Legislature(1993 - 1994)
03/18/1993 09:10 AM Senate CRA
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
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= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
SENATE COMMUNITY & REGIONAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
March 18, 1993
9:10 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Randy Phillips, Chairman
MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator Robin Taylor, Vice Chairman
Senator Rick Halford
Senator Al Adams
Senator Fred Zharoff
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
SENATE BILL NO. 156
"An Act amending the definition of `municipality' for
purposes of the human services community matching grant
program."
PREVIOUS SENATE COMMITTEE ACTION
SB 156 - No previous action to record.
WITNESS REGISTER
Senator Bert Sharp
State Capitol
Juneau, AK 99801-1182
POSITION STATEMENT: Prime Sponsor of SB 156
Representative Tom Brice
State Capitol
Juneau, AK 99801-1182
ACTION NARRATIVE
TAPE 93-15, SIDE A
Number 001
The Senate Community & Regional Affairs Committee was called
to order by Chairman Randy Phillips at 9:10 a.m. Due to the
lack of a quorum, he stated only testimony would be taken on
SB 156.
Number 020
SENATOR BERT SHARP, prime sponsor of SB 156, said with the
passage of HB 263 last session, a statutory basis was
established for the Human Services Community Matching Grant
Program. The intent of the legislation was not to create a
new pool of money but to define the grant program in statute
and establish a community match. This was done to help
stabilize funding for local nonprofit organizations which
provide valuable services to the community.
Some local nonprofit organizations couldn't raise the
necessary funds to meet the match requirement. This placed
the city of Fairbanks in a difficult position because of
revenue shortfalls and cannot assure the availability of
matching funds. The Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly
has indicated their support for the Fairbanks North Star
Borough to assume health and social services powers and
provide the required matching funds. The major issue is
that under current state statute the borough is not eligible
to participate in the grant program even if it did assume
health and social services. Only cities with populations
greater than 20,000 and first class boroughs with
populations greater than 100,000 may now participate.
Senator Sharp said SB 156 would amend the definition of
municipality to include a second class borough with a
population that exceeds 65,000. The Fairbanks North Star
Borough will be the only municipality that will be affected
by this change, allowing it to participate in the block
grant program.
Senator Sharp added that SB 156 makes both the City of
Fairbanks and the Fairbanks North Star Borough eligible to
participate in the block grant program, but only one could
be the recipient of a grant from the state for the same
service in the same year.
Number 092
REPRESENTATIVE TOM BRICE said he is the prime sponsor of the
identical legislation on the House side, which he said has
been met with very little to no opposition. Some questions
have been raised that the bill would mandate the borough to
accept these grant monies, but it does not. It only makes
the borough eligible if the voters of the borough so deem it
appropriate to accept those powers.
Number 110
SENATOR RANDY PHILLIPS stated SB 156 would be back before
the committee on Tuesday, March 23. He then adjourned the
meeting at 9:15 a.m.
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