Legislature(2013 - 2014)Anch Temporary LIO
10/28/2014 02:00 PM House LEGISLATIVE BUDGET & AUDIT
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Approval of Minutes | |
| Executive Session | |
| Other Committee Business | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
LEGISLATIVE BUDGET AND AUDIT COMMITTEE
Anchorage, Alaska
October 28, 2014
2:00 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Anna Fairclough, Chair
Representative Mike Hawker, Vice Chair
Senator Click Bishop (via teleconference)
Senator Cathy Giessel
Representative Bob Herron
Representative Kurt Olson
Representative Andy Josephson
Representative Scott Kawasaki (alternate)
MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator Kevin Meyer
Senator Donald Olson
Representative Alan Austerman
Senator Mike Dunleavy (alternate)
Representative Bill Stoltze (alternate)
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
EXECUTIVE SESSION
OTHER COMMITTEE BUSINESS
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
KRIS CURTIS, Legislative Auditor
Division of Legislative Audit
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Provided information regarding the amended
motions for the performance review of the Department of Health
and Social Services (DHSS) organizational structure and the IT
system audit assistance related to the new Medicaid system.
ACTION NARRATIVE
2:00:20 PM
CHAIR ANNA FAIRCLOUGH called the Legislative Budget and Audit
Committee meeting to order at 2:00 p.m. Senators Giessel,
Bishop (via teleconference), and Fairclough and Representatives
Josephson, Herron, Olson, and Hawker were present at the call to
order. Representative Kawasaki (alternate) arrived as the
meeting was in progress.
^Approval of Minutes
Approval of Minutes
2:01:10 PM
CHAIR FAIRCLOUGH announced that the first order of business
would be the approval of minutes.
2:01:22 PM
REPRESENTATIVE HAWKER made a motion to approve the minutes of
the August 6, 2014, meeting. There being no objection, the
minutes from the meeting of August 6, 2014, were approved.
^Executive Session
Executive Session
2:01:37 PM
CHAIR FAIRCLOUGH announced that the committee would move into
Executive Session to discuss confidential audit reports and a
compensation study.
2:01:45 PM
REPRESENTATIVE HAWKER made a motion to move to executive session
as provided under Uniform Rule 22(b)(1) and (3) since the
meeting would involve a discussion of matters that the immediate
knowledge of which would adversely affect the finances of a
government unit and under AS 24.20.301 to discuss confidential
audit reports. There being no objection, the committee went
into executive session at 2:03 p.m.
^Other Committee Business
Other Committee Business
5:15:34 PM
CHAIR FAIRCLOUGH brought the committee back to order at 5:15
p.m. Members present were Senators Giessel and Fairclough and
Representatives Josephson, Herron, Olson, and Hawker. She
mentioned that Representative Kawasaki had been in attendance
during the Executive Session.
5:16:44 PM
REPRESENTATIVE HAWKER made a motion for the Department of
Corrections Performance Review preliminary audit be released to
the appropriate agency for response. There being no objection,
it was so ordered.
5:17:12 PM
REPRESENTATIVE HAWKER made a motion for the previously approved
motion to authorize the legislative auditor to solicit and award
a contract for an amount not to exceed $250,000 for a
performance review of the Department of Health and Social
Services organizational structure to be amended to an amount not
to exceed $300,000.
5:17:49 PM
KRIS CURTIS, Legislative Auditor, Division of Legislative Audit,
Alaska State Legislature, explained that the Request for
Proposals (RFP) for the performance review of DHSS was deemed
nonresponsive as there was only one bidder, and therefore it was
canceled. Potential bidders relayed that the amount of the RFP,
not to exceed $250,000, was not enough. Therefore, she
requested that the committee authorize an increase to an amount
not to exceed $300,000.
CHAIR FAIRCLOUGH, upon determining there were no objections,
announced that the motion was approved.
5:18:49 PM
REPRESENTATIVE HAWKER made a motion for the legislative auditor
to solicit and award a contract for an amount not to exceed
$100,000 for IT system audit assistance related to the new
Medicaid system in lieu of the performance audit that was
previously approved on February 25, 2014.
MS. CURTIS explained that the previously approved audit was not
procured; the system was in such a state that the controls were
not functioning. Therefore, it wouldn't have been a prudent use
of resources to spend funds on an audit of that system at that
time. At this point, the department has processed several fixes
to the system, and therefore evidence as to the effectiveness of
those fixes is necessary in order to gain evidence as to whether
there is a material misstatement in the financial statements as
the system interfaces approximately $1.5 billion into the
state's accounting system. Ms. Curtis clarified that she is
requesting a revision to the previous approval as there is a
different focus on the work.
CHAIR FAIRCLOUGH, upon determining there was no objection,
announced the motion was approved.
5:20:35 PM
REPRESENTATIVE HAWKER made a motion and asked unanimous consent
to set the pay range for the legislative audit director to range
29 effective July 1, 2014, with no change in step but an amended
anniversary date per AS 39.27.011(h). Representative Hawker
noted that this matter was discussed in Executive Session as is
the case for all personnel matters. Over the past several
years, the committee has been concerned that the Legislative
Audit Division has had increasing responsibilities with almost
decreasing resources with which to accomplish them.
Furthermore, the amount paid to the executive director [of the
Alaska Legislative Audit Division] is less than that of a
commensurate position elsewhere in the country. The increase in
range would make the pay commensurate. He explained that the
intent of the effective date of July 1, 2014, is so that the
funds would be taken out of the current year's budget. Next
year that increase will be absorbed into the Legislative Budget
& Audit Committee budget. Representative Hawker, speaking on
behalf of the committee, strongly urged Ms. Curtis to fill the
deputy position so that Ms. Curtis has someone on which to lay
off some of the executive responsibilities. The committee, he
emphasized, does not intend for the legislative auditor to work
hundreds of uncompensated hours, rather, the intent is for the
legislative auditor to have adequate resources and be
compensated fairly and commensurately with peers. He said that
the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee will continue to look
at the Legislative Audit Division as a whole as well as all
legislative agencies to ensure positions are properly classified
and compensated.
5:23:42 PM
CHAIR FAIRCLOUGH, upon determining there were no objections,
announced the motion was approved.
5:23:57 PM
CHAIR FAIRCLOUGH announced that the other items on the
committee's agenda will be taken up tomorrow morning when this
meeting is continued.
5:25:17 PM
ADJOURNMENT
The Legislative Budget and Audit Committee was recessed at 5:25
p.m. to be reconvened on October 29, 2014, at 8:00 a.m. [The
meeting reconvened October 29, 2014.]
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| LB&A Agenda 10.28.14.pdf |
JBUD 10/28/2014 2:00:00 PM |
|
| RFP 15-33-03 Amount Increase Request.pdf |
JBUD 10/28/2014 2:00:00 PM |
|
| MMIS Contract Amendment Request.pdf |
JBUD 10/28/2014 2:00:00 PM |
|
| Fairclough - Special Audit Request, SOA Travel Office.pdf |
JBUD 10/28/2014 2:00:00 PM |
|
| Matanuska Maid Audit Request 1.24.08.pdf |
JBUD 10/28/2014 2:00:00 PM |
|
| LB&A Agenda 10.29.14.pdf |
JBUD 10/28/2014 2:00:00 PM |