Legislature(2001 - 2002)
01/12/2001 01:39 PM House FIN
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
HOUSE FINANCE COMMITTEE
January 12, 2001
1:39 PM
TAPE HFC 01 - 5, Side A
TAPE HFC 01 - 5, Side B
TAPE HFC 01 - 6, Side A
CALL TO ORDER
Vice-Chair Bunde called the House Finance Committee meeting
to order at 1:39 PM.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Con Bunde, Vice-Chair
Representative Eric Croft
Representative John Davies
Representative Carl Moses
Representative Richard Foster
Representative John Harris
Representative Bill Hudson
Representative Ken Lancaster
Representative Jim Whitaker
MEMBERS ABSENT
Representative Eldon Mulder, Co-Chair
Representative Bill Williams, Co-Chair
ALSO PRESENT
Representative Gretchen Guess; Pat Pourchot, Commissioner,
Department of Natural Resources; Mark Myers, Director,
Division of Oil and Gas, Department of Natural Resources;
carol Carroll, Director, Division of Support Services,
Department of Natural Resources; Nico Bus, Administrative
Services Manager, Department of Natural Resources; Margaret
Pugh, Commissioner, Department of Corrections; Dwayne
Peeples, Director, Division of Administrative Services,
Department of Corrections; Margaret Pugh, Commissioner,
Department of Corrections.
PRESENT VIA TELECONFERENCE
Milton Miltse, Department of Natural Resources, Fairbanks;
Robert Wells, Department of Natural Resources, Palmer.
GENERAL SUBJECT(S):
REVIEW OF DEPARTMENTS ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
Department of Natural Resources
Department of Corrections
The following overview was taken in log note format. Tapes
and handouts will be on file with the House Finance
Committee through the 22nd Legislative Session, contact 465-
2156. After the 22nd Legislative Session they will be
available through the Legislative Library at 465-3808.
LOG SPEAKER DISCUSSION
TAPE HFC 00 - 5
SIDE A
000 VICE-CHAIR BUNDE Explained the order of business and the
departments that would be testifying at
today's meeting.
DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES
106 PAT POURCHOT, Stated that mission of the Department was
COMMISSIONER, to provide for the utilization,
DEPARTMENT OF development and conservation of all the
NATURAL RESOURCES natural resources in the State for the
maximum benefit of present and future
Alaskans.
223 Commissioner Noted the four broad goals for the
Pourchot Department:
* Encourage resource development that
creates Alaska jobs and ensures economic
growth in all regions of the State.
* Doing it right. Ensure resource
development planning, management and new
project approvals are base on sound
science, prudent management and
responsive, meaningful public
involvement.
* Ensure resource sustainability and
multiple use including recreational
enjoyment of the resource base.
* Streamline natural resource leasing,
sales and permitting processes.
397 Commissioner Spoke to the measures of the Department.
Pourchot The first is Oil and Gas. The mission of
the Division is to maximize responsible
oil and gas exploration and development.
460 Commissioner Listed the measures associated with that
Pourchot mission.
537 Commissioner Mentioned the 8.5% growth rate in
Pourchot employment gains. He noted that Alpine
just went into production, and the North
Star project has shifted into high gear.
614 Commissioner Commented that the Division is not
Pourchot keeping up with the increased workload
and that highly specialized personnel are
retiring or being hired away. Additional
technologies and skills are needed to
ensure sound management of oil and gas
resources and for the protection of the
state's financial interests.
714 Commissioner Testified about the leases, currently
Pourchot being handled by the Department.
800 Commissioner The Division has held area wide lease
Pourchot sales. There have been $12 million
dollars of bids taken in. The North
Slope area-wide sale was held in November
was a significant sale. The division
sold 713,000 acres, which was more than
any other sale.
886 Commissioner In the last fiscal year, the Division
Pourchot issued the first exploration license.
Also, the Division issued its first
shallow natural gas lease in November.
933 Commissioner From July 1 thorough November 15, the
Pourchot Division received 696 assignments as
compared to the 378 for FY00.
1002 Commissioner Commented on the State pipeline
Pourchot coordinating office functions.
1045 Vice-Chair Bunde Asked what the Department would use that
information for.
1057 Commissioner Mentioned the enhancement of the finding
Pourchot of oil. The Division has the ability to
increase the royalty rate. The Division
needs to know as much information as the
oil companies have. To delineate the
size, the credit should be determined
when reducing the royalty from 12% to 5%.
The data and the person who interprets
that data are a very specific function.
1199 Representative Asked where authority would rest when
Hudson accessing that information.
1225 Commissioner Responded that the Division of Oil and
Pourchot Gas could make that decision.
1245 MARK MYERS, The State receives the data at a nominal
DIRECTOR, DIVISION cost. That info is available to a
OF OIL AND GAS, limited group of people. The data is not
DEPARTMENT OF distributed to the Legislature. The
NATURAL RESOURCES authority to make the decision rests with
the Commissioner of the Department of
Natural Resources.
1342 Representative Croft Asked when the royalty rate was
established.
1364 Mr. Myers Explained that the oil company will size
the shoot. The companies will assess the
prospects to determine the terms. Once
something is discovered, the royalty rate
is set. It would conform with an outline
to make that determination. It is the
Divisions responsibility to make sure
that the State gets its fair share.
1471 Representative Croft Questioned why that would be an issue.
1480 Commissioner Responded that to buy that information,
Pourchot it is an estimated cost of $150 thousand
dollars.
1502 Representative Asked the percentage of possessed 3-D
Whitaker data and the Department's ability to
analyze that information.
1524 Mr. Myers Explained that almost every field has
that information and would cost less than
10% for the 3-D.
1557 Representative Questioned, of the data not available,
Davies how much is essential.
1579 Mr. Myers Replied that the Department has had
marginal success. To do a good job,
multiple versions of the data need to be
available and done routinely.
1625 Vice-Chair Bunde Inquired if funds were available buy the
data.
1638 Mr. Myers Responded that it was both the funding
costs and the technology, which is needed
in order to be able to read the data.
That training is only available
internally through the good oil
companies. It would be in the State's
best interest to recruit some of those
people. The Department does not have the
support to read the current info.
1713 Commissioner Pointed out the State Pipeline
Pourchot Coordinating Office functions.
* Miles of pipelines under jurisdiction
* Miles of right of way under
jurisdiction
1765 Commissioner Newest measure is activity on the natural
Pourchot gas pipeline. Will interface with
federal counterparts. The Governor has
submitted a budget item request to help
the measure.
1835 Commissioner Addressed the number of water right files
Pourchot applied for and processed. At this time,
there is a backlog of 500 pending
applications. The Division cannot keep
up with the measure. The Division
proposes to fix the problem by proposing
regulations to streamline the water
rights program. The FY02 budget proposes
a $300 thousand dollar increment to
increase the water rights staff so that
the applications can be better processed.
The Administration will propose a bill to
establish a water use fee.
1960 Commissioner Division of Mining, Land & Water. The
Pourchot mission of the Division is to encourage
environmentally sound use and development
of Alaska's land, mineral and water
resources. Additionally, they will
measure the acres of land conveyed to
municipalities.
2017 Commissioner Reiterated that they would measure acres
Pourchot of land sold and amounts of revenue
generated from land sales.
2049 Representative Asked the increase of the land sales.
Foster
2073 Commissioner Stated that through SB 283, that bill
Pourchot provided the Department authority to
offer land sales, which substantially
increased the amount of land for sale.
FY02 & FY03 will be the follow-up for
that prep work.
2137 Representative Asked about the "home stead" option for
Foster the public.
2149 Commissioner Responded that some of those systems were
Pourchot not always successful. That system has
evolved into something less than
homesteading and more toward recreational
cabin sites. Subdivision lots are
another form of that. Many of the
subdivisions are in more remote locations
and away from urban areas.
2211 Representative Questioned the handout and asked the
Davies sudden increase of land available.
2226 Commissioner As the number of parcels increase, so do
Pourchot the number of acres that are included.
To obtain a land offering does take a lot
of area plans and a long time. The
process involves community involvement
and public comment. These components
form the basis for disposal of land.
TAPE HFC 01 - 5, Department of Natural Resources
(continued)
Side B
000 Vice-Chair Bunde Noted that Representative Hudson would
Chair the Department of Natural Resources
Subcommittee.
049 Representative Asked if there was hope that some of the
Foster acreage could be selected as State lands.
077 Commissioner Noted that the Department has worked with
Pourchot Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to
improve the State lands. There are
issues being worked out with BLM. They
are requesting larger acreage for a
township. The State is attempting to
narrow the language. He thought it could
be responsibly worked out.
201 Representative Asked the Commissioner to provide a
Hudson historical review of the land disposals.
227 Commissioner Touched on the agricultural lands sold
Pourchot and placed into production. The measure
includes the number of active placers,
load and coalmines and the number of
mining claims staked and processed.
Those loans are performing well.
349 Commissioner Mining claims-permanently involved in a
Pourchot number of mining prospects. Metal prices
have dramatically increased in the State.
The State has been struggling to deal
with the claims and has developed a
tremendous backlog. More funds have been
made available to reduce the work. At
this time, there is a much shorter wait
with help from federal funding.
550 Commissioner Mining claim information will be able for
Pourchot accessing on the web.
583 Representative Asked if the mining claims resulted from
Whitaker increased ariel mapping.
617 Commissioner Addressed the geological and geophysical
Pourchot surveys. He noted that the federal areas
are becoming less attractive.
Approximately 3.8 million acres of ground
are now under active exploration.
757 Commissioner Spoke to the Division of Parks and
Pourchot Outdoor recreation. At this point in
time, the percentage of parks facilities
open is 100%, which are 120 park units
open. He noted the number of visits by
site and type of use of state park units.
The Division is struggling for ranger
maintenance of the parks. He emphasized
that there is only one seasonal ranger
patrolling 1.5 million acres.
867 Commissioner Commented on the Division of Forestry.
Pourchot The annual volume of timber offered for
sale and annual volume of State timber
offered for in-state companies and then
converting it to value added products.
He continued, commenting on the
percentage of fires in full and critical
protection categories that were held to
less those 10 acres. In FY00, that
performance was 97.4% of which the total
of 288 fires, 269 were in critical areas
and 262 were less than 10 acres.
976 Commissioner Addressed maintaining daily completion of
Pourchot the on-line grantor/grantee and location
indexing process for all documents
accepted in the Recorder's office.
1055 Commissioner Mentioned the verification concerns. The
Pourchot Division is currently looking to imaging
technology in the hopes of making better
progress.
1142 Vice-Chair Bunde Asked if the members would like to have a
copy of the information presented.
1162 Representative Referenced the bill, page 35. He asked
Foster about the backlog of processing permits.
1194 Commissioner Acknowledged that there are cases that
Pourchot the Division will "never" be able to
address. The current system is "broken"
and needs adequate funding and the
backlog is very large.
1248 Representative Emphasized that the Department does not
Foster have the funding to process the laws
passed by the Legislature.
1283 Representative Referenced the Office of Management &
Davies Budget page, performance measures. He
admitted it was difficult to do the
cross-reference. He suggested that it
would be helpful to get the formats to
mesh.
1331 Commissioner Agreed. He added that the measures do
Pourchot not always jive with the fiscal year
goals. He concluded the testimony.
DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS
1503 MARGARET PUGH, Reviewed the department's mission.
COMMISSIONER, Customers are the citizens of the State.
DEPARTMENT OF Department charged to protect, through
CORRECTIONS secure institutions, rehabilitation and
treatment of offenders.
1570 Commissioner Pugh Detailed the facilities operated by the
department: 12 correctional centers,
14 probation offices, and 15 community
jails.
1610 Commissioner Pugh Discussed missions of the Office of the
Commissioner: 30,686 bookings and 4,492
probation and parole - up 2.3 percent.
1683 Commissioner Pugh Highlighted two new programs: substance
abuse treatment program in Wildwood and
Youthful Offender Program at Spring
Creek. 85 percent of all offenders that
enter the system have some substance
abuse problems.
1740 Commissioner Pugh Noted that the Youthful Offender Program
at Spring Creek is for is a closed
program for very young prisoners. It
focuses on behavior and education.
1794 Commissioner Pugh Community Corrections program is working
more closely with victims.
1836 Commissioner Pugh Working with management information
system.
1854 Commissioner Pugh Working on new jail for Anchorage, which
is scheduled to open in 2002.
1872 Commissioner Pugh Discussed measure 2 - percentage of
intakes that have been in the system is
misleading because it captures people
that have been booked for the same
offense due to bail.
1920 Vice-Chair Bunde Questioned if the Department could
develop a defendable recidivism number.
1940 Commissioner Pugh Replied that the new management system
would allow the development of a
recidivism definition and data.
1960 Vice-Chair Bunde Asked about the national standard.
1980 Representative Croft Measure recidivism could be a measure of
performance but not necessarily of how
the Department is doing.
2010 Vice-Chair Bunde Measure of Alaska's performance.
2018 Commissioner Pugh Pointed out that a data population
profile is done each December.
2063 Commissioner Pugh Discussed measure 3 - number of days over
emergency capacity. Since Nov. 1999
rarely over. The courts have stopped
active monitoring in the Cleary case. The
Department of Law has filed a motion to
terminate. The court has indicated that
it will be terminated.
2179 Commissioner Pugh Reviewed Parole Board annual report. 590
2220 Commissioner Pugh Discussed measure for Division of
Administrative Services.
Department of Corrections (continued)
TAPE HFC 01 - 6,
Side A
015 Commissioner Pugh Reviewed the measure for the Alaska
Correctional Institutions. The numbers of
released inmates is so small that another
measure may be needed.
107 Representative Pointed out that the intent was to
Hudson provide tools for release. Vice-Chair
Bunde added that it is also to keep
inmates busy. Commissioner Pugh agreed
that the program keeps the inmates
visible and productively occupied.
215 Representative Stressed that rural inmates would have
Foster difficulty finding employment if they
return to rural areas.
319 Commissioner Pugh Responded to comments by Representative
Croft regarding the direction of the
Alaska Correctional Industry. The old
focus was more on productive time in
incarceration than in job training. The
product fund is self-generating. Income
does not go the Department's general
fund.
503 Representative Croft Stressed that it is meant to sustain its
self and not lose revenue.
577 Commissioner Pugh Listed some of the goods and services
operated by the Alaska Correctional
Industries.
610 Vice-Chair Bunde Summarized that the mission is to keep
people productive and that it is not the
Department's mission alone.
646 Commissioner Pugh Agreed and added that the mission
statement should be clarified.
666 Representative Croft Asked what percentage of the people
involved are getting into trouble and if
that could be a better measure.
733 Vice-Chair Bunde Emphasized the value of the work ethic.
780 Commissioner Pugh Continued, the manager of the institution
is looking for a safe secure institution
site.
814 Commissioner Pugh Reviewed the Division of Institutions.
She noted that the State of Alaska is one
of only 5 that operate a unified system.
Jails are operated in 45 other states by
counties, which makes it difficult to
compare to national studies.
906 Commissioner Pugh There have been two major instances of
note:
· The homicide by a prisoner; and
· The use of deadly force by an
officer during an attempted escape.
982 Commissioner Pugh Added that there has also been a
tuberculosis outbreak, which started at
Spring Creek. The Division of Public
Health has done an excellent job at
tracking the illness. She interjected
that Hepatitis C is also in the
institutions.
1059 Commissioner Pugh Reviewed Inmate Programs. A number of
charts were provided. [On file].
1181 Representative Croft Measure one of inmate programs - complete
programs successfully. Noted that a lot
of people can complete the program
without invoking a change or result.
1255 Commissioner Pugh Observed that the management system is
not capable of providing the number of
inmates with a GED. 12 - 15 percent of
the GED's in the State were presented
though the Department's program.
1447 Commissioner Pugh Explained that the new system will allow
better data for numbers of recidivism.
1531 Commissioner Pugh Clarified discretionary and statutory
parole. It is mandatory that a person
sentenced for more than two years and had
served that period of their sentence.
They are supervised under mandatory
release.
1612 Representative Questioned if all inmates are State
Hudson residents.
1635 Commissioner Pugh Responded that not all inmates are State
residents, however, most inmates are.
Out-of-state residents cannot be returned
to their state because they broke Alaskan
law.
1714 Representative Questioned if the inmates housed out of
Hudson state are tracked to assure equality.
1729 Commissioner Pugh The department manages the contract and
requires that Alaskan standards be met.
There is not an Alaska Correctional
Industries program in Arizona. GED
information includes Arizona inmates.
1876 Commissioner Pugh Reviewed strategies and priorities. The
Anchorage jail is one year from opening.
The focus is on developing the
operational plan.
1942 Commissioner Pugh The focus is changing from reporting to
the Court under the Cleary settlement to
reporting to the Legislature. The
Department is working on national
accreditation.
2021 Commissioner Pugh There is a community jail initiative.
2038 Commissioner Pugh Continuing a focus on substance abuse,
mental health, youthful offenders and
education, management information system
implementation.
2092 ADJOURNMENT The Committee adjourned at 4:52 p.m.
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