Legislature(2011 - 2012)BELTZ 105 (TSBldg)
02/23/2012 01:30 PM Senate LABOR & COMMERCE
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB175 | |
| SB122 | |
| SB25 | |
| SB174 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | SB 25 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | SB 175 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | SB 122 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | SB 174 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | SB 116 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | SB 190 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | HB 168 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | SB 138 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | SB 157 | TELECONFERENCED | |
SB 174-OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY JOB NOTIFICATIONS
2:32:29 PM
CHAIR EGAN announced SB 174 to be up for consideration.
SENATOR HOLLIS FRENCH, sponsor of SB 174, said this bill had its
genesis from the work this committee did with respect to oil
industry hiring practices. Early results from the McDowell Group
report indicated large numbers of out-of-state residents being
hired on the North Slope, and he puzzled about what could be
done to tip the balance in favor of Alaska residents. In-state
hire cannot be mandated, but maybe Alaskans can be made more
aware of these fantastic job opportunities, and SB 174 is
designed to do just that. Senator French said he worked eight
years on the North Slope and they are great jobs.
SENATOR FRENCH said when big companies on the North Slope are
hiring, they tell the Department of Labor and Workforce
Development (DOLWD) and the department puts it on their website.
He was open to any reasonable suggestion, but the idea was to
just get the notification out there.
CHAIR EGAN remarked that the department was working hard to make
ALEXsys more user friendly.
2:35:04 PM
SENATOR GIESSEL said she appreciated the intent and possible
outcome of this bill and remarked that information in the
supporting documents also indicated that 75 percent of the
workforce in the seafood industry is non-resident. She said more
than one-third of Alaska's employers are in the food services
industry and employs lots of non-residents as well. So, she
wanted to offer an amendment that would broaden the scope of the
bill to include any non-profit that is licensed to do business
in the state with more than 100 employees.
2:36:35 PM
SENATOR GIESSEL moved conceptual Amendment 1 and asked her staff
to explain it.
27-LS0967\M.1
Bailey/Wayne
AMENDMENT 1
OFFERED IN THE SENATE
TO: SB 174 BY SENATOR GIESSEL
Page 1, line 1:
Delete "in the oil and gas production industries"
Page 1, line 3:
Delete "that"
Insert "job opportunity"
Page 1, line 8:
Delete "by oil and gas producer"
Page 1, line 9:
Delete "an oil or gas producer"
Insert "a for-profit business licensed to do
business in the state"
Page 1, line 10:
Delete "producer"
Insert "for-profit business"
Page 2, lines 12 - 13:
Delete "and notifies job service organizations as
required under AS 43.82.230(b); or"
Insert "in newspapers in the location where the
work is to be performed and in other publications
distributed throughout the state, including in rural
areas;
(2) the employer uses Alaska job service
organizations located throughout the state and not
just in the location where the work is to be performed
in order to notify Alaskans of work opportunities;
and"
Renumber the following paragraph accordingly.
Page 2, line 17:
Delete all material.
Page 2, line 18:
Delete "(2)"
Page 2, line 20:
Delete ";"
Insert "."
Page 2, lines 21 - 24:
Delete all material.
Page 3, line 6:
Delete "with oil or gas producers"
Page 4, line 4:
Delete "and"
Page 4, line 6, following "AS 23.05.095":
Insert "; and
(13) a statement of state and municipal job
opportunities"
2:37:19 PM
SHARON LONG, staff to Senator Giessel, explained that this
amendment broadens the bill to cover any for-profit business
doing business in Alaska. It would make any available jobs open
to Alaskans. Language on page 1, line 1, deletes "in the oil and
gas production industries", on line 3 it adds "job opportunity"
after "requiring", on line 8 it deletes "oil or gas producer".
The fourth change was on page 1, line 9, that deletes "an oil
and gas producer" and inserts "for-profit business licensed to
do business in the state". Page 1, line 10, deletes "producer"
and inserts "for-profit business". Page 2, lines 12 and 13,
deletes "and notifies job service organization as required under
AS 43.82.230(b) and inserts:
1. In newspapers in the location where the work is to
be performed and in other publications distributed
throughout the state including rural areas.
2. The employer uses Alaska job service organizations
located throughout the state and not just in the
location where the work is to be performed in order to
notify Alaskans of work opportunities.
Change 7 deletes language on page 2, line 17, deletes "2" on
page 2, line 18, and on line 20 inserts a period. Language is
deleted on page 2, lines 21-24.
On page 3, line 6, "with oil or gas producers" is deleted which
again broadens the application outside the oil and gas industry.
On page 4, line 4, "and" is deleted; on line 6 "and (13)
statement of state and municipal job opportunities" is inserted
after "AS 23.05.095."
SENATOR DAVIS asked what the sponsor thought of the amendment.
SENATOR FRENCH said he appreciated the sentiment behind it, but
was concerned about the reporting burden it puts on other
companies. The reason he focused on the oil and gas industry was
because of the information in "The Non-Residents Working in
Alaska Handbook" for 2010. This book indicates that the oil and
gas industry employs less than 5 percent of all Alaskan workers.
But it has a substantial impact on Alaska's economy; oil and gas
industry earnings are 2.7 times higher than average annual
earnings for all other industries combined! The same book
indicates that the percentage of non-resident workers in the oil
and gas industry has historically been higher than the statewide
average for all industries. So, he is aiming at the center of
the target - at the problem with the biggest economic impact,
out-of-state workers taking high paying oil jobs.
SENATOR FRENCH said he thought Senator Giessel's idea to broaden
it was a good one, but that maybe it should be in a stand-alone
bill and he wanted to hear from the Department of Labor about
what sorts of work would go into putting this into effect. If
they say it's no problem whatsoever and has no fiscal impact, he
would be fine with it.
He also pointed out that it's easier to get a tour guide job
with Gastineau Channel Guiding, because they are already
advertising on the radio and if you want to work in the seafood
industry, just show up. But if you want to work on the North
Slope "that's tougher," because of the high pay and the high
number of people coming up from out-of-state claiming those
jobs.
2:44:41 PM
SENATOR GIESSEL agreed with him but said that still doesn't
address the fact that 75 percent of the employees in the fish
processing industry are non-residents. In fact a high percent
are not even Americans. The same is true in the tourism
industry.
SENATOR PASKVAN said he understood precisely what she was
saying, but this bill has a zero fiscal note and he didn't know
what the notification requirements in newspapers and other
publications distributed throughout the state would mean. It
could cause significant problems.
CHAIR EGAN said the amendment was offered and it was his intent
to take it up again at the next meeting.
SENATOR MENARD asked if it applied only to for-profits licensed
to do business in Alaska as long as they have over 100
employees.
SENATOR GIESSEL said that was correct and it would not include
the film industry which is not required to be licensed in the
state.
2:47:58 PM
DENNIS BAILEY, Attorney, Legislative Legal Services, Legislative
Affairs Agency, Alaska State Legislature, said he didn't have
any comments but would answer questions.
SENATOR PASKVAN asked if he thought the zero fiscal note would
be changed with adoption of the amendment.
MR. BAILEY replied that his department doesn't deal with fiscal
notes.
SENATOR DAVIS said she wanted to know how this amendment would
affect the bill when it comes up for a hearing again.
2:49:52 PM
PAULA SCAVERA, Legislative Liaison, Department of Labor and
Workforce Development (DOLWD), pointed out that the notification
in the current version of SB 174 goes to the online public
notice system, which is an inter-departmental public system
where regulations and meetings are posted; it is not ALEXsys,
the jobs network system for which she prepared an explanation on
some handouts. She emphasized again that the online public
notice system was what was in the bill.
CHAIR EGAN said that could be easily amended to make it also
accessible to ALEXsys.
MS. SCAVERA said the system is currently available to all
businesses in Alaska. Just this morning she looked at all oil
and gas jobs on the ALEXsys system and found 12 oil and gas
producing companies that had 112 jobs posted.
SENATOR GIESSEL asked about companies in the medical field or
construction jobs.
MS. SCAVERA answered that they have construction, drafting,
waitressing and administrative assistant jobs posted and she
would be happy to show committee members the online system.
2:52:45 PM
SENATOR GIESSEL asked if the oil and gas companies are already
doing this as are multiple other industries in the state.
MS. SCAVERA replied yes.
SENATOR PASKVAN said they know what they post, but how does one
know what they haven't posted.
MS. SCAVERA acknowledged that.
SENATOR PASKVAN said it's more accurate to say they know what
their practice is, but they don't know if it is all-inclusive.
MS. SCAVARA said that was correct. They don't know if there are
10,000 jobs out there and only 112 of them were getting posted
as of this morning. She personally didn't know if three weeks
ago 400 jobs were posted and then filled. They do know how many
jobs have posted through the ALEXsys system to gain employees in
Alaska.
SENATOR GIESSEL asked when someone applies for unemployment and
is required to continue seeking work if this would be one of the
places they would be expected to search.
MS. SCAVARA answered yes.
SENATOR MENARD said she was interested in getting a better
understanding of how many hits the job site gets and asked if
they have that data.
2:55:16 PM
PAUL DICK, Director, Employment Security Division, Department of
Labor and Workforce Development (DOLWD), replied yes; last year
ALEXsys posted 35,000 jobs and had 300,000 visits.
SENATOR MENARD asked what industry the 35,000 jobs went to.
MR. DICK replied that they can look at the types of jobs that
are posted, but they don't have the results of whether a
particular person got employed or not.
SENATOR MENARD said they should be able to get that information
as they advance to find out if a job was actually secured.
MR. DICK answered that their records track re-employment rates.
2:57:32 PM
SENATOR PASKVAN said requiring notification through newspapers
in the location where the work is performed and in other
publications distributed throughout the state including rural
areas would seem to impose a criterion for entry into the
system.
MS. SCAVERA responded that right now the department is kind of
involved in the bill, but their system is not in the bill and
didn't know what the fiscal implications would be.
SENATOR PASKVAN said currently an employer can access their
system at no charge.
MS. SCAVERA answered yes.
CHAIR EGAN added that since it's maintained by the department
there wouldn't be any increased costs for posting on ALEXsys.
MS. SCAVERA replied the fiscal note would be about the
departmental notification to the other entities that the bill
requires. Right now there is no cost for a business to post a
job because the HR person for any business in the state can post
one.
CHAIR EGAN said it seems like a clever IT person could figure
out how it could be done.
MS. SCAVERA said the problem also is that not every community in
Alaska has broadband Internet. For instance, during this
winter's storms, St. George, St. Michael and St. Paul didn't
have Internet service for over a month. You have to be careful
what you mandate when it's for municipalities and communities.
CHAIR EGAN remarked that problem exists now, but be understood
what she was saying. He held the amendment and SB 174 in
committee.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| SB 125 lttr supporting, AADA.pdf |
SL&C 2/23/2012 1:30:00 PM |
SB 125 |
| SB 125 Purpose of bill.PDF |
SL&C 2/23/2012 1:30:00 PM |
SB 125 |
| SB 125 Sectional Analysis - 2-3-12.pdf |
SL&C 2/23/2012 1:30:00 PM |
SB 125 |
| SB 125 Sponsor Statement.PDF |
SL&C 2/23/2012 1:30:00 PM |
SB 125 |
| SB 25 lttr supporting, AGC.pdf |
SL&C 2/23/2012 1:30:00 PM |
SB 25 |
| SB 25 lttr supporting, ARCTEC 021512.pdf |
SL&C 2/23/2012 1:30:00 PM |
SB 25 |
| SB 25 lttr supporting, MEA 021512.pdf |
SL&C 2/23/2012 1:30:00 PM |
SB 25 |
| SB 25 lttr supporting, RDC corrected 021712.pdf |
SL&C 2/23/2012 1:30:00 PM |
SB 25 |
| SB025-DCCED-AIDEA-02-10-12 (A).pdf |
SL&C 2/23/2012 1:30:00 PM |
SB 25 |
| SB025-DCCED-AIDEA-02-10-12 (B).pdf |
SL&C 2/23/2012 1:30:00 PM |
SB 25 |
| SB 25 ASSETS version E.PDF |
SL&C 2/23/2012 1:30:00 PM |
SB 25 |
| SB 25 lttr supporting, AIPPA 021612.pdf |
SL&C 2/23/2012 1:30:00 PM |
SB 25 |
| SB 175 CS L&C v B DRAFT.PDF |
SL&C 2/23/2012 1:30:00 PM |
SB 175 |
| SB 116 lttr opposing, ANC Muni Risk Mgt..pdf |
SL&C 2/23/2012 1:30:00 PM |
SB 116 |
| SB 116 lttr opposing, ABC 022212.PDF |
SL&C 2/23/2012 1:30:00 PM |
SB 116 |