Legislature(2023 - 2024)ADAMS 519
02/02/2024 01:30 PM House FINANCE
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Overview: Fy 24 Supplemental Request by the Office of Management and Budget | |
| Presentation: Extreme Winter and Event Response by the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
HOUSE FINANCE COMMITTEE
February 2, 2024
1:34 p.m.
1:34:09 PM
CALL TO ORDER
Co-Chair Johnson called the House Finance Committee meeting
to order at 1:34 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Bryce Edgmon, Co-Chair
Representative Neal Foster, Co-Chair
Representative DeLena Johnson, Co-Chair
Representative Julie Coulombe
Representative Alyse Galvin
Representative Sara Hannan
Representative Andy Josephson
Representative Dan Ortiz
Representative Will Stapp
Representative Frank Tomaszewski
MEMBERS ABSENT
Representative Mike Cronk
ALSO PRESENT
Lacey Sanders, Director, Office of Management and Budget,
Office of the Governor; Katherine Keith, Deputy
Commissioner, Department of Transportation and Public
Facilities; Dom Pannone, Director, Program Management and
Administration, Department of Transportation and Public
Facilities; Jason Sakalaskas, Maintenance and Operations
Chief, Northern Region, Department of Transportation and
Public Facilities; Sean Holland, Central Region Director,
Department of Transportation and Public Services; Andy
Mills, Deputy Commissioner, Department of Transportation
and Public Facilities.
PRESENT VIA TELECONFERENCE
Brad Bylsma, Equipment Fleet Manager, Department of
Transportation and Public Facilities.
SUMMARY
OVERVIEW: FY 24 SUPPLEMENTAL REQUEST BY THE OFFICE OF
MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET (OMB) [CONTINUED FROM 2/1/24 1:30
P.M. MEETING]
PRESENTATION: EXTREME WINTER AND EVENT RESPONSE BY THE
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AND PUBLIC FACILITIES
Co-Chair Johnson reviewed the meeting agenda.
^OVERVIEW: FY 24 SUPPLEMENTAL REQUEST BY THE OFFICE OF
MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET
1:35:29 PM
LACEY SANDERS, DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET,
OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR, continued the PowerPoint
presentation titled "State of Alaska Office of Management
and Budget: Overview of the FY2024 Supplemental Budget,"
dated February 1, 2024 [note: presentation continued from
the previous afternoon]. She began with the supplemental
request for Judiciary on slide 3. The request was $240,000
in federal receipts to address additional grant increases
anticipated through the remainder of FY 24. The next
request was $375,000 to address the Elected Public
Officials Retirement System (EPORS). She explained that
EPORS was a closed system with approximately nine
individuals enrolled and nine beneficiaries for a total of
18 members. She detailed that when the state passed a 5
percent cost of living increase the past year for partially
exempt and exempt positions it resulted in the need for an
additional $375,000 in FY 24 for EPORS.
Ms. Sanders highlighted a request of $889,000 under special
appropriations to address judgements and settlements
brought forward by the Department of Law (DOL). She
explained that the items were unexpected throughout the
year and there may be additional items brought to the
legislature as session progressed. She noted DOL was good
about ensuring that the Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) received the items in a timely manner. She referenced
"lapse extensions" that were not included on the slide. She
explained they were previously appropriated items with a
request for extension to cover future years. For example,
there were several items within the Department of Health
for COVID-19 funding that was still available and would be
available in future years.
1:38:47 PM
Representative Hannan asked for a list of the settlements
under the special appropriations category.
Ms. Sanders directed attention to row 91 of a spreadsheet
titled "FY2024 Supplemental Bill Summary" (copy on file).
She noted there were four judgements and settlements to the
state listed.
Co-Chair Edgmon corrected it was row 92.
Ms. Sanders agreed and explained there had been changes
made to the formatting of the spreadsheet.
Representative Hannan asked if the items were capital
versus operating.
Ms. Sanders replied in the negative. The spreadsheet
followed the layout of the appropriation bill. The initial
items discussed were operating. There were additional
operating items in the language section that were included
later in the spreadsheet.
Representative Galvin asked about the special
appropriations row on slide 3. She noted it appeared to be
almost entirely for DOL. She thought one item was a case
between the attorney general and the Legislative Affairs
Agency. She wondered why the requests did not fall under
DOL.
1:41:05 PM
Ms. Sanders answered that the costs were not associated
with DOL's operating costs. She explained it was the reason
there was nothing else listed under special appropriations
"for this." She elaborated that items under special
appropriations were one-time appropriations for a specific
purpose. The items were not included under agency budgets
because OMB wanted agency operating budgets to show their
true operating cost from year to year. She explained that
including judgements and claims in DOL's operating budget
would result in spikes and increases.
Representative Coulombe asked about the row on slide 3
pertaining to the Department of Education and Early
Development (DEED). She looked at a decrement of $201,800
and recalled there was receipt authority attached. She
asked for an explanation.
Ms. Sanders answered that when OMB calculated salary
adjustments it used the prior year's personal services to
determine what funding sources were going to be used for
cost of living or contractually negotiated contracts. When
the specific salary adjustment was calculated [referred to
by Representative Coulombe] it had interagency receipts,
which require some type of revenue to pay for the receipt.
There was no revenue associated with the specific request;
therefore, a general fund replacement was requested.
Representative Coulombe asked if the original receipt was
from another department. She asked about the original
funding source.
Ms. Sanders responded that the original request came from
the foundation formula for the Mt. Edgecumbe High School.
The Mt. Edgecumbe High School's interagency receipts came
from a different section in the Department of Education and
Early Development budget. The foundation formula calculated
how much each school district would receive and Mt.
Edgecumbe's amount paid for a portion of the cost of
running the school.
Representative Coulombe asked if there just had not been
enough in FY 24.
Ms. Sanders agreed.
1:43:51 PM
Co-Chair Johnson looked at item 92 titled Taylor [Attorney
General Taylor] vs the Legislative Affairs Agency. She
asked for details.
Ms. Sanders responded that did not have the details on the
items.
Representative Hannan stated that there had been a couple
of litigations, but she believed the specific case had been
authorized by Legislative Council when money had been
vetoed [by the governor]. She elaborated that Legislative
Affairs had stated if there was not an enacted budget on
July 1, the state would continue to operate. There had been
litigation arguing it would have been undue authorization
if the budget had not been enacted. She stated it had been
predicated on a memorandum sent out by Legislative Affairs
around June 15 of 2021 and there had been "friendly"
litigation to determine whether there was the ability to go
forward.
Co-Chair Johnson stated the details were coming back to
her. She returned to the presentation and stated she
thought the committee had left off on the Department of
Public Safety the previous day. She remarked there would be
an opportunity for questions on previously reviewed items
as well.
Representative Ortiz referenced extensive conversations the
committee had the previous day about the Department of
Corrections (DOC). He shared that the DOC budget rose from
FY 19 to FY 25 by 40 percent. He was not bemoaning the need
for making the adjustments including raises for guards and
healthcare for inmates; however, he highlighted that during
the same time period the education budget was -0.2 percent.
He thought it was crazy in terms of where the priorities
should be.
1:48:16 PM
Ms. Sanders turned to capital supplemental requests on
slide 4 beginning with the Department of Commerce,
Community and Economic Development (DCCED). There was
funding related to a program the committee had discussed
the previous day and the department was following up on
questions. There was $38.5 million for a federal grant from
the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to
respond to and mitigate the impacts of the September 2022
Typhoon Merbok disaster in western Alaska. She moved to the
Department of Military and Veterans Affairs (DMVA)
reflecting a fund source change of $375,000 from program
receipts to general funds. She elaborated that the FY 24
match portion to fund a cybersecurity grant was provided as
general fund program receipts. She clarified there were no
receipts to pay for the program; therefore, the governor
was requesting a replacement of the receipts with
unrestricted general funds (UGF). Additionally, there was a
$150,000 increase to ensure DMVA could fully expend its
federal reward.
Ms. Sanders reviewed the last capital supplemental request
for the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities
(DOT) of $3.3 million for the Alaska Marine Highway System
(AMHS) maintenance and overhaul of vessels. The fund source
was marine highway receipts and the funding would address
unanticipated issues such as emergency repairs to the
Tustumena vessel in October 2023 and installation of
vehicle tie-down buttons required on the Hubbard vessel.
Additionally, the Kennecott vessel was in an extended
overhaul period, which required additional funding.
1:51:03 PM
Representative Stapp looked at line 96 of the spreadsheet
related to a supplemental retirement for EPORS. He asked
for details.
Ms. Sanders relayed that EPORS stood for the Elected Public
Officials Retirement System. She explained EPORS had been
open for a very limited time. There had been 68 members in
the system before it closed. There were currently nine
members and nine beneficiaries in the closed system (not
open to new members).
Representative Stapp recalled that EPORS had only been open
for a year for legislators and the governor and that the
voters had repealed it the following year by ballot
initiative. He asked if the state was still paying
retirement benefits for 64 individuals and their survivors
almost 50 years later.
Representative Ortiz corrected that the current number of
individuals was 18.
Ms. Sanders agreed.
1:53:44 PM
AT EASE
1:56:26 PM
RECONVENED
^PRESENTATION: EXTREME WINTER AND EVENT RESPONSE BY THE
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AND PUBLIC FACILITIES
1:56:46 PM
ANDY MILLS, DEPUTY COMMISSIONER, DEPARTMENT OF
TRANSPORTATION AND PUBLIC FACILITIES, introduced himself
and a colleague.
KATHERINE KEITH, DEPUTY COMMISSIONER, DEPARTMENT OF
TRANSPORTATION AND PUBLIC FACILITIES, introduced department
colleagues available online and in the room. She introduced
a PowerPoint presentation titled "Alaska Department of
Transportation and Public Facilities DOT&PF Winter Weather
Operations." She would speak about the Department of
Transportation and Public Facilities' (DOT) winter weather
operations and would answer questions the committee had
provided about the frequency of past events, vacancies
across DOT's maintenance districts, equipment, and how DOT
was mitigating some of the events. The department had dealt
with a tremendous number of events including snow
accumulation, landslides, avalanches, erosion, and other.
The department was proud of its team and what it was doing
every day. She shared that staff were more eager than ever
to determine how to best serve the public.
1:59:50 PM
Mr. Mills stated that winter operations were a department-
wide effort. He introduced slide 2 titled "October 10, 2023
Snow Summit." He explained that the Snow Summit had been
held to bring stakeholders together including legislators,
municipal and borough staff, and more. The goal had been to
discuss snow clearing as one of the primary challenges
facing the department, in addition to innovations and
providing more tools for people to understand what was
going on. He noted that the Snow Summit had been streamed
online and materials were available for interested parties.
Staff had provided information on the department's
operations and policies. Guests from non-DOT entities such
as FAST Planning talked about prioritizations specific to
pedestrian and nonmotorized facilities. He noted that
sidewalk clearing did not need to be the exact same
priority of snow removal as a road. He stated that
communities had communicated they would like to see more
attention given to what is cleared first and it would not
always be the same coupling. He relayed that FAST Planning
had provided an excellent presentation and was two years
into its effort. He stated that DOT would like other
localities to look at partnering with DOT on the effort. He
highlighted the Complete Streets in Northern Climates as a
policy DOT was working on that ensured infrastructure and
maintenance cared for all users. The department had been
asked whether the event would be annual, and it was open to
the idea. He believed it would warrant future conversations
as it had been hard to narrow the field of conversation.
2:02:57 PM
Co-Chair Johnson asked where the event had been held.
Mr. Mills responded that the event had been held at the
Atwood Building [in Anchorage] in a free space located at
the bottom of the building. He estimated there had been 80
to 90 individuals in attendance.
Co-Chair Johnson asked if DOT had considered a traveling
presentation because different areas of the state had
different weather.
Mr. Mills replied that it was an excellent suggestion that
was discussed. He agreed it should be held around the state
in different localities as it would change the nature of
the conversation. He added that on March 6 the department
would announce a Sea Summit specific to the Alaska Marine
Highway System (AMHS) to bring stakeholders together.
Representative Tomaszewski referenced FAST Planning on the
slide and noted the state was currently some EPA
[Environmental Protection Agency] problems with air
quality. He asked if the decisions were going to impact
funding for FAST (Fairbanks Area Surface and
Transportation) Planning. He asked if it would be a problem
for funding in FY 25.
Ms. Keith responded that FAST Planning's ongoing planning
funds had been programed into its Transportation
Improvement Program (TIP) for the next three years;
therefore, FAST Planning would continue to receive the same
level of planning funds it had received in the past.
Additionally, products in the area that were included in
FAST Planning's TIP could keep moving forward despite the
current conformity freeze, but additional projects could
not be added to the PM 2.5 area.
2:05:50 PM
Representative Hannan asked about the DMIO acronym standing
for Data Modernization and Innovation Office. She wondered
if it was brand new, where it was located, the number of
staff, and whether it was short lived.
Ms. Keith replied that DMIO was an office launched by the
department about six months back. The office was currently
run by a division operations manager and it would be
transitioned into a division over time. There were a number
of staff positions reporting to DMIO, but the positions
were not new. The department was locating individuals with
expertise in GIS and geospatial information, programmers,
individuals with good skills with the development of
existing data systems, and software. She reiterated they
were not hiring new positions and were giving staff
resources to help improve operations. Some of the
dashboards developed for winter operations and other things
included in the presentation were a result of the emerging
expertise on the topics.
Representative Hannan stated her understanding that DMIO
was staffed with subject matter technology expertise
transferred from various sections of the department. She
understood the staff would be permanently located in the
new DMIO.
Ms. Keith responded affirmatively. The DMIO director,
Christine Langly reported to Ms. Keith and there were a
number of staff working on data modernization initiatives.
Co-Chair Edgmon thanked the presenters for coming to
discuss the extremely important topic. He speculated that
Alaskans would likely rank snow plowing as the number one
topic for government. He appreciated the Snow Summit and
focus on the issue. He understood the commissioner had been
unable to attend the current meeting. He would like to see
a strategic focus on how to start dealing with an
understaffed department dealing with severe climate change
events. He believed there needed to be a much more focused
effort on the cost of moving snow around. He stressed the
cost of snow removal in Dillingham to keep vital
transportation including roads and airports operational was
tremendous. He liked the idea of a snow summit and perhaps
landslide summits in Southeast Alaska. He stressed there
was so much time and money spent on snow removal and so
much consternation from people who did not get their
driveways or roads plowed in time even though the state was
trying to do as much as possible. He wanted to see some
strategic recommendations from the department.
2:10:07 PM
Mr. Mills stated there were many state departments that
individuals did not interact with often, whereas driving on
roads was something everyone did frequently. He moved to
slide 3 titled "Snow Summit Follow-Up: New Tools." He
highlighted that the DMIO was working on several
initiatives included in the presentation. He relayed that
legislative staff reached out frequently to DOT about the
road prioritization utilized by the department. He stated
it was put in place several years back to give the public
an expectation of what order the roads would be maintained
in and how quickly some of the activity would happen. There
was confusion about some of that because it took place when
a storm ended, not when it began. He remarked that some
people had asked why there was prioritization on certain
roads.
Mr. Mills believed it had been 2022 when legislative intent
language asked DOT to review its winter road priorities.
The department had done so and had discussed its review in
2023. The GIS map on slide 3 was in furtherance of the
conversation, which the department was turning into a
dashboard with additional information. He explained that
lane miles were associated with the map and colors
indicating priorities were layered on top. He detailed that
changes to lane miles may trigger changes in
prioritization. He noted that layering other information on
the map meant that the dashboard could become an
information output tool for communicating in addition to an
internal tool that DOT could use to review road priorities.
Mr. Mills stated the issue of road prioritization could be
complex. For example, people would ask why Richardson
Highway was a priority 2 instead of a priority 1. The
department agreed the highway was a functional class versus
what the actual resources on the road were. The department
was looking to make an adjustment to the roads to make the
map of priorities look more like what would be hit first to
be closer to reality and what the public expected. In
reality, the priority 2 was the first road the maintenance
crew was on; therefore, it was treated as a priority 1. He
stated the importance of the map to the public was very
clear and the department was working to make improvements.
2:13:37 PM
Representative Coulombe thanked the presenters for coming.
She looked at the map on slide 3 and noted her neighborhood
was located in the priority 3 area (shown in orange). She
noted that individuals living on the side of a hill in a
priority 3 location knew it would be a while before snow
removal took place. She asked how road prioritization
levels were determined. She asked if it was cars or miles,
or other. She stated that her district could not compare to
traffic on Tudor Road or the Seward Highway, but its
residents were all located on an incline. She wondered if
it was factored in as a higher priority. There were
numerous priorities and she wondered if the department
needed more equipment or people in order to have more
priority 1 roads. She stated the perception was that the
only "green" roads were the Seward Highway and Glenn
Highway.
Mr. Mills addressed the second question first. He noted the
governor had included $915,0000 for supplemental snow
removal, which was an effort by the administration to
direct more resources to the issue. He understood that was
likely not the end of the conversation, which was the
reason for the current discussion. He was happy to supply
the legislative intent report produced by DOT that was
presented to the legislature in 2023. The report reviewed
how prioritization was established including a survey
asking Alaskans what the department was leaving out of the
equation. He stated there were a lot of factors involved.
The primary factor was the average annual daily traffic
(AADT). He believed in Representative Coulombe's district
in south Anchorage there were priority 4 roads with a
fairly high AADT, but they were far enough from maintenance
stations and were local roads rather than interstates or
major highways. Other factors included emergency access
near hospitals and school bus routes. The department hoped
to make it more transparent for the public by having the
map on slide 3 updated with other data sources.
2:17:06 PM
Co-Chair Johnson ranked constituent interactions related to
snow removal and DOT as just below Permanent Fund Dividend
interactions. She stated that no one ever complained about
putting too much funding towards snow plowing. The
committee appreciated the department presenting to the
committee and she noted there were plenty of extreme
weather events. She noted the first hour of the meeting
would give the department time for its presentation and
would allow committee members to ask questions pertaining
to their districts. The committee could hear the finance
related aspects of the presentation in the second part of
the meeting.
Representative Galvin stated that committee members were
all anxious to help DOT do the work. She recalled terrible
winter weather as a child in Anchorage, but kids still went
to school. She was hearing from many constituents about
frustrations over school snow days, which meant they could
not go to work. She stated it had become "such a thing now"
and it felt like it was beyond what should be called a
winter emergency. She did not know how long it would take
before the weather was something the state should just be
ready for. She had heard from the Anchorage mayor who said
he was working with DOT, but he had stated it was not smart
to be ready for the worst case. She was trying to figure
out what constituted the worst case. She stressed it was a
real disaster when schools were closed for five days
because it took that long to get the streets cleared. She
found the situation very concerning. She understood there
were hundreds of airports in Alaska that needed to be
tended to and she appreciated the vast work done by DOT.
She wondered how to get sources and resources to work with
DOT in difficult times.
2:20:48 PM
Mr. Mills relayed that the presentation would address some
of the remarks. He replied that the department had received
some great feedback from people at the Snow Summit,
specifically from DOT and the municipality about the
importance of additional conversations and advanced
partnerships. The department would look to do more of that
in future years.
Representative Galvin stated there should be no number of
inches of snow that resulted in kids missing school for
five consecutive days. She thought it was not workable. She
asked to hear the department's strategy. She thought
schools felt like a critical "canary in the coal mine" that
things were not functioning well if kids could not get to
school.
Co-Chair Johnson stated that she had last heard a there was
a 40 percent rolling average absentee rate in the Mat-Su
School District in the best of times. She stated that post-
COVID-19 adding on snow days to already missed days was
different than it had been in the past when snow days were
the only missed days. She remarked that it was additive.
Mr. Mills clarified that the answers to some of the
questions about the strategy were covered in later slides.
He was happy to advance to the slides or cover them when he
got to them.
Representative Josephson stated there was a transaction
compare for the coming fiscal year seeking $915,000 in the
governor's budget for statewide contractual snow removal
for FY 25. He was uncertain whether the amount was in the
base budget. He observed that the increment was intended to
enhance the chances that priority 3 and 4 roadways would
get snow removal more quickly. He noted there $1.2 million
request in the FY 24 supplemental budget related to an
unprecedented winter weather event. He remarked there had
been two years of the requests. He stated it was currently
the middle of winter and the governor was requesting $1.2
million to cover half a winter, yet the FY 25 budget only
sought less than $1 million for the next winter. He asked
for an explanation.
2:25:32 PM
DOM PANNONE, DIRECTOR, PROGRAM MANAGEMENT AND
ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AND PUBLIC
FACILITIES, responded that the FY 25 budget established a
new component of $915,000 in the base as part of the
strategy to address extreme winter weather events becoming
a more usual occurrence. Part of the strategy was
contracting resources and establishing contracts prior to
events. He explained that when an event was ongoing, DOT
trucks were cycling on the highways on the priority lines.
The funds would set a separate "swim lane" for the lower
priority roads to be cycled on with contractor resources.
In the current year there was a winter event that cost DOT
approximately $1.2 million in Anchorage. The cost was
unanticipated; therefore, the administration had submitted
a supplemental request. He added that the department could
come back for a supplemental in future years if there was
an event with a known cost. The department also had a
supplemental request for contracting priority 3 and 4 roads
in Fairbanks in addition to a capital supplemental request
to help DOT with its emergency weather and response fund.
He noted the response fund was a backup fund source for
situations when the department could not come for a
supplemental. He stated it was all part of the department's
developing strategy to handle recurring winter events.
Representative Josephson would wait until later in the
presentation to talk about the Interior region versus the
Central region of the state. He sensed the $915,000 was not
sufficient. He thought the amount was based on a bit of a
prayer that the coming 2024/2025 winter would be better. He
did not know if the department had the graders and staff
needed. He suggested shooting for a higher number, which he
thought the committee may be receptive to. He asked if the
department was diminishing the odds of yet another winter
with heavy snow.
Mr. Pannone answered it was a new component and strategy.
He stated that in FY 25 the department would be carrying
the balance of the emergency fund. He stated the number was
a starting point.
Representative Hannan remarked that there were some big
snowfalls in Juneau at the beginning of session and many
members of the legislature had remarked that the city did
incredible maintenance to keep the roads clear. She noted
that Juneau's mayor highlighted that much of the road
maintenance in Juneau was done by [DOT's] Southcoast
maintenance operations and they had done an incredible job.
She shared that she lives in North Douglas and there had
been a fire the night before. She believed DOT had come out
after the fire to ensure the ice on the road from the fire
hoses was sanded before traffic. She relayed that the
neighborhood really appreciated it. She thanked the
Southcoast maintenance crew for keeping up with the roads.
2:30:16 PM
Representative Stapp thanked the department for the work it
did in the Northern region of the state, particularly in
Fairbanks under extreme conditions. He lauded the members
of Local 71 and the groups representing DOT members.
Fairbanks was appreciative of the work done by the
department.
Mr. Mills thanked the committee for the questions and
compliments. He quoted from a plaque someone had in the
Northern region that essentially said, "silence is your
reward." He highlighted a winter operations dashboard at
the bottom of slide 3. The dashboard was the fulfillment of
an effort based on the department's promises for a priority
map review and the DMIO. He lauded Christine Langly for
leading the effort. The intent was for the public to have
the ability to see which roads had been cleared most
recently. The effort was to ensure that a person had the
capability to see whether their route to work had been
cleared. The dashboard was currently a pilot program and
used Fairbanks to start. He believed the commitment was to
enable many areas of the state to have the ability to
utilize the dashboard next winter. The team was working
towards integrating the information with other
jurisdictions, municipalities, and boroughs so that one
platform could draw from many data sources because the
public did not care about the jurisdictional boundaries,
they merely wanted to see their route. He believed a heavy
component would be getting input from the public on what
DOT was doing well with the tool and what could be improved
upon. He had already received input from a legislator in
another committee who had asked about including airports in
the dashboard, which he had conveyed to the team.
2:33:39 PM
Ms. Keith noted that Jason Sakalaskas, the maintenance and
operations chief for the Northern Region was on the phone
and would appreciate Representative Stapp's compliments.
JASON SAKALASKAS, MAINTENANCE AND OPERATIONS CHIEF,
NORTHERN REGION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AND PUBLIC
FACILITIES, thanked the committee for its comments and
would pass the comments on to the team. He reviewed a map
of the state divided into the different DOT regions on
slide 4. The Northern region was shown in blue and divided
into eight districts. The Central region shown in yellow
had five districts, and the Southcoast region had two
separate districts. He highlighted that the state had
districts that were one to two times the size of the State
of Florida. He believed everyone was aware of the
challenges facing Alaska regarding transportation.
Mr. Sakalaskas discussed the budget allocation process. He
shared that winter operations were primarily funded through
the state operating budget. There was little investment
from capital programs or federal funds due to eligibility
issues. Each region had its own budget and regional budgets
allocated funds to the districts. He stressed the
importance of flexibility. He noted there were numerous
challenges including avalanches, issues with airports, and
other. Providing funding at a district level allowed
districts to move funds around for resources was important
and funding at the regional level gave the department
flexibility to move funding to districts. He remarked there
were discussions with leadership headquarter staff to move
funds within the regions themselves.
2:37:03 PM
Mr. Sakalaskas turned to slide 5 and addressed DOT's snow
removal priority system. He highlighted significant public
communications with regards to the prioritization system
and working on displaying the information differently. He
relayed that DOT needed to maintain consistent reporting
and information to the public. The snow removal priority
system was categorized by A through E, which reflected
targets for roadway conditions. He pointed out that
categories D and E (very difficult and hazardous,
respectively) reflected conditions and not targets. The
column labeled "condition" represented what was reported to
the public throughout an event or when recovering from an
event through DOT's 511 system. Additionally, the
definition/description was provided to the public and
internal operators. The illustrations shown in the column
to the right were only provided to DOT operators. The
importance of the illustration was to ensure each operator
or maintenance staff had the same expectation of waiting
for the condition of the roadway to ensure updates provided
to the public were accurate. He noted that just because a
roadway was a priority did not always mean good driving
conditions during an event. The after-event target or
response was something the department wanted to achieve
during and after a storm and as progress was made,
conditions moved to fair or good.
Co-Chair Johnson noted that the slides could be reviewed
fairly quickly to get to more finance related questions.
Mr. Sakalaskas turned to slide 6 and addressed a map
showing the state's 235 rural airports. He highlighted that
over 82 percent of the state's communities relied on
aviation as their primary access. The state had 26 Part 39
airports. He highlighted that there were currently over 128
contractors working on airports across the state, with the
average contract ranging from $50,000 to $100,000 per
airport.
Co-Chair Edgmon referenced that inflation had been 2.5
percent nationally and 8 to 10 percent over a period of
three years. He stated that the cost of delivering goods
and services to rural Alaska rose and fell with very
expensive aviation fuel, home heating diesel fuel, fuel
barges, and more. He thought the slide clearly illustrated
how expensive it was for DOT to do its business and spoke
to how expensive things were in rural Alaska.
2:41:53 PM
Ms. Keith introduced Brad Blysma the division manager for
the statewide equipment fleet, which was a key component of
being able to keep roadways and airports open. She relayed
that Mr. Blysma would review vacancy rates across the
department.
BRAD BYLSMA, EQUIPMENT FLEET MANAGER, DEPARTMENT OF
TRANSPORTATION AND PUBLIC FACILITIES (via teleconference),
reviewed slide 7 showing winter operations staffing with a
table outlining the number of equipment operator positions
by district and the vacancy rate in each district. He noted
that some of the more remote western districts including
Tok were very spread out. He stated that while the 30
percent vacancy rate was very high [in the Tok district],
when it was broken down into a station that may only have
four operator positions and two of the positions were
vacant it resulted in a 50 percent vacancy rate. In that
case, it was very difficult to keep up with DOT's standards
for maintaining the roads and airports.
2:44:12 PM
Mr. Bylsma turned to slide 8 titled "Supporting Divisions:
Statewide Equipment Fleet and Division of Facility
Services." He explained that the division's mission was to
keep all state agencies in equipment and vehicles. He
characterized it as a "behind the front lines" section of
DOT. The division serviced all state departments and did
some work for the University and the Alaska Housing Finance
Corporation (AHFC), Alaska Gasline Development Corporation
(AGDC), and other agencies. There were about 8,000 pieces
of equipment and about 7,700 maintained by the division.
There were about 51 maintenance shops across the state and
123 mechanic positions. Additionally, the Division of
Facilities Services managed 700 of the 800 public
facilities including airports, buildings, and more. He
elaborated that the maintenance shops were responsible for
servicing all of the road maintenance and highway
maintenance stations in addition to the 235 rural airports.
He stated it was a broad area of coverage for the two
active and busy divisions.
2:46:09 PM
Mr. Bylsma turned to slide 9 showing vacancy rates by
district for the Statewide Equipment Fleet and the Division
of Facilities Services. He noted there were some very high
vacancy rates. The vacancy rates meant there were less
staff to maintain equipment. The focus during the winter
was keeping snow removal equipment on the road, clearing
the roads, and keeping airports open. The vacancy rates
translated to longer equipment downtime, which made it more
of a challenge to keep roads and airports open and running.
He turned the next slide over to a colleague.
2:47:13 PM
SEAN HOLLAND, CENTRAL REGION DIRECTOR, DEPARTMENT OF
TRANSPORTATION AND PUBLIC SERVICES, addressed slide 10
titled "Winter Event Response: Anchorage November 8-12,
2023." He would discuss the November event, which was
centered in Anchorage, but impacted most of the region. He
would talk about DOT's response to the event and lessons
learned moving forward. He shared that he had worked for
DOT for about 18 years, left for three years, and returned
to take his current position three months back. He
highlighted that his first day on the job was November 7
[2023] and the weather event began on November 8. He had
previously worked on the capital side, not the maintenance
side, and it was eye opening to see how the response to a
weather event was orchestrated. He relayed that Anchorage
had 104 inches of snow thus far, which was a record pace.
The record set in 2011/2012 was 135 inches and the average
was 76 inches. He understood there was record snowfall in
Juneau in January as well. The November 2023 event in
Anchorage was the snowiest on record with over 39 inches in
a week. The storm had a high moisture content, meaning the
snow was much heavier and once traffic hit the wet snow it
packed into ice/hard snowpack. He explained that it changed
DOT's operations from using high speed trucks. He
elaborated that DOT was more geared towards high speed
equipment for high speed facilities to clear the roads
quickly. The department had some graders, but it was not
DOT's specialty and was much slower. During the November
storm, DOT had to switch to graders sooner because the
trucks had been unable to cut through the snowpack. The DOT
crew reported that the snow took twice as long to clear as
its typical snow.
Mr. Holland reported that DOT's maintenance shops in
Palmer, Anchorage, and Soldotna were manned close to 24/7
with no staff for about three hours a day. He relayed that
when snowfall was forecast, all personnel were on alert in
order to respond. He relayed that for urban snow removal
there was no place to push the snow; it was necessary to
pick the snow up to make room for traffic. He detailed that
there was only one snow dump in Anchorage, which he would
elaborate on a bit later in the presentation. The difficult
question for DOT was whether the record snowfall was
becoming the new norm. He added that snowfall was almost at
record levels in 2023 and it was on pace to beat the record
in 2024. The department was set up more towards the average
snow year of 70 inches. He stated that the agency was a
solution based organization and it needed to figure out how
to better respond to extraordinary years and events.
2:51:13 PM
Mr. Holland turned to slide 11 titled "Winter Event
Response: Anchorage November 2023" showing a list of the
department's equipment in its Anchorage shops. He shared
that during the storm the sidewalk blowers went through
more shear pins than they typically went through in a whole
season. He explained that if mechanics were overstressed a
break occurred on the shear pin rather than damaging the
machine. He elaborated that it was one of the simpler
maintenance items, but it took time and significantly
slowed production. He relayed that snow in the air got into
the engine compartment of plow trucks and could cause
electrical issues. He detailed that with heavy snow it was
not possible to see curb lines or other obstructions, which
could break plows. He detailed that the impact had resulted
in broken frames. He furthered that if a plow operator made
a mistake and hit something like a traffic signal it could
knock the signal off the cable. He had been told it took
about three years for someone to develop the skills to be
an effective snow removal operator.
Mr. Holland continued reviewing slide 11. Of the
department's 48 equipment operator positions in Anchorage,
39 were filled and 6 were seasonal. He listed the number
and status of additional DOT snow removal equipment in
Anchorage including 13 plow trucks, six of which were
currently operational; nine graders, five of which were
currently operational; four loaders; four highway
snowblowers, two of which were operational; and four
sidewalk snowblowers, one of which was operational. He
relayed that DOT had created some on call contracts in the
Central region for the first time. Contracts were in place
for Fairbanks and the department would likely do the same
for Mat-Su next year. The on call contracts included
sidewalk blowers. He explained that by the end of the
November 2023 event in Anchorage, the contractors' sidewalk
blowers were all down; therefore, they had plowed sidewalks
with pickup trucks. The cost was $175 per hour. There were
also graders for plowing the priority 3 and 4 roads at a
contract cost of $195 to $250 per hour based on regional
costs. He noted that travel to Eagle River took longer;
therefore, the cost was on the more expensive end.
Mr. Holland continued to review slide 11. The snow haul
contracts were $184 per hour for a side dump. He relayed it
was the first year of the contracts, but maintaining the
department's core crew was essential. He underscored that
the department would not be replacing its crew. He noted
that keeping expertise in place was necessary for success.
He relayed that in response to the event in Anchorage the
Northern region provided an additional highway blower to
help clear snow and had plowed further down the Glenn
Highway and the Parks Highway to allow Central region
equipment to focus on urban areas including Wasilla and
Palmer. The department also partnered with the city and had
an excellent relationship with the city on an operational
level. He stressed the importance of working together as a
team to assist the public. The department had a Transfer of
Responsibility Agreement (TORA) in place with the
Municipality of Anchorage, which memorialized road
maintenance swaps. He detailed that DOT would plow some of
the city owned roads and the city would plow some DOT owned
roads. The city had 30 graders and was more geared up to
plow neighborhoods, while DOT was more geared towards high
speed facilities. Additionally, it did make a lot of sense
for a state plow truck to plow a state road and pick up its
plow when driving across a city road; therefore, the
agreement took that into account as well.
2:56:52 PM
Mr. Holland continued to review slide 11. In response to
the November 2023 event in Anchorage the mayor and DOT
commissioner had developed a memorandum of agreement in
order for the state to reimburse for assistance on the road
that did not fall under the TORA. He explained that it
helped the city snow removal as well. He noted that if the
city could not haul efficiently across the priority 2 or 3
roads, it would slow down the city's neighborhood response.
He noted that the cost had not been significant for the
department. The work included 135 man hours spread out over
20 employees over two days and the bill had been $30,500.
Co-Chair Johnson wanted to give members a chance to ask
questions. Additionally, she wanted to talk about funding
on page 19 of the presentation [prior to the end of the
meeting].
2:58:18 PM
Representative Josephson referenced a news article dated
December 2 [2023] that had received substantial exposure
called "An absurd ownership mishmash." He noted that Mr.
Holland had talked about the mishmash aspect. He was
curious why the state Central region had 1,187 lane miles
and only nine graders, while according to the article
Fairbanks had 72 lane miles and a comparable number of
graders. He asked if the department was underserving
Anchorage based on its capital requirements and demands.
Mr. Holland expressed skepticism over the numbers. He
thought 72 [lane miles] seemed very low. He replied that
the department was geared up for an average year with its
equipment spread.
Representative Josephson clarified that the article
specified that Fairbanks had 28 miles on the Elliott
Highway and 44 on the Steese Highway. He remarked that
perhaps he was missing something there. He considered that
the fact that DOT needed to contract with the city [of
Anchorage] may suggest that nine graders was not
sufficient. He asked if there should be a capital
allocation for more graders.
Mr. Holland answered that the nine graders were not enough
for the specific event. He believed the strategy should be
that the state force was geared up for average years and it
could use contracting if additional forces were necessary.
Representative Josephson had been told by an Anchorage
senator that the contracting had not gone that well. That
the contractors were tapped out and had generous contracts
they did not want to divert their attention from. He asked
if there was anything to the anecdotal comment he had
heard.
Mr. Holland believed the department had only one contractor
respond in Anchorage. He highlighted there was a 19 percent
operator vacancy rate. He had contractors in his office
weekly for other reasons and workforce was a common
conversation. He explained that contractors had the same
challenges as DOT with operators and mechanics. He reasoned
that it seemed that in Alaska most of the construction
happened in the summer and there should be individuals
available to work in the winter, but that had not been seen
recently.
3:02:09 PM
Ms. Keith added there had been some conversations with the
Anchorage mayor. One of the challenges was that DOT had not
previously contracted out snow removal. She explained that
when the event occurred, many of the contractors with
equipment that could support with snow removal did not have
the equipment ready at the time and the equipment needed
for priority 3 and 4 roads was different than what they had
at the time. The department hoped to continue dialogue with
the contractors over the next year and get support for the
contracts. Additionally, the department hoped to work with
the contractors to help with the equipment selection needed
for some of the priority 3 and 4 roads in order to do a
good job with the priority 1 through 4 roads simultaneously
to help especially with school openings. The department
expected there would be greater engagement from the
contracting community moving forward.
Representative Galvin appreciated hearing the idea that
things would look different in the future. She stated it
mattered to her as she responded to frustrated constituents
and businesses that were devastated due to the lack of work
output. She asked about the vacancy rate and what the state
was considering to be an average year. She stated that
typically an average year was determined by averaging the
past ten years. She wondered if the state was speaking with
others to understand the pace of change that may or may not
be happening in order to determine the average year. She
was concerned that "we might have a different definition of
that." She thought it mattered as they were considering
things like 7 out of 13 plow trucks were not currently
operational and 26 to 29 percent vacancy rates in various
departments. She found it concerning. She assumed the
vacancy rates were based on 100 percent in an average year.
She remarked that the department's plan to fix its above
average year was contractors. She wanted to ensure the
positions were fully staffed and asked how the legislature
could help with the goal. She noted that Representative
Josephson had worked with the Department of Law to improve
its vacancies and the method had worked. She wondered if
the issue was about wages, benefits, or something else. She
wondered about creating apprenticeships.
Representative Galvin remarked on the fact that 50 percent
of the snowblowers in Anchorage were not working and more
than 50 percent of the plow trucks were not working. She
understood the answer was contractors, but she remarked on
the department's testimony that only one contractor was
interested. She thought about natural gas and other energy
sources and stated it was necessary to have multiple
options to make sure they did not deliver the essential
piece of energy. She stated that the roads and DOT's work
were essential. She looked forward to having deep
discussions about how the legislature could help.
3:07:12 PM
Ms. Keith agreed that all of the items needed to be
pursued. She stated that it was a complicated issue where
when one factor changed, such as a vacancy in a maintenance
shop, it had a compounding impact. She stated they needed
to care for all of the things especially with some of the
uncertainties a lot of the areas may be facing in the
coming months. The requested funding gave the department
the option for contracting if and when needed. She stated
that using contracting as a one off solution made it hard
for businesses to rely on as a business model. The
department needed to institutionalize use of the mechanisms
while balancing and maintaining a healthy staff. She
remarked that there was plenty of snow to go around and the
department could speak to the topic in the budget slides.
Representative Coulombe looked at the mechanic positions
shown on slide 9. She pointed out that Anchorage had 19
positions and Fairbanks had 18. She looked at the number of
plows. She stressed that Anchorage was 8 times larger than
Fairbanks in population. She was frustrated that DOT
appeared to give no weight to that. She highlighted the
economic loss and number of kids not going to school when
the city shut down. She stated it was a certain number of
people when Juneau shut down; however, when Anchorage shut
down it was substantially more people impacted. She thought
it was obvious the necessary resources were not being given
to Anchorage. She was hoping the department would tell the
committee that Anchorage needed more equipment and the
legislature could help make that come to fruition. She
stated that the contracts had been up on the hillside in
her neighborhood and she thought it was a miserable
failure. She emphasized that people had gotten hurt and
emergency vehicles had not been able to get through. She
stressed that it was not acceptable. She hoped DOT could
make the contracts work. She wanted to see more equipment
and contract drivers.
Representative Coulombe highlighted that the people who had
equipment already had good contracts with a lot less
pressure and significantly smaller areas. She surmised that
the individuals would likely not make as much money
contracting with DOT. She remarked that the issue was not
limited to Anchorage. She wanted the department to tell the
legislature what it needed in order to figure out the
problem and help the department do its job and be prepared
for plowing the roads. She stated that the situation the
previous winter was terrible, but the current winter was
particularly bad. She spent weeks and weeks dealing with
constituents on the issue. She stated that the main avenues
in her district were DOT and the municipality was in
between. She stated that both had completely failed South
Anchorage. She was looking for the strategy and wondered if
contracts would really work. She understood it was the
first year, but she did not believe they could really
afford to do the same thing if it was not going to work.
She pointed out that there were numerous people who wanted
to partner with DOT to get it what was needed. She asked
for consideration of the number of people in Anchorage
including children and handicapped people walking down the
middle of the road because the sidewalks were not done. She
stressed there were a lot of people in Anchorage and it was
very dangerous. She asked the department to reach out to
the legislature to do whatever was needed, especially
related to capital items.
3:12:32 PM
Ms. Keith answered that one of the tasks of the DMIO was
modeling and the ability to forecast the impacts to an area
like Anchorage if the recent snow level was the new normal.
She explained that it was information the department could
provide to the committee in terms of the equipment and
staffing needed. She stated the department was not guessing
or saying it would be able to handle it. She stated it was
partly some of the benefit of having the information in a
digital format such as the GIS systems. The department was
continuing to pursue multiple avenues to be sure it could
clear the streets and roads across the Anchorage area in
collaboration with the city. The department would have to
continue to work through the avenues with the regional
director.
3:13:53 PM
Co-Chair Johnson noted there were only 15 minutes remaining
in the presentation. She asked the presenters to move to
slide 19 and hit the high points pertaining to funding.
Mr. Pannone turned to slide 19 titled "Scalable Solutions:
Contracting and Funding." He intended to address the items
in the governor's proposed budget in addition to events the
department had been dealing with in recent years. He
relayed that the department had started looking through
past capital appropriations for small funding amounts
remaining from completed capital projects and proposed that
the legislature reappropriate the funds back to DOT for the
extreme weather and catastrophic event response. He pointed
to the top of the slide showing the three supplemental
reappropriations DOT had received thus far totaling
approximately $13 million. The department had spent
approximately $10 million of the funds addressing extreme
weather events.
Co-Chair Johnson recalled that the snow had come early in
2022 in Southcentral Alaska and there had been a $5 million
emergency appropriation for additional snow removal. She
wondered if any of the money had been left over. She
remarked there had been an early snowfall in Southcentral
in the current year as well. She wondered about finances in
the current snow year.
Mr. Pannone answered that the current amount the department
had available to spend was $3 million. The department was
requesting a $1.2 million supplemental for the Central
region shown on a previous slide. He explained that without
the $1.2 million supplemental DOT would dip into the $3
million to pay for the event, meaning it would have less in
reserve to address emergency weather events. The department
was also asking to increase the reserve with $344,000 from
about 12 projects going back to 2004. He about $300,000
came from a road project that had been completed.
Additionally, the department had a supplemental request of
$350,000 for Fairbanks area winter contracts. He relayed
there was $915,000 UGF (undesignated general funds) to be
added to the base for the first time for statewide
contracting and snow removal. He looked at weather data at
the bottom of slide 19 showing the last time historically
that recent levels were seen. The right side of the slide
showed extreme weather events that took place in recent
years.
3:18:33 PM
Ms. Keith relayed that the department had finished the
review of the budget slide. She asked if the department
should continue the presentation.
Co-Chair Johnson moved to questions from the committee.
Representative Hannan looked at vacancy rates on slides 7
and 9. She stated that over the past couple of years there
had been authorizations for mission critical shift
differential pay incentives and a variety of letters of
agreement. She did not know whether it captured all of the
terms and directives. She would like to see it in relation
to the vacancies. She pointed to a row showing there were
zero mechanic vacancies in the Dalton region [slide 9]. She
wondered if there was any correlation with the zero
vacancies and pay incentives.
Ms. Keith nodded.
Co-Chair Edgmon thanked the department for the
presentation. He hoped to hear about the broader picture
from the commissioner in the future. He believed the issue
was systemic in nature. He listed the broad list of
responsibilities under DOT's purview including AMHS,
airports, roads, maintenance, planning, engineering,
feasibility analysis, public communications, equipment
replacement and more. He stated that the issue pertaining
to extreme weather events was working its way to the top of
the list. He observed that the department did not have
enough personnel and contractors were tapped out. He
highlighted that if weather patterns continued the problem
would become more pronounced as time went on. He felt like
something was missing in terms of talking about the problem
in a much bigger context than merely supplemental
appropriations. He stated the presentation was very
appropriate, but he was interested in a larger discussion.
He underscored that snowplow crews were out in the middle
of the night working. He asked how many individuals were
available to do the work, which required skilled workers.
He requested to have the broader discussion with the
commissioner in committee.
3:22:49 PM
Representative Josephson stated that the presentation had
been helpful; however, he was left with the feeling that
departments were instructed to provide OMB with the lowest
possible budget they could survive with. He remarked that
$915,000 was not sufficient. He believed the department did
not have enough equipment or manpower. He knew there were
rules preventing the department from paying people more
without an executive order or under an extreme
circumstance. He noted that meanwhile, they were waiting on
hiring studies. He noted that DOT's difficulty hiring truck
drivers was notorious in the legislature. He would prefer
to inundate DOT with resources and if all of the funds were
not needed they would lapse. He believed someone up the
chain of command in the department needed to tell OMB that
the public would not tolerate the situation. He thought
legislators would welcome it if DOT was more ambitious in
its request for funding. He stated it was not a criticism
of the department, he understood DOT was doing what it
could.
Co-Chair Johnson asked for any closing comments from the
department.
Ms. Keith thanked committee members for their comments. She
explained that the goal had been to share some specific
examples related to heavy snow in the Central region. She
stated that a conversation about the workforce and capital
requests for equipment would be more than welcome. The
department had a tremendous number of things going on for
workforce development, training, recruitment, and retention
issues and it was actively pursuing ways to fill the gaps.
She stated the department would love to have the
opportunity for the commissioner to talk through some of
those things with the committee. Meanwhile, DOT would
follow up on some of the information requests from the
committee. She thanked the committee for the opportunity to
present.
Co-Chair Johnson thanked the presenters. She reviewed the
schedule for the following meeting.
ADJOURNMENT
3:26:13 PM
The meeting was adjourned at 3:26 p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| DOT 2024.02.02 - HFIN - Winter Weather Operations.pdf |
HFIN 2/2/2024 1:30:00 PM |
|
| 02.01.24 OMB House Finance FY2024 Supplemental Budget Overview.pdf |
HFIN 2/2/2024 1:30:00 PM |