Legislature(2021 - 2022)
05/12/2021 05:00 PM House LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
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ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
MAY 12, 2021
5:00 PM
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Sara Hannan, Chair
Senator Lora Reinbold, Vice Chair
Representative Matt Claman
Representative Bryce Edgmon
Representative Neal Foster
Representative Louise Stutes
Representative Cathy Tilton
Representative Chris Tuck
Senator Click Bishop
Senator Peter Micciche
Senator Mike Shower
Senator Bert Stedman
Senator Gary Stevens
MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator Lyman Hoffman
Senator Shelley Hughes (alternate)
OTHER MEMBERS PRESENT
Senators Kiehl, Wilson; Representatives McCabe, Merrick
AGENDA
APPROVAL OF AGENDA
COMMITTEE BUSINESS
CONTRACT APPROVALS
SPEAKER REGISTER
Jessica Geary, Executive Director, Legislative Affairs
Agency (LAA)
Tim Banaszak, Information Technology Manager, LAA
5:04:12 PM
I. CALL TO ORDER
CHAIR HANNAN called the Legislative Council meeting to
order at 5:05pm in the House Finance Committee Room.
Present at the call were: Representatives Edgmon, Hannan,
Stutes, Tilton, Tuck; Senators Bishop, Micciche, Reinbold,
Shower, Stedman, Stevens.
Members absent were: Representatives Claman, Foster;
Senator Hoffman.
Eleven members present.
Representative Foster joined the meeting at 5:08pm and
Representative Claman joined at 5:10pm.
II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA
5:05:12 PM
VICE-CHAIR REINBOLD moved and asked unanimous consent that
Legislative Council approve the agenda as presented.
REPRESENTATIVE TILTON objected and stated that the Chair
had indicted there would be a future meeting, but asked,
before this agenda is approved, when they would have a
meeting to receive an update from the COVID-19 policy work
group.
CHAIR HANNAN responded that Ms. Geary addressed the COVID-
19 policy working group about changes in testing and
screening. She asked Ms. Geary if there were any other
changes from that committee that were not reported out
already in writing.
JESSICA GEARY responded there were not, however the
committee has not met again.
REPRESENTATIVE TILTON said that was her questionwhen will
there be a meeting regarding these policies?
CHAIR HANNAN said so the first question was the workgroup,
which did their task and is done. The second question-when
there is enough time, energy, and votes to have a meeting
to conclude that, which she suspects will not happen
between now and day 121.
REPRESENTATIVE TILTON said she thought the policies put
forward by the workgroup were going to be discussed amongst
the Legislature as a whole and adopted by the Legislative
Council.
CHAIR HANNAN said to clarify, there are a number of
Legislative Council items that need to be dealt with. This
meeting is only addressing things with a time sensitive
nature contract expenditures with a deadline this month
and some contracts to be executed (a lease, and two IT
items). The remainder of pending items will be taken up
when there is time for a longer meeting.
REPRESENTATIVE TILTON followed up to her objection and said
she is just seeking a time for the opportunity to ratify
those decisions made by the work group and have further
COVID-19 policy discussions. She said she understands that
timing is of the essence but believes there are things
within the work group that are of essence as well on this
policy regarding the amount of vaccination that is
happening throughout this building, which is why she is
asking.
CHAIR HANNAN responded that she is not trying to be evasive
but knows that the next meeting will require a significant
amount of time and she does not foresee finding time when
the majority of members can be present. The three items
before Council today are very specific and short timeframes
in which Council must respond; that is the reason they are
being dealt with separately.
REPRESENTATIVE TILTON thanked the Chair and said as time is
of the essence and the Legislature is close to 121 days,
she understood and removed her objection.
SENATOR SHOWER objected to the motion and said he has been
asking for months for a chance to discuss the current
policy and the money approved to continue it. A small group
of people have had a chance to discuss it, but the broader
Council has not, and it affects everyone. He removed his
objection, but said he is putting it on the record that
there are those who would like to have the chance to
discuss the policy. Thank you.
CHAIR HANNAN said seeing no further objections, the motion
is approved.
III. COMMITTEE BUSINESS
A. FY22 ANNUAL COMPUTER HARDWARE REFRESH
5:10:21 PM
VICE-CHAIR REINBOLD moved that the Legislative Council
approve FY22 hardware refresh expenditure of $152,350.
CHAIR HANNAN objected for purposes of discussion and asked
Tim Banaszak to please come forward and explain this issue.
TIM BANASZAK, Information Technology Manager for the
Legislature, said before you is the hardware refresh memo.
Part of the reason this needs to be addressed now is that
supply chains are tightening, computer equipment costs are
going up, and to meet any attempt at FY22 interim hardware
refresh upgrades, IT needs to try to get this equipment in
and underway.
Mr. Banaszak noted that there is a very active, engaged,
and well-attended IT Subcommittee and thanked Chair Hannan
for appointing it. That Subcommittee has reviewed these two
requests, including the hardware refresh which consists of
seventy-five laptop workstations, ten laser printers,
ninety-five monitors, for a total of $152,350.
This hardware refresh is based on a five-year computer
refresh cycle, related to the age of equipment, upkeep
costs, performance, and obsolescence. It is also consistent
with the Three-Year Technology Plan that Council has and
standardizes a single printer make and model to reduce
toner cartridge and maintenance costs. It also assigns one
printer in the Capitol office, so shipping back and forth
is not necessary, which saves costs.
Mr. Banaszak continued that the other important thing to
note is this request, for the first time, does not include
any desktop workstation computers, only laptops. That is
important during COVID-19 and post-COVID since employees
are working in a new environment where instead of having a
desktop and a laptop, now they can just pick up their
laptop and go wherever necessary.
He said finally, it is important to know this has been
vetted through procurement for best, government pricing, so
the Legislature is getting the best buy at discount
pricing. He said he is happy to answer any questions.
SENATOR REINBOLD offered thanks to Mr. Banaszak. She said
her office had to call the Help Desk quite a bit this
session and has had excellent support. Her staff enjoyed
serving on the IT Subcommittee, but even during the hard
time when the line was clipped or the disruption, IT did an
excellent job. She said she is extremely supportive of
this.
SENATOR BISHOP said it has been some time since he heard
this in Senate Finance, but he believed there was over a
million dollars' worth of computers bought through the
Department of Administration for remote work for State
employees. As those employees come back into the building,
he believes the Governor is moving toward that direction,
has Mr. Banaszak had any cross-pollination talks with DOA
and what do they plan on doing with the million dollars'
worth of computers they purchased? Is there any way the
Legislature could get a sweetheart deal going forward? Not
wanting to stop anything we are doing here, Madame Chair,
but it is a legitimate question if the Legislature could
re-purpose some of those computers. Thank you.
MR. BANASZAK responded that the contract the Legislature
used was developed through the Executive and Legislative
branches and, as a result, takes advantage of volume
discounts. He said that he and the heads of IT for the
Executive and Judicial branches meet once per month to
discuss IT initiatives, cost savings, how to take advantage
of the three branches of government and discounts and
repurpose hardware. With some of the situations going on
now, each branch is very much helping each other. The
funding for most of this comes from the same barrel of oil
we try to be good stewards of our assets and are all
serving the public. So absolutely Senator Bishop, good
point. Specifically, about repurposing, if there is
equipment available, in trying to be good stewards, there
is no equipment being pulled out or sent away, the
Legislature reuses its equipment, but cannot budget for
both a desktop and a laptop computer.
CHAIR HANNAN said that recently the Court System had some
technology problems and Legislative Affairs was able to
accommodate the Court System using the Anchorage LIO
location to run their payroll without the risk of being
hacked. There is a lot of behind-the-scenes collaboration
the Legislature was not at risk in assisting them in
running their payrollso the Court system was shut down,
but not unemployed.
SENATOR STEVENS asked Mr. Banaszak to please explain the
five-year computer refresh cycle. Does that mean in the
period of five years the Legislature will replace all
equipment?
MR. BANASZAK said ideally, yes, each legislator and
staffer's primary computer should handle the latest
software, the latest operating system, and work reasonably
well. The legislature also must keep our equipment,
especially now, so the intent is by the time these are
getting into the five-year range, they will start slowing
down and IT does not want that impacting productivity.
Older computers are used for lower uses or become spares
for emergency use. For example, IT recently pulled a lot of
spare laptops and portable equipment to respond to COVID-
19; unfortunately, several staff had to use slower, older
computers, but at least they could get online.
REPRESENTATIVE TILTON asked if Mr. Banaszak could offer a
brief update on the Three-Year Technology plan.
MR. BANASZAK responded that in 2008, he may need to confirm
the year, the Legislative Council thought it was prudent to
have a Three-Year Technology plan. He said it is an
opportunitythe current plan expires in calendar 2021 and
will soon need updating. That is drafted through the IT
Subcommittee, then brought to the full Council for
adoption. Primarily, the plan looks at current priority
issues that face the Legislature and things it will need to
respond to. Secondly, it considers the business drivers
that the Legislature faces, for example: financial systems,
the current COVID-19 responsea technology and paradigm
shift to go from desktop computers to refreshing with
laptops, and electronic and remote voting systems. It is an
opportunity for that one to three year plan so that when IT
brings requests forward like this, it has not just reacted
to something individually, but is an IT roadmap that gets
refreshed.
REPRESENTATIVE TILTON said she has not had an opportunity
to review the Legislature's technology budget and is asking
if these items fall within the budget allotment that we
have for these items.
MR. BANASZAK said that is a very important point. Both
requests before Council today are annual recurring expenses
and have been right at $150,000, sometimes slightly more,
never less. The last ten years have been consistent
amounts. The hardware refresh request is from capital
funds, so it is an equipment line item and is almost to the
dollar of what we spend every year.
CHAIR HANNAN asked that the minutes reflect that
Representative Foster joined the meeting at 5:08pm and
Representative Claman joined at 5:10pm. She asked if there
were questions from other members then restated the motion
to approve the FY22 hardware refresh expenditure of
$152,350.
5:22:23 PM
A roll call vote was taken.
YEAS: Representatives Claman, Edgmon, Foster, Hannan,
Stutes, Tilton, Tuck; Senators Bishop, Micciche, Reinbold,
Shower, Stedman, Stevens.
NAYS: None
The motion passed 13-0.
B. FY22 MICROSOFT ENTERPRISE SOFTWARE RENEWAL
5:23:09 PM
SENATOR REINBOLD moved that the Legislative Council
authorize the IT Subcommittee recommendation for the
Microsoft FY22 licensing payment to SHI not to exceed
$175,000.
CHAIR HANNAN objected for the purpose of discussion and
asked Mr. Banaszak to speak to this item.
MR. BANASZAK said as was noted, this is a software request,
whereas the last item was a hardware request. This annual
payment is due July 1, 2021.
He said that in 2018, Legislative Council approved the
first installment of the State of Alaska's three-year
contract with extension provisions with Software House
International (SHI). This contract provides Microsoft
products, including Windows 10, Windows server operating
systems, and the Office software suite (Word, Excel,
Outlook, PowerPoint, Skype for Business, OneNote,
Publisher, and Teams).
This agreement also provides licensing to operate critical
infrastructure and systems, including Windows 10 PC/OS,
Windows Server, SQL databases including BASIS, network
storage (N drives), SharePoint, and web servers, including
www.akleg.gov and the Intranet. Part of the contract
includes secure email, archiving, and protected OneDrive
file sharing, software licensing, and collaboration for
mobile devices. Further, the agreement provides video and
audio conferencing tools using Microsoft Teams. Finally, it
safeguards applications, operating systems, and databases
by providing the most current security updates and software
versioning.
This renewal, which begins July 1, 2021, provides the
benefits of reduced-volume pricing, enhanced technical
support, regular software upgrades, and training for
technical and non-technical staff. The IT Subcommittee has
reviewed the renewal and recommends Legislative Council
approve this request.
The Legislature's portion of the agreement for FY2022 is
estimated to be $175,000, which is budgeted under the
Administrative Services allocation and requires Legislative
Council approval. If this request were not approved, the
Legislature would no longer have access to email, Microsoft
Office software, and leave critical infrastructure systems
exposed to internet malware. Mr. Banaszak said he is happy
to answer any questions.
SENATOR REINBOLD said her staff is on the Subcommittee and
really enjoys the technical work, so she will support the
motion, however, does not care for Microsoft products. She
said this is something the Subcommittee is working on with
the phone system, and she prefers not to have all the eggs
in one basket. She said that is a topic for another day and
has expressed her concerns with Mr. Banaszak. With that,
she will support this motion.
SENATOR STEVENS said there has been discussion, with
nothing yet decided, about remote meetings of committees
not on the floorbut the Legislature has a lot yet to
accomplish and solve due to COVID-19. He asked if this puts
the Legislature in a position to be able to accommodate
remote committee meetings or is it already in that
position.
MR. BANASZAK responded that in Senator Stevens' previous
role as Council Chair, the Legislature started building
capability to have remote meetings. Some of that capability
is built into the existing system, some relies on the
licensing before Council today for the operating systems,
servers, Teams, video conferencing, and our BASIS system.
For a member to vote in committee remotely, that is part of
this system. This is not everything, but it is a big part
of that infrastructure framework. IT staff continue work to
build it out, but the remote committee capability relies
heavily on this renewal, and we are looking at expanding
some of the software capabilities to better support remote
committees.
SENATOR REINBOLD offered one more compliment. She said she
was one of the first people, as Judiciary Chair, to use the
big screen and was able to remote in so many cool people
which made the committee much better, so thank you for
that. She said that State Affairs has done a super good job
helping work remotely as well. She continued that with her
concern with Alaska Airlines she is more interested than
ever in what Senators Shower and Stevens have proposed
working remotely so this absolutely has her support sooner
rather than later and hopes operating remotely can be on
the next agenda.
CHAIR HANNAN removed her objection and reprised the motion
to authorize the IT Subcommittee recommendation for the
Microsoft FY22 licensing payment to SHI not to exceed
$175,000.
5:30:29 PM
A roll call vote was taken.
YEAS: Representatives Claman, Edgmon, Foster, Hannan,
Stutes, Tilton, Tuck; Senators Bishop, Micciche, Reinbold,
Shower, Stedman, Stevens.
NAYS: None
The motion passed 13-0.
IV. CONTRACT APPROVAL
Chair Hannan explained this item will require an Executive
Session to discuss RFP 643 for the Bethel LIO. After review
during Executive Session, Council will come back to the
full public session and act on a decision on the RFP.
SENATOR REINBOLD moved that Legislative Council go into
executive session under Uniform Rule 22(b)(1) and (3),
discussion of matters, the immediate knowledge of which
would adversely affect the finances of a government unit
and discussion of a matter that may, by law, be required to
be confidential. The following individuals can remain in
the room or online: Jessica Geary, Sant? Lesh, Molly
Kiesel, JC Kestel, Tim Powers, Megan Wallace, Emily Nauman,
legislators not on Legislative Council, and any staff of a
Legislative Council member.
5:32:20 PM.
Council went into Executive Session at 5:32pm.
5:49:06 PM
Council came out of Executive Session at 5:49pm.
SENATOR REINBOLD moved that Legislative Council approve the
award of RFP 643 for the Bethel Office Space to Bethel
Native Corporation Suites 214 and 215 for a five year lease
and a five year optional one year renewal.
CHAIR HANNAN asked if there was any objection. Hearing none
a roll call vote was taken.
YEAS: Representatives Claman, Edgmon, Foster, Hannan,
Stutes, Tilton, Tuck; Senators Bishop, Micciche, Reinbold,
Shower, Stedman, Stevens.
NAYS: None
The motion passed 13-0.
V. ADJOURN
CHAIR HANNAN said if there is nothing further to come
before Council, we are adjourned at 5:50pm.
5:50:41 PM
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| Legislative Council May 12, 2021 Meeting Agenda.pdf |
JLEC 5/12/2021 5:00:00 PM |
|
| Leg Council - FY22 Hardware Refresh 5-5-21.pdf |
JLEC 5/12/2021 5:00:00 PM |
|
| Leg Council - SHI FY22 Microsoft Software Renewal 5-5-21.pdf |
JLEC 5/12/2021 5:00:00 PM |
|
| RFP 643 Bethel Office Space request to LC.pdf |
JLEC 5/12/2021 5:00:00 PM |