Legislature(1993 - 1994)
02/04/1993 09:10 AM Senate FIN
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
MINUTES
SENATE FINANCE COMMITTEE
February 4, 1993
9:10 a.m.
TAPES
SFC-93, #12, Side A (001-561)
SFC-93, #12, Side B (561-001)
SFC-93, #14, Side A (001-561)
CALL TO ORDER
Senator Drue Pearce, Co-chair, convened the meeting at
approximately 9:10 a.m.
PRESENT
In addition to Co-chair Pearce, Senators Kelly, Kerttula,
Rieger, and Sharp were present. Co-chair Frank arrived
while the meeting was in progress. Senator Jacko was not
present.
ALSO ATTENDING:
Commissioner Nancy Bear Usera, Department of Administration;
Deputy Commissioner Brian Saylor, and Deputy Commissioner
Jay Livey, Department of Health & Social Services;
Commissioner Carl Rosier, Director Larry Jones, Division of
Administration, and Dave Kelleyhouse, Director, Division of
Wildlife Conservation, Department of Fish and Game; Mike
Greany, Director, and Karen Rehfeld, Fiscal Analyst,
Legislative Finance Division; and aides to committee
members.
SUMMARY INFORMATION
SB 50 - An Act making appropriations for capital
projects; and providing for an effective
date.
Budget Overviews were conducted for the following
departments:
Department of Administration
Department of Health & Social Services
Department of Fish and Game
Department of Revenue was rescheduled.
Overview by the Department of Administration
C0-CHAIR DRUE PEARCE invited Commissioner Nancy Bear Usera,
Department of Administration, to join members at the
committee table and proceed with the department
presentation.
COMMISSIONER USERA directed the committee's attention to a
handout titled "Department of Administration FY 94 CIP
Request", (copy on file. The first project would fund a
forms management system which would streamline paper flow
and accomplish the first step toward a single employee
database at a cost of $250.0.
Ms. Usera stated the second request was for an update of the
procurement system automation from paper to on-line
retrieval and distribution in the amount of $71.9. Ms.
Usera noted that an electronic bulletin board system could
be integrated into this system to consolidate purchases made
by the department.
Ms. Usera said last year the public defender's office in
Anchorage received computer work stations. This year the
request for $53.8 was for updating their phone system.
An assessment of the repair and renovation of the Pioneers'
Home was $12M. This year an audit was done to identify all
necessary changes, repairs and rehabilitation to bring the
homes up to standards. She felt $3M would cover critical
priorities. She noted a lump sum had been included in
DOT/PF CIP request to meet ADA requirements. $1.7M of that
lump sum would be used for bringing the Pioneers' Homes up
to ADA requirements.
SENATOR JAY KERTTULA observed that DOT/PF had done a poor
job of providing maintenance for the Pioneers' Homes. He
said the roof had been rebuilt on the Palmer Pioneers' Home
and within a very short time the roof had to be rebuilt. He
asked Commissioner Usera if the department would be able to
monitor maintenance performance.
Ms. Usera believed quality control was very important and
would ask how the quality of the maintenance was determined
and if there was a problem, DOT should be held accountable
for any problems.
The last two requests were for program receipts funding.
Ms. Usera said the state surplus property recycling system
was working very well. In Anchorage, the warehouse was
large enough but needed insulation and heat and a purchase
of a flat bed truck would replace an older unsafe vehicle.
In answer to Senator Kerttula's question, Ms. Usera said
program receipts did cover the whole management program.
SENATOR STEVE RIEGER asked how much of the Pioneers' Homes
repair and renovation was due to a change in codes, such as
underground storage tanks, etc. and which of these
expenditures really had to be done immediately.
Ms. Usera answered the department felt $12M of these repairs
and renovations needed to be done immediately, $2M of which
was ADA requirements and $3M were immediate needs. In all,
the department felt $100M was the overall cost of repair and
renovation, some of which was enhancement for better program
delivery for the residents, etc. She had not read the
entire engineer's report but would provide a more detailed
itemization if the committee requested it.
CO-CHAIR STEVE FRANK remained unconvinced that fire
marshall's were looking at cost to the state whenever they
made judgments to change the fire code which in turn caused
renovation to state facilities. Ms. Usera agreed that a
major frustration for the department was meeting all the
different fire and safety codes.
Co-chair Pearce asked Commissioner Usera if the department
and the Pioneers' Homes were working with DOT/PF to move
facilities management from other departments into one
division. Ms. Usera answered affirmatively.
Co-chair Pearce asked if any planning had been done to solve
the any of these code problems. Ms. Usera emphatically said
an Executive Order was submitted for this very reason and a
more effective facilities maintenance program has been
pursued. She felt the state was not set up to maintain its
real property and a big part of the problem was not having a
centralized and coordinated process for facilities
management. She stated the Pioneers' Homes were a big part
of this program and the residents' safety was of great
concern.
SENATOR TIM KELLY asked, on another subject, if someone from
the Department of Administration would come before the
committee and explain the financial actuarial picture in
relation to the state retirement system.
Co-chair Pearce reviewed the schedule for next week's Senate
Finance meetings.
Overview by the Department of Health & Social Services
Co-chair Pearce invited Deputy Commissioner Brian Saylor,
and Deputy Commissioner Jay Livey, Department of Health &
Social Services, to join members at the committee table and
proceed with the department presentation.
DEPUTY COMMISSIONER BRIAN SAYLOR invited the committee's
attention to the handout titled Department of Health and
Social Services FY94 Capital Budget" (copy on file), which
prioritized the seven items of the total capital budget
request for $24,634.2. He said two basic themes
characterized the budget requests. The first issues were
directly related to fire, life safety and building
integrity. Secondly, the department wanted to enhance
program efficiency and effectiveness.
Mr. Saylor directed attention to priority 1 in the amount of
$3,207. which would fund renovation, repair, and replacement
of state facilities including ADA compliance efforts,
completion of the McLaughlin Youth Center fire and utility
controls, youth holding facility in Ketchikan, and repair of
the ECTA roof in Anchorage.
Priority 2 would address computers and communications
programs enhancement. The request is in the amount of
$4,476.6. This would include a department-wide E-Mail
system, a redesign of the Eligibility Information System
(EIS), Harborview computer upgrades to enhance medicaid
billing and client services, a Family and Youth Services
(F&YS) upgrade to link most social workers into the system,
and the Resource Patient Management Systems (RPMS) upgrade
to link in Indian Health Services especially in the rural
areas.
Mr. Saylor agreed with Co-chair Pearce's question that the
totals on the priority 2 page were incorrect and agreed to
provide a correct figure to the committee.
SENATOR STEVE RIEGER asked who would redesign the
department's computer system. Mr. Saylor said except for
the EIS system, an internal committee would insure the
department's computer system was compatible and that
software would support that system. A larger computer
committee in the Dept. of Administration insured all
computer equipment was compatible. He said the department
had a recent information technology plan that was published
and available to the committee.
DEPUTY COMMISSIONER JAY LIVEY added an outside consultant
had been contracted and a steering committee made up of
members of DOHSS, a member of O&B and several members of the
Division of Information Services.
Senator Kerttula observed that these computer upgrades could
allow case workers to handle a larger case load and asked
for an estimate of the increase in production so the
committee could judge the worthiness of the upgrades.
Mr. Saylor directed attention to priority 3 funding in the
amount of $500.0 for the study of a new public health lab.
Priority 4 was the largest request in the amount of $8,873.7
for design and some sitework for API-2000 with a bid package
ready by August 1994. At the inquiry of Co-chair Pearce, he
informed the committee this project qualified for mental
health trust money.
Senator Rieger inquired that design alone would cost
$100,000 a bed. Mr. Saylor said that some site work was
included in the $8,873.7 funding such as preliminary utility
work, modular structures and some site preparation. He will
provide the committee with a specific breakdown of the site
work. Senator Rieger than asked if the total construction
cost to complete the building would be $65M. Mr. Saylor
answered that the total cost would be closer to $68M and
would include equipment, furnishings, design, etc. He
pointed out that $5M had already been expended over the past
few years in the planning of the entire mental health system
with the mental health board, working with DOC on the issue
of a forensic hospital, and other related planning costs
which brought the total for the entire project to $13M. The
balance would come before the legislature as an
appropriation request to finish the structure. He admitted
it was a big project.
Senator Kerttula inquired whether any mental health funds
would be used for funding of this project.
End SFC-93 #12, Side 1
Begin SFC-93 #12, Side 2
Mr. Saylor understood that the mental health trust fund did
have available funds for this project. He pointed out it
cost approximately $1M a year to keep API functioning. He
said the facility was aging, pipes were breaking, and there
were asbestos problems, therefore consultants had advised
construction of a new building.
Co-chair Pearce felt replacing a building after forty years
was not acceptable. Discussion followed between Co-chair
Frank and Senator Kerttula regarding building construction
and code requirements. Co-chair Pearce asked what
innovative ideas were used in the lower 48 states to contend
with the changing of codes and building requirements.
In response, Mr. Saylor offered the committee a review of
the consultant's estimate of construction costs. He felt
API estimated construction costs were in line with recent
similar construction in the lower 48. Other concessions had
been made to keep the facility as small as possible. The
new facility, estimated to be completed by 1997, with a
proposed 114 bed capacity would hopefully be able to
accommodate population growth up to the year 2010. Last
year the proposed estimate was 130 beds. He hoped the
mental health care program would become more sophisticated
and help keep people out of hospitals.
Senator Rieger asked why federal requirements had to be met
when the facility was built with state funds. Mr. Saylor
answered he would supply the committee information regarding
the federal hospital requirement standards that had to be
followed.
Mr. Saylor explained priority 5 was related to the
construction of API in that community services would need to
be maintained to keep people out the hospital, reduce their
length of stay by early discharge, and maintain these
individuals in their home communities so the recidivism rate
could be kept as low as possible. He said the department
had made a commitment to the Mental Health Board to support
the capital needs of community facilities in a competitive
grant and aid process. Priority 6 is related to API. It is
an appropriation for repairs to keep API running.
Mr. Saylor stated priority 7 would fund the last phase of an
upgrade to the Harborview Steam Plant. In answer to Senator
Rieger's question, Mr. Saylor agreed to provide information
as to what amount of these funds were needed to repair
underground storage tanks at Harborview .
Co-chair Frank asked if DOT personnel maintained the
Harborview Steam Plant and what was the amount of the charge
back to the department. Mr. Saylor said he would provide
the amount of charge back to the department. Senator
Kerttula explained that when the steam plant was built,
providing jobs was more of a concern than automation.
Overview by the Department of Fish & Game
Co-chair Pearce invited Commissioner Carl Rosier, and Larry
Jones, Director, Department of Fish & Game, to join members
at the committee table and proceed with the department
presentation.
COMMISSIONER ROSIER directed the committee's attention to a
handout titled "Prioritized CIP Projects (1/27/93)
Department of Fish & Game FY94", (copy on file). The first
priority was a department-wide and area-wide facility
maintenance and repair request for $1,825.0 which included
fuel tank replacement, roof repairs, upgrading laboratory,
float renovations, etc.
The second priority was a request for $420.0 to continue the
waterfowl conversation and enhancement program for three
years. Commissioner Rosier explained these funds had been
deposited into the general fund by the sale of prints and
the waterfowl stamp program. The state greed that the money
would go back into the stamp program, providing access for
hunters to waterfowl areas, and other waterfowl enhancement
programs were carried out by DF&G. Senator Kerttula asked
if any programs would affect the upland grouse.
Commissioner Rosier said the department was supportive of
the group that had formed in the Fairbanks area but no
programs were in place by the Department.
SENATOR BERT SHARP asked what percentage of the funding was
used in habitat improvement. Commissioner Rosier asked Dave
Kelleyhouse, Director, Division of Wildlife Conservation,
Department of Fish & Game, to join him at the table.
DAVE KELLEYHOUSE answered that his staff had prepared a
breakdown of the $113.0 spent as of October 22, 1993 as
follows: Dan Rosenberg's salary $1,600; Creamer's Pond
rehabilitation $45.0; Clam Lagoon waterfowl viewing area in
cooperation with U.S. Fish & Wildlife (Ducks Unlimited
matching funds), $5.0; administration of the stamp program,
$3.5; and private property acquisition through the Nature
Conservancy, $17.9. He felt the waterfowl program was very
much "on the ground." In 1987, the legislature appropriated
$850.0 in the CIP with the understanding the art prints
would be sold to reimburse the general fund that
appropriation and the department would receive any excess of
funds from the sale of prints. To date, $2.1M had gone back
into the general fund and this CIP request was in the amount
of that excess, $420.0 so the waterfowl program could
continue. All the funds of the original CIP will be
expended by June 30, 1993.
LARRY JONES, Director, Division of Administration,
Department of Fish and Game confirmed that there was only
one appropriation in the amount $850.0 in 1987.
Co-chair Pearce asked for a breakdown of the expenditures
for the program in 1991. Senator Kelly also ask for a
breakdown of the $1.2M revenue that had come back into the
general fund.
Commissioner Rosier stated the third priority would fund
major annual vessels maintenance and the continuation of the
outfitting of the R/V Medela. This vessel was a replacement
vessel for the vessel Steller found to be unsafe and would
serve southeast in a research capability. The department
felt it would approximately cost an additional $.5M to
finish outfitting the Medela. He explained the vessel was
usable but needed to have equipment added for research
requirements. The department also was considering a joint
use project with the University for this vessel.
Co-chair Pearce asked if Commissioner Rosier had been party
to any of the negotiations by DOL to obtain two vessels from
a fisheries company in lieu of a fine. Commissioner Rosier
said he had been party to some of the meetings and expected
one of the new vessels to be given to DF&G and the other to
DOS if the negotiations were successful. He said both DF&G
and DOS needed major support vessels in the Bering Sea.
Senator Kerttula asked if any connections existed between
Russian and Alaska for the cooperation of surveillance in
the Bering Sea area. Commissioner Rosier said no
cooperative enforcement effort had been formed with Russia
but considering the large amount of Russian product coming
into the U.S. and the joint venture operations involving
American vessels, this issue needed to be addressed.
Commissioner Rosier explained the mark tag processing
laboratory was the fourth priority. The funding in the
amount of $1,100.0 would relocate the laboratory and expand
its capability to otolith tag processing. He stressed the
importance of this facility in that tag recovery for the
entire state was performed by this laboratory and those
results determined some decisions regarding the U.S./Canada
Pacific Salmon Treaty. Some discussion followed regarding
the relocation of the laboratory to another city.
End SFC-93 #12, Side 2
Begin SFC-93 #14, Side 1
Commissioner Rosier directed attention to the funding
request for public access development for sport fishing in
the amount of $2,000.0. This funding would provide a match
for three federal dollars to every state dollar.
Co-chair Pearce asked if DF&G could provide the on-going
list for this program and what projects had been completed
in the last three years under this program. She asked who
prioritized the projects and made the decisions about what
projects would be done. Commissioner Rosier answered he was
responsible for those decisions. Discussion followed
whether access was primarily for sport or also for food use.
Commissioner Rosier agreed that access worked for a dual
purpose.
Senator Kerttula informed the committee that not much access
work had been done in the Anchorage area especially for food
sources. He asked the Commissioner how DF&G justified the
closure of Big Lake and still wanted to fund other sport
areas. Commissioner Rosier agreed to provide the committee
with a report on the Department's plan for Big Lake.
Senator Sharp preferred the department look into opening up
new areas instead of causing existing areas to be more
congested. Specifically, he wanted a report from the
department regarding the Copper River dip net access
program. He agreed with Co-chair Pearce that the Department
should provide a list of projects proposed for public access
development.
Commissioner Rosier explained the funding request of
$1,000.0 for Crystal Lake water recirculation project would
double the capacity of the facility to promote sport and
commercial fisheries by providing more fish production.
Commissioner Rosier stated the major equipment replacements
request for $141.0 was for department-wide replacement of
four-wheelers, snow machines, replacement aircraft engines,
etc. for various programs. Discussion followed by Senators
Kerttula and Rieger regarding the Department's aircraft and
how they were serviced.
Dutch Harbor family housing request in the amount of $500.0
would provide housing for employees to expand the
Department's role in the management of the Bering Sea
fisheries. The Department proposed the purchase a four-plex
and in turn would rent the complex to DF&G employees in
order to keep a stable work force in that area.
Commissioner Rosier turned attention to a $2,200.0 request
for a Fairbanks office space addition to the existing DF&G
building built in the early 1960s. This would consolidate
the Department's employees into one building.
Commissioner Rosier explained the Kenai River bank
stabilization and restoration project was an on-going
project by the Department involving property owners and
fishermen. Loss of habitat and loss of personal property
were the problems that needed to be solved. In answer to
Co-chair Pearce's inquiry, he said the reason this project
was in the capital budget was because it represented a one
time assessment of the techniques for the protection of bank
stabilization, habitat and personal property.
Discussion followed by Senators Kerttula, Rieger and Kelly
regarding the cost, priority of this project and the kinds
of technology being used on the Kenai River.
Commissioner Rosier stated the habitat improvement and big
game population enhancement funding in the amount of $2.0M
was a move to perform intensive game management. This would
include prescribed fire and post logging treatment of areas,
and the reintroduction of wood bison in the interior.
In answer to Co-chair Pearce's question, Mr. Kelleyhouse
responded that the Division of Wildlife Conservation had
retained a maintenance budget for the past decade. He
explained that the operating budget provided for data
gathering to advise the Board of Game in their allocation
decision making. This funding from the capital budget would
provide the Division a one time, short term increase in
management emphasis for intensive studies over the next
twenty-five years. Co-chair Pearce remained unconvinced
this program belonged in the capital budget and asked for a
more specific list of projects.
Discussion followed between Senator Sharp and Co-chair
Pearce regarding how the program would be accomplished and
what income would be generated from the increase in hunting
license fees.
Mr. Kelleyhouse answered the increase would be approximately
$300,000 to $500,000. The cost of a hunting license has
been increased from $12 to $25. At present there was a
decline in the purchase of hunting licenses. He hoped that
would improve with the program of habitat and big game
population enhancement.
Lastly, Commissioner Rosier addressed the Toklat Chum Salmon
restoration project with a funding request of $252.0. Phase
I would include construction of raceways and incubator
systems at the Clear Hatchery to restore the chum salmon
population.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at approximately 11:55 a.m.
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