Legislature(2015 - 2016)SENATE FINANCE 532
04/14/2015 04:00 PM House CONFERENCE COMMITTEE ON HB72 AND HB73
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| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
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| HB 73 | |||
29TH ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
FIRST SESSION
CONFERENCE COMMITTEE ON HB72 and HB73
April 14, 2015
4:06 p.m.
4:06:41 PM
CALL TO ORDER
Chair Neuman called the Conference Committee meeting on
HB72 and HB73 to order at 4:06 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT:
House:
Representative Mark Neuman, Chair
Representative Steve Thompson
Representative Les Gara
Senate:
Senator Pete Kelly, Vice-Chair
Senator Anna MacKinnon
Senator Donny Olson
MEMBERS ABSENT
None
ALSO PRESENT:
David Teal, Director, Legislative Finance Division; fiscal
analysts with the Office of Management and Budget and
Legislative Finance Division; and aides to committee
members and other members of the Legislature.
SUMMARY
HB 72 APPROP: OPERATING BUDGET/LOANS/FUNDS
HB 72 was HEARD and HELD in committee for further
consideration.
HB 73 APPROP: MENTAL HEALTH BUDGET
HB 73 was HEARD and HELD in committee for further
consideration.
CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 72(FIN)
"An Act making appropriations for the operating and
loan program expenses of state government and for
certain programs and capitalizing funds; and providing
for an effective date."
SENATE CS FOR CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 72(FIN) am S
"An Act making appropriations for the operating and
loan program expenses of state government and for
certain programs and capitalizing funds; amending
appropriations; and providing for an effective date."
and
CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 73(FIN)
"An Act making appropriations for the operating and
capital expenses of the state's integrated
comprehensive mental health program; and providing for
an effective date."
SENATE CS FOR CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 73(FIN)
"An Act making appropriations for the operating and
capital expenses of the state's integrated
comprehensive mental health program; and providing for
an effective date."
DEPARTMENTS
ADMINISTRATION
COMMERCE, COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
EDUCATION AND EARLY DEVELOPMENT
FISH AND GAME
NATURAL RESOURCES
LEGISLATURE
4:06:53 PM
Chair Neuman communicated that the conference committee
would be meeting on HB 72 and HB 73 open items. He noted
that Limited Powers of Free Conference had been granted by
both the Senate and the House. Departments with open items
would be taken up based on the motion sheets distributed to
members earlier in the day and dated 4/14/15. He relayed
that the conference committee would not address open items
from the following departments during the current meeting:
Department of Administration; Department of Commerce,
Community and Economic Development; Department of Education
and Early Development; Department of Fish and Game;
Department of Natural Resources; the Legislature.
4:07:47 PM
ADMINISTRATION
Vice-Chair Kelly MOVED to ADOPT the Chair's recommendation
on the following items for the Department of Administration
budget:
Item 1 Open
Item 2 Senate
Item 3 Senate
Item 4 House
Item 5 Senate
Item 6 Open
Item 7 Open
Item 8 Open
Item 9 Open
Item 10 Open
Item 11 Senate
Item 12 On line 1, House plus $500.0 thousand
On line 2, House minus $500.0 thousand
Item 13 House
Item 14 House
Item 15 Senate plus $200.0 thousand
4:08:45 PM
Representative Gara OBJECTED for discussion. He objected to
Items 3 and 9. He considered Item 3, which adopted Senate
language stating the intent to reopen negotiated labor
contracts, and disagreed with renegotiating. He thought the
committee should honor the original agreement.
Chair Neuman stated that Item 9 was an open item.
Senator Gara spoke to Item 9, relating to a $400,000 cut to
the Office of Public Advocacy (OPA). He thought perhaps a
misunderstanding had taken place, and asserted that the
main function and biggest cost-driver of OPA was not
criminal trials. He thought there had been an intent to cut
criminal attorney staff across the state, but in fact the
cuts at OPA would be to children's attorneys, public
guardians, and guardians ad litum. He cited that Alaska had
the highest public guardian caseload in the country, and a
$400,000 cut would be extremely difficult for the agency to
absorb. He asked the committee to consider the information.
Senator Olson echoed the objections and the statements of
the previous speaker. He furthered that Item 9 was
important to his district, and much of the work of OPA was
in aid of children.
4:11:28 PM
Representative Gara MAINTAINED his OBJECTION.
A roll call vote was taken on the motion to adopt the
Chair's recommendation for Item 3.
IN FAVOR: Representative Thompson, Senator MacKinnon,
Representative Neuman, Senator Kelly
OPPOSED: Representative Gara, Senator Olson
The MOTION PASSED (House: 2/1, Senate: 2/1).
There being NO further OBJECTION, Items 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,
7, 8, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15 were ADOPTED. This action left
open Items 1, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 for the Department of
Administration's budget.
4:12:41 PM
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Vice-Chair Kelly MOVED to ADOPT the Chair's recommendation
on the following items for the Department of Commerce,
Community and Economic Development budget:
Item 1 Senate for both fund sources
Item 2 Senate
Item 3 Senate for both fund sources
Item 4 Senate
Item 5 Open
Item 6 Open
Item 7 Open
Item 8 House for all fund sources
Item 9 Senate
Item 10 Open
Item 11 Senate
There being NO OBJECTION, it was so ordered. This action
left open items 5, 6, 7, and 10 for the Department of
Commerce, Community and Economic Development's budget.
4:13:37 PM
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND EARLY DEVELOPMENT
Vice-Chair Kelly MOVED to ADOPT the Chair's recommendation
on the following items for the Department of Education and
Early Development budget:
Item 1 Open
Item 2 House
Item 3 House
Item 4 House for both fund sources
Item 5 Senate
Item 6 Senate
Item 7 Senate
Item 8 Open
Item 9 Open
Item 10 Open
Item 11 Senate
Item 12 Open
Item 13 Open
Item 14 Open
Item 15 Open
Item 16 Open
Item 17 Open
Item 18 Open
Item 19 Open
Item 20 Open
Item 21 Senate
Item 22 Open
Item 23 Senate
Item 24 Open
Representative Gara OBJECTED for discussion. He commented
on Item 1 and Item 10. He specified that Item 1 was K-12
funding and referred to a legislative research report that
had been commissioned. The report indicated that there
would need to be a $149 increase in the base student
allocation (BSA) in order to stay at the same level of
funding as the previous year. He hoped to work with other
members to avoid school cuts and perhaps waive the Uniform
Rule pertaining to the issue.
Representative Gara discussed Item 10, part of which
pertained to funds for the Best Beginnings program. He
hoped that the committee could consider waiving the Uniform
Rules in order to consider the other Pre-K budget items
that had been deleted from the budget; such as the Parents
as Teachers program.
Representative Gara WITHDREW his OBJECTION.
There being NO further OBJECTION, Items 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,
11, 21, and 23 were ADOPTED. This action left open items 1,
8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, and 24
for the Department of Education and Early Development's
budget.
4:16:53 PM
DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND GAME
Vice-Chair Kelly MOVED to ADOPT the Chair's recommendation
on the following items for the Department of Department of
Fish and Game budget:
Item 1 Senate
Item 2 Senate
Item 3 Senate
Item 4 Senate
Item 5 Senate
Item 6 House
Item 7 House
Item 8 House
Item 9 Senate
Item 10 Senate plus $200.0 thousand
Item 11 House
Item 12 Senate
Item 13 House
Item 14 Senate
Item 15 Senate
Item 16 Senate for both fund sources
Item 17 Senate
Item 18 Senate
Items 19, 20, 21, and 22 Senate for all fund sources
Item 23 House
Item 24 House
Item 25 Senate
There being NO OBJECTION, it was so ordered. The action
closed all conferencable items in the budget for the
Department of Fish and Game.
4:18:06 PM
DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES
Vice-Chair Kelly MOVED to ADOPT the Chair's recommendation
on the following items for the Department of Natural
Resources budget:
Item 1 Open
Item 2 Open
Item 3 Open
Item 4 Senate
Item 5 Senate
Item 6 Senate and remove designation as "one-time item"
Item 7 Senate
Item 8 Senate
Item 9 Senate
Item 10 Senate
Item 11 Senate
Item 12 Senate for both fund sources
Item 13 Open
Item 14 Senate
Item 15 Senate
Item 16 Senate and remove designation as "one-time item"
Item 17 Senate
Senator Olson OBJECTED to Item 6, relating to the Citizens'
Advisory Commission on Federal Areas (CACFA). He explained
that CACFA provided a duplicate service that was no longer
necessary for the state to perform. He highlighted the
importance of ensuring that federal lands under the Alaska
National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) were
managed in the best interest of the state. He thought that
there were other areas in state government that provided
oversight in the same area, and considered that the House
decision to zero out funding for the commission was
prudent. He urged the committee to support the House
recommendation.
4:20:00 PM
Chair Neuman clarified that Senator Olson preferred the
House recommendation to eliminate funding for CACFA.
A roll call vote was taken on the motion to accept the
Chair's recommendation on Item 6.
IN FAVOR: Representative Thompson, Senator MacKinnon,
Senator Kelly, Representative Neuman
OPPOSED: Senator Olson, Representative Gara
The MOTION PASSED (House 2/1, Senate 2/1).
Representative Gara objected to Item 1 and Item 2. He
explained that the House proposal had left the governor's
request for commercializing North Slope natural gas through
the large pipeline project intact, where the Senate
proposal reflected a $4 million cut. He expressed a desire
to reach an accommodation with the governor regarding
funding a team to move forward with the project, and looked
forward to participating in further discussion.
Representative Gara WITHDREW his OBJECTION to Item 1 and
Item 2.
There being NO further OBJECTION, Items 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9,
10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, and 17 were ADOPTED. This action
left open items 1, 2, 3, and 13 for the Department of
Natural Resources' budget.
4:22:21 PM
LEGISLATURE
Vice-Chair Kelly MOVED to ADOPT the Chair's recommendation
on the following items for the Legislature's budget:
Item 1 Senate
Item 2 Senate
Item 3 Senate
Item 4 Senate
Item 5 Senate
Item 6 Senate
Item 7 Senate plus $82.2 thousand, General Fund, fund
code 1004 and minus $5.0 thousand, Inter-agency
Receipts, fund code 1007
Item 8 Senate
Item 9 Senate
Item 10 Open
Item 11 Senate
Item 12 Senate
Item 13 House
Item 14 House
Item 15 House
Item 16 House
Item 17 House
Item 18 House
Item 19 Senate minus $82.2 thousand, General Fund, fund
code 1004 and plus $5.0 thousand, Inter-agency
Receipts, fund code 1007
Item 20 Senate
Item 21 Senate
Item 22 Senate
Representative Gara objected to Items 13 through 18,
pertaining to the proposal on the Legislative Information
Office (LIO) in Anchorage. He thought the Senate had
formulated a good cost savings proposal, and he elucidated
that the LIO had gone from a cost of $685,000 per year two
years previously to a current cost of $4.5 million per
year. He remarked that there had been an offer of space at
the State Office Building in Anchorage, with enough space
to house legislators at the cost of $500,000 per year. He
supported the Senate proposal on Items 13 through 18.
4:25:23 PM
Chair Neuman relayed that Legislative Council had voted on
the items and there was compromise language being
formulated that would fund the LIO for approximately one
year and then bring the contracts forward to the
legislature for further discussion.
Representative Gara MAINTAINED his OBJECTION.
A roll call vote was taken on the motion to adopt the
Chair's recommendation for Items 13 through 18.
IN FAVOR: Representative Thompson, Senator MacKinnon,
Representative Neuman, Senator Kelly
OPPOSED: Representative Gara, Senator Olson
The MOTION PASSED (House 2/1, Senate 2/1).
4:26:57 PM
Co-Chair Thompson OBJECTED to item 9. He expressed concern
about possible federal cutbacks resulting in decreased army
troops and aircraft at Fort Richardson and Fort Wainwright.
He recounted that the Department of Military and Veterans
Affairs once had $300,000 in funding to oppose base closure
and reductions, and was concerned that there would no
longer be a group working to mitigate cutbacks to the
state's military bases.
Co-Chair Thompson WITHDREW his OBJECTION to item 9.
There being NO further OBJECTION, it was so ordered. The
Chair's recommendation for items for the Legislature was
ADOPTED. This action left open item 10 for the
Legislature's budget.
Chair Neuman relayed that the next meeting would be held on
Wednesday, April 15 at 4:00pm.
HB 72 was HEARD and HELD in committee for further
consideration.
HB 73 was HEARD and HELD in committee for further
consideration.
ADJOURNMENT
4:28:51 PM
The meeting was adjourned at 4:28 p.m.
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