Legislature(2017 - 2018)BUTROVICH 205
03/09/2017 03:30 PM Senate STATE AFFAIRS
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB16 | |
| SCR4 | |
| SB48 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | HB 16 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | SCR 4 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| += | SB 48 | TELECONFERENCED | |
SB 48-INS. FOR DEPENDS. OF DECEASED FIRE/POLICE
4:21:17 PM
CHAIR DUNLEAVY called the committee back to order and announced
the consideration of Senate Bill (SB) 48.
4:21:36 PM
SENATOR GIESSEL moved to adopt the work draft committee
substitute (CS) for SB 48, version 30-LS0108\U as the working
document.
CHAIR DUNLEAVY objected for discussion purposes.
4:21:52 PM
CHRISTA MCDONALD, Staff, Senator Mike Dunleavy, Alaska State
Legislature, Juneau, Alaska, explained that the CS makes two
changes:
1. Page 2, lines 25-29, new language was added to AS
39.60.040(a) that requires an application be submitted to
the commissioner, but presumes the eligibility of the
surviving dependent; this was language that was requested
by the Department of Law just to make sure the application
process is smooth while allowing the application to be on
file.
2. Page 6, lines 16-17, reworded for clarification to read,
"'Surviving spouse' means a person who was married to an
employee at the time of the employee's death;" this doesn't
change the meaning, just cleaned up the wording.
4:22:49 PM
CHAIR DUNLEAVY removed his objection and announced that the CS
was adopted.
4:23:11 PM
CHAIR DUNLEAVY opened public testimony on SB 48.
4:23:24 PM
BRANDY JOHNSON, representing self and others, Fairbanks, Alaska,
testified in support of SB 48 as follows:
I am testifying in support of Senate Bill 48 on behalf
of myself, my three daughters, my deceased husband,
Scott Johnson, surviving families of past and future
line-of-duty deaths for state troopers as well as law
enforcement officers in the State of Alaska. On May 1,
2014 my husband Scott Johnson and Gabe Rich were
murdered while in performance of their job as Alaska
State Trooper in Tanana, Alaska.
The recent committee substitute to Senate Bill 48
currently limits the health coverage to surviving
spouses to 10 years on page 3, line 20. I was
wondering if the 10-year limit on spousal coverage was
retroactive to the death of the employee or if the 10-
year limit begins when the legislation would take
effect? I would also like information on what the
reasoning is behind the limit. Why is the limit 10
years and not 5 or even 15, etc.? Is the language
coming from similar language from what another state
may be doing?
Usually when a family purchases health-care coverage
or the coverage is part of an employee benefit, it is
a family package, the parents' coverage usually covers
the children. Me being the sole-surviving parent, it
is my responsibility to take care of my family. The
limiting language does not make sense to me. I am
hearing it is more important to take care of the
children rather than the family unit.
When a law-enforcement officer is killed in the line
of duty, the surviving families are at all different
stages in life, some families are very young while
others are older. Also, if the 10-year language
remains, I would like to know what the additional cost
would be to cover the remaining surviving parent after
10-year limit expires.
Currently there are two surviving spouses of Alaska
State Trooper employees who have been killed in the
line of duty and one surviving spouse of a municipal
employee that was killed in the line of duty. I would
think the State of Alaska would want to take care of
the sole-surviving parent so that that parent can take
care of their family.
Thank you for the special invitation today to testify
on behalf of this committee substitute and address my
concerns.
4:26:01 PM
CHAIR DUNLEAVY closed public testimony on SB 48.
SENATOR COGHILL, sponsor of SB 48, commented that Mrs. Johnson
brings up a good point regarding the 10-year limitation. He
agreed that the 10-year period was arbitrary, but noted that the
administration and the Department of Law came up with the time.
He said there is no common way in dealing with the time when
looking at other states, but 10 years was a number that came up
most often. He conceded that the benefit is not life-long, but
opined that the 10 years is generous. He pointed out that an
effort was made to ensure the children receive the benefit up to
age 26 unless there was some other benefit available to them. He
said he did not have any better answer, but was open to a
discussion.
4:28:20 PM
SENATOR GIESSEL thanked Mrs. Johnson for supporting the bill and
for her significant sacrifice to the State of Alaska. She asked
Senator Coghill if the benefit to the surviving children up to
age 26 is in line with the standard health insurance that
legislators receive for their children.
SENATOR COGHILL answered the insurance benefit falls within the
reasonable limit of what the Legislature is doing. He reiterated
that the proposed policy does have a contingency where the
benefit is available until age 26 unless a comparable insurance
policy becomes available, a reason why a reporting mechanism is
included in the legislation.
4:29:51 PM
SENATOR GIESSEL moved to report the CS for SB 48, version 30-
LS0108\U, from committee with individual recommendations and
attached fiscal note(s).
4:30:02 PM
CHAIR DUNLEAVY announced that seeing no objection, CSSB 48(STA)
moved from the Senate State Affairs Standing Committee.