Legislature(2005 - 2006)CAPITOL 106
01/31/2006 11:00 AM House EDUCATION
| Audio | Topic |
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| Start | |
| HJR14 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | HJR 14 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | TELECONFERENCED |
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
January 31, 2006
11:05 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Mark Neuman, Chair
Representative Carl Gatto
Representative Bob Lynn
Representative Bill Thomas
Representative Peggy Wilson
Representative Les Gara
Representative Woodie Salmon
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 14
Urging the United States Congress to pass legislation to convey
land to the University of Alaska.
- MOVED CSHJR 14(EDU) OUT OF COMMITTEE
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: HJR 14
SHORT TITLE: URGE CONGRESS TO GRANT LAND TO UNIVERSITY
SPONSOR(S): REPRESENTATIVE(S) ELKINS
03/01/05 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
03/01/05 (H) EDU, RES
01/31/06 (H) EDU AT 11:00 AM CAPITOL 106
WITNESS REGISTER
JAMES VAN HORN, Staff
to Representative Jim Elkins
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented HJR 14 on behalf of
Representative Elkins.
REPRESENTATIVE JIM ELKINS
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified as the sponsor of HJR 14.
ACTION NARRATIVE
CHAIR MARK NEUMAN called the House Special Committee on
Education meeting to order at 11:05:24 AM. Representatives
Neuman, Gara, Gatto, and Wilson were present at the call to
order. Representatives Lynn, Salmon, and Thomas arrived as the
meeting was in progress.
HJR 14-URGE CONGRESS TO GRANT LAND TO UNIVERSITY
11:06:12 AM
CHAIR NEUMAN announced that the only order of business would be
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 14, Urging the United States Congress
to pass legislation to convey land to the University of Alaska.
11:06:43 AM
JAMES VAN HORN, Staff to Representative Jim Elkins, Alaska State
Legislature, presented the sponsor statement [original
punctuation provided]:
House Joint Resolution 14 has been introduced to urge
the United States Congress to pass legislation to
convey land to the University of Alaska.
HJR 14 voices support for U.S. Senate Bill 293 the
federal University Land Bill [introduced] by Senator
Lisa Murkowski (R-AK). That legislation provides a
grant from the federal government of 250,000 acres and
up to an additional 250,000 acres match from the
state.
As the largest landholder in Alaska, it is important
that the Federal government provide support to the
University of Alaska. The University needs a more
dependable revenue stream, and this legislation will
make the University of Alaska System more stable and
similar to other land grant institutions across the
nation. Eventually they will be able to become
financially independent from yearly funding
allocations from the Legislature.
In conjunction with House Bill 130, [which was passed
last session], this land grant package will give the
University of Alaska as much as 760,000 acres and will
make them the envy of universities around the globe.
HJR 14 will inform the members of Congress how
important S.293 is to Alaskans because producing a
long-term revenue stream for the University is
imperative and in the best interests of all Alaskans.
11:08:39 AM
REPRESENTATIVE JIM ELKINS, Alaska State Legislature, said it was
"important to recognize that the state has put up their lands
already and we just ask the federal government now to step up
and produce their lands."
11:08:58 AM
MR. VAN HORN, in response to a question by Representative Gatto,
said it had not yet been determined which group of lands held by
the federal government were to be conveyed and whether these
lands have some reasonable value. He explained that S.293,
introduced by U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski, is specific as to
what lands can not be conveyed.
11:09:51 AM
CHAIR NEUMAN directed the committee's attention to Attachment C
which ranks Alaska last in university land grants in acreage.
He explained that the total university land granted to Alaska so
far has been only .11 percent, although many other states have
already received 100 percent of available university land from
the federal government. He opined, "If we can get this [land]
through the University [of Alaska], hopefully we can get it into
private hands, and the more land ... we have in private hands,
the better off we are."
11:10:48 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GARA noted his disagreement with "that blanket
statement" by Chair Neuman and said he would hate to lose access
to fishing streams and such. He then asked if there were any
available figures showing how Alaska ranks in terms of how much
acreage has been given to the university.
REPRESENTATIVE ELKINS replied that he does not have this
information but could obtain it. It was his understanding, he
said, that [Alaska] ranks really low.
11:12:17 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GARA expressed his concern that public access
provisions to recreational areas such as fishing streams may be
lost over time when land is conveyed to the university.
Therefore, he suggested introducing a proposal which, in
determining which lands to convey, would ensure public access to
these recreational areas are not given away.
11:13:14 AM
REPRESENTATIVE ELKINS said he would support a conceptual
amendment to address this.
11:13:33 AM
CHAIR NEUMAN acknowledged the importance of public access, but
recalled that a lot of the access issues were covered last year
in HB 130. He related that in his district, when areas
involving dog sled mushing were addressed, the university was
approachable and provided assurances that access would be
maintained around these areas should they ever be sold. He
informed the committee that those bills currently moving forward
that affect access rights, must follow existing federal statute,
R.S. 2477.
11:14:30 AM
REPRESENTATIVE WILSON expressed her support of the bill,
commenting that it was "interesting to see that the federal
government has had 91 years to make good their promise to
Alaska, and they still have failed to do so ... they owe it to
us and that is a promise that's not been kept in all these
years." She said the one sentence in the sponsor statement
which says that [the university] will eventually "become
financially independent from yearly funding allocations from the
legislature" is a circumstance she finds "highly doubtful."
11:15:32 AM
MR. VAN HORN, in regard to Chair Neuman's question on whether
[HJR 14] would help S.[293], expressed his belief that it will.
He said S.293 is currently being reviewed by the United States
Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, on which
Senator Lisa Murkowski is a member, and that HJR 14 might add a
"kick start" to the process.
11:16:37 AM
CHAIR NEUMAN asked whether the lack of ownership of lands has
hindered the development of the university.
MR. VAN HORN expressed his belief that it has hindered the
university's development and directed the committee's attention
to a comprehensive legislative research report by Professor
Terrence Cole, dated November 1993, entitled, "A Land Grant
College Without the Land: A History of the University of
Alaska's Federal Land Grant" [a copy is available in the
committee packet]. He said the report indicates that during
[1917] and 1947, the University of Alaska's total income from
its land was $227.50. He also referenced the 1915 land grant
legislation discussed in the report, which said that public
schools and land grant colleges obtained far less acreage than
the 20 million originally intended.
11:18:11 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GATTO noted that the committee packet includes
the "Federal Land Grants to States for Educational and Other
Purposes" and "Total Grants by State" charts which specify that
Alaska has a total of 21 million acres. He said that this data
"doesn't seem to square," and asked whether this is land "we
never got or is this land that we do have ...?"
11:19:05 AM
MR. VAN HORN explained that this land was proposed in 1915 by
Alaska Delegate James Wickersham but was never conveyed to the
state due to the slow progress of surveying federal lands at the
time.
11:19:39 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GATTO again sought clarification on the figures
in the two charts and the actual meaning of the 21 million acres
listed for Alaska.
11:20:21 AM
MR. VAN HORN clarified that these charts refer back to the
Morrill Act of 1862, the original land grant legislation that
specified that 21 million acres would be conveyed to Alaska.
However, the land was never conveyed to the state because of
lack of surveys.
11:21:42 AM
REPRESENTATIVE WILSON referred to a chart which showed Alaska as
having received .11 percent [of land grants]. [Granting land]
may be difficult, she opined, because there are several federal
parks in many states as well as [interest] groups that actively
oppose conveying the land.
11:23:31 AM
MR. VAN HORN, in response to Representative Salmon, said the
university owns approximately 500,000 acres at this time.
11:24:03 AM
REPRESENTATIVE THOMAS asked if the land grants in the Haines
area which were set aside for education are some of the possible
lands addressed in HJR 14. Upon hearing Mr. Van Horn's reply
that they might be, Representative Thomas said there were 3 or
4, 15 to 20 acre parcels set aside for the education benefits of
the local Natives in the community that were later relinquished
by the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA).
11:25:44 AM
REPRESENTATIVE WILSON commented that there is also land that K-
12 education area were to receive from the state and from the
federal government; however, that land hasn't even been
surveyed. She questioned whether some of the land the
university currently owns has been surveyed.
11:26:30 AM
REPRESENTATIVE THOMAS asked whether the state or the federal
government would determine which lands to convey should HJR 14
pass.
MR. VAN HORN said Senator Murkowski's bill, S.293, is very
specific with strict timeframes. The university, he explained,
may not select lands conveyed to the State of Alaska or to a
Native corporation. Additionally, he said, the university "has
one year, after the Secretary [of Interior's] approval of the
selection, to make a final decision whether to accept these
lands or interest in lands, and shall notify the Secretary of
this decision. Again, it does say 'the university'."
11:28:50 AM
REPRESENTATIVE THOMAS asked why university representation was
not present at the meeting. He asked, "Do they want this or is
this something the sponsor wants to do?"
REPRESENTATIVE ELKINS replied that [the resolution] "responds to
Lisa Murkowski's legislation to show state support for what
she's trying to do in conveying that land."
11:29:51 AM
REPRESENTATIVE THOMAS opined that [the resolution should be
held] and the university present. "I think if I was going to
receive a couple million acres of land, I would definitely be on
top of something here," he remarked.
11:30:25 AM
CHAIR NEUMAN suggested that "if HJR 14 does pass this committee,
that you make sure that they're there at the next committee this
does go through."
REPRESENTATIVE ELKINS commented that when over 250,000 acres was
conveyed to the state, "they were here then."
11:31:39 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GARA moved to adopt Conceptual Amendment 1, which
read [original punctuation provided]:
Further resolved that in making land grants Congress
shall ensure the grants do not interfere with public
access to or along fishing streams, or along
established hunting, dog mushing, motorized vehicle,
mining trails or roads, or established roads or trails
used for recreational purposes.
He said the drafters would need to decide where to insert the
amendment and suggested perhaps it should be placed on page 2,
line 12.
11:32:10 AM
REPRESENTATIVE WILSON objected for purposes of discussion.
Although she said she agreed with the concept, she opined that
there is no way Congress is going to know every single public
access area. Therefore, she suggested there should be a
provision that ensures [access rights].
CHAIR NEUMAN opined that the amendment does "make a statement
towards ensuring that there is access to Alaska's recreational
opportunities."
11:33:50 AM
REPRESENTATIVE THOMAS recalled being involved with the ANCSA
under which the federal government did ensure there was access
and easements to recreational trails that were previously
identified. He suggested that language to that effect would
ensure the aforementioned is addressed.
11:34:23 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GARA expressed his belief that an insertion,
addressing access rights, into Senator Murkowski's bill would
sufficiently ensure this happens, and that Conceptual Amendment
1, as written, sends the necessary message to Congress.
11:36:16 AM
REPRESENTATIVE WILSON withdrew her objection.
There being no further objection, Conceptual Amendment 1 was
adopted.
11:37:01 AM
REPRESENTATIVE WILSON moved to report HJR 14, as amended, out of
committee with individual recommendations. There being no
objection, CSHJR 14(EDU) was reported from the House Special
Committee on Education.
11:37:19 AM
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Special Committee on Education meeting was adjourned at ll:37
a.m.
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