Legislature(2019 - 2020)Anch LIO Lg Conf Rm
12/18/2019 02:00 PM Senate LEGISLATIVE BUDGET & AUDIT
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Approval of Minutes | |
| Approval of Rpl(s) | |
| Alaska Division of Legislative Audit Peer Review Report | |
| Executive Session | |
| Final Audit Release | |
| Other Committee Business | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
LEGISLATIVE BUDGET AND AUDIT COMMITTEE
December 18, 2019
2:05 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Chris Tuck, Chair
Representative Neal Foster
Representative Andy Josephson
Representative Mark Neuman
Senator Click Bishop, Vice Chair
Senator Bert Stedman
Senator Natasha von Imhof
Senator Cathy Giessel
Senator Lyman Hoffman
Senator Peter Micciche (alternate)
MEMBERS ABSENT
Representative Ivy Spohnholz
Representative Jennifer Johnston (alternate)
OTHER LEGISLATORS PRESENT
Representative Bryce Edgmon
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
APPROVAL OF RPL(S)
ALASKA DIVISION OF LEGISLATIVE AUDIT PEER REVIEW REPORT
EXECUTIVE SESSION
FINAL AUDIT RELEASE
OTHER COMMITTEE BUSINESS
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
DAVID TEAL, Director
Legislative Finance Division
Legislative Agencies and Offices
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Provided information to the Legislative
Budget and Audit Committee on the proposed RPL(s).
RUTH KOSTIK, Acting Director
Division of Administrative Services
Department of Environmental Conservation
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified during discussion of RPL 18-2020-
0364.
KRIS CURTIS, Legislative Auditor
Legislative Audit Division
Legislative Agencies and Offices
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Provided information on the Division of
Legislative Audit peer review report.
ACTION NARRATIVE
2:05:42 PM
CHAIR CHRIS TUCK called the Legislative Budget and Audit
Committee meeting to order at 2:05 p.m. Representatives Tuck,
Foster, Josephson (via teleconference), and Neuman (via
teleconference), and Senators Bishop, Giessel, von Imhof,
Stedman (via teleconference), Micciche (alternate)(via
teleconference), and Hoffman were present at the call to order.
Other legislator present was Representative Edgmon.
^APPROVAL OF MINUTES
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
2:07:02 PM
CHAIR TUCK announced that the first order of business would be
approval of the minutes.
2:07:09 PM
SENATOR BISHOP made a motion to approve the minutes of the
Legislative Budget and Audit Committee of October 31, 2019.
There being no objection, the minutes from the meeting of
October 31, 2019, were approved.
^APPROVAL OF RPL(s)
APPROVAL OF RPL(s)
2:07:51 PM
CHAIR TUCK announced that the next order of business would be
for approval of RPL(s).
2:08:33 PM
SENATOR BISHOP made a motion to approve the following FY 20
RPL(s): RPL [1]8-2020-0364, the Alaska Pollutant Discharge
Elimination System Program; and RPL 20-2020-0062, the
Residential Substance Abuse Treatment Program.
2:09:15 PM
CHAIR TUCK objected for discussion.
2:09:37 PM
DAVID TEAL, Director, Legislative Finance Division, Legislative
Agencies and Offices, explained that RPL 18-2020-0364 was a
request by the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC)
for the authority to spend $430,000 of federal receipts
associated with the Alaska Pollutant Discharge Elimination
System. He pointed out that this was a compliance and
enforcement program in the DEC Division of Water. He reported
that, as DEC had been unable to meet the required number of
yearly inspections set forth by the U.S. Environmental
Protection [Agency] (EPA), it had to return a portion of the
inspection work to the EPA. He declared that the funding from
RPL 18-2020-0364 would support the work and associated travel of
four new environmental program specialist positions. He noted
that there were currently eleven staff in the program. He
pointed out that this was not a new grant program and that,
although DEC had the annual revenue to support this proposed
increase in staff, the federal receipts had not been fully
budgeted. He reported that, as DEC had requested $573,000 in
additional federal authorization for this program in the FY 21
budget, this "should make things line up." He added that DEC
had sufficient authority to provide the required match and there
was not any concern for technical issues. He questioned why the
FY 21 budget request was still "about $1 million short of the
amount of grants received" although DEC had explained that the
$8.86 million of budgeted federal authorization in the Division
of Water included all grants available to the division. He
declared that his division did not have any concerns with the
requested RPL.
2:12:06 PM
REPRESENTATIVE JOSEPHSON asked whether the reason DEC could not
meet the required number of yearly inspections was for a lack of
appropriations or other issues.
MR. TEAL explained that although DEC had the cash, they had not
asked for the money in the budget.
2:12:53 PM
RUTH KOSTIK, Acting Director, Division of Administrative
Services, Department of Environmental Conservation, offered her
belief that, as the division had taken primacy of the Alaska
Pollutant Discharge Elimination System in 2009, it was still
making a determination for the full staffing capacity necessary
to support the number of program permittees.
REPRESENTATIVE JOSEPHSON asked if this had happened in the past
decade. He offered his belief that the operating budget was
underfunded and asked if DEC could meet the requested
requirements of primacy.
MS. KOSTIK explained that this was a step to meet the necessary
staffing, adding that there were steps to reallocate and re-
prioritize resources internally, which would include an increase
of staffing for the Alaska Pollutant Discharge Elimination
System program. She offered her belief that DEC would be able
to better meet the requirements with the additional four staff.
2:14:47 PM
REPRESENTATIVE NEUMAN asked whether there were fees charged to
the applicants and whether these fees covered the cost of
personnel, as required by statute.
MS. KOSTIK stated that, although fees were charged to
permittees, those fees did not fully cover the cost of the
program partially due to statutory limitations which governed
how fees were set. She pointed out that fees were capped to
only cover the direct cost for 149 percent of the salaries for
program services, even as the inclusion of benefits averaged 161
percent for salaries. She added that there were also some
limitations on travel and other expenditures. In response to
Representative Neuman, she stated that there were Alaska
statutory limitations which did not allow recovery of the full
cost.
REPRESENTATIVE NEUMAN asked for a list of the associated costs
and why they were not covered.
2:17:04 PM
MR. TEAL directed attention to the second RPL, 20-2020-0062, a
request by the Department of Corrections (DOC) for authority to
spend $75,000 federal dollars for a Residential Substance Abuse
Treatment Grant. He explained that the purpose of the grant was
to help reduce recidivism associated with drug and alcohol
dependence and the funds would be used at the Highland Mountain
Correctional Center, the primary female correctional center in
Alaska. He reported that DOC currently had $65,000 in its
budget for this purpose, that there had been a similar request
in the previous year, and that the FY 21 budget request from the
governor would add $75,000 to the budget. He stated that his
division had no technical issues with the RPL.
2:18:44 PM
CHAIR TUCK removed his objection. There being no further
objection, RPL 20-2020-0062 and RPL 18-2020-0364 were approved.
^ALASKA DIVISION OF LEGISLATIVE AUDIT PEER REVIEW REPORT
ALASKA DIVISION OF LEGISLATIVE AUDIT PEER REVIEW REPORT
2:19:10 PM
CHAIR TUCK announced that the next order of business would be
the Alaska Division of Legislative Audit Division Peer Review
Report.
2:19:30 PM
KRIS CURTIS, Legislative Auditor, Legislative Audit Division,
Legislative Agencies and Offices, explained that the peer review
report was required to be conducted every three years, noting
that a peer review team would review all of the Legislative
Audit Division policies and would conduct a sample of the audits
to ensure the division was following policies which complied
with auditing standards. She pointed out that the report
resulted in the division receiving "pass," the highest rating.
^EXECUTIVE SESSION
EXECUTIVE SESSION
2:20:24 PM
CHAIR TUCK announced that the next order of business would be
executive session.
SENATOR BISHOP made a motion that the Legislative Budget and
Audit Committee go into executive session under Uniform Rule
22(b)(3), discussion of matters that may, by law, be required to
be confidential.
2:21:01 PM
The committee took an at-ease from 2:21 p.m. to 3:29 p.m.
3:29:22 PM
CHAIR TUCK brought the committee meeting back to order at [3:29]
p.m.. Present at the call to order were Representatives Tuck,
Josephson, and Foster, and Senators Bishop, Stedman, Giessel,
and Micciche (alternate).
^FINAL AUDIT RELEASE
FINAL AUDIT RELEASE
3:29:58 PM
SENATOR BISHOP made a motion for the final audits for the
Department of Natural Resources, Alaska Seismic Hazard Safety
Commission Sunset Audit; Department of Corrections, Board of
Parole Sunset Audit; Department of Commerce, Community &
Economic Development, Medical Board Sunset Audit; and Alaska
Department of Fish & Game, Board of Game Regulatory Process
Special Audit, be released to the public for response. There
being no objection, the audits were released.
^OTHER COMMITTEE BUSINESS
OTHER COMMITTEE BUSINESS
3:30:35 PM
CHAIR TUCK announced that the final order of business would be
other committee business. He reported that IN3NERGY, as
consultants under contract with the committee, would be
conducting background training workshops titled Energy Fiscal
Policy 101 and 102 for legislators and staff. While the
scheduled had not been finalized, he expected these workshops
would be offered between January 23 and January 28 in Juneau.
3:32:34 PM
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the
Legislative Budget and Audit Committee meeting was adjourned at
3:32 p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| 19-12-18 Agenda.pdf |
JBUD 12/18/2019 2:00:00 PM |
|
| Legislative Audit Peer Review.pdf |
JBUD 12/18/2019 2:00:00 PM |