Legislature(2001 - 2002)
04/18/2002 03:40 PM Senate STA
| Audio | Topic |
|---|
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
SB 55-PIONEERS' AND VETERANS' HOME/ADVISORY BD
CHAIRMAN THERRIAULT asked Commissioner Duncan to take the witness
stand. He called attention to the letters from the Secretary of
Veterans Affairs, Anthony J. Principi. The packets had a
memorandum that didn't go as far as he would have liked, but it
does talk about agreeing to work to find solutions to issues that
existing policies may create for veterans who qualify for
assistance but do not fit within the state administration in
eligibility standards. They would try to work within the
parameter of state statutes with regard to eligibility for living
in the homes and, if necessary, they would develop a waiver or
federal legislation to modify the federal program so funds could
flow to individual veterans living at a home and not directly to
the home.
He explained his proposed CS was drafted so that the name would
not change at this point because they aren't sure the mechanism
will work. The department wanted it put in regulation that 20 or
21 percent of the available beds would be allocated to veterans.
On page 2, lines 17-20 it is made clear that the cap is 21
percent in all the homes together and no more than 30 percent of
the beds in one home may be filled by veterans.
Section 1 comes from the department's original bill. Sections 3-7
are to clean up the original statutes and codify changes in
federal regulations and codes by bringing current statutes up to
date.
JIM DUNCAN, Commissioner of the Department of Administration,
said that since the last hearing on this bill, they have been in
contact with Secretary Principi to get a better definition of how
the demonstration program might work. There is a memorandum of
agreement between Marsha Goodwin, Secretary Principi's designated
contact person, Jim Kohn, director of the Alaska Longevity
Program and John Tabor from the Governor's Office. The memorandum
specifies the parameters of the program, but their discussions
are ongoing. It may require a waiver or a change in federal
statute and regulation; the goal is to address the needs of the
veterans while preserving the ownership and authority of the
state to operate and manage the program.
The following are his comments on the committee substitute (CS):
· Putting the preference in statute is acceptable to the
department. They never intended to exceed the collective
total of 21 percent of the available beds for veterans and
the 30 percent limit in any one home causes no difficulty
either.
· There is still interest in the name change, which was a
part of the original bill. He understood the reason for
deleting it in the CS, but there is interest in pursuing
the change as the legislation moves forward.
· The CS deleted the requirement that one of the two members
of the newly created board would be the chairman of the
Alaska Veterans Advisory Committee (AVAC). Because there
are other options available for AVAC to be represented on
the board that's also workable.
Commissioner Duncan said there was no mention of a study to look
at the unmet needs of veterans in the original bill because last
year that was submitted as a separate item in the Department of
Military and Veterans Affairs budget. They decided it was
preferable to package it with SB 55 so he submitted an amendment
that would authorize a survey of the housing and care needs of
veterans in the state that are not met by the Alaska Pioneers'
and Veterans' Home. The department would report their findings to
the Governor and the Legislature no later than the first day of
the second regular session of the Twenty-Third Alaska State
Legislature. They projected the cost of the study to be
$250,000.00.
CHAIRMAN THERRIAULT noted the cost of the study was approximately
one half the cost of a similar study funded by the State of
Washington. He asked whether the results of the study would be
the basis for the state going forward to establish a stand alone
veteran's home or dedicated veteran's wings that could be added
to the homes.
COMMISSIONER DUNCAN wasn't sure what the result would be, but it
would provide an answer as to whether they needed to do something
further to meet the needs of the veterans. The Governor did
submit a certificate of participation request for $4 million in
the deferred maintenance package, which would be the state match
to any federal dollars.
CHAIRMAN THERRIAULT looked for the original fiscal note.
COMMISSIONER DUNCAN referred him to the revised fiscal note on
the original bill dated 1/15/02.
CHAIRMAN THERRIAULT said in developing the pilot program there is
a request to open the additional beds, but there are about 90
veterans who may qualify for the developing program who currently
reside in the homes.
COMMISSIONER DUNCAN agreed there are 95 veterans in the homes
now.
CHAIRMAN THERRIAULT said the program could be developed in the
hope that the federal (VA) funds become available for the
veterans who currently reside in the homes or the Finance
Committee might also decide to authorize the additional general
fund money to open up some of the additional beds.
COMMISSIONER DUNCAN said the current revenue picture would not
change if the demonstration program came together and an
agreement was made with the VA so that the 95 veterans who are
presently in the Alaska Pioneer Homes could receive veteran's
benefits. That is because the money would flow directly to the
veterans and they would use it to help pay their cost of care. It
would take a general fund appropriation to match the federal
funds for more beds to be opened.
CHAIRMAN THERRIAULT said, "This committee is not tasked with
balancing the checkbook, but there is some benefit to the program
even if we don't have additional money because some of those
veterans who are currently in the homes are paying for their
services out of pocket and they could be getting the VA benefit."
COMMISSIONER DUNCAN agreed.
CHAIRMAN THERRIAULT called for teleconferenced testimony.
MERILL HAKELA, a Korean War Veteran from Fairbanks, said he
opposed the renaming of the Alaska Pioneer Homes and has
testified against this several times previously. He suggested
converting the Bassett Army Hospital into a stand-alone veteran's
home.
CHAIRMAN THERRIAULT informed him that the proposed CS dropped the
name change while they worked with the VA on a demonstration
project. They don't want to change the name until they know that
the program would work to everyone's satisfaction. At a minimum,
they want to get VA benefits for those pioneers who are also
veterans and are currently living in the Pioneer Home, but if
they can't work things out with the VA then there would be no
change to the way the homes are operated.
MR. HAKELA reiterated his opposition to the federal government
having any part in the Alaska Pioneer Homes.
HARRY JENKINS from Fairbanks appreciated that the CS dropped the
name change, but was still opposed to the bill. He agreed with
Mr. Hakela that the Bassett Army Hospital could be used for a
stand-alone veteran's home.
CHAIRMAN THERRIAULT explained the provisions of the proposed
amendment to conduct a study on unmet veterans needs. He said he
looked into converting the Bassett Army Hospital and learned the
new wing is usable, but there are problems with the main
structure.
DON HOOVER asked if he understood correctly that there would be a
$250,000 study.
CHAIRMAN THERRIAULT explained there would be a study if the
proposed amendment was successful. The larger fiscal note
reflects the cost if additional beds were opened. Roughly half
the cost of opening the additional beds would come from the
general fund. The Finance Committee must decide whether they will
develop a program that benefits veterans that are currently
residing in the homes or open up additional beds for veterans.
There would be a cost to the state treasury if that action were
taken. The total general fund cost to open up about 100
additional beds would be almost $3 million.
SIDE B
MAJOR GENERAL OATES, Adjutant General with the Department of
Military & Veterans Affairs thanked Chairman Therriault and the
committee for their support. He knew that everyone who testified
had the best interests of veterans and pioneers in mind. He
outlined the difficulties associated with renovating the Bassett
Army Hospital.
LADDIE SHAW, Special Assistant in the Office of Veteran Affairs
Department of Military & Veterans Affairs, said he agreed with
General Oates' words of wisdom.
GARY BERRY, American Legion representative, testified in support
of SB 55. He would also like to see an independent and unbiased
study.
CLAYTON LOVE, Disabled American Veterans representative, said he
agreed with Mr. Berry. He emphasized the importance of conducting
the study. "If it does turn out that we can have our stand-alone
veterans home, it would probably eliminate a lot of feuding
between the pioneers and the veterans, which we don't want."
CHAIRMAN THERRIAULT noted the CS and the amendment. He informed
members that it's not unusual to have an appropriation like this
that would be attached to a substantive piece of legislation, but
it would generally be funded as a separate line item in a capital
budget or appropriation bill. If it goes on as part of a fiscal
note, the end of the session approached and the fiscal notes must
be paid for in the operating budget or one of the budget bills.
Finance Committees are generally given a budget into which they
must fit the fiscal notes. Attaching the amendment does not
guarantee funding for the study. The Finance Committee could also
decide that it would be more appropriate as a part of another
appropriation package.
He said he was willing to sponsor the amendment on behalf of the
committee. They could either attach the amendment or recommend
the Finance Committee consider it as a potential capital budget
request item.
SENATOR DAVIS asked what the department's preference was.
CHAIRMAN THERRIAULT thought the department would like it to be
attached. He asked Commissioner Duncan for the department's
reaction if the Finance Committee zeroed out the fiscal note.
COMMISSIONER DUNCAN said their preference is to attach the
amendment and the fiscal note is necessary for the study to go
forward. They decided to do it this way because they wanted it to
be a program in its entirety. If the bill passed with the
amendment language and there was no appropriation it would create
difficulty for the department because they don't have the money
to do the study. He suggested adding the language that the study
was subject to the appropriation. He thought it was important to
have specific language as to the intent of the $250,000.00 and
that is why they wanted it in this bill.
CHAIRMAN THERRIAULT said they would make a conceptual change and
work with the drafters.
He made a motion to adopt conceptual amendment #1 to the CS with
"subject to appropriation" language.
SENATOR STEVENS asked the Department of Military and Veterans
Affairs to speak to proposed amendment #1.
MAJOR GENERAL OATES said he and Commissioner Duncan have
discussed that and they would expect that the administration of
the home would be through the Department of Administration
because they already have an existing process to manage those
homes. Whether it's part of an Alaskan Pioneer's Home or part of
a stand-alone veteran's home they would still take that approach.
They have also spoken about cooperating in the survey and he
feels they would have a full role in accomplishing that survey.
SENATOR STEVENS said if the Pioneer's Home is administrated by
the Department of Administration now then it sounds as though the
Legislature would be giving them money to study their own
organization.
COMMISSIONER DUNCAN said the Pioneer Home system is currently
administered by the Department of Administration and in statute
they are charged with administering a veteran's home if there
were to be one. The purpose of the study is to study the unmet
needs of veterans to make sure they have proper care and access
to facilities. This would help them determine whether they need
to go to a stand-alone veteran's home or add a wing to an
existing facility to meet the needs of veterans who, for example,
aren't 65 years old.
MAJOR GENERAL OATES added that the survey would be a full
partnership with the Department of Administration and the
Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. Their veteran's
service officers and the Veterans Administration would also
participate.
SENATOR STEVENS asked if they would put the survey out to bid so
there would be some sort of independence to address Mr. Berry's
concern or would they be doing the survey in-house.
COMMISSIONER DUNCAN said it is their intent to work with the
Department of Military and Veterans Affairs to put together the
necessary criteria for what they want studied and then go out for
an RFP (request for proposal).
SENATOR STEVENS asked whether they would have members that would
evaluate the RFP.
COMMISSIONER DUNCAN envisioned a steering committee comprised of
representatives from the Department of Administration, the
Department of Military and Veterans Affairs and perhaps other
interested organizations to put together the RFP and the
criteria. Clearly, they would get an independent company to
conduct the study.
MAJOR GENERAL OATES added, "To the extent possible we would also
use the veterans organizations to assist in that data collection
and be part of it, but that could be part of the package as we
put it out to competitive bid."
SENATOR STEVENS went on record to say he hoped they have veterans
involved with the development of the RFP because they know their
needs better than anyone.
MAJOR GENERAL OATES said it was their full intention to do that.
COMMISSIONER DUNCAN added they have done a number of RFPs, they
always put together a steering team with a broad cross section of
individuals, and they would surely involve veterans this time.
CHAIRMAN THERRIAULT said there was a motion to adopt amendment #1
that had been changed conceptually. He noted it was likely that
this would cause a change in title, but that was no problem since
this was the house of origination for the bill.
There being no objection, amendment #1 was adopted.
He noted two fiscal notes. There were no additional amendments.
He asked for the will of the committee.
SENATOR DAVIS made a motion to move CSSB 55(STA) and attached
fiscal notes from committee with individual recommendations.
There being no objection, it was so ordered.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|