Legislature(2021 - 2022)
10/26/2021 01:00 PM House LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
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ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
OCTOBER 26, 2021
1:00 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 Chris Tuck
Senator Click Bishop
Senator Peter Micciche
MEMBERS ABSENT
Representative Tilton
Senator Hoffman
Senator Hughes (alternate)
Senator Shower
Senator Stedman
Senator Stevens
OTHER MEMBERS PRESENT
AGENDA
CALL TO ORDER
APPROVAL OF AGENDA
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
COMMITTEE BUSINESS
OTHER COMMITTEE BUSINESS (EXECUTIVE SESSION)
ADJOURN
SPEAKER REGISTER
Megan Wallace, Legal Services Director, Legislative Affairs
Agency (LAA)
JC Kestel, Procurement Officer, LAA
1:14:11 PM
I. CALL TO ORDER
CHAIR HANNAN called the Legislative Council meeting to
order at 1:14pm on October 26, 2021, in the House Finance
Room 519.
Present at the call were: Representatives Claman, Edgmon,
Foster, Hannan, Stutes, Tuck; Senators Bishop, Reinbold.
Senator Micciche joined at 1:25pm.
Members absent were: Representative Tilton; Senators
Hoffman, Hughes (alternate), Shower, Stedman, Stevens.
Eight members present.
II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA
1:15:28 PM
VICE CHAIR REINBOLD moved and asked unanimous consent that
Legislative Council approve the agenda as presented.
CHAIR HANNAN, seeing no objections, approved the agenda.
III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
A. May 12, 2021, Meeting
B. May 14, 2021, Meeting
1:15:45 PM
VICE CHAIR REINBOLD moved and asked unanimous consent that
the Legislative Council approve the minutes dated May 12,
2021, and May 14, 2021, as presented.
CHAIR HANNAN, hearing no objections, approved the minutes
and introduced the first item of business.
IV. COMMITTEE BUSINESS
A. Legal Services Westlaw Contract
1:16:22 PM
VICE-CHAIR REINBOLD moved that Legislative Council approve
a five-year contract in the amount of $226,495.60 with West
Publishing Corporation to provide online legal research
services from January 1, 2022, through December 31, 2026,
at an average annual cost of $45,299.12.
CHAIR HANNAN objected for the purposes of discussion and
asked Megan Wallace, Director of Legal Services for the
Legislative Affairs Agency (LAA), to speak to this item and
take any questions.
MEGAN WALLACE stated her name and position for the record
and described a packet that each Council Member was given
detailing the contract. She repeated the total amount of
the 5-year contract as well as the annual average and said
that these research services were something that the Legal
Services department already used, and this was just a new
contract carrying those services forward. She stated this
was not a new item, it was one that was budgeted and
provided for. The current contract was $3,085 per month, so
the new contract would show a price increase, but Legal
Services was grandfathered in with only a one percent
increase over the five-year contract period. She said their
representative from Westlaw explained that the company
would be switching to new a legal research platform called
Westlaw Edge; Ms. Wallace and some of her staff had test-
driven Westlaw Edge and were optimistic about the new
features provided. She stated that Legal Services had taken
on more litigation in the past few years than they had over
the past decade or so, so some of these features would be
imperative to her office going forward, particularly in
litigation research. These research tools, she said, were
used by her attorneys daily to ensure they were giving
sound, up-to-date legal advice. She said she would be happy
to take any questions, but strongly recommended Legislative
Council approve the continuation of this service.
REPRESENATIVE CLAMAN asked if Legal Services had unlimited
use of the Westlaw database under this contract or if it
was paid based on use.
MS. WALLACE confirmed that under this contract, Legal
Services was not paying per use or per search, it was
indeed unlimited access.
REPRESENATIVE CLAMAN asked if that included downloads, etc.
MS. WALLACE said it did.
REPRESENTATIVE CLAMAN mentioned that some offices had
access to Lexis or Westlaw legal research tools and asked
if those were separate and independent from this contract
that Legal Services used.
MS. WALLACE said she was not sure specifically; some of
that access might be part of this contract and she could
speak with LAAs Research Librarian for clarification.
CHAIR HANNAN, seeing no other members seeking the floor,
removed her objection and requested a roll call vote.
1:21:32 PM
A roll call vote was taken.
YEAS: Representatives Claman, Edgmon, Foster, Hannan,
Stutes, Tuck; Senators Bishop, Reinbold.
NAYS: None.
The motion passed 8-0.
B. Sublease Renewal Utqiagvik Office Space
1:22:22 PM
VICE CHAIR REINBOLD moved that Legislative Council approve
Renewal Number 3 of the sublease for Utqiagvik office space
in an amount of $35,457.96.
CHAIR HANNAN objected for the purposes of discussion and
introduced LAAs Procurement Officer, JC Kestel, to speak
on the sublease renewal.
JC KESTEL said his name and position for the record. He
said the sublease agreement the Arctic Slope Telephone
Association Cooperative, Inc. and the Legislative Affairs
Agency for office space in Utqiagvik, Alaska, was set to
expire on December 31, 2021. There was one renewal option
remaining on the sublease agreement, for the period of
January 1, 2022, to December 31, 2022. He continued and
said if Legislative Council approved Renewal Number 3, this
would leave no further sublease renewals available. The
Renewal period exceeds $35,000 in one fiscal year;
therefore, he said, Legislative Councils approval was
required. He offered to take any questions.
CHAIR HANNAN noted that Senate President Micciche had
joined the Council at 1:25 pm and then asked if members had
any questions or concerns surrounding the Utqiagvik
sublease renewal. Seeing and hearing none, she removed her
objection and requested a roll call vote.
1:24:37 PM
A roll call vote was taken.
YEAS: Representatives Claman, Edgmon, Foster, Hannan,
Stutes, Tuck; Senators Bishop, Reinbold.
NAYS: None.
ABSTAINED: Senate President Micciche.
The motion was approved with 8 yeas and 0 nays.
SENATE PRESIDENT MICCICHE apologized to the Chair for being
late and abstaining. He explained he did not have time to
review the issue and was meeting with the governor.
CHAIR HANNAN accepted his apology and called for a motion
to enter Executive Session.
V. ADDITIONAL COMMITTEE BUSINESS - EXECUTIVE SESSION
A. RFP 648 - Sitka Office Space
1:26:01 PM
VICE CHAIR REINBOLD moved that Legislative Council go into
Executive Session under Uniform Rule 22(B)(1), discussion
of matters, the immediate knowledge of which would
adversely affect the finances of a government unit and
22(B)(3), discussion of a matter that may, by law, be
required to be confidential. The following individuals may
remain in the room or on-line for the entirety of the
executive session: Jessica Geary, JC Kestel, Sant? Lesh,
Megan Wallace, Helen Phillips, Jodie Murdock, Bree Wylie,
any Legislators not on Legislative Council, and any staff
of Legislative Council members.
1:26:42 PM
Council went into Executive Session.
1:32:50 PM
Council came out of Executive Session.
CHAIR HANNAN requested a roll call vote to confirm the
Council had a quorum.
Present at the call were: Representatives Claman, Edgmon,
Foster, Hannan, Stutes, Tuck; Senators Bishop, Micciche,
Reinbold.
Nine members present.
1:33:49 PM
VICE CHAIR REINBOLD moved that the Legislative Council
approve the award of RFP 648 for Sitka office space to
Sitka Totem Hotel, LLC for a five-year lease and five
optional one-year renewals.
CHAIR HANNAN asked Mr. Kestel for a summary of the actions
surrounding this RFP.
MR. KESTEL said LAA issued RFP 648 to obtain office space
in the Sitka area for Senator Stedman and Representative
Kreiss-Tomkins, including the Sitka LIO. He said RFP 648
closed on October 11, 2021, and only one proposal was
received. He continued that the proposal was evaluated to
make sure that it met the minimum requirements of the RFP
and the best interests of the Legislative offices in Sitka
and the Agency. He said LAA recommended the awarding of RFP
648 to the Sitka Totem Hotel, LLC and that he would be
happy to answer any questions.
SENATE PRESIDENT MICCICHE said for the record that while
members were seeing lease costs go up somewhat dramatically
in other areas within the economy of the state, this lease
was only increasing forty-six cents per square foot.
Instead of adding $2,600 annually for janitorial expenses,
though this lease did have a slight increase of about
$4,000 a year, when members included the janitorial costs,
he believed it was in line with market value and was happy
to support the RFP.
CHAIR HANNAN, seeing and hearing no further questions or
comments, asked for a roll call vote.
1:35:59 PM
A roll call vote was taken.
YEAS: Representatives Claman, Edgmon, Foster, Hannan,
Stutes, Tuck; Senators Bishop, Micciche, Reinbold.
NAYS: None.
The motion was approved with 9 yeas and 0 nays.
VI. ADJOURN
1:36:44 PM
CHAIR HANNAN said with nothing further to come before
Council, the meeting is adjourned.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| Agenda--October 26th, 2021, Legislative Council Meeting.pdf |
JLEC 10/26/2021 1:00:00 PM |
|
| 5.12.2021 Leg Council Meeting Minutes.pdf |
JLEC 10/26/2021 1:00:00 PM |
|
| 5.14.2021 Leg Council Meeting Minutes.pdf |
JLEC 10/26/2021 1:00:00 PM |
|
| 2021.10.22 Leg Legal Westlaw Contract Memo.pdf |
JLEC 10/26/2021 1:00:00 PM |
|
| Utqiagvik Office Space Lease Renewal No. 3 request to LC.pdf |
JLEC 10/26/2021 1:00:00 PM |
|
| RFP 648 Sitka Office Space Exec. Session to LC.pdf |
JLEC 10/26/2021 1:00:00 PM |