02/22/2011 01:30 PM Senate LABOR & COMMERCE

1:34:16 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
          SB  90-BOARD OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTANCY SECRETARY                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR EGAN announced SB 90 to be up for consideration.                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
DANA  OWEN, staff  to the  Senate Labor  and Commerce  Committee,                                                               
sponsor  of  SB   90,  said  the  Board   of  Public  Accountancy                                                               
approached  the committee  to introduce  a bill  to correct  what                                                               
they  believed to  be an  administrative oversight.  He explained                                                               
the  bill that  passed last  year  creating the  position of  the                                                               
secretary  of the  Board of  Public Accountancy  had an  attached                                                               
fiscal  note  that   set  the  pay  level  at  a   range  23.  An                                                               
appropriation for a  range 23 is already in the  budget, so SB 90                                                               
has a zero fiscal note.                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
MR.  OWEN   related  that   in  order  to   enact  the   law  the                                                               
administration felt  it had to  do a classification study  on the                                                               
new position.  In doing  so, they  arrived at a  range 19  as the                                                               
correct pay  range. The Board  of Accountancy and every  CPA they                                                               
have talked to since feels this  is not adequate and want to keep                                                               
the pay at a range 23. He pointed  out that all of the money that                                                               
goes into this  position comes from CPA fees and  they all are in                                                               
support of that.                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
1:37:00 PM                                                                                                                    
LISA ROGERS,  Chairman, Legislative Committee, Alaska  Society of                                                               
CPAs, supported  SB 90. To  her knowledge there is  no opposition                                                               
to the  bill. She thought  the administration  oversimplified the                                                               
complexities  of the  profession when  the study  was done.  This                                                               
position needs a person who will  travel to the NACPA meetings so                                                               
Alaskan CPAs have a voice at  the table; they don't have that now                                                               
and  never have.  This is  not  good, because  the profession  is                                                               
undergoing a lot of change.  Not only do statutes and regulations                                                               
have to  be upheld, but  CPAs are  also subject to  many standard                                                               
sitting  bodies like  the Financial  Accounting Standards  board,                                                               
the  American  Institute  of Certified  Public  Accountants,  the                                                               
Securities Exchange  Commission, the Public  Companies Accounting                                                               
Oversight  Board,  and  the  International  Accounting  Standards                                                               
Board. That  position needs an appropriate  level of compensation                                                               
to get a qualified person to fill it.                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR EGAN closed public testimony and  held SB 90 until the next                                                               
meeting.                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR PASKVAN  commented that he  carried the Senate  bill that                                                               
intended  having   the  position  at   a  range  23.   He  worked                                                               
significantly with  the CPA community in  that regard. Ultimately                                                               
the  House bill  became  the vehicle  that  passed. He  supported                                                               
having the range 23.