02/05/1998 08:04 AM House STA
| Audio | Topic |
|---|
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
HOUSE STATE AFFAIRS STANDING COMMITTEE
February 5, 1998
8:04 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Jeannette James, Chair
Representative Ivan Ivan, Vice Chairman
Representative Ethan Berkowitz
Representative Fred Dyson
Representative Kim Elton
Representative Mark Hodgins
Representative Al Vezey
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
* HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 24
"Relating to the use of prototype designs in public school
construction projects."
- MOVED CSHCR 24(STA) OUT OF COMMITTEE
CS FOR SENATE BILL 105(FIN) am
"An Act relating to legislative and executive branch ethics;
relating to campaign finances for candidates for state office;
relating to the conduct and regulation of lobbyists with respect to
public officials; relating to the filing of disclosures by certain
state employees and officials; making a conforming amendment to the
definition of `public official' for employment security statutes;
and providing for an effective date."
- HEARD AND HELD
* HOUSE BILL NO. 312
"An Act relating to the Public Facilities Financing Corporation;
authorizing an advisory vote on whether the legislature should
appropriate $1,500,000,000 from the constitutional budget reserve
fund to capitalize the build Alaska fund; and providing for an
effective date."
- SCHEDULED BUT NOT HEARD
* HOUSE BILL 313
"An Act relating to preventive maintenance programs required for
certain state grants; and providing for an effective date."
- SCHEDULED BUT NOT HEARD
* HOUSE BILL 315
"An Act relating to operating appropriations for annual maintenance
and repair and periodic renewal and replacement of public buildings
and facilities; and providing for an effective date."
- SCHEDULED BUT NOT HEARD
(* First public hearing)
PREVIOUS ACTION
BILL: HCR 24
SHORT TITLE: PROTOTYPE SCHOOL DESIGN
SPONSOR(S): RULES BY REQUEST OF DMT
Jrn-Date Jrn-Page Action
01/12/98 2019 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRAL(S)
01/12/98 2019 (H) STATE AFFAIRS, FINANCE
02/05/98 Text (H) STA AT 8:00 AM CAPITOL 102
BILL: SB 105
SHORT TITLE: PROTOTYPE SCHOOL DESIGN
SPONSOR(S): RULES BY REQUEST OF DMT
Jrn-Date Jrn-Page Action
02/25/97 494 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRAL(S)
02/25/97 494 (S) STATE AFFAIRS, FINANCE
03/11/97 (S) STA AT 3:30 PM BELTZ ROOM 211
03/11/97 (S) MINUTE(STA)
03/13/97 (S) STA AT 3:30 PM BELTZ ROOM 211
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03/25/97 (S) STA AT 3:30 PM BELTZ ROOM 211
03/25/97 (S) MINUTE(STA)
03/26/97 873 (S) STA RPT CS 3DP NEW TITLE
03/26/97 873 (S) DP: GREEN, MILLER, WARD
03/26/97 873 (S) FISCAL NOTE TO SB (ADM)
03/26/97 873 (S) ZERO FISCAL NOTE TO SB (LAA)
03/26/97 873 (S) FISCAL NOTE TO CS (ADM)
04/10/97 (S) FIN AT 5:00 PM SENATE FINANCE 532
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04/16/97 1163 (S) FIN RPT CS 2DP 5NR NEW TITLE
04/16/97 1163 (S) DP: PEARCE; DP IF AM: PHILLIPS
04/16/97 1163 (S) NR: SHARP, PARNELL, ADAMS, TORGERSON,
04/16/97 1163 (S) DONLEY
04/16/97 1163 (S) PREVIOUS ZERO FN APPLIES (LAA)
04/16/97 1163 (S) ZERO FNS TO CS (LABOR, LAW)
04/16/97 1163 (S) PREVIOUS ZERO FN APPLIES (LAA)
04/18/97 (S) RLS AT 10:45 AM FAHRENKAMP RM 203
04/18/97 (S) MINUTE(RLS)
04/18/97 1276 (S) RULES TO CALENDAR & 1NR 4/18/97
04/18/97 1279 (S) READ THE SECOND TIME
04/18/97 1279 (S) FIN CS ADOPTED UNAN CONSENT
04/18/97 1280 (S) AM NO 1 OFFERED AND WITHDRAWN
04/18/97 1281 (S) AM NO 2 FAILED Y4 N13 E3
04/18/97 1282 (S) AM NO 3 FAILED Y4 N13 E3
04/18/97 1283 (S) AMENDMENTS 4, 5 NOT OFFERED
04/18/97 1283 (S) AM NO 6 ADOPTED Y12 N5 E3
04/18/97 1285 (S) AM NO 7 FAILED Y7 N10 E3
04/18/97 1286 (S) AM NO 8 FAILED Y5 N12 E3
04/18/97 1287 (S) AM NO 9 ADOPTED Y17 N- E3
04/18/97 1291 (S) ADVANCED TO THIRD READING UNAN
CONSENT
04/18/97 1291 (S) READ THE THIRD TIME CSSB 105(FIN) AM
04/18/97 1292 (S) PASSED Y15 N2 E3
04/18/97 1292 (S) EFFECTIVE DATE(S) SAME AS PASSAGE
04/18/97 1292 (S) LINCOLN NOTICE OF RECONSIDERATION
04/21/97 1334 (S) RECON TAKEN UP - IN THIRD READING
04/21/97 1335 (S) RETURN TO SECOND FOR AM 10 UNAN
CONSENT
04/21/97 1335 (S) AM NO 10 ADOPTED Y14 N5 E1
04/21/97 1336 (S) AUTOMATICALLY IN THIRD READING
04/21/97 1337 (S) PASSED ON RECONSIDERATION Y17 N2 E1
04/21/97 1337 (S) EFFECTIVE DATE(S) SAME AS PASSAGE
04/21/97 1370 (S) TRANSMITTED TO (H)
04/22/97 1232 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRAL(S)
04/22/97 1233 (H) STATE AFFAIRS, FINANCE
02/05/98 (H) STA AT 8:00 AM CAPITOL 102
WITNESS REGISTER
DENNIS DEWITT, Legislative Assistant to
Representative Eldon Mulder
Alaska State Legislature
Capitol Building, Room 501
Juneau, Alaska 99801
Telephone: (907) 465-2647
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of HCR 24.
GARY WILKEN, Senator
Alaska State Legislature
Capitol Building, Room 510
Juneau, Alaska 99801
Telephone: (907) 465-3709
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of HCR 24.
DOUG GREEN, Architect
American Institute of Architects
and Alaska Professional Design Council
901 West Twenty-ninth Avenue
Anchorage, Alaska 99503
Telephone: (907) 563-8474
POSITION STATEMENT: Provided information for HCR 24.
MIKE MORGAN, Facilities Manager
Teaching and Learning Support
Department of Education
801 West Tenth Street, Suite 200
Juneau, Alaska 99801
Telephone: (907) 465-1858
POSITION STATEMENT: Provided information for HCR 24.
LEN MACKLER, Director
Physical Plant Department
Fairbanks North Star Borough
School District
520 Fifth Avenue
Fairbanks, Alaska 99701
Telephone: (907) 452-4461
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of HCR 24.
BENJAMIN BROWN, Administrative Assistant
to Senator Tim Kelly
Alaska State Legislature
Capitol Building, Room 101
Juneau, Alaska 99801
Telephone: (907) 465-3822
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified on behalf of Senator Kelly,
sponsor of SB 105.
NEIL SLOTNICK, Assistant
Attorney General
Commercial Section
Department of Law
P.O. Box 1103000
Juneau, Alaska 99811
Telephone: (907) 465-3600
POSITION STATEMENT: Provided information on SB 105.
ACTION NARRATIVE
TAPE 98-10, SIDE A
Number 0001
CHAIR JEANNETTE JAMES called the House State Affairs Standing
Committee meeting to order at 8:04 a.m. Members present at the
call to order were Representatives James, Dyson, Elton, and
Hodgins. Representatives Ivan, Berkowitz and Vezey joined the
meeting at 9:05 a.m. and 9:07 a.m. respectively.
HCR 24 - PROTOTYPE SCHOOL DESIGN
Number 0058
CHAIR JAMES announced the first item of business was HCR 24,
"Relating to the use of prototype designs in public school
construction projects." Chair James said she intended to move HCR
24 out of committee today due to the March 1, 1998 deadline.
Number 0064
DENNIS DEWITT, Legislative Assistant, to Representative Mulder,
Alaska State Legislature, testified on behalf of Representative
Eldon Mulder, Co-chairman of the Deferred Maintenance Task Force.
Mr. DeWitt said the Deferred Maintenance Task Force reviewed many
schools as they traveled through the state during the fall [1997].
One of the issues that was brought before the task force was the
using of prototypical designs for schools. The task force
recommended consideration be given to use prototypical schools for
several reasons. One was the potential savings in terms of design
and construction. Secondly, it was important to reduce long-term
maintenance costs. Mr. DeWitt indicated there was a strong feeling
that the use of prototypical designs would help do that.
Number 0116
MR. DEWITT said prototypical designs were currently being used in
several school districts. He noted the task force was shown
prototypical schools when they visited Fairbanks and Anchorage.
Number 127
MR. DEWITT pointed out the proposed committee substitute
incorporates many of the concerns and issues that have been raised:
"Page 1, line 6, replaces 'critical' with 'crucial'.
"Page 1, lines 15 and 16, corrects the names of the municipalities
to their full and proper names.
"Page 2, lines 2 through 7, were added at the suggestion of
representatives from the Fairbanks North Star Borough [FNSB] School
District. It talks about the things that they have learned and the
advantages they have gained from the use of prototypical schools in
terms of the reduction and maintenance costs and improvements in
the maintenance programs through the use of standardized building
components, systems and products. They have experienced fewer
problems during the first year when they use a prototype school.
"What Fairbanks shared with the task force was, once you have
schools that have common systems, training your maintenance crews
on a common system is much less expensive and much more effective
than having to train them on multiple types of systems. The
typical bugs that were anticipated in new construction are much
reduced through the use of prototypical schools. As the first one
is developed and used many of the bugs are worked out.
"Fairbanks, after the first year of use, interviewed faculty,
administration, parents and others regarding any problems. That
helped evolve the prototypical design - they are working out bugs
as they go. Since they have built the building before, they know
where the bugs are going to be and they design around them.
"Page 2, lines 8 through 10, was added to reflect the concern that
these prototypical designs accurately reflect the Alaska
environment. This is not southern California or New Mexico where
we had some facilities designed and put up in an Arctic region.
"Page 2, line 15, the focus was for schools grades K-6, not schools
across the board.
"Page 2, lines 15 through 18, adds consultation with architects,
engineers, and professional organizations familiar with Alaskan
climactic conditions and its effects on school design and
construction. This was at request by a number of the professional
designers and architects and engineers who indicated that it would
be helpful. The task force agreed to have them participate in the
designs and discussions.
"Page 2. line 20, directs the Department of Education to consult
with the bond reimbursement and grant review committee.
"The task force suggested, as this process moves on, there be
consultation with the bond reimbursement and grant review committee
in developing incentives for schools to use the prototypical
designs. That will be forthcoming as a result of activities around
this resolution.
"Page 2, lines 24 through 27, adds a resolve to request that the
Department of Education identify prototype components when a
prototypical design might not be appropriate.
"The task force recommended adding a resolve acknowledging that
there are some instances where prototypical designs may not be
appropriate. But they should be defined and identified components
that can be used again to gather the advantages of prototypical
design and experience in designing schools."
Number 0258
REPRESENTATIVE KIM ELTON identified requirements that would place
a burden upon the Department of Education. He said the obvious is
the cost of working with design professionals and developing
prototypical school designs. The resolution states what they need
to do, he asked how are they going to pay for it.
Number 0267
MR. DEWITT replied the cost is undetermined and stressed the task
force would like to move HCR 24 quickly in order to begin the
process this year. Mr. DeWitt said, "We'd like them to tell us
what they're going to need in terms of legislation, which in my
mind would also mean funding, by March 1."
Number 0278
REPRESENTATIVE ELTON addressed the requirements for developing
prototypical school designs in consultation with design
professionals. He said he believed one of the concerns some people
may have is that HCR 24 is a usurpation of local decision-making.
Representative Elton asked, "Why isn't there something in the
resolution that says the department also needs to work with
districts that have prototypical school designs, and with districts
that may or may not want them, as they come up with design
standards."
Number 0289
MR. DEWITT replied there probably is no reason. He said the
districts that have prototypical schools were not specifically
included in the resolution. He said, "It has been the expectation
that they would be involved in the process. They have thus far
been involved in the process and very willing participants."
Number 0303
MR. DEWITT responded to Representative Elton's question. He said,
he did not see that there would be a particular problem, except to
say that the larger the group the longer it takes to get from point
A to point B. What interested the task force was how could they do
things more cost-effectively, more efficiently and not have the
same type of deferred maintenance problem over the long-term.
Number 0323
MR. DEWITT said, "One of the concessions they [task force]
generally made is that if folks want to come to the state for
financing, and many instances up to 98 percent state funding, then
we have the opportunity and the obligation to try and make our
investment as sound as possible, as efficient as possible, and
providing for as good maintenance downstream as economical as
possible. The task force looked at it in the context of how do we
make sure state resources are expended in the most efficient
fashion possible."
Number 0340
SENATOR GARY WILKEN indicated there seems to be a stigma attached
to a prototype school. The task force experienced that stigma in
Fairbanks when someone suggested having a prototype system in the
late 1980s. Through his relationship with the school board and the
school district Senator Wilken said he experienced that fear, that
they were going to have schools that would all look the same, and
they didn't really apply to anyone.
Number 0348
SENATOR WILKEN said there are seven prototype schools and that
Fairbanks is extremely pleased with their prototype system and
would not do it any other way.
Number 0354
SENATOR WILKEN pointed out the state would first have to sell the
idea that it is okay to have two schools in a city that look the
same. He said the state needs to have some basis of comparison
when we have requests for funding for schools.
Number 0366
SENATOR WILKEN said, "Why do we build in Fairbanks, we just built
a 600 student school for $9.9 million. Why does somewhere else
need a $28 million school for 280 students... We have to have some
sense in the relationships in cost, and by standardizing, and by
saying, 'Well, could we put a prototype school in the Kashunamiut
district.' If we could, what's it going to cost... If we could
save 10 or 15 percent at the outset on capitol, we can get down
that list quicker to benefit all the kids. And once we get a
prototype school in place, and we have a system that works, most
school districts throughout the state - we then save on on-going
expenses."
Number 0387
REPRESENTATIVE ELTON stated his concern is that when a state begins
to impose conditions on districts that often times that part of the
selling, that Senator Wilken mentioned, is bringing people along.
If you bring people along by including them in the process that
develops a prototypical school design you are minimizing the sales
job you have to do. Including people in the design phase may make
sense because at the end you are not telling them what to do. They
feel they have a stake in what has been done.
Number 0402
SENATOR WILKEN stated he agreed with Representative Elton. He said
the first thing they have to remember is why they are building the
schools. It is to provide the best educational atmosphere for the
children and the product is as good as we can make it.
Number 0405
SENATOR WILKEN said the second thing may or may not be a statement
of what the school means to a community and how it reflects the
community's values. He stated that that is a part of it and the
state has set aside some money to do that. He said it became
crystal clear to him when he traveled from Buckland to Kiana and he
said for example, put two schools on a barge and drop one off at
Kiana and then go on up river and drop one off in Buckland - same
school - those kids will never know the difference.
Number 0418
SENATOR WILKEN indicated they could do it for a lot less than what
is being done - if they started from day one and designed a school
just for Buckland and for Kiana. He told Representative Elton that
he could not agree more, they would have to keep local people
involved.
Number 0421
REPRESENTATIVE FRED DYSON saw problems in practice. One of them is
that Alaska has varying conditions with ice-rich ground and high-
temperature permafrost, these are significant foundation problems.
Number 0428
REPRESENTATIVE DYSON said secondly, once you standardize on
components there is a great danger of limiting the competitive
bidding process for mechanical, electrical systems and so on.
Number 0429
REPRESENTATIVE DYSON said the third issue is is that there has been
rapid progress in building materials, insulating windows, and
energy systems. He believed there is a danger with doing
prototypes, that we do not lock ourselves into something that in
five or ten years becomes obsolete.
Number 0435
SENATOR WILKEN stated Mr. Mackler would address the three items.
Number 0441
REPRESENTATIVE ETHAN BERKOWITZ said he understood prototype design
schools would save money. He asked how many schools were in the K-
6 [kindergarten through sixth grade] zone and how much money will
be saved.
Number 0446
SENATOR WILKEN referred to the capital project list from the
Department of Education. He said, "Total that up, take some amount
that won't be appropriate for prototypical design for some reason,
total that up and come up with some hundreds of millions of dollars
and take 10 or 20 percent of that. I think that's a rough number
of what we'll save." He said a goal would be to save 10 percent to
get one new school for every ten that the state builds.
Number 0458
REPRESENTATIVE ETHAN BERKOWITZ believed, page 2, the next to last
resolve, was the exception that swallows the rule -- prototypes,
except where it might not be appropriate. He said he imagined that
the determination of appropriateness would be made at the local
level.
Number 0465
SENATOR WILKEN replied the Bond Reimbursement Committee was formed
in 1994, and that both himself and Chair James are members of that
committee. When he attended his first meeting in August, he
examined their responsibilities. He said one of the six charges is
to evaluate prototypical design. He believed they had done some
work on that process and the appropriateness decision comes from
the Bond Reimbursement Committee.
Number 0472
REPRESENTATIVE MARK HODGINS pointed out the Kenai Peninsula has had
several prototype schools. He said they did manage to change them
somewhat but, that drove the cost up. He suggested they look at
the fact that they have a finite amount of dollars, and that it is
better to build the same type of schools and to build more of them.
He said he hoped to spread them out across the cities where they
need them.
REPRESENTATIVE HODGINS stated in his district, when they want to do
something they raise the money and do it and as long as the state
is paying for it there are certain guidelines that they must adhere
to. He said, "We can do small things in the schools to make them
unique or different. But unless we're going to pay for them
ourselves, I think that we should make a good development on a
prototype design and put that across the state - build more
schools, that's what we need. We don't need individual schools."
Number 0493
REPRESENTATIVE IVAN IVAN said his district has partial or very
little permafrost, however, there was a lot of permafrost in the
surrounding communities and they do not have the economy as his
other colleagues have. Representative Ivan said a housing
prototype, which was designed and engineered to work well in
California or in Seattle Washington, was introduced to his
district. He wished they could design for Arctic conditions that
would fit a lot of Bush communities. He suggested they be flexible
as they design and consider community input to improve the design.
Number 0525
SENATOR WILKEN agreed with Representative Ivan's statements and
noted that they have learned from the Molly Hootch schools and
hoped they would not make the same mistakes.
Number 0529
SENATOR WILKEN stated we have an Arctic school, a southcentral
school and a southeast school and the foundations are a variable,
the roof is also going to have to be a different configuration. He
concluded the state needs to obviously design for the climate, and
will go back to local input.
Number 0538
MR. DEWITT said they added a whereas - a public facility should be
designed to accurately reflect the unique needs of the sub-Arctic
and Arctic environment.
Number 0546
CHAIR JAMES stated the HCR 24 instructs the Department of Education
to come up with suggested statutory changes that they need to
implement the plan.
Number 0558
REPRESENTATIVE BERKOWITZ pointed out the resolution focuses on K-6
and indicated the number of students in K-6 vary widely throughout
the state. Consequently, there could be problems associated with
the development of prototypical schools that might be appropriate
to Anchorage as opposed to Fairbanks or someplace else that is more
remote. He said if we submit to the Department of Education a
requirement that they come up with a K-6 plan and we ignore the
other needs the community has for that structure, maybe this isn't
broad enough.
Number 0571
SENATOR WILKEN said he thinks we have to walk before we run. To
tackle the issue of a junior high or a high school, the educational
component requirements are varied much more so than a K-6. He
said, "So let's take ten years and make K-6 work. If that works so
well, then we'll maybe a prototype junior high." He informed the
committee members there is currently one on the board in Fairbanks.
Number 0579
REPRESENTATIVE BERKOWITZ said they need to know where they are
going and if they know there is going to be certain problems or
constraints they might as well incorporate that knowledge before
they stand up and stride in the direction that might prove
unfruitful.
Number 0581
SENATOR WILKEN agreed.
Number 0584
REPRESENTATIVE ELTON asked, "In Bush locations do they have K-6,
usually K-8 isn't it. So, if you develop a prototypical school
designed for K-6 would that be applicable..."
Number 0589
SENATOR WILKEN suggested the committee amend it to cover K-8.
Number 0604
REPRESENTATIVE AL VEZEY said, "To put together the relationship
between the deferred maintenance problem and how they are going to
reegineer the Molly Hootch program for the twenty-first century it
seems like the subject before us is not deferred maintenance." He
asked if someone could tie these together for him.
Number 0609
CHAIR JAMES said some of the problems that came up with deferred
maintenance are money and maintenance. She said the task force
also found completely different furnace systems, systems even by
now that you could probably not get replacement parts for, or have
to order out-of-state because they are not available.
Number 0620
CHAIR JAMES stated part of the goal of the Deferred Maintenance
Task Force was to catch up and to keep up. She said it would not
do them any good if they have a plan to catch up all the deferred
maintenance that has been neglected over the years. She said, "If
six years from now - which was the original plan to have us caught
up, that we are suddenly faced with another six years of deferred
maintenance because we have not been able to keep up at the same
time." She stressed that this is part of the keep up and that it
does have a direct relationship to on-going maintenance. Before
any district receives money for deferred maintenance they must
first have a maintenance plan in place. Chair James said, "We want
to be sure that catching up once will keep us up in the future.
This whole issue, although it seems to be far off field, does
definitely relate to the amount of money that it will take to keep
up our buildings in the future. And it is a correction of the
Molly Hootch buildings and construction."
Number 0641
DOUG GREEN, Architect, testified from Anchorage on behalf of the
American Institute of Architects and the Alaska Professional Design
Council. Mr. Green believed HCR 24 was moving in the right
direction. He said they have contacted the American Institute of
Architects and found that the state of Georgia conducted a survey
in 1991 and that 49 states have tried prototypical school design.
He said many of those states had tried this program, and many of
them have discontinued it for various reasons and a handful of
states are pursuing this on a statewide basis.
Number 0660
MR. GREEN felt there is good use of prototypical designs and that
large population centers with similar site conditions, within a
school district, are advantageous for prototypical design. He said
Fairbanks, Anchorage and Kenai are currently using prototypical
design and it seems to work fairly well in those areas.
Number 0664
MR. GREEN said they also realized that there is a wide variety of
conditions, locales and sizes of classes in school districts
throughout Alaska. And because of that trying to standardize one
school to fit all of those needs is something they feel is a very
difficult task to undertake and may not warrant the time and money
expended in pursuing it. He also felt there is great advantage to
be looked at in standardizing some of the components that go into
these schools. It was suggested previously that a cataloging of
good practices and things that have worked throughout the state
standardizing of different components of a school may be something
they could definitely find some good effort and good results from.
Number 0676
MR. GREEN brought up the liability issue. He said with designs
that are created by architects, the architect has a liability for
those designs that he stamps. In a prototypical situation they are
concerned, including their insurance companies, about the liability
that goes along with a prototypical school. If someone takes that
design and starts to modify it, the liability becomes void and
there may be some difficulties down the road. The major Anchorage
and Fairbanks school districts have utilized the same firm for
their prototypical school designs and that seems to work fairly
well, especially if there are multiple firms that have a prototype
design that can be bid competitively.
Number 0688
MR. GREEN reiterated that the technology, the codes, and many
components of the schools are continually evolving and changing.
He said, "We want to make sure we stay in tune with - for the best
energy savings and cost savings. One thing that was brought out,
and was critical to them, was that they found that the schools that
are cared for the best are ones where the community is directly
involved in those schools - and has a sense of ownership in those
schools. The others, that may have been forced or dropped in on a
community, are sometimes taken for granted and are abused."
Number 0702
MR. GREEN summarized that they would like to pursue, with the
Department of Education, the idea of developing standardized
components that can be configured in various ways to adapt to sight
conditions and climatic conditions and still achieve the end result
of the best possible design for the fewest number of dollars
expended.
Number 0707
REPRESENTATIVE BERKOWITZ asked if standardized practices could be
done through building codes.
Number 0710
MR. GREEN responded that standardized practices is part of building
codes. He said building codes are an attempt to standardize the
way buildings are put together. It is not entirely the thrust of
HCR 24 or the task force, it revolves more around standardizing
what is the gymnasium, what is the classroom, how you do toilet
rooms.
TAPE 98-10, SIDE B
Number 0004
MIKE MORGAN, Facilities Manager, Department of Education, came
before the committee. He said many of the original comments they
posed to the Senate were addressed in the changes that Senator
Wilken presented to the House State Affairs Committee. He said the
Department of Education had concerns about mandating particular use
of prototypes because, while they do work well in certain
situations, they are problems in other situations and those are
primarily when there are varying site conditions. In this state
there are varying sizes that are required for the schools, and
those can cause challenges. Mr. Morgan said Senator Wilken
mentioned they need to meet the educational needs of the programs
being presented in the communities where they are being built.
MR. MORGAN also referred to the climatic variations which start to
be addressed in the committee substitute for the original
resolution. He said, "But we also have climatic conditions such as
snowdrifting patterns and wind conditions which range from high
winds in the Anchorage area to those in the Aleutians and up the
west coastal Alaska can be very high. Those changes may cause
changes in the actual building configuration."
Number 0050
MR. MORGAN said components should be explored. There are other
cost saving measures which might be of benefit to explore at this
same time.
Number 0056
CHAIR JAMES asked if the committee substitute gives sufficient
latitude for the Department of Education to respond to the basic
request.
Number 0006
MR. MORGAN believed it does because the committee substitute puts
it back into the bond reimbursement and grant review committees and
says explore this topic.
Number 0069
CHAIR JAMES she said they would need access to parts. She asked if
they were using particular types of equipment would the private
industry see fit to keep parts on order. She also asked if an
inventory would be maintained.
Number 0087
MR. MORGAN replied that that is the case. He said one of the big
components that we need for repairs are heating systems. He noted
most schools in the state have gone to boiler systems for a variety
of good reasons. There are probably two or three primary suppliers
right now, he believed there would be a long-term source of parts
and supplies for those systems because there is a market demand.
Mr. Morgan said we both see availability and good pricing in those
items because of that availability and the demand.
Number 0113
REPRESENTATIVE HODGINS made a motion to adopt CSHCR 24, February 4,
1998, 0-LS1345\B as the working draft. There being no objection,
Version B was before the committee.
Number 0126
REPRESENTATIVE ELTON asked Mr. Morgan if he might be suggesting
that if we design a prototypical school that meets a high wind
shear problem, as there are in the Aleutians, that we may be adding
a cost to a school not in the Aleutians that does not have wind
problems but might have a snow load problem.
Number 0143
MR. MORGAN agreed that could be the case. He said if you
transplanted the Fairbanks prototypical school to Ketchikan, it may
not have the same features that you would need in Southeast Alaska.
But one of the things explored in the committee substitute is
looking at the regional differences we have in the state and
considering those climatic variations. Mr. Morgan said they are
more comfortable with the committee substitute because those are
issues that need to be explored.
Number 0160
REPRESENTATIVE BERKOWITZ asked if there were other designs
available, since we have been designing schools for a long time,
that districts can choose to use or can draw on.
Number 0166
MR. MORGAN said some repetition of errors that have been made in
the past are still being made today. One of the goals the
Department of Education had was to try to put together a
compilation of lessons learned, both good and bad, except in
Fairbanks and Anchorage where they are using the prototypical
design and updating that design every time they build it. He
mentioned Alaska has some design professionals who still seem to be
repeating previous errors.
Number 0189
REPRESENTATIVE BERKOWITZ asked about other cost saving measures the
state could pursue.
Number 0195
MR. MORGAN said one example is something that British Columbia is
doing, and they have a wide range of climatic types also and it is
a fairly large province. One thing they are requiring all of their
new schools to have done is something called 'value engineering'
which looks at the components of the school and the cost on a life
cycle basis for the whole facility. So you say not only is it
cheap today, but is it going to be cheap to maintain over the life
of the building. He believed that would be of value to explore as
they look at this.
Number 0211
LEN MACKLER, Director, Physical Plant Department, Fairbanks North
Star Borough (FNSB) School District, testified on behalf of the
Fairbanks FNSB School District. He said Fairbanks uses a 600
student elementary K-6 prototype although they have recently used
it in a 3-6 school and have made some modifications. Mr. Mackler
said, "The first one was built in 1983, we wrote the architectural
contract at that time, so that the school district owns the design.
We don't have to pay for its use each time. We have built six of
these schools since then, with the most recent one coming on line
this fall. We do improve the design each time, as you heard other
people talk about, we go back into the school and ask everybody
from the custodian to the nurse and to every teacher, 'If you were
to do this over again what would you do differently.' And we use
those comments in the next design."
Number 0228
MR. MACKLER said the design they have been replicating requires a
fairly flat site. However, they also own a hilly site design but
have not had to use it again because they have not had a hilly
sight a second time. Mr. Mackler pointed out that the last school
that was built in Fairbanks opened this last fall. He said the
construction costs for a 63,000 square foot school cost $9.9
million, which is $157 a square foot.
Number 0233
MR. MACKLER said the benefits they have realized in Fairbanks are
the time that it takes, it takes them one year less in the design
phase because they do not need to do the full building design.
They only have to do a site design and update the building design
from previous experience. He said this saves us one year of
inflation costs which is running about two and one half percent.
It gets the children into better facilities quicker and reduces the
overcrowding. Mr. Mackler said, "The other thing it does, is it
gives our voters, who have pulled the lever on the ballot box some
significant time before, a much quicker time until they pull the
lever on the door handle opening the school. Some times it's hard
to explain to them why it takes so long and we think this helps."
Number 0245
MR. MACKLER believed they had a considerable savings in money. The
design fees, on the new schools, are running about five percent of
construction costs versus about 10 percent plus on a completely new
design. The FNSB School District has a brand new middle school of
63,000 square feet getting ready to go to bid and the design fees
on that are running 11 percent. The difference is 6 percent. The
$9.9 million construction cost for the last prototype would have
been $600 thousand. A year savings of inflation at two and one
half percent would have been another $250 thousand. For those two
items alone they believe they are saving $850 thousand on this
school or eight and one half percent.
MR. MACKLER said the third benefit is the competitiveness in the
bids. The contractors around town and around Alaska all know that
the previous low bidders of every one of these projects has made
money and everybody has come away smiling. They hire foremen from
other firms that have done the job, they hire workmen who have
worked on the job, they hire subs who have worked on the job, they
even trade each others plans and sell each others plans back and
forth. They like to bid on the schools because they know that the
designs are very complete, there is not going to be change orders
and huge problems that are going to slow down construction that are
found once they get into it. It is his belief that the square foot
costs are about five percent lower because of the prototypical
design or about half a million on a project of the size they have.
When you add those to the previous savings he mentioned, he
believed we are saving about 14 percent in overall construction
cost which is about $1.3 million which they think is significant.
Number 0279
MR. MACKLER said the fourth area that they believe is good is the
educational program is well served. The teachers and the
principals love these designs, they know that they have significant
input into it and will continue to have input into it. He said,
"As we design each new one the students, teachers, principal and
the community that are going to be going into it are consulted and
determine the colors, some of the site design issues, the school
name, mascot, and choose the art for the building."
MR. MACKLER said the fifth benefit is the first year start-up
problems. Typically in a brand new design, you have a terrible
problem the first year that you go into occupation. Heating
systems (indisc.), balanced rooms are overheated, under heated,
intercom stations do not work, telephones do not work right, it
becomes a huge problem. Because the building is under warranty for
one year and owned by the contractor still, there are huge
arguments between the maintenance staff and the contractor's staff.
And a lot more finger pointing is done about who caused the problem
and who has to fix it then there is wrench turning done to fix it.
Mr. Mackler said they have very few problems in start-up because of
the standard components, the standard building design and we
figured all those problems out. This means happier teachers in
front of kids and happier kids concentrating on education.
Number 0303
MR. MACKLER stated the sixth item is standardization. He said we
have extensive standardization of the building systems, the
components and the products in them. This reaps huge rewards in
the overall long-term routine and major maintenance program.
Number 03007
MR. MACKLER said the seventh item is that they use components of
the prototype design in renovating and additions to older
elementary schools. So it doesn't just apply to brand new designs.
We use the components we have in the facility as we do in an old
building, the classrooms standards we use when we go in and
renovate classrooms and libraries, et cetera. We believe that
helps us with design also.
Number 0313
MR. MACKLER said our teachers, students and principals like this.
The FNSB School Board and community like the design and understand
the benefits of it. It saves significant money in initial
construction and in the long-term maintenance program. It also
saves them time in design and construction. Mr. Mackler said, "We
think that any loss that you have by the (indisc.) and the
community of buy-in for an extensive add, specification and design
process is offset by the fact that it is widely accepted by
everybody as you go into this that these schools function well and
work well and each of our communities, as we are building a new
one, wants the prototype."
Number 0325
MR. MACKLER believed it also solves the problem of equity among
various communities in our school district. He said if you build
one school differently and everybody thinks it is better then they
have, then you start having equity problems.
Number 0330
MR. MACKLER answered the question on maintenance costs and how it
affects us. In the FNSB School District, their maintenance and
utility cost, as a percentage of their overall operating budget,
was running about 18 percent back in the middle 1980s when they
started using the prototypes. Now that they have a significant
number of them, he believes that it has contributed to the fact
that they now only have a 13 percent of their overall operating
budget in maintenance. That is a five percent reduction which, for
them, equals six million dollars. Mr. Mackler said they look at
every $60 thousand saved in maintenance as another teacher in front
of students in the FNSB school district. The FNSB School District
believes prototypes helped considerably on that.
Number 0340
MR. MACKLER replied to the question, how do they deal with the
foundation difference in different site conditions. He said they
have had a number of different site conditions, mostly from soils
and from utilities. The biggest difference they found was one of
their sites had such extensive permafrost that they had to put the
building on pilings and that worked fine but it cost a little more
than a regular excavation refill and spread footing but it is
working fine and you would never know the fact that University Park
Elementary, which the Deferred Maintenance Task Force drove by, was
actually built on pilings.
Number 0349
MR. MACKLER responded to the discussion of competitive bidding when
you standardize on components. He said the FNSB is very sensitive
to that and they believe there are ways to do that. Mr. Mackler
said they are not sole sourcing components of the building, the
components they have listed are available competitively, or they
have two listed.
Number 0355
MR. MACKLER addressed the question about keeping up with the
changes in technology and components of buildings. He said we
monitor that constantly as we get ready to update a design to build
a new one, we look at what systems are available, or what
improvements are available and we incorporate those. He noted that
they have done that extensively with the digital control system.
He said that is the direct digital control system, the computerized
system that runs the building. Mr. Mackler said they have upgraded
that extensively over the years, they have changed the telephone
and the intercom system and changed some of the heating components,
the digital control system, etcetera to better reflect the
technology that works. He stressed the FNSB does not jump on the
first thing that comes down the pike, but things that are being
proven throughout the nation to work they roll into the design.
Number 0371
REPRESENTATIVE HODGINS congratulated Mr. Mackler on their program
and thanked him for his diligence. He added that he should be an
example for the rest of the state.
Number 0380
REPRESENTATIVE ELTON asked Mr. Mackler how much of the success that
they have had in Fairbanks comes from the discreteness of their
school district. He said you are able to plan on new elementary
schools coming on, each serving a student population of 600. The
concern he has is that in a larger school district you may have
more of a chance of success with prototypical schools than in
districts in which their schools are in villages of differing sizes
and with different conditions. Representative Elton believed
Fairbanks has an advantage over some other districts.
Number 0395
MR. MACKLER responded that was obviously their experience and they
are probably blessed because they have a lot of the conditions in
place that make the use of this extremely successful. He did not
believe the kind of extreme success that they have had can be done
all around the state. But, there are smaller districts that have
a number of village sites where some parts of this program could be
usable, it could be helpful even if it is just on a component basis
where they decide what they want in an elementary classroom. That
is the core building block of an elementary school, how big is it,
how many kids are you going to serve, what is the configuration of
it, do you want it to have an exterior window, how do you want the
lighting to work, where do you want the computer drops, what kind
of flooring and wall surfaces do you want, etcetera. He believed
all of those things could be done at the very basic level and could
work for anybody, and then from there on up, depending on the
district of the schools and how many you are building. He said it
depends on how much more of it you could use.
Number 0420
REPRESENTATIVE VEZEY referenced the seven prototypical schools
occupied now and the 30 schools total of which 22 are elementary
schools. He asked what percent of the savings came from the
prototypical school. Representative Vezey said, "I think we may be
misleading just how much efficiency from design changes and how
much efficiency we've achieved just from better management."
Number 0421
MR. MACKLER replied he believed it was elements of both. He
mentioned quite a few of these new schools have replaced older
schools such as the two that serve Fort Wainwright students replace
a total of five smaller archaic elementary schools that were
costing them a terrific amount in maintenance and utility costs.
He believed the fact that they have seven prototypes serving 600
kids each, versus out of their 22 total elementary schools, most of
the rest of them are smaller. He thought the prototypes in shear
numbers have a bigger effect.
MR. MACKLER also believed that components of the prototype that
they have developed through standardization of how their heating
systems work, what their insulation regiment is, how their
classrooms are laid out, doors and have incorporated in renovations
to many of their older elementary schools have also helped. He
also believed there are other things that go into it and hoped he
didn't mislead them to say the five percent they have saved over
those years has been totally due to prototypes, he thought it had
contributed a significant amount.
Number 0449
REPRESENTATIVE VEZEY asked what savings he thought they achieved in
energy efficiency in the past 15 to 16 years.
Number 0452
MR. MACKLER replied that their heating bills for the FNSB district,
back in the middle 1980s, were approaching a million dollars a
year. Most of that is fuel oil, some of it is steam heat, but
their heating bills now are down in the neighborhood of $750,000.
He believed that was a combination of more efficient schools,
better insulation, better heating systems and better maintenance on
it, the digital control systems that are on most of the buildings
that do goodnight set back and control the heat better. A lot of
those things have contributed to a significant savings in heating
costs.
Number 0463
REPRESENTATIVE VEZEY said the savings from lower competitive bids,
as the contractor watches the market, he believed Mr. Mackler had
done far better on competitive bids. Representative Vezey said Mr.
Mackler is running nearly 20 percent to 25 percent below the
commercial rate for similar type structures. He asked how much
more help is needed from the state Department of Education to
accomplish these goals.
Number 0474
MR. MACKLER responded that he would need the legislature's
assistance and cooperation with requests and continued funding for
older buildings that need renovations and upgrades.
Number 0478
REPRESENTATIVE BERKOWITZ asked Mr. Mackler how he made the decision
to use a prototypical school design in Fairbanks and what he
thought the response of the residents would be if the state were to
impose a prototypical design on them.
Number 0482
MR. MACKLER said he believed the decision was made in the early
1980s. Three elementary schools were under construction at one
time and three different architects were working on these designs
with different concepts and ideas. When the schools were completed
the FNSB school district and the state looked at them and were
happy with one, with varying degrees of happiness with the others.
Since more elementary schools would be built in the future,
probably every three years or so, it was believed they needed to
come up with a design that works rather than starting from scratch
and taking so long.
Number 0498
MR. MACKLER responded to Representative Berkowitz question
regarding the state imposing prototypical design. He said if the
state imposed the one they have they would love it. And if
somebody else's was imposed they would have to look at it and see
why it was better than the one they have. If it didn't meet the
need of their teacher's educational program they would probably
riot.
Number 0504
CHAIR JAMES said prototypical design is like seeing a Pizza Hut
everywhere, but when talking about the components of prototypical
design of the schools, this would not be forcing prototypical
design on any district that already has one, but maybe suggesting
improvements.
Number 0522
REPRESENTATIVE HODGINS made a motion to move CSHCR 24 out of
committee with individual recommendations and attached fiscal
notes.
Number 0526
REPRESENTATIVE ELTON objected and stated his objections for the
record. He said there are a series of decisions that have yet to
be made which were mentioned earlier in the meeting. The
Department of Education is going to have to come back and tell the
legislature how much it is going to cost and whether there are
going to be statutory changes to do that.
Number 0549
REPRESENTATIVE ELTON noted his philosophical objection was that
decisions are made at high government levels, and then they are
moved back down to local levels. He stated that this moves in the
opposite direction. What is being suggested by the committee
substitute is that the state will be telling people in local
districts, and local school boards, what is best for them rather
than letting the local districts decide for themselves. He
indicated that Mr. DeWitt and Representative Hodgins suggested,
since the state is paying for it, therefore, the state should set
the rules. Representative Elton said the state is paying for most
of the academic programs also, does that necessarily mean that the
state should be setting the academic standards and what is being
taught in the classroom rather than local school boards.
Number 0551
REPRESENTATIVE ELTON stated he would rather have 'elementary
schools' rather than 'K-6'. He said K-6 does not work in a lot of
the small rural settings. He then indicated he would vote to move
the bill out so that the discussion could continue.
Number 0558
CHAIR JAMES responded to Representative Elton's remarks. She
believed this legislature, the administration and everyone would be
willing to let every local entity in the state make all their own
decisions providing they are also willing to pay. It appeared, to
what she has heard, no one wants to pay for these things. Chair
James concluded this would be mandatory, there will be no choice.
Number 0575
REPRESENTATIVE BERKOWITZ voiced his objection. He referenced the
map of the United States with Alaska superimposed, stretching
across from Florida to California. He said the resolution is
suggesting that it would be appropriate to have the same design in
Florida, Nebraska, Colorado and California. He pointed out local
areas should have the opportunity to say the design is not
appropriate, and that is incorporated in the bill. However, that
kind of determination on a local level, which apparently is going
to be made by a bond committee - not by the folks who actually have
to use the school, is this sort of exception that swallows the
rule.
Number 0585
REPRESENTATIVE BERKOWITZ noted the architect stated we don't want
to have a standardized design. There is an opportunity to have
standardized practices and components, but that is not what this
piece of legislation does.
Number 0590
REPRESENTATIVE BERKOWITZ reiterated Mr. Mackler's statement, if
folks in Fairbanks had to use a prototypical design they might well
riot.
Number 0597
CHAIR JAMES stated that is not what the legislation is intended to
do.
Number 0598
REPRESENTATIVE BERKOWITZ said he did not hear any concrete numbers
on the savings from having the Department of Education make these
studies. He believed they are sending the Department of Education
out to do a job that is defined very poorly and that the
opportunity for generating results that are going to yield any
benefit are very minimal.
Number 0604
REPRESENTATIVE BERKOWITZ said what HCR 24 does, is it creates a
homogenized Alaska. We are going to make it easy to do things the
same way for everyone at all times and that, with the exceptions
written in the bill, is not possible.
Number 0606
CHAIR JAMES stated she asked Mr. Morgan if the language gave him
the latitude to do just exactly what Representative Berkowitz was
referring to.
Number 0610
MR. MORGAN said yes.
Number 0611
REPRESENTATIVE AL VEZEY said he shared Representative Elton's
philosophical concerns. Representative Vezey motioned to move a
possible amendment on page 2, by deleting lines 14 through 31,
because he believed the legislature would be sending a message that
he is not prepared to support.
Number 0625
CHAIR JAMES asked Mr. DeWitt to address the changes that were added
in the Senate.
Number 0628
MR. DEWITT explained the change on line 15 was recommended by the
Department of Administration. He stated Senator Wilken indicated
elementary was probably as good a term as K-6. Lines 16 through 18
were as a result of discussions with people that Mr. Green
represents, Senator Leman and discussions with engineers. He
believed lines 24 through 27 were as a result of general
discussions responding to a concern raised by the Department of
Education that a full prototype in some instances may not be
appropriate but that components might well be.
Number 0640
CHAIR JAMES asked Representative Hodgins for his permission to go
back to change K-6 to elementary.
Number 0642
REPRESENTATIVE HODGINS had no objection.
Number 0646
REPRESENTATIVE ELTON made the motion to adopt a conceptual
amendment, "eliminate the term K-6 and inserting the words
elementary schools on page 2, line 15." There being no objection,
it was so ordered.
Number 0654
REPRESENTATIVE HODGINS reinstated his motion to move CSHCR 24
[misstated as CSHB 274] as amended with individual recommendations
and attached fiscal notes.
Number 0659
REPRESENTATIVE VEZEY objected.
Number 0665
A roll call vote was taken. Representatives Dyson, Elton, Hodgins,
Ivan and James voted in support of moving CSHCR 24.
Representatives Berkowitz and Vezey voted against moving CSHCR 24.
Therefore, CSHCR 24(STA) moved from the House State Affairs
Standing Committee.
CSSB 105(FIN) am - ETHICS/LOBBYING/CAMPAIGN FINANCE
TAPE 98-11, SIDE A
Number 0001
CHAIR JAMES announced the next order of business was, CSSB 105
(FIN) am, "An Act relating to legislative and executive branch
ethics; relating to campaign finances for candidates for state
office; relating to the conduct and regulation of lobbyists with
respect to public officials; relating to the filing of disclosures
by certain state employees and officials; making a conforming
amendment to the definition of 'public official' for employment
security statutes; and providing for an effective date," sponsored
by Senator Kelly.
Number 0029
BENJAMIN BROWN, Legislative Administrative Assistant to Senator Tim
Kelly, Alaska State Legislature, testified on behalf of Senator Tim
Kelly, sponsor. Mr. Brown stated SB 105 is an omnibus ethics and
to a certain lesser extent campaign reform act. He said the bill
was originally introduced at the request of the Legislative Ethics
Committee to address a number of deficiencies in the ethics code
that have arisen over the past few years since the legislature
started operating under the new law.
Number 0035
MR. BROWN pointed out the Senate State Affairs Committee made
substantial amendments to take a lot of the provisions of our
Legislative Ethics Code and graft them on to the Executive Branch
Ethics Act in Title 39.50.
Number 0047
MR. BROWN said small discrete targeted campaign finance reform
changes have been inserted into the bill to remedy over sizing the
campaign finance law passed by the legislature in 1996. He
indicated some of the changes are campaign finance issues that are
logically related to ethical behavior by members of the legislative
branch and the executive branch.
MR. BROWN referred to the legislative branch ethics, he said many
of the amendments change the statutes to conform to what the
Legislative Ethics Committee is already doing. He indicated that
they are not disobeying the law, but are taking a little bit of
liberty in the way they have interpreted the law. Advisory
opinions have been issued to legislators and staff who ask, "Is it
okay if I do this, or not."
Number 0070
MR. BROWN said the executive ethics code dates back to 1986 and is
very different in comparison to the Legislative Ethics Code. The
executive code apparently works pretty well but a lot of
legislators are not familiar with it. Mr. Brown said the
legislature is working to make sure we do not put anything that
does not belong in the executive branch code from the legislative
code.
Number 0093
MR. BROWN noted a series of amendments have been proposed by
various members of the legislature. He indicated the first 10
amendments would be distributed along with a memorandum analyzing
them.
Number 0097
REPRESENTATIVE ELTON asked Mr. Brown to give a brief history of how
SB 105 evolved from relatively technical fixes to the Legislative
Ethics Code to include campaign finance reform and the executive
branch ethics.
Number 0104
MR. BROWN said SB 105 was introduced last year at the request of
the Select Committee on Legislative Ethics. Its first hearing in
the Senate State Affairs Committee saw the expansion of the bill to
include the legislative branch ethics at the initiative of Senator
Pearce, that is where the Executive Branch provisions were added.
He noted that that is a duplication of something she had done in
the Nineteenth Legislature. Senator Pearce's bill made it to the
House Finance Committee, however, it failed to move because of a
spousal lobbing issue. This matter once again appears in the bill.
Number 0121
MR. BROWN said he did not believe there was a desire to put an
inordinate number of campaign finance changes into the bill. He
noted things in Title 15, which relate to campaign finance, are
very closely related to ethical behavior. Ethics concerns people
raising money for their campaigns, so it is related even though
they are not in the same part of the Alaska Statute. Mr. Brown
pointed out the bill takes on new purposes in the Senate. He
reported it passed the Senate 17 to 2, with one member excused, and
the two members who voted against it were members of the majority.
He concluded most of the things in the bill do deal with the
Legislative Ethics Act.
Number 0144
REPRESENTATIVE ELTON observed when concealed handgun laws move
through we say keep it simple, keep it simple. He indicated that
has not happened with this bill.
Number 0170
NEIL SLOTNICK, Assistant Attorney General, Commercial Section,
Department of Law, stated he is the ethics attorney for the state.
He said he has had the responsibility, for the past four years, to
implement the Executive Branch Ethics Act. Mr. Slotnick said the
way the statute currently works is that the Department of Law
issues advisory opinions and also performs enforcement work when an
ethics complaint is filed. Then a hearing would be held before the
personnel board in the Department of Administration.
Number 0185
MR. SLOTNICK stated SB 105 makes sweeping changes to the Executive
Branch Ethics Act. He pointed out the bill went through the Senate
without detailed examination, section by section, of the changes
that are made to the Executive Branch. Obviously it is the
legislature's prerogative to change the Ethics Act if there are
policy calls made all the way along. He said he felt it was
important that a careful analysis be done when making changes.
Number 0215
MR. SLOTNICK noted Mr. Brown and committee staff have identified
problem areas and need for improvement. He indicated there are
serious problems when you meld in the Legislative Branch Ethics Act
with an existing law, that has worked for 10 years, and you
superimpose one upon the other without actually withdrawing the
provisions that are there.
Number 0225
MR. SLOTNICK said to put it simply, the Legislative Branch Ethics
Act is more of a laundry list approach, whereas the Executive
Branch Ethics Act is perhaps more of a standards of conduct
approach and it is easier to read and understand. He felt either
approach could work.
Number 0238
CHAIR JAMES stated she had a lot of difficulty with campaign
finance issues and ethics issues. She said it seems like any kind
of enforcement of an issue pulls the roots out as opposed to
trimming the bush. It makes the choices that we have so limited
that sometimes we can't even do ethical behavior because it might
be construed to be unethical. She pointed out that the same is
true in the Open Meeting Act.
Number 0280
MR. SLOTNICK stated the heart of the Executive Branch Ethics Law is
Section 39.52.120 and it is a very simple law. It states, "A
public officer may not use or attempt to use an official position
for personal gain." He concluded that that is the standard and
that is what is enforced and interpreted. He believed it has
worked very well to eliminate unethical conduct and to prosecute
violators, and at the same time, to avoid the unwarranted ethics
complaint that is perhaps filed for reasons that do not really have
anything to do with necessarily unethical conduct. He urged the
House State Affairs Committee to be very careful in amending that.
Number 0298
REPRESENTATIVE ELTON asked how much time would it take to make
specific suggestions.
Number 0301
MR. SLOTNICK deferred that question to Mr. Brown.
Number 0328
CHAIR JAMES stated SB 105 is scheduled to be heard again on
Thursday, February 12.
Number 0332
MR. BROWN responded to Representative Elton's question. He said he
believed it would be more productive if he continued to work with
Mr. Slotnick until they have substitute language. Mr. Brown said
he would prefer not to go over the bill section by section.
Number 0351
CHAIR JAMES suggested the committee members be familiar with the
issues covered in CSSB 105 by next week.
ADJOURNMENT
Number 0361
CHAIR JAMES adjourned the House State Affairs Standing Committee
meeting at 9:54 a.m.
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