05/01/2023 01:00 PM House RESOURCES
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Confirmation Hearing(s):|| Board of Game | |
| Presentation(s): Alaska Industrial Development Export Authority Project Updates | |
| HB20 | |
| Adjourn |
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | HB 20 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE RESOURCES STANDING COMMITTEE
May 1, 2023
1:02 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Tom McKay, Chair
Representative George Rauscher, Vice Chair
Representative Kevin McCabe
Representative Dan Saddler
Representative Stanley Wright
Representative Jennie Armstrong
Representative Donna Mears
Representative Maxine Dibert
MEMBERS ABSENT
Representative Josiah Patkotak
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
CONFIRMATION HEARING(S):
Board of Game
Stanley Hoffman - Bethell
- CONFIRMATION(S) ADVANCED
PRESENTATION(S): ALASKA INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT EXPORT AUTHORITY
PROJECT UPDATES
HOUSE BILL NO. 20
"An Act relating to participation in matters before the Board of
Fisheries and the Board of Game by the members of the respective
boards; and providing for an effective date."
- HEARD & HELD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: HB 20
SHORT TITLE: CONFLICT OF INTEREST: BD FISHERIES/GAME
SPONSOR(s): REPRESENTATIVE(s) STUTES
01/19/23 (H) PREFILE RELEASED 1/9/23
01/19/23 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
01/19/23 (H) RES, JUD
04/17/23 (H) JUD REFERRAL REMOVED
04/17/23 (H) BILL REPRINTED
05/01/23 (H) RES AT 1:00 PM BARNES 124
WITNESS REGISTER
STANLEY HOFFMAN, Appointee
Board of Game
Bethel, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified as appointee to the Board of
Game.
BRANDON BREFCZYNSKI, Deputy Director
Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority
Department of Commerce, Community & Economic Development
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Co-offered the Alaska Industrial
Development Export Authority Project Updates presentation.
GEOFF JOHNS, Chief Investment Officer
Project Finance and Asset Management
Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority
Department of Commerce, Community & Economic Development
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Co-offered the Alaska Industrial
Development Export Authority Project Updates presentation.
MARK R. DAVIS, Special Counsel
Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority
Department of Commerce, Community & Economic Development
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Co-offered the Alaska Industrial
Development Export Authority Project Updates presentation.
JEFF SAN JUAN, Program Manager
Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority
Department of Commerce, Community & Economic Development
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Co-offered the Alaska Industrial
Development Export Authority Project Updates presentation.
REPRESENTATIVE LOUISE STUTES
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: As prime sponsor, introduced HB 20.
DONNA PAGE, Staff
Representative Louise Stutes
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: On behalf of Representative Louise Stutes,
prime sponsor, presented HB 20.
NATE ROSE, Vice President
Kodiak Seiners Association
Kodiak, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Gave invited testimony in support of HB 20.
ACTION NARRATIVE
1:02:09 PM
CHAIR TOM MCKAY called the House Resources Standing Committee
meeting to order at 1:02 p.m. Representatives Saddler, Mears,
Dibert, McCabe, and McKay were present at the call to order.
Representatives Rauscher, Wright, and Armstrong arrived as the
meeting was in progress.
^CONFIRMATION HEARING(S):
^Board of Game
CONFIRMATION HEARING(S):
Board of Game
1:03:17 PM
CHAIR MCKAY announced that the first order of business would be
the confirmation hearing on the governor's appointee to the
Board of Game.
1:03:45 PM
STANLEY HOFFMAN, Appointee, Board of Game, began his testimony
by explaining both his history in Alaska and his involvement in
game management. He said that he was initially appointed to the
Board of Game by Governor Sarah Palin in 2008 and reappointed by
every governor of Alaska since, and he shared his excitement for
this latest reappointment.
1:05:38 PM
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER asked Mr. Hoffman what issues he foresees
the Board of Game overseeing in his prospective term.
1:06:07 PM
MR. HOFFMAN listed the Mulchatna Caribou herd and Western Arctic
Caribou herd's decline as issues that he sees coming before the
Board of Game.
1:07:24 PM
REPRESENTATIVE RAUSCHER asked Mr. Hoffman if he supports the
using of electric bicycles for disabled veteran hunts.
1:07:40 PM
MR. HOFFMAN responded that he would "generally support" disabled
veterans in Alaska and said that it would have to meet a series
of requirements and thresholds for the Board of Game to allow an
electric bicycle hunt.
1:08:47 PM
CHAIR MCKAY opened public testimony on the confirmation hearing
of the governor's appointee to the Board of Game. After
ascertaining that there was no one who wished to testify, he
closed public testimony.
1:09:17 PM
CHAIR MCKAY stated that the House Resources Standing Committee
has reviewed the qualifications of the governor's appointee and
recommends that the following name be forwarded to a joint
session for consideration: Stanley Hoffman, Board of Game. He
said that signing the report regarding appointments to boards
and commissions in no way reflects an individual member's
approval or disapproval of the appointee, and the nomination is
merely forwarded to the full legislature for confirmation or
rejection.
^PRESENTATION(S): Alaska Industrial Development Export
Authority Project Updates
PRESENTATION(S): Alaska Industrial Development Export Authority
Project Updates
1:09:56 PM
CHAIR MCKAY announced that the next order of business would be
the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority Project
Updates presentation.
1:11:03 PM
BRANDON BREFCZYNSKI, Deputy Director, Alaska Industrial
Development and Export Authority (AIDEA), Department of
Commerce, Community & Economic Development (DCCED), began a
PowerPoint presentation [hardcopy included in the committee
packet], on slide 2, which gave a background to AIDEA's history
and mission as an organization.
1:13:08 PM
GEOFF JOHNS, Chief Investment Officer, Project Finance and Asset
Management, Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority,
Department of Commerce, Community & Economic Development, as co-
presenter of the PowerPoint, moved to slide 3, which gave
further context to what AIDEA does and explained how it
functions as a public/private partnership entity.
1:15:50 PM
REPRESENTATIVE RAUSCHER asked how much money AIDEA has created
in economic development in Alaska.
MR. JOHNS answered that the $3.5 billion statistic is in
reference to the total amount of money that AIDEA has
contributed to Alaska's economy since its inception.
1:17:02 PM
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER asked how much of the $3.5 billion figure
could be attributed to the Red Dog Mine.
1:17:53 PM
MARK R. DAVIS, Special Counsel, Alaska Industrial Development
and Export Authority, Department of Commerce, Community &
Economic Development, answered that a substantial sum of the
money collected by AIDEA has gone toward the Red Dog Mine.
1:18:23 PM
MR. JOHNS moved to slide 4, which described AIDEA's "finance
toolbox" of different methods and sources of revenue and funding
to be used for projects. He continued to slides 5 and 6, which
outlined and explained AIDEA's loan participation program and
its output statistics. He moved to slide 7, which underlined
the AIDEA Conduit Revenue Bond Program and its use throughout
different projects in Alaska.
1:23:13 PM
MR. DAVIS gave the committee context as to the application of
and use of AIDEA's Conduit Revenue Bond Program. He continued
to slide 8, which gave an example of how AIDEA's Conduit Revenue
Bond was awarded and applied to a Tanana Chief's Conference
(TCC) healthcare project.
1:26:30 PM
MR. JOHNS moved to Slide 9, which outlined AIDEA's project
financing program that has been used as a method of bringing
projects in Alaska to fruition. He briefly touched on slide 10,
which highlighted the use of the project financing program with
the creation of the FedEx hangar in Anchorage, Alaska.
1:28:03 PM
MR. DAVIS continued to slide 11, which outlined the methods that
AIDEA might take with developing its public infrastructure
projects. He moved to slide 12, which highlighted an AIDEA-
owned road that is essential to the operation of the Red Dog
Mine in Kotzebue, Alaska.
1:31:40 PM
MR. BREFCZYNSKI noted to the committee that certain information
that was omitted from the presentation has since been provided
to the committee for further context.
1:32:02 PM
MR. DAVIS moved to slide 14, which emphasized the importance of
mining in Alaska's economy by giving statistics and highlights
of resources and revenue from AIDEA-funded mining projects in
Alaska.
1:33:42 PM
REPRESENTATIVE RAUSCHER asked whether Alaska's ability to obtain
bonds to fund resource development projects has changed in the
recent years.
MR. DAVIS answered by explaining how AIDEA obtains and applies
bonds to its projects.
1:34:26 PM
MR. BREFCZYNSKI resumed the presentation on slide 15, which
displayed a map of Alaska numbered with its total road miles
superimposed over the contiguous United States with specific
states numbered with their total road miles as a comparison. He
moved to slide 16, which gave a broad overview of the West
Susitna Access Road project along with a map of the project's
area and proposed route. He continued to slide 17, which gave a
list of possible benefits of the West Susitna Access Road
project.
1:39:48 PM
JEFF SAN JUAN, Program Manager, Alaska Industrial Development
and Export Authority, Department of Commerce, Community &
Economic Development, resumed the presentation on slide 18,
which gave a broad overview of the Ambler Access project, and he
read from slide 19, which displayed a map of the Ambler Access
project's general area and its surrounding land claims and
classifications as of 2018. He continued to slide 20, which
displayed a map of land claims and classifications surrounding
the Ambler Access Road in 2021 and 2022.
1:46:32 PM
MR. SAN JUAN moved to an unnumbered slide [not included in the
committee packet] that described AIDEA's Arctic mining projects
and its advancement in comparison to other mining projects
throughout Alaska.
1:47:44 PM
REPRESENTATIVE MEARS asked how the State of Alaska determines
that a project proposed by AIDEA is a good investment and asked
how the state would receive a return on its investment in any
such project.
MR. SAN JUAN answered that the state determines the viability of
an investment through a feasibility study and explained how
those feasibility studies are conducted.
1:50:21 PM
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER shared his understanding related to the
volume of gold, silver, zinc, and copper that is extracted from
mines in Alaska.
MR. SAN JUAN confirmed Representative Saddler's understanding as
correct.
1:51:02 PM
MR. BREFCZYNSKI added that AIDEA would follow up with more
specific statistics after the meeting.
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER asked for definitions of the terms
"indicated" and "inferred" in the context of a mining project.
1:51:24 PM
MR. SAN JUAN advised that the term "indicated" refers to a
confirmed knowledge of minerals in a certain area while
"inferred" refers to an assumption of minerals in a certain area
based off of studies and surveys.
1:52:56 PM
MR. JOHNS concluded the presentation on slide 22, which gave an
overview of the oil leases in the Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge (ANWR), along with their feasibility of production and
their legality.
1:55:16 PM
CHAIR MCKAY asked whether AIDEA could provide any information
about a specific Chevron oil well.
1:55:32 PM
MR. BREFCZYNSKI answered that the Chevron lease information is
classified.
HB 20-CONFLICT OF INTEREST: BD FISHERIES/GAME
1:56:40 PM
CHAIR MCKAY announced that the final order of business would be
HOUSE BILL NO. 20, "An Act relating to participation in matters
before the Board of Fisheries and the Board of Game by the
members of the respective boards; and providing for an effective
date."
1:57:08 PM
REPRESENTATIVE LOUISE STUTES, Alaska State Legislature, as prime
sponsor, presented HB 20. She read the sponsor statement
[included in the committee packet], which read as follows
[original punctuation provided]:
House Bill 20 will improve the Board of Fisheries and
the Board of Game process by allowing members to
participate in deliberations on subjects for which
they have a declared personal or financial interest
according to AS 39.52, the Executive Branch Ethics
Act.
Board of Fisheries and Board of Game members are
currently required to divulge a conflict of interest
if they, or their immediate family members, are
involved in the subject being deliberated on. At this
time, the conflicted member cannot offer input on the
process and cannot vote on the matter at hand. This
bill allows the conflicted member to offer remarks and
input, but still precludes them from voting on the
issue at hand or on whether they have a conflict of
interest.
Allowing members with expertise in particular fields
to deliberate will help the boards make more informed
decisions, will result in stronger resource management
statewide, and will align the process with the
original intent of allowing boards to benefit from
members' knowledge and diversity of viewpoints.
Thank you for your support of this legislation.
1:59:54 PM
DONNA PAGE, Staff, Representative Louise Stutes, Alaska State
Legislature, on behalf of Representative Louise Stutes, prime
sponsor, presented the sectional analysis of HB 20 [included in
the committee packet], which read as follows [original
punctuation provided]:
Section 1 amends AS 39.52.220(b), to allow a Board of
Game or Board of Fisheries members to take official
action, defined by section three of the bill, as
deliberating but not voting, on a matter that they
have a personal or financial interest in.
Section 2 amends AS 39.52.220(a) to exempt Board of
Fisheries and Board of Game members from the provision
in the Executive Branch Ethics Act that prevents them
from deliberating on matters they have a personal or
financial interest in.
Section 3 amends AS 39.52.220 by adding a new section
that allows Board of Fisheries and Board of Game
members with a personal or financial interest in a
matter to deliberate, but not vote, on that proposal
or subject being considered by the board.
Section 4 establishes an immediate effective date.
2:03:58 PM
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER asked whether members of the Alaska Board
of Fisheries are currently violating Alaska Statute (AS)
39.52.220.
2:04:28 PM
REPRESENTATIVE STUTES answered that there are discussions being
had by the Board of Fisheries that should be had on the public
record.
2:06:18 PM
CHAIR MCKAY asked how frequently meetings behind closed doors
and off-the-record are occurring.
REPRESENTATIVE STUTES explained the process that a board member
must follow once they declare a conflict of interest.
2:07:03 PM
REPRESENTATIVE MCCABE asked whether the Board of Fisheries is
covered under the Open Meetings Act.
REPRESENTATIVE STUTES confirmed it is.
2:07:58 PM
MS. PAGE noted that the percentage of recusals in meetings is up
to 24 percent since 2005.
2:08:50 PM
NATE ROSE, Vice President, Kodiak Seiners Association, gave
invited testimony in support of HB 20. He said that the high
number of recusals during meetings on the Board of Fisheries is
discouraging to those who look to the meetings for policy change
or new direction.
2:12:17 PM
CHAIR MCKAY asked how a conflict of interest is determined to
exist and asked about the legality of HB 20.
2:13:04 PM
REPRESENTATIVE STUTES responded that she had not spoken with
Legislative Legal Services regarding HB 20.
2:13:48 PM
REPRESENTATIVE RAUSCHER asked why conflict of interest
regulations don't currently exist.
REPRESENTATIVE STUTES gave a history of the issue of conflict of
interest on the Board of Fisheries and explained the need for HB
20.
2:14:58 PM
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER commented that state boards have varied
membership to allow for exemptions on the board if need be.
2:16:07 PM
REPRESENTATIVE STUTES noted that the Board of Fisheries and the
Board of Game are the only two boards that fall under a
particular statute.
2:17:45 PM
CHAIR MCKAY announced that HB 20 was held over.
2:19:01 PM
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Resources Standing Committee meeting was adjourned at 2:19 p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| 3.31.23 Stanley Hoffman BOG App_Redacted.pdf |
HRES 5/1/2023 1:00:00 PM |
|
| HB 20 Sectional Analysis Version A 3.17.23.pdf |
HRES 5/1/2023 1:00:00 PM |
HB 20 |
| HB 20 Sponsor Statement Version A 3.17.23.pdf |
HRES 5/1/2023 1:00:00 PM |
HB 20 |
| HB 20 Public Testimony through 4.28.23.pdf |
HRES 5/1/2023 1:00:00 PM |
HB 20 |
| AIDEA Presentation - House Resources - FINAL 05.01.2023.pdf |
HRES 5/1/2023 1:00:00 PM |