Legislature(2013 - 2014)
10/29/2014 08:00 AM Senate BUD
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Executive Session | |
| Release of Audits | |
| Other 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
Anchorage, Alaska
October 29, 2014
8:09 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Anna Fairclough, Chair
Representative Mike Hawker, Vice Chair
Senator Click Bishop (via teleconference)
Senator Kevin Meyer
Senator Cathy Giessel
Representative Bob Herron (via teleconference)
Representative Kurt Olson
Representative Andy Josephson
MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator Donald Olson
Representative Alan Austerman
Senator Mike Dunleavy (alternate)
Representative Scott Kawasaki (alternate)
Representative Bill Stoltze (alternate)
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
EXECUTIVE SESSION
RELEASE OF AUDITS
OTHER BUSINESS
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
LAURA PIERRE, Staff
Senator Fairclough
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Provided clarifications regarding the
special audit request for the state travel policy.
KRIS CURTIS, Legislative Auditor
Division of Legislative Audit
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Provided information on the special audit
request for the state travel policy.
ACTION NARRATIVE
8:09:20 AM
CHAIR ANNA FAIRCLOUGH reconvened the Legislative Budget and
Audit Committee meeting at 8:09 a.m. Senators Giessel, Meyer,
and Fairclough and Representatives Hawker, Herron (via
teleconference), Olson, and Josephson were present at the call
to order. Representative Bishop (via teleconference) arrived as
the meeting was in progress. [This is a continuation of the
October 28, 2014, meeting.]
^EXECUTIVE SESSION
EXECUTIVE SESSION
8:10:15 AM
CHAIR FAIRCLOUGH announced that the committee would move into
Executive Session.
8:10:19 AM
REPRESENTATIVE HAWKER made a motion to move to Executive Session
for the purpose of discussing confidential audit reports under
AS 24.20.301. There being no objection, the committee went into
Executive Session at 8:10 a.m.
9:45:09 AM
CHAIR FAIRCLOUGH reconvened the committee at 9:45 a.m. Senators
Meyer, Giessel, and Fairclough and Representatives Herron (via
teleconference), Josephson, Olson, and Hawker were present at
the call to order.
^RELEASE OF AUDITS
RELEASE OF AUDITS
9:46:03 AM
REPRESENTATIVE HAWKER made a motion for the following final
audits: Department of Revenue, Oil and Gas Tax Audit Process;
Department of Revenue, Alaska Film Production Incentive Program;
and Department of Commerce, Community & Economic Development,
Certified Direct-Entry Midwives Sunset Review to be released to
the public for response. There being no objection, those audits
were released.
^OTHER BUSINESS
OTHER BUSINESS
9:46:39 AM
CHAIR FAIRCLOUGH announced that the next order of business would
be her special audit request to review the efficiency and
effectiveness of the state travel office in handling and
providing the state with an economic use of its travel dollars.
She informed the committee that on one occasion she could have
booked travel herself and received a cheaper fare than going
through the state travel office.
REPRESENTATIVE OLSON mentioned the ability to change the ticket
without going back to the [state travel office].
CHAIR FAIRCLOUGH related an incident with another travel office
in which she needed to change a ticket to avoid a predicted
hurricane but could not do so quickly enough. She also related
an incident in which a fellow legislator couldn't reach the
state travel office personnel on a Saturday to change a ticket
in order to leave on an earlier flight when there were seats
available. Therefore, she expressed the need for a review to
ensure that the State of Alaska is getting the best value for
its money. Chair Fairclough said she has discussed this
possible audit with Ms. Curtis in order to identify savings and
evaluate and determine the relevance and reliability of the
state travel office.
9:50:01 AM
LAURA PIERRE, Staff, Senator Fairclough, Alaska State
Legislature, pointed out that this would include the University
of Alaska's travel as they don't fall under the state travel
office under the Department of Administration. She then noted
that the legislature doesn't fall under the state travel office,
although it may experience similar difficulties such as the
inability for the traveler to change his/her ticket. Ms. Pierre
clarified that this special audit request is for the state
travel office within the Department of Administration and the
travel policy for the University of Alaska.
9:51:34 AM
KRIS CURTIS, Legislative Auditor, Division of Legislative Audit,
Alaska State Legislature, in response to Chair Fairclough,
explained that the plan would be to conduct a sample over the
course of many months to evaluate the cost of tickets procured
through the state travel office versus what an individual could
purchase on that same day. Although such an approach will take
quite a bit of time to determine whether the state is getting
what it believes it's procuring through the process, it won't
take a lot of resources. Ms. Curtis estimated that it would
take an entire year to [sample] different seasons and months in
order to really understand what the state is receiving.
Therefore, a staff member would be assigned to collect this
information. She then related that the University of Alaska's
travel may be approached separately such that the overall audit
is a multi-part audit. The travel audit would likely begin
soon, while the University of Alaska's travel audit probably
wouldn't be started until the late spring or early summer of
2015. She estimated that the release date would be in 2016.
CHAIR FAIRCLOUGH noted her agreement that two audits would
probably be a better approach, particularly since the University
of Alaska has already moved forward in an attempt to rectify
some of the difficulties.
9:53:41 AM
REPRESENTATIVE HAWKER made a motion that the committee approve
audits of the state travel office and the University of Alaska's
travel procurement and procedures. There being no objection,
the motion was approved.
9:54:27 AM
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the
Legislative Budget and Audit Committee meeting was adjourned at
9:54 a.m.
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