Legislature(2017 - 2018)Anch LIO Lg Conf Rm
06/05/2018 10:00 AM Senate LEGISLATIVE BUDGET & AUDIT
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Approval of Agenda | |
| Approval of Minutes | |
| Executive Session | |
| Other Committee Business - Special Audit Request | |
| 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
June 5, 2018
10:01 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Bert Stedman, Chair
Senator Anna MacKinnon
Senator Cathy Giessel
Senator Natasha von Imhof (alternate)
Representative Andy Josephson, Vice Chair
Representative Scott Kawasaki (via teleconference)
Representative Paul Seaton
Representative Ivy Spohnholz
Representative Dan Ortiz (alternate) (via teleconference)
MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator Click Bishop
Senator Lyman Hoffman
Representative Jennifer Johnston
OTHER LEGISLATORS PRESENT
Representative Tammy Wilson
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
APPROVAL OF AGENDA
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
EXECUTIVE SESSION
OTHER COMMITTEE BUSINESS - SPECIAL AUDIT REQUEST
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
RANDY RUARO, Staff
Senator Bert Stedman
Alaska State Legislature
POSITION STATEMENT: Offered information regarding a committee
memorandum.
KRISTIN CURTIS, Legislative Auditor
Legislative Audit Division
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Provided information regarding a special
audit request.
ACTION NARRATIVE
10:01:47 AM
CHAIR BERT STEDMAN called the Legislative Budget and Audit
Committee meeting to order at 10:01 a.m. Representatives
Kawasaki (via teleconference), Seaton, Spohnholz, Josephson, and
Ortiz (alternate) (via teleconference), and Senators Stedman,
MacKinnon, Giessel, and von Imhof (alternate) were present at
the call to order. Also present was Representative Wilson.
CHAIR STEDMAN announced that there was a quorum, as there were
nine members of the committee present.
^APPROVAL OF AGENDA
APPROVAL OF AGENDA
10:03:23 AM
CHAIR STEDMAN announced the first order of business would be the
approval of the agenda.
10:03:31 AM
REPRESENTATIVE JOSEPHSON made a motion that the Legislative
Budget and Audit Committee approve the agenda. There being no
objection, it was so ordered.
^APPROVAL OF MINUTES
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
10:03:53 AM
CHAIR STEDMAN announced the next order of business would be the
approval of the minutes.
10:04:01 AM
REPRESENTATIVE JOSEPHSON made a motion to approve the minutes of
the April 11, 2018, meeting as presented. There being no
objection, the minutes from the meeting of April 11, 2018, were
approved.
^EXECUTIVE SESSION
EXECUTIVE SESSION
10:04:14 AM
CHAIR STEDMAN announced that the next order of business would be
executive session.
10:04:27 AM
REPRESENTATIVE JOSEPHSON made a motion that the Legislative
Budget and Audit Committee go into executive session under
Uniform Rule 22 of the Alaska State Legislature and AS 24.20.301
for the purpose of considering release of a final audit of the
Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority, a preliminary Statewide
Single Audit for fiscal year 2017 (FY 17), an audit of the
Regulatory Commission of Alaska (RCA) FY 17 Annual Report,
contract amendments for consultants Gaffney Cline and In3nergy,
and a new contract with the law firm Wiley Rein.
CHAIR STEDMAN objected to lay out the schedule of executive
session. He then removed his objection.
10:05:50 AM
REPRESENTATIVE JOSEPHSON added to the motion to ask that the
following individuals remain in the room or online:
legislative auditor, Kris Kurtis; necessary staff and
contractors of the Legislative Audit Division; attorney Michael
Caulfield; attorney Eric Wohlforth; any legislators not on the
committee; and any legislative staff for Legislative Budget and
Audit Committee members. There being no objection, it was so
ordered.
10:06:22 AM
The committee took a brief at-ease at 10:06 a.m.
[Due to technical difficulties, the following information up to
the at-ease going into executive session was derived from the
secretary's log notes and is not on the recording.]
CHAIR STEDMAN brought the committee back to order and asked
Representative Josephson to modify the motion to add a topic for
discussion.
REPRESENTATIVE JOSEPHSON made a motion to add to executive
session a discussion of the Sexual Harassment Policy. There
being no objection, it was so ordered.
The committee took an at-ease from 10:07 a.m. to 3:03 p.m. for
the purpose of executive session.
3:03:31 PM
CHAIR STEDMAN brought the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee
back to order. Present at the call back to order were
Representatives Kawasaki (via teleconference), Seaton,
Spohnholz, Ortiz (alternate, via teleconference), and Josephson
and Senators MacKinnon, Giessel, and Stedman.
CHAIR STEDMAN announced there was a quorum, as there were eight
members of the committee present.
3:04:56 PM
REPRESENTATIVE JOSEPHSON stated that the committee had heard
from Michael Caulfield, an attorney from Jermain, Dunnagan &
Owens, P.C., who is under contract with the Legislative Audit
Division but whom he had not met until today. Representative
Josephson disclosed that his sister is a partner at Jermain,
Dunnagan & Owens, P.C.
CHAIR STEDMAN said, "Duly noted."
3:05:34 PM
REPRESENTATIVE JOSEPHSON made a motion that the Legislative
Budget and Audit Committee approve the release of the Final
Alaska Mental Health Trust Audit to the public. There being no
objection, it was so ordered.
3:05:58 PM
REPRESENTATIVE JOSEPHSON made a motion to approve the release of
the Preliminary Statewide FY 17 Single Audit to the applicable
state agencies for formal comment. There being no objection, it
was so ordered.
3:06:22 PM
REPRESENTATIVE JOSEPHSON made a motion to approve the release of
the preliminary audit of the RCA FY 17 Annual Report to the
applicable state agencies for formal comment. There being no
objection, it was so ordered.
3:06:51 PM
REPRESENTATIVE JOSEPHSON made a motion that the Legislative
Budget and Audit Committee approve the amendments to the
contract with Gaffney Cline as presented to the committee.
There being no objection, it was so ordered.
3:07:13 PM
REPRESENTATIVE JOSEPHSON made a motion that the Legislative
Budget and Audit Committee approve the amendments to the
contract with In3nergy as presented to the committee. There
being no objection, it was so ordered.
3:07:39 PM
REPRESENTATIVE JOSEPHSON made a motion that the Legislative
Budget and Audit Committee approve a new contract with Wiley
Rein, as presented to the committee, and to approve entering
into an engagement letter with the law firm that conforms to the
contract approved by Legislative Legal. There being no
objection, it was so ordered.
^OTHER COMMITTEE BUSINESS - SPECIAL AUDIT REQUEST
OTHER COMMITTEE BUSINESS - SPECIAL AUDIT REQUEST
3:08:17 PM
CHAIR STEDMAN announced the final order of business would be
other committee business concerning a special audit request.
3:09:12 PM
The committee took a brief at-ease at 3:09 p.m.
3:09:25 PM
RANDY RUARO, Staff, Senator Bert Stedman, Alaska State
Legislature, drew attention to a committee memorandum requesting
its own approval for a special audit of the Department of
Revenue (DOR) related to a tax credit loan program. He said
some concerns were brought to the attention of staff and were
discussed with the auditor and the agency. The finding was that
there was enough information to warrant a special audit request.
Mr. Ruaro related that the memorandum describes the background
and some of the timeline of the program and lays out specific
areas of investigation for the auditor on page two.
3:10:32 PM
REPRESENTATIVE JOSEPHSON made a motion that the Legislative
Budget and Audit Committee approve the special audit request as
presented to the committee and set forth in the May 28, 2018,
memorandum to committee members.
CHAIR STEDMAN objected for the purpose of discussion.
3:11:02 PM
SENATOR MACKINNON requested the committee hear from Kristin
Curtis regarding the timing for completion of the audit.
3:11:16 PM
KRISTIN CURTIS, Legislative Auditor, Legislative Audit Division,
Alaska State Legislature, said she thinks the audit could be
started in spring of 2019 and could be done in time.
SENATOR MACKINNON asked if there was anything else being held by
the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee that needed to be
released. For example, she asked whether the Matanuska Maid
Dairy audit had been released already.
MS. CURTIS answered that the Matanuska Maid Dairy audit has been
drafted, is in her possession, and may be a preliminary audit
topic for a meeting in September when there would be five
sunsets to address. She added that she also anticipates there
will be a special audit of the Alaska Gasline Development
Corporation (AGDC) organization ready by September or October.
CHAIR STEDMAN removed his objection to the motion that the
Legislative Budget and Audit Committee approve the special audit
request as presented to the committee and set forth in the May
28, 2018, memorandum to committee members. There being no
further objection, it was so ordered.
3:12:32 PM
CHAIR STEDMAN announced the next meeting would be some time in
July. He asked Ms. Curtis to share the projected dates.
3:13:46 PM
MS. CURTIS said there is a need to get out the single audit as
soon as possible, perhaps on July 12 or 14. The next meeting
for audit purposes may be the first week of October, with a
follow-up meeting the first week of November.
3:14:46 PM
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the
Legislative Budget and Audit Committee meeting was adjourned at
3:15 p.m.
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