Legislature(2021 - 2022)SENATE FINANCE 532
06/04/2021 10:00 AM Senate CONFERENCE COMMITTEE ON HB69 AND HB71
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| += | HB 69 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 71 | TELECONFERENCED | |
32nd ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
FIRST SESSION
SPECIAL SESSION
CONFERENCE COMMITTEE ON HB 69 and HB 71
June 4, 2021
10:01 a.m.
10:01:30 AM
CALL TO ORDER
Chair Foster called the Conference Committee meeting on HB
69 and HB 71 to order at 10:01 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT:
House:
Representative Neal Foster, Chair
Representative Kelly Merrick
Representative Bart LeBon
Senate:
Senator Bert Stedman, Vice-Chair
Senator Click Bishop
Senator Donny Olson
MEMBERS ABSENT
None
ALSO PRESENT:
Alexei Painter, Director, Legislative Finance Division.
SUMMARY
HB 69 APPROP: OPERATING BUDGET/LOANS/FUNDS
HB 69 was HEARD and HELD in committee for further
consideration.
HB 71 APPROP: MENTAL HEALTH BUDGET
HB 71 was HEARD and HELD in committee for further
consideration.
CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 69(FIN) am(brf sup maj fld)(efd fld)
"An Act making appropriations for the operating and
loan program expenses of state government and for
certain programs; capitalizing funds; amending
appropriations; and making capital appropriations,
supplemental appropriations, and reappropriations."
SCS CSHB 69(FIN) AM S
"An Act making appropriations for the operating and
loan program expenses of state government and for
certain programs; capitalizing funds; amending
appropriations; making capital appropriations,
supplemental appropriations, and reappropriations; and
providing for an effective date."
and
CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 71(FIN) am
"An Act making appropriations for the operating and
capital expenses of the state's integrated
comprehensive mental health program; making
supplemental appropriations; and providing for an
effective date."
SENATE CS FOR CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 71(FIN)
"An Act making appropriations for the operating and
capital expenses of the state's integrated
comprehensive mental health program; making capital
appropriations and supplemental appropriations; and
providing for an effective date."
10:01:58 AM
Chair Foster invited Alexei Painter, Director of the
Legislative Finance Division to join the committee at the
table. He noted that the committee would address open items
in HB 69 and HB 71 based on the motion sheets distributed
to members and dated June 4th (copy on file). They included
Supplemental Capital Budget items and a few American Rescue
Plan items from the Operating Budget. Because there was not
a version of the Capital budget that passed the House, any
item adopted would be a Senate item. He noted that the
House and Senate Co-Chairs for the Capital budget worked in
tandem developing the version before the Conference
Committee. He thanked them for their cooperation in getting
it before the committee.
Chair Foster continued that the items the conference
committee would take up in the Operating budget would also
be Senate items, as the House's version of the budget
passed before the guidelines were received from the
Treasury Department regarding the American Rescue Plan. He
thanked the Senate for their work in getting the committee
items that conformed with the guidelines. The committee
would take up items in the following departments:
FY 21 Supplemental Capital:
Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development
Department of Fish and Game
Office of the Governor
Department of Labor and Workforce Development
Department of Military and Veterans Affairs
Department of Natural Resources
Department of Transportation and Public Facilities
Judiciary
Legislature
Fund Transfers
FY 22 Operating Budget:
Department of Corrections
Office of the Governor
Department of Public Safety
^DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT: FY 21 SUPPLEMENTAL CAPITAL BUDGET
10:04:02 AM
Vice-Chair Stedman MOVED to ADOPT the following within the
Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development
supplemental capital budget:
Items 1-8 Open
Items 9-10 Open
Item 11-14 Senate
Item 15 Senate
Item 16 Senate
Item 17 Senate
Item 18-26 Senate
Item 27 Senate
Representative LeBon OBJECTED for discussion. He asked for
an explanation for the benefit of the committee and the
listening audience.
Chair Foster asked Mr. Painter to review the items. The
items were reappropriations.
10:05:43 AM
ALEXEI PAINTER, DIRECTOR, LEGISLATIVE FINANCE DIVISION,
explained that items 11-27 were legislatively generated
reappropriations of lapsing capital projects to new needs.
He believed both bodies worked to develop them, and the
items were added in the Senate budget.
Chair Foster reported that in years past the legislature
dealt with reappropriations in one of two ways. They were
either placed in one bucket and used for deferred
maintenance, or they were given back to their respective
communities. He asked if he was correct.
Mr. Painter responded affirmatively. He noted when money
lapsed for capital projects in a certain district, the
legislature made the funds available for reappropriation to
new projects in the same district - a practice reflected in
the bill. In some years all lapsing money was swept into a
central area. In the current budget, the money would remain
in the respective districts.
Representative LeBon suggested that some of the projects
were new within the districts and some were continuations
of projects. He wondered if any continuation of projects
were not in the report and were being were dealt with
separately. Mr. Painter replied that some were scope
changes. For example, item 15 expanded the scope of an
existing project. In most cases it was a new project within
the same community.
Senator Olson highlighted item 15. He did not see an amount
but noticed it had been expanded to include the purchase of
curling equipment for the curling club in Anchorage. he
asked if he was accurate. Mr. Painter responded, "Yes." It
was an existing capital project which would allow the
grantee to purchase equipment and expand the facility.
Senator Olson asked for the amount related to the project.
Mr. Painter could get back to the committee with the amount
still unobligated to the project. He believed the amount
was less than $100,000.
Senator Bishop pointed out that there were both minority
member projects and majority member projects on the list
for both the House and the Senate.
Vice-Chair Stedman added that some districts had
reappropriation funds available and some did not.
Historically, the legislature left lapsing funds in the
House district in which they were originally appropriated.
Normally, the elected official from a district worked with
district officials to make sure they were aware of
available or lapsed funds and received updates for the
capital budget chairman for capital projects. As it was
mentioned earlier, for a few years the reappropriations
were diverted to the capital income fund to be used for
general maintenance across the state. There were two
methodologies that had been used.
Representative LeBon WITHDREW his OBJECTION.
There being NO OBJECTION, items 1 through 27 for the
Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development
were ADOPTED.
^DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND GAME: FY 21 SUPPLEMENTAL CAPITAL
BUDGET
10:10:51 AM
Vice-Chair Stedman MOVED to ADOPT the following within the
Department of Fish and Game supplemental capital budget:
Item 1 Senate
Item 2 Open
Representative LeBon OBJECTED. He asked for more
information regarding item 1.
Mr. Painter explained that item 1 was part of the
governor's original capital request for FY 21 that was left
off because of the truncated session that did not fund all
of the projects. The item was part of the governor's
supplemental request. The House had originally planned to
address the issue in the main capital budget but with the
change in plans the Senate added it to the operating
budget.
Representative LeBon asked for Mr. Painter to identify the
funding source and provide additional background. Mr.
Painter replied that the funding source was the capital
income fund which was designated in statute to deferred
maintenance. He noted there was a centralized deferred
maintenance program run by the Department of Transportation
and Public Facilities that was budgeted through the Office
of Management and Budget. However, the program was focused
primarily on buildings. Since the items were largely
vessels and aircraft, having a separate appropriation
helped with prioritization between buildings and aircraft
and allowed a side-by-side comparison.
Representative LeBon WITHDREW his OBJECTION.
Senator Olson OBJECTED. He asked how aircraft hangers were
handled.
Mr. Painter thought the facilities portion would cover any
deferred maintenance issues related to hangers. He was
unsure whether the Department of Fish and Game (DFG) owned
any hangers.
Senator Olson asked if the appropriation included hangers.
Mr. Painter was unaware of DFG owning any hangers. He
believed most of their aircraft were float planes.
Senator Olson WITHDREW his OBJECTION.
There being NO OBJECTION, items 1 and 2 for the Department
of Fish and Game were ADOPTED.
^OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR
10:13:36 AM
Vice-Chair Stedman MOVED to ADOPT the following within the
Office of the Governor's supplemental capital budget:
Item 1 Senate
Item 2 Senate
Item 3 Senate
Representative LeBon OBJECTED. He asked for information
regarding item 1 and wondered if there was a dollar amount
for item 3.
Mr. Painter replied that item 1 was the centralized
deferred maintenance appropriation to the Office of the
Governor that the Office of Management and Budget would
assign to the departments based on the prioritized list
statewide. There was a similar appropriation in the FY 22
capital budget that was larger. The amount listed was the
amount requested in the governor's fast track supplemental
for deferred maintenance needs. The fund source was the
Alaska Capital Income Fund. He was unsure of the remaining
amount for item 3. The item was a scope change allowing
additional spending on Ballot Measure 2. He believed the
amount was under $1 million but did not have the exact
figure.
Representative LeBon was wondering if anyone in the room
had a dollar amount.
10:15:21 AM
AT EASE
10:25:12 AM
RECONVENED
Chair Foster indicated the committee was discussing item 3
in the Office of the Governor's budget.
Mr. Painter relayed that $1.86 million remained unobligated
in the existing appropriation. About $600,000 was needed
for Ballot Measure 2. The remaining amount was needed for
other items for election voting system replacement and
security upgrades as well as government efficiency efforts.
There was an additional appropriation of $590,000 in the
supplemental operating budget. All combined, they added up
to the amount needed to implement Ballot Measure 2.
Representative LeBon WITHDREW his OBJECTION.
There being NO OBJECTION, items 1 through 3 for the Office
of the Governor were ADOPTED.
^DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT: FY 21
SUPPLEMENTAL CAPITAL BUDGET
10:26:20 AM
Vice-Chair Stedman MOVED to ADOPT the following within the
Department of Labor and Workforce Development supplemental
capital budget:
Item 1 Senate
Representative LeBon OBJECTED and asked for additional
information.
Mr. Painter explained that part of the American Rescue
Plan, the federal COVID relief bill, gave grants to states
for upgrading Unemployment Insurance mainframe systems - He
elaborated that part of the experience of the Cares Act in
previous bills that used state unemployment systems found
that many of them were sorely in need of upgrades. Alaska
had a grant of $600 million that could be used to upgrade
its system.
Representative LeBon WITHDREW his OBJECTION.
There being NO OBJECTION, item 1 for the Department of
Labor and Workforce Development was ADOPTED.
^Department of Military and Veterans Affairs: FY 21
Supplemental Capital Budget
10:27:22 AM
Vice-Chair Stedman MOVED to ADOPT the following within the
Department of Military and Veterans Affairs supplemental
capital budget:
Item 1 Senate Both Items
Item 2 Senate Both Items
Item 3 Senate Both Items
Item 4 Senate Both Items
Item 5 Senate
Representative LeBon OBJECTED. He thought the items
appeared to be matching funds. The fund source was a
combination of federal receipts and Alaska capital funding.
He asked if he was correct. Mr. Painter responded, "That's
correct."
Representative LeBon asked if item 4 was related to
specific projects or from a list to be determined. Mr.
Painter relayed there was a list in the capital backup that
he could provide to the committee.
Representative LeBon asked if specific projects had been
assigned dollar amounts. He wondered if the detail was
available presently. Mr. Painter did not bring the capital
backup with him.
Representative LeBon responded that he could find the
information at a later time. He asked if item 5 applied to
FY 21. Mr. Painter responded that the appropriation was due
to the transfer of the Alaska Land Mobile Radio Program
from the Department of Administration to the Department of
Military and Veterans Affairs. It was simply a
reappropriation of existing capital projects from one
department to another without changing the purpose.
Representative LeBon asked if the figure was the original
dollar amount or whether some of the money had already been
spent and the amount reflected lapsing funds. Mr. Painter
replied that the figure was the unexpended amount rather
than lapsing funds. The reappropriation was to change the
department to reflect the current department that managed
the program.
Representative LeBon WITHDREW his OBJECTION.
There being NO OBJECTION, items 1-5 for the Department of
Military and Veterans Affairs were ADOPTED.
^DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES: FY 21 SUPPLEMENTAL
CAPITAL BUDGET
Vice-Chair Stedman MOVED to ADOPT the following within the
Department of Natural Resources supplemental capital
budget:
Item 1 Open
Item 2 Senate
There being NO OBJECTION, item 1 and item 2 for the
Department of Natural Resources were ADOPTED.
^DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AND PUBLIC FACILITIES: FY 21
SUPPLEMENTAL CAPITAL BUDGET
10:30:00 AM
Vice-Chair Stedman MOVED to ADOPT the following within the
Department of Transportation and Public Facilities
supplemental capital budget:
Item 1 Senate
Item 2 Senate
Item 3 Senate Modify fund source, 1265 COVID Fed
Item 4 Senate
Item 5 Senate
Representative LeBon OBJECTED. He asked if item 1 and item
2 offset each other. He asked for further information.
Mr. Painter responded that the items were not related to
each other. Item 1 was similar to the items within
Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. He explained
there had been a reorganization of the executive branch
where the management of state facilities had moved from the
Department of Administration to the Department of
Transportation and Public Facilities specifically for the
public building fund. It reappropriated existing
outstanding capital projects from the Department of
Administration to the Department of Transportation and
Public Facilities which reflected where the program was
currently budgeted. Item 2 was a reappropriation from the
capital budget to the operating budget. The other half was
supplemental fund transfers, item 3, which the Conference
Committee addressed in the prior week.
Representative LeBon referred to item 4 and asked if it was
debt service related to the Alaska International Airport
system. He thought the amount was $30 million in debt
service. He wondered if the substitute for funding the debt
service was COVID monies. He wondered if it was a one-time
use of the funding.
Mr. Painter responded affirmatively. He explained that the
various federal relief acts included significant funding
for airports. The international airport system wanted to
use part of the funding to pay down debt service because
the amount was beyond what they needed for current
operations. It allowed them to pay down some of their debt
service.
Representative LeBon asked if the state would be saving UGF
monies to be used for other purposes. Mr. Painter replied
that the international airports were self-sustaining. It
would not impact the general fund.
Representative LeBon asked for further explanation of
item 5. Mr. Painter responded that in years with extreme
weather events that caused damaged to state roads and state
facilities, the Department of Transportation and Public
Facilities often needed to request a specific supplemental
of a few $100,000 at a time. Rather than having to make a
request each time, the department wanted the amount of
money to cover future weather events without having to wait
for the legislature to reconvene potentially months later.
Representative LeBon clarified the amount was $1 million.
Mr. Painter responded, "Correct."
Representative LeBon WITHDREW his OBJECTION.
There being NO OBJECTION, items 1 through 5 for the
Department of Transportation and Public Facilities were
ADOPTED.
^JUDICIARY: FY 21 SUPPLEMENTAL CAPITAL BUDGET
10:34:17 AM
Vice-Chair Stedman MOVED to ADOPT the following within
Judiciary's supplemental capital budget:
Item 1 Senate
There being NO OBJECTION, item 1 for Judiciary was ADOPTED.
^LEGISLATURE: FY 21 SUPPLEMENTAL CAPITAL BUDGET
10:34:38 AM
Vice-Chair Stedman MOVED to ADOPT the following within the
Legislature's supplemental capital budget:
Item 1 Senate
There being NO OBJECTION, item 1 for the Legislature was
ADOPTED.
^Fund Transfers: FY 21 Supplemental Capital Budget
10:35:01 AM
Vice-Chair Stedman MOVED to ADOPT the following fund
transfers within the supplemental capital budget:
Item 1 Senate
Item 2 Senate
Representative LeBon OBJECTED. He commented that the House
did not weigh in on many of the related projects. He asked
for an explanation for clarification purposes.
Representative LeBon WITHDREW his OBJECTION.
There being NO OBJECTION, items 1 and 2 for Fund Transfers
were ADOPTED.
Chair Foster concluded the Supplemental Capital portion of
the meeting. The committee would move to the FY 22
operating budget. The items involved the American Rescue
Plan funds. The guidelines came in after the House passed
its budget. The items made conforming adjustments. The
committee would begin with the Department of Corrections.
^Department of Corrections
10:36:29 AM
Vice-Chair Stedman MOVED to ADOPT the following within the
Department of Corrections budget:
Items 1-5 Open
Items 6-10 Open
Items 11-15 Open
Items 16-17 Open
Items 18-19 Senate All Items
Representative LeBon OBJECTED and asked for some background
information.
Mr. Painter explained that the House used some of the
American Rescue Plan dollars for revenue replacement, which
was an allowable use and an allowable place to do so. After
the House process and working collaboratively with the
administration, he developed a way to do the revenue
replacement without creating a distortion in the budget
that the House method provided. The House changed from
general funds to federal funds creating the appearance that
general funds went down. In the Senate version there was an
appropriation of American Rescue Plan dollars to the
general fund. In order to do revenue replacement, the
legislature would appropriate using a general fund tracking
code to the specific items for revenue replacement. It
would allow the items to remain counted as general funds
without appearing to distort the budget. It would also
demonstrate to the federal government that the state was
using the funding for allowable items. The House method,
while it worked, would not be as clean as what could be
done at the Conference Committee.
Representative LeBon WITHDREW his OBJECTION.
There being NO OBJECTION, items 1 through 19 for Department
of Corrections were ADOPTED.
^Office of the Governor
10:39:07 AM
Vice-Chair Stedman MOVED to ADOPT the following within the
Office of the Governor's budget:
Item 1 Senate Both items
There being NO OBJECTION, item 1 for the Office of the
Governor was ADOPTED.
^Department of Public Safety
10:39:34 AM
Vice-Chair Stedman MOVED to ADOPT the following within the
Department of Public Safety budget:
Item 7 Senate Both items
Item 9 Open
There being NO OBJECTION, items 7 and 9 for the Department
of Public Safety were ADOPTED.
Chair Foster relayed that once the next meeting date and
time was determined, the details would be noticed on BASIS
at www.akleg.gov. He thought the next meeting would not be
before Monday.
Vice-Chair Stedman MOVED to ADJOURN. There being NO
OBJECTION, it was so ordered.
ADJOURNMENT
10:40:46 AM
The meeting was adjourned at 10:40 a.m.
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