Legislature(1997 - 1998)
02/17/1998 01:30 PM Senate TRA
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
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= bill was previously heard/scheduled
SB 259 - METROPOLITAN PLANNING AUTHORITY
CHAIRMAN WARD informed committee members a proposed committee
substitute was prepared to correct a drafting error. SENATOR
WILKEN moved to adopt CSSB 259(TRA). SENATOR LINCOLN asked for an
explanation of the changes made in the committee substitute.
SENATOR DAVE DONLEY, sponsor of SB 259, described the changes to
the committee substitute as follows: the two legislative members
will be voting members of AMATS; the Governor will appoint one
member to AMATS; and the section that dictated how the Assembly
representatives would be chosen was deleted.
SENATOR LINCOLN asked where the deleted section was located in the
original bill. SENATOR DONLEY said it was on page 1, lines 9-12.
SENATOR LINCOLN withdrew her objection. CHAIRMAN WARD announced
CSSB 259(TRA) was adopted by the committee.
CHAIRMAN WARD noted Senator Green arrived at 9:34 a.m.
SENATOR DONLEY gave the following overview of CSSB 259(TRA).
According to federal highway funding regulations, communities with
a population of over 50,000 must form a metropolitan planning
organization to qualify for federal highway funds. Anchorage is
the only community in Alaska that is subject to this requirement.
The Mayor of Anchorage and the Governor have signed an agreement
creating the Anchorage Metropolitan Area Transportation Study Group
(AMATS). According to that agreement, the membership consists of
the Mayor, two people from the Anchorage Assembly who are chosen by
the Mayor, and two people appointed by the Governor, including one
from the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and one
from the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities
(DOTPF). The only elected public officials who have no input into
AMATS' work are legislators. AMATS holds public hearings,
prioritizes all transportation projects within the Anchorage area,
and submits the priority list to the Legislature for funding.
While the Legislature does not have to fund everything on the list,
it cannot add new projects to the list because those projects were
not subject to AMATS' review as required by ISTEA. The Anchorage
Caucus is asking the Legislature to place, in statute, guidelines
for membership of the AMATS committee, and require one House and
one Senate member.
SENATOR WILKEN asked if the total membership of six members, three
state and three city members, will create a problem with tie votes.
SENATOR DONLEY thought the probability that the committee would
lock up on issues is unlikely. There will be a great diversity of
interests involved and he felt it is important to have a balance
between state and local interests.
SENATOR WILKEN asked if CSSB 259(TRA) will have any statewide
implications at all. SENATOR DONLEY could not think of any and
explained the bill does not affect the dollar amount in the state
budget for roads, or for any regional area for roads.
SENATOR WILKEN questioned whether any other board or commission
might be affected by CSSB 259(TRA). SENATOR DONLEY said no.
SENATOR LINCOLN asked why a majority of both the House and Senate
have to select the member instead of having the members appointed
by the Senate President and Speaker of the House. SENATOR DONLEY
clarified the selection would be made by the majority of members of
the districts that are within the metropolitan area of AMATS. He
noted the two legislative members could be appointed by the Speaker
and President, but he thought a collective vote by members of that
area would be reasonable.
SENATOR LINCOLN questioned why the legislation is so specific when
the matter is not up to the entire Legislature to designate the
members. SENATOR DONLEY answered that the legislative members
would be chosen by the legislators who are from the AMATS area.
SENATOR LINCOLN asked if the entire Anchorage caucus requested the
bill. SENATOR DONLEY indicated there were two dissenting votes out
of 26. SENATOR LINCOLN asked the reasons for the dissenting votes.
SENATOR DONLEY replied one voter felt the legislative members
should be non-voting members. CHAIRMAN WARD added that was the
reason for both dissenting votes.
Number 176
SENATOR HALFORD asked if Fairbanks might have a metropolitan
planning organization soon, and questioned whether the population
is determined separately for the city and the borough. SENATOR
WILKEN replied the city's population is about 28,000. SENATOR
DONLEY thought Fairbanks' population would be large enough if it
had a unified form of government. SENATOR HALFORD pointed out the
borough population includes the city population. SENATOR DONLEY
said for some reason, it is considered separate by the federal
agency. CHAIRMAN WARD noted Fairbanks would have to vote on
unification and form one charter.
SENATOR LINCOLN asked if the Municipality of Anchorage (MOA) is in
favor of SB 259. SENATOR DONLEY indicated he wrote to both the
Mayor and the Governor after the Anchorage Caucus voted, almost two
months ago, but he has not received a response from either. The
Anchorage Assembly expressed some concern that if the number of the
Governor's appointees was not reduced, the state would have too
many votes and the representation would be imbalanced. The
Anchorage Caucus' intent was to give some elected state level
representatives the opportunity to participate in the process, not
to overpower the municipality. To accommodate the MOA's concern,
the number of the Governor's appointments was reduced. He added
the Honolulu metropolitan planning organization consists of six
legislators, five city council members, and an appointee of the
Governor and an appointee of the Mayor.
SENATOR HALFORD commented that after having watched AMATS operate
for years, he does not believe it works well and therefore feels no
obligation to follow its priorities and funding requests. He
believed his attitude toward AMATS would change if the composition
of its membership changes.
TOM BRIGHAM, Director of Statewide Planning with DOTPF, made the
following comments about DOTPF's concerns. AMATS' structure was
formed as the result of an agreement between the Mayor and the
Governor twenty years ago. Both have to agree to any changes in
the way AMATS is structured. He questioned what will happen if
CSSB 259(TRA) is enacted and the MOA does not agree with the new
membership. AMATS could meet without state membership, because
CSSB 259(TRA) would prevent state participation if AMATS is not
structured with the three representatives of the state. DOTPF has
received no indication from the MOA that it is enamored of this
legislation, possibly because at present, the MOA can out vote the
state. The MOA now has three votes, the state has two; DOTPF and
DEC. CSSB 259(TRA) would place the MOA in a tie position with the
state.
CHAIRMAN WARD asked Mr. Brigham's opinion of putting legislators on
AMATS. MR. BRIGHAM said DOTPF is not opposed to having legislators
on AMATS, per se. Its concern is with the mechanics of AMATS. So
far the working relationship between the state and the MOA has been
a good one. Both factions have been struggling with federal rules
and regulations that have slowed the process down and have created
frustration on the part of many Anchorage legislators and DOTPF
staff. Restructuring a group that has worked well on a bipartisan
basis for 20 years creates the risk of upsetting the apple cart.
MR. BRIGHAM added that if one assumes the MOA decides to increase
its membership on AMATS by one, since the state's membership will
be increased by that amount, a sticky situation could result since
the MOA is currently in a dispute about how the Assembly people are
appointed to AMATS.
Number 304
CHAIRMAN WARD indicated that he recently spoke to Chairman Begich
of the local assembly and to the Mayor, and neither one voiced a
concern.
SENATOR DONLEY thought Mr. Brigham's point was valid. He offered
to redraft lines 6-9 on page 1 to specifically say the municipal
planning organizations in Alaska would consist of six members,
three from the state and three from the local government, and to
set out who will comprise the state membership.
CHAIRMAN WARD concurred with Senator Halford's remark that AMATS
has not worked for 20 years, but many legislators are concerned
about how it operates. He asked Senator Donley to offer a
redrafted section to the committee at this time, since this issue
is important to Anchorage. He announced the committee would take
a brief at-ease.
CHAIRMAN WARD called the Senate Transportation Committee back to
order and announced a proposed amendment to CSSB 259(TRA) had been
prepared.
SENATOR DONLEY explained the proposed language would be inserted on
page 1, line 6, after the word "state," and would replace the
existing language through line 9. The amendment read as follows:
"...metropolitan highway planning organizations designated or
redesignated under 23 U.S.C. 134 or metropolitan planning
organizations organized under 23 U.S.C. 134 shall consist of
six members. Three members shall be designated by the
municipal government. Three members shall be designated as
follows:".
Number 332
SENATOR WILKEN moved to adopt the proposed amendment submitted by
Senator Donley. There being no objection, the motion carried.
MR. BRIGHAM discussed DOTPF's second concern. Anchorage is
currently designated as a moderate non-attainment area for carbon
monoxide by EPA. It is about to be designated a serious non-
attainment area. One of the effects of the bill will be to pull
DEC's representative off of AMATS. He respectfully advised against
doing so.
SENATOR HALFORD maintained DEC has had a representative on AMATS
for 20 years and it obviously has not done any good.
CHAIRMAN WARD advised DEC will still be able to have input on
AMATS.
SENATOR DONLEY thought DEC should be involved in the process and
can hopefully coordinate with DOTPF. Traditionally one of the
Assembly members is also supposed to be representing air quality
concerns. He added he asked the Federal Highway Administration
(FHA) if the lack of DEC representation would create a problem at
the federal level. The FHA thought DEC's input on AMATS would be
beneficial but is not required.
Number 362
There being no further discussion on CSSB 259(TRA), SENATOR HALFORD
moved the bill out of committee with individual recommendations and
its accompanying zero fiscal note. There being no objection, the
motion carried.
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