Legislature(2023 - 2024)SENATE FINANCE 532
04/17/2024 09:00 AM Senate FINANCE
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB151 | |
| SB259 | |
| SB118 | |
| SB236 | |
| SCR10 | |
| SB183 | |
| SB189 | |
| SB205 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | HB 268 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | HB 270 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| += | SB 151 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | SB 259 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | SB 118 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | SB 236 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | SCR 10 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | SB 183 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | SB 189 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | SB 205 | TELECONFERENCED | |
SENATE FINANCE COMMITTEE
April 17, 2024
9:01 a.m.
9:01:34 AM
CALL TO ORDER
Co-Chair Stedman called the Senate Finance Committee
meeting to order at 9:01 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Bert Stedman, Co-Chair
Senator Click Bishop
Senator Jesse Kiehl
Senator Kelly Merrick
Senator David Wilson
MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator Lyman Hoffman, Co-Chair
Senator Donny Olson, Co-Chair
ALSO PRESENT
Ken Alper, Staff to Senator Donny Olson; Almeria Alcantra,
Staff to Senator Donny Olson; Ken Alper, Staff to Senator
Donny Olson; Jeff Stepp, Staff to Senator Elvi Gray-
Jackson; Tim Lamkin, Staff to Senator Gary Stevens.
PRESENT VIA TELECONFERENCE
Shylena Lie, Manilaq Crisis Center, Kotzebue; Noah Klein,
Attorney, Legislative Legal Services.
SUMMARY
SB 118 CRITICAL NATURAL RESOURCES; REPORTS
CSSB 118(FIN) was REPORTED out of committee with
four "do pass" recommendations and with one "no
recommendation" recommendation, and with one new
fiscal impact note from the Department of
Commerce, Community and Economic Development, and
one previously published fiscal impact note: FN
1(DNR).
SB 151 MISSING/MURDERED INDIGENOUS PEOPLE;REPORT
CSSB 151(FIN) was REPORTED out of committee with
five "do pass" recommendations and with one new
fiscal impact note from the Department of Public
Safety.
SB 183 WORKERS' COMP BENEFITS GUARANTY FUND
SB 183 was REPORTED out of committee with four
"do pass" recommendations and with one "no
recommendation" recommendation, and with one
previously published zero fiscal note: FN 1(LWF).
SB 189 EXTEND ALASKA COMMISSION ON AGING
SB 189 was REPORTED out of committee with five
"do pass" recommendations and with one new fiscal
impact note from the Department of Health.
SB 205 AHFC AUTHORITY TO ACQUIRE BUILDING
SB 205 was REPORTED out of committee with four
"do pass" recommendations and with one "no
recommendation" recommendation, and with one new
fiscal impact note from the Department of
Revenue.
SB 236 GRANTS TO DISASTER VICTIMS
CSSB 236(FIN) was REPORTED out of committee with
three "do pass" recommendations and with two "no
recommendation" recommendations, and with one new
indeterminate fiscal note from the Department of
Military and Veterans' Affairs.
SB 259 COMPENSATION FOR CERTAIN STATE EMPLOYEES
SB 259 was heard and HELD in Committee for
further consideration.
SCR 10 JOINT LEGIS SEAFOOD INDUSTRY TASK FORCE
CSSCR 10(FIN) was REPORTED out of committee with
five "do pass" recommendations and with one new
zero fiscal note from the Legislature.
Co-Chair Stedman discussed the agenda.
SENATE BILL NO. 151
"An Act establishing the Missing and Murdered
Indigenous Persons Review Commission; relating to
missing and murdered indigenous persons; relating to
the duties of the Department of Public Safety; and
providing for an effective date."
9:03:06 AM
Co-Chair Stedman relayed that the committee first heard SB
151 on March 21, and would be adopting a committee
substitute.
Senator Merrick MOVED to ADOPT proposed committee
substitute for SB 151, Work Draft 33-LS0052\H (C. Radford,
4/11/24).
Co-Chair Stedman OBJECTED for discussion.
9:04:16 AM
KEN ALPER, STAFF TO SENATOR DONNY OLSON, explained that the
bill set up a task force and commission, and dedicated
public safety resources to the issue of Missing and
Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP).
9:05:03 AM
ALMERIA ALCANTRA, STAFF TO SENATOR DONNY OLSON, discussed a
Summary of Changes document (copy on file):
Change #1 Adds mandatory reporting to National Missing
and Unidentified Persons System database within 60
days after a first report is filed with local or state
law enforcement.
Change #2 Makes the Missing and murdered Indigenous
Persons Review Commission permanent, rather than
sunsetting in 2027. Additional language is added to
establish three-year terms, a limit on members being
able to serve two consecutive terms, and structure for
the term length for the initial appointees.
Change #3 The commissions' report now recurs every
three years. Change #4 Tightened the language to
ensure that work of the commission is not subject to
subpoena. This is to protect the confidentiality of
the commission and the privacy of victims and
families.
Change #5 Adds clarifying language that commission
members can be involved in cases in their normal
employment that were reviewed by the commission.
Change #6 The submission date for the DPS report on
investigative resources was moved from January 1, 2026
to 2027.
We have also provided the committee with a memo from
Legislative Legal Services addressing issues of
confidential documents used by the commission.
9:06:15 AM
Co-Chair Stedman WITHDREW his OBJECTION. There being NO
further OBJECTION, it was so ordered.
Co-Chair Stedman asked Ms. Alcantra to provide a brief
overview of the bill for the public.
Ms. Alcantra explained that the bill would put two MMIP
investigators in state statute, create the MMIP Review
Commission, require a report from the commission every
three years, and require DPS to perform a needs assessment
to determine what was needed by the department to properly
address the significant problem of Missing and Murdered
Indigenous Persons.
Co-Chair Stedman asked why the bill was necessary.
Ms. Alcantra explained that the issue of MMIP had been
longstanding in the state and had never been properly
addressed. She cited that there were hundreds of cases
throughout the state. She said that the commission created
by the legislation would be tasked with creating a cohesive
way of combating the problem by coordinating the efforts of
the public, media sources, and law enforcement, to combat
the problem of MMIP in the state.
Mr. Alper pointed out that there was a memo from the
Division of Legal and Research Services (copy on file). The
memo spoke of confidentiality issues surrounding the
commission and the protection of private information.
9:09:23 AM
Co-Chair Stedman OPENED public testimony.
SHYLENA LIE, MANILAQ CRISIS CENTER, KOTZEBUE (via
teleconference), spoke in support of the bill. She
explained that the center was a hub for 11 outlying
villages. She shared that according to a 2022 Census, Nana
Alaska Native Regional Corporation had reported 7,682
people, 80 percent of which were Alaska Native.
9:11:04 AM
Co-Chair Stedman CLOSED public testimony.
9:11:18 AM
Senator Bishop thanked the sponsor and his staff for
bringing the bill forward.
Senator Wilson MOVED to report CSSB 151(FIN) out of
Committee with individual recommendations and the
accompanying fiscal note. There being NO OBJECTION, it was
so ordered.
CSSB 151(FIN) was REPORTED out of committee with five "do
pass" recommendations and with one new fiscal impact note
from the Department of Public Safety.
SENATE BILL NO. 259
"An Act relating to the basic salary schedule for
compensation of state employees; and providing for an
effective date."
9:12:25 AM
Co-Chair Stedman relayed that the bill had been originally
heard on March 25, 2024. He announced that there was a
committee substitute.
Senator Kiehl MOVED to ADOPT proposed committee substitute
for SB 259, Work Draft 33-LS1475\U (Klein, 4/15/24).
Co-Chair Stedman OBJECTED for discussion.
9:13:10 AM
KEN ALPER, STAFF TO SENATOR DONNY OLSON, explained that the
bill was intended to resolve legal short coming due to
legislation passed previously. He discussed the changes in
the CS and noted that a new fiscal note that reflected the
changes in the CS was forthcoming.
Co-Chair Stedman WITHDREW his OBJECTION. There being NO
further OBJECTION, it was so ordered.
Co-Chair Stedman asked for Mr. Alper for
Mr. Alper explained that the bill was about pay tables
currently in statute. He shared that the bill would allow
for updates to the exempt employee pay table, currently in
statute, to be periodically updated to be commensurate with
the supervisory union contract pay table, without requiring
an act of the legislature.
9:16:26 AM
Co-Chair Stedman OPENED public testimony.
9:16:48 AM
Co-Chair Stedman CLOSED public testimony.
9:16:55 AM
Senator Kiehl MOVED to ADOPT Amendment 1, Work Draft 33-
LS1475\U (Klein, 4/15/24).
Co-Chair Stedman OBJECTED for discussion.
9:17:15 AM
JEFF STEPP, STAFF TO SENATOR ELVI GRAY-JACKSON, explained
that certain employees of the Executive, Judicial, and the
University of Alaska were not included in codified law,
which required the amending on uncodified law so those
employees could receive parallel salary increases.
Co-Chair Stedman asked Mr. Stepp to define "uncodified
law."
Mr. Alper summarized that uncodified law indicated that the
provision did not have a statue number attached to it.
9:19:20 AM
AT EASE
9:19:31 AM
RECONVENED
NOAH KLEIN, ATTORNEY, LEGISLATIVE LEGAL SERVICES (via
teleconference), explained that the difference between
codified and uncodified law was that codified law appeared
in statute books and was permanent, whereas provisions and
uncodified law were temporary and not in the statute books.
Co-Chair Stedman WITHDREW his objection. There being no
further objection Amendment 1 was ADOPTED.
SB 259 was heard and HELD in Committee for further
consideration.
9:21:08 AM
AT EASE
9:22:54 AM
RECONVENED
SENATE BILL NO. 118
"An Act relating to critical and essential minerals
and the global energy transition."
9:23:19 AM
Co-Chair Stedman recounted that the committee had first
heard the bill on March 13, 2024, and too public testimony.
Senator Merrick MOVED to ADOPT proposed committee
substitute for SB 118, Work Draft 33-ls0706\U (Dunmire,
4/9/24).
Co-Chair Stedman OBJECTED for discussion.
9:24:04 AM
Mr. Alper discussed the changes to the bill proposed in the
CS for SB 118. He read from a Summary of Changes document
(copy on file):
Changes in Finance CS, Version "A" to "U" April 17,
2024 Change #1 Clarifies the legislative intent for a
strategic plan to encourage mineral development.
Change #2 Clarifies we're maintaining the state's
existing environmental standards.
Change #3 Adds Native corporations to the list of
entities that DNR will consult with in developing
their report.
Change #4 Removes references in the bill to a specific
list of minerals.
Change #5 Allows the Commerce report to be contracted
to ISER, which is intended to reduce the fiscal note.
Mr. Alper noted that there was an updated fiscal note from
the Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic
Development that reduced the cost associated with the bill
by $300,000.
Co-Chair Stedman WITHDREW his OBJECTION. There being NO
further OBJECTION, it was so ordered.
9:25:58 AM
Co-Chair Stedman asked Senator Merrick to provide a summary
of the bill.
Senator Merrick explained that the bill was intended to
help Alaska develop a strategic plan to develop essential
minerals in the state. She stated that currently the
country relies on adversarial nations to provide essential
minerals.
Co-Chair Stedman mentioned that "adversarial nations" did
not mean Canada.
Senator Merrick clarified that she was referring to China.
Senator Merrick MOVED to report CSSB 118(FIN) out of
Committee with individual recommendations and the
accompanying fiscal notes. There being NO OBJECTION, it was
so ordered.
CSSB 118(FIN) was REPORTED out of committee with four "do
pass" recommendations and with one "no recommendation"
recommendation, and with one new fiscal impact note from
the Department of Commerce, Community and Economic
Development, and one previously published fiscal impact
note: FN 1(DNR).
SENATE BILL NO. 236
"An Act relating to grants to disaster victims."
9:27:41 AM
Co-Chair Stedman shared that public testimony was taken
during the bills first hearing on March 12, 2024.
Senator Kiehl MOVED to ADOPT proposed committee substitute
for SB 236, Work Draft 33-LS1142\R (Dunmire/Marx, 4/8/24).
Co-Chair Stedman OBJECTED for discussion.
Mr. Alper explained that there was a single change to the
bill in Section 2, which resolved an issue raised in the
initial fiscal note. The CS clarified that the total
combined assistance would not exceed $50,000.
Co-Chair Stedman WITHDREW his OBJECTION. There being NO
further OBJECTION, it was so ordered.
Co-Chair Stedman asked Senator Kiehl to provide a brief
overview of the bill.
Senator Kiehl explained that the bill would ensure that
owners of condominiums would be eligible for relief from
damage caused by disaster that was commensurate with
homeowners. He continued that the second provision had to
do with state grants being made available up to $50,000.
9:31:05 AM
AT EASE
9:31:16 AM
RECONVENED
Senator Kiehl MOVED to report CSSB 236(FIN) out of
Committee with individual recommendations and a forthcoming
fiscal note. There being NO OBJECTION, it was so ordered.
CSSB 236(FIN) was REPORTED out of committee with three "do
pass" recommendations and with two "no recommendation"
recommendations, and with one new indeterminate fiscal note
from the Department of Military and Veterans' Affairs.
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 10
Establishing the Joint Legislative Seafood Industry
Task Force.
9:31:44 AM
Co-Chair Stedman recounted that the resolution had been
heard on March 7, 2024, at which time public testimony had
been taken.
9:32:36 AM
AT EASE
9:33:04 AM
RECONVNED
Senator Wilson MOVED to ADOPT proposed committee substitute
for SCR 10, Work Draft 33-LS1469\S (Wallace, 4/4/24).
Co-Chair Stedman OBJECTED for discussion.
Mr. Alper discussed the changes. He noted that there was
one additional change to Version S, which addressed the
list of duties of the task force and clarified that the
process and procedures to execute limited entry permit
buyback programs would include multiple options for
buybacks throughout the state.
Co-Chair Stedman understood the change pertained to all
areas of the state.
Mr. Alper replied in the affirmative.
9:34:43 AM
Senator Bishop asked whether reiver systems and commercial
permit holders were included.
Co-Chair Stedman replied affirmatively.
Co-Chair Stedman WITHDREW his OBJECTION. There being NO
further OBJECTION, it was so ordered.
Co-Chair Stedman asked Mr. Alper to provide a high-level
overview of the resolution.
Mr. Alper deferred to Tim Lamkin.
9:36:04 AM
TIM LAMKIN, STAFF TO SENATOR GARY STEVENS, explained that
the resolution was in response to the failing state of the
Alaska seafood industry. He said that the taskforce
included members from all areas of the industry.
9:36:50 AM
AT EASE
9:37:01 AM
RECONVENED
Co-Chair Stedman solicited any other concerns, questions,
or objections.
9:37:12 AM
Senator Wilson MOVED to report CSSCR 10(FIN) out of
Committee with individual recommendations and the
accompanying fiscal note.
CSSCR 10(FIN) was REPORTED out of committee with five "do
pass" recommendations and with one new zero fiscal note
from the Legislature.
SENATE BILL NO. 183
"An Act relating to the workers' compensation benefits
guaranty fund; and providing for an effective date.
9:37:54 AM
Co-Chair Stedman shared that public testimony had been
taken during the first hearing on the bill on March 6,
2024.
Mr. Alper relayed that there were two issues embedded in
the bill: injured workers and the sweep to the
Constitutional Budget Reserve (CBR). He stated that the CBR
required payback at the end of each year of any money left
in sub funds of the General Fund. Payback could be halted
by a supermajority vote of the legislature. He said that
one of the funds that had been swept back into the CBR
due to lack of a supermajority vote was the Workers
Compensation Benefits Guarantee Fund. He said that the fund
brought in $800,000 per year and was generally penalties
that were charged fines from employers that did not have
adequate workers compensation plans. Those funds then paid
benefits to workers who worked for those companies. He said
that in recent years the fund had been swept and brought to
zero at the beginning of the fiscal year and when a worker
needed compensation there would be no money in the fund,
which meant they would have to wait for penalty funds to
accumulate in order to be compensated.
Mr. Alper furthered that the bill would change the
statutory description of the underlying fund, taking it out
of the General Fund and placing it in the State Treasury so
it would not be subject to the annual sweep.
Co-Chair Stedman added that several funds had been swept
for decades under the constitutional provision. He
explained that the legislature would normally perform a
"reverse sweep which meant the starting balance of the
funds would be replaced at the beginning of each fiscal
year. He said that the bill would assure that the workers
compensation account would have adequate cash flow to help
injured workers.
9:41:26 AM
Senator Bishop
9:41:30 AM
AT EASE
9:41:44 AM
RECONVENED
Senator Bishop appreciated that the intent of the bill was
to assist injured workers.
Senator Bishop MOVED to report SB 183 out of Committee with
individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal
note. There being NO OBJECTION, it was so ordered.
SB 183 was REPORTED out of committee with four "do pass"
recommendations and with one "no recommendation"
recommendation, and with one previously published zero
fiscal note: FN 1(LWF).
SENATE BILL NO. 189
"An Act extending the termination date of the Alaska
Commission on Aging; and providing for an effective
date."
9:42:49 AM
Co-Chair Stedman said that the bill had been heard on March
7, 2024, and public testimony had been taken.
Mr. Alper explained that the bill pertained to the Alaska
Commission on Aging and the work of the board. He said that
the initial hearing had revealed no material problems with
the boards operations by the Division of Legislative
Audit.
Senator Wilson MOVED to report SB 189 out of Committee with
individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal
note. There being NO OBJECTION, it was so ordered.
SB 189 was REPORTED out of committee with five "do pass"
recommendations and with one new fiscal impact note from
the Department of Health.
SENATE BILL NO. 205
"An Act authorizing the Alaska Housing Finance
Corporation to acquire or purchase a building that it
occupies for an amount that does not exceed
$9,000,000; and providing for an effective date."
9:45:06 AM
Co-Chair Stedman recounted that that the bill had been
heard on February 27, 2024, at which time public testimony
had been taken.
Mr. Alper detailed that the Alaska Housing Finance
Corporation was seeking legislative approval to purchase a
building in East Anchorage that they were already renting.
He said that the bill would authorize the purchase of the
building.
Senator Merrick MOVED to report SB 205 out of Committee
with individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal
note. There being NO OBJECTION, it was so ordered.
SB 205 was REPORTED out of committee with four "do pass"
recommendations and with one "no recommendation"
recommendation, and with one new fiscal impact note from
the Department of Revenue.
Co-Chair Stedman discussed the agenda for the afternoon
meeting.
ADJOURNMENT
9:48:04 AM
The meeting was adjourned at 9:48 a.m.