskAdvantage education grant and"
Page 6, line 26, following "the":
Insert "AlaskAdvantage education grant and"
Page 7, line 9, following "the":
Insert "AlaskAdvantage education grant and"
Page 8, line 14:
Delete "Section 15"
Insert "Section 16"
Page 8, line 15:
Delete "Section 11"
Insert "Section 12"
Page 8, line 16:
Delete "secs. 16 and 17"
Insert "secs. 17 and 18"
CO-CHAIR THOMAS objected for the purposes of discussion.
MR. RICHMOND explained that the amendment ties the merit-based
and needs-based components of the scholarship together by
establishing the AlaskAdvantage Education Fund and the Alaska
Performance Scholarship Fund into a single account.
Page 2, line 10, tied the amount of merit-based scholarships to
the amount of needs-based grants. He said that for every $3 of
merit-based scholarships that are awarded, the commission would
award at least $1 for needs-based grants. For this reason, the
two scholarships would be tied together by one-third.
Line 15, paragraph (d), would forward fund the account. He
explained that this ensures that enough money would be set aside
to fund the first cohort of students. If the amount of the
AlaskAdvantage and performance fund dips below $80 million then
a new contingency of students would, most likely, not be funded.
If the fund is $80 million or more a new group of eligible
students would be awarded scholarships or grants on a pro rata
basis.
SENATOR STEVENS asked for clarification that the first cohort of
students from year one will receive full scholarships for four
years and would not be affected if, in the future, the
scholarship must be given out on a pro rata basis.
MR. RICHMOND answered yes.
SENATOR STEVENS said that the needs-based element of the
scholarship has been a confrontation between the administration
and the legislature and this amendment would tie the two
components together through the funding of the scholarship
program. He asked why the ratio of merit-based to needs-based
funding changed from one-quarter to one-third.
MR. RICHMOND replied that one-third seemed to be a reasonable
number and could be changed at any time by the committee. He
pointed out that using the AlaskAdvantage grant has included a
large number of nontraditional students.
SENATOR STEVENS said he would like to know what the rationale is
behind the one-third ratio.
SENATOR FRENCH said "if you really want it to be a third, you'd
have to say $2 for merit-based and $1 for needs-based."
CO-CHAIR THOMAS said the wording in the amendment says one-
third; it does not provide the example given by Mr. Richmond.
SENATOR FRENCH said that there is no right answer; it is simply
a policy call but he hopes the ratio does not get reduced any
more. He asked if the fund that the committee has appropriated
will appear as a single line in the budget that goes to the
governor.
MR. RICHMOND answered that this bill does not appropriate a
single amount. However, it does state that whatever amount is
appropriated would be spent in the manner specified by the bill.
SENATOR FRENCH said he is concerned that if both a merit- and
needs-based component is appropriated, the governor could veto
the needs-based. He asked if the governor would be able to do
this under the approach taken by the amendment.
MR. RICHMOND replied that he did not know.
SENATOR FRENCH asked if there would be one or two lines for the
scholarship that goes to the governor.
MR. RICHMOND answered that if the bill were to pass out of the
Finance Committee it would be a one-line item.
SENATOR FRENCH asked for clarification that there would be one
scholarship appropriation which would be divided up after it is
signed into law.
MR. RICHMOND replied "to the AlaskAdvantage and Performance
Scholarship Fund."
8:48:24 AM
CO-CHAIR MEYER explained that the task force came to the
conclusion that the one-third ratio was a good compromise
between all of the considerations it had been given. He said
that using this ratio, if $20 million fully funded the merit-
based component than about $7 million would be necessary for the
needs-based funding. While this is not the full amount for
needs-based funding, it is well above the minimum.
SENATOR STEVENS asked for an explanation on the wording found on
page 2, line 13, which read: "may not be less than" and how this
would actually play out.
MR. RICHMOND answered that if $9 million dollars was awarded to
merit-based scholarships then $3 million would be awarded for
needs-based scholarships.
SENATOR STEVENS asked what would happen if fewer students apply
for the needs-based funding and the one-third ratio is not met.
8:54:02 AM
JEAN MISCHEL, Attorney, Legislative Affairs, Alaska State
Legislature, answered that the "may not be less" language on
line 13 allows the commission to award more than one-third for
grants. The use of "shall" on line 16 requires the commissioner
to divide insufficient appropriations in order to provide one-
third of the balance to grants.
She said that there is a possibility that the total dollar
amount of grant applicants may be less than the one-third
minimum allowed in a given fiscal year. She explained that if
that were the case, under the amendment, a decision would need
to be made on how many scholarship applicants would receive pro
rata funding.
MR. RICHMOND suggested that it might be helpful to insert
language that would allow them to drop under the one-third ratio
in this situation.
CO-CHAIR THOMAS asked Ms. Mischel if there was a reason for
using "may" in line 13, versus "shall" in line 16.
MS. MISCHEL answered yes. She explained that the "may not be
less than" refers to the ratio for grant awards. The "shall" in
line 16 requires the commissioner to divide the full amount into
that ratio if there are insufficient funds appropriated for all
eligible grants and scholarships.
CO-CHAIR THOMAS asked if line 13 is dealing with the funds and
the line 16 is dealing with recipients.
MS. MISCHEL replied that one is dealing with the minimum grant
allocation of one-third and the other is dealing with the
commissioner's duty to make sure that occurs.
8:57:56 AM
MS. BARRANS replied that this section of the amendment is being
inserted into the scholarship section, labeled the "Alaska
Performance Scholarship Award Fund." She explained that the
amendment appears to give direction both to the Alaska
Commission on Postsecondary Education in subsection (c) and
direction to the commissioner of the Department of Revenue in
subsection (d). She said that she did not know whether the
redirection of funds, in the event that there is unmet need on
the scholarship side, is necessary. She explained that it would
be helpful, in this event, to have the clarity of intent from
the legislature.
CO-CHAIR THOMAS asked if she could tell the committee precisely
how they need to respond in order to clarify that section.
MS. BARRANS replied that she would need some time to answer that
question.
MS. MISCHEL replied that she did not intend, in drafting
subsection (d), for the commissioner to refer to the
commissioner of the Department of Revenue. She suggested that
the amendment would be clearer if, in line 16, the word
"commission" was used again, in reference to ACPE. She
reiterated that there are two funds in this bill, and this
amendment insertion would go into the award fund which ACPE uses
to pay scholarships and grants. She explained that either the
commission could clarify what would occur if the grants
submissions did not reach the minimum ratio or the amendment
could be amended to give direction to the commission.
CO-CHAIR THOMAS asked if a simple insertion would be feasible
for amending the amendment.
MS. MISCHEL answered that the committee could amend subsection
(c) on page 2, lines 12-14, to provide an exception to the one-
third minimum, in the event that there are insufficient
applications to meet that ratio. She suggested the committee
adopt this as a conceptual amendment to amendment A.11.
MS. BARRANS said she is confused about the balance reference in
paragraph 1 of page 2, line 18, which references $80 million in
the fund. She explained that because of this reference she had
presumed that the fund in question was the fund at the
Department of Revenue, not the award fund which would be
controlled by the commission.
MS. MISCHEL agreed that this is an ambiguity and the fund should
be referencing AS 37.14.750.
CO-CHAIR THOMAS said he will hold Amendment A.11.
CO-CHAIR MEYER concurred. He said that there is one other
conceptual amendment to be taken up by the committee.
CO-CHAIR THOMAS maintained his objection to Amendment A.11 and
held SB 43 in committee.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| amendment A5.pdf |
SEDC 2/9/2011 8:00:00 AM |
|
| Amendment A9.pdf |
SEDC 2/9/2011 8:00:00 AM |
|
| Amendment A10.pdf |
SEDC 2/9/2011 8:00:00 AM |
|
| amendment A11.pdf |
SEDC 2/9/2011 8:00:00 AM |
|
| amendment A12.pdf |
SEDC 2/9/2011 8:00:00 AM |