Legislature(1997 - 1998)
04/24/1998 09:08 AM Senate HES
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
SENATE HEALTH, EDUCATION AND SOCIAL SERVICES COMMITTEE
April 24, 1998
9:08 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Gary Wilken, Chairman
Senator Loren Leman, Vice-Chairman
Senator Lyda Green
Senator Jerry Ward
Senator Johnny Ellis
MEMBERS ABSENT
None
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
HOUSE BILL NO. 407
"An Act relating to repayment of teacher scholarship loans."
PASSED HB 407 OUT OF COMMITTEE
CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 353(HES) am
"An Act relating to adoption by reference in regulations; and
providing for an effective date."
HEARD AND HELD
SENATE BILL NO. 293
"An Act relating to contracts for the provision of state public
assistance to certain recipients in the state; providing for
regional public assistance plans and programs in the state;
relating to grants for Alaska tribal family assistance programs;
and providing for an effective date."
PASSED SB 293 OUT OF COMMITTEE
SENATE BILL NO. 266
"An Act relating to Medicaid coverage for certain eligible children
and pregnant women; relating to primary care case management and
managed care services as optional services and to premiums and
cost-sharing contributions under the Medicaid program; establishing
the Healthy Families Alaska program; and providing for an effective
date."
PASSED CSSB 266(HES) OUT OF COMMITTEE
PREVIOUS SENATE COMMITTEE ACTION
HB 407 - No previous committee action.
HB 353 - See HESS minutes dated 4/22/98.
SB 293 - No previous committee action.
SB 266 - See HESS minutes dated 4/8/98 and 4/15/98.
WITNESS REGISTER
Representative Gary Davis
Alaska State Capitol
Juneau, Alaska 99801-1182
POSITION STATEMENT: Sponsor of HB 407
Gary and Marcia Reed
P.O. Box 2612
Soldotna, Alaska 99669
POSITION STATEMENT: Support HB 407
Bruce Campbell
Staff to Representative Pete Kelly
Alaska State Capitol
Juneau, Alaska 99801-1182
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified for the sponsor of HB 353
Mr. Terry Hoefferle
Bristol Bay Native Association
P.O. Box 310
Dillingham, Alaska 99576
POSITION STATEMENT: Supports SB 293
Bob Charles
Alaska Village Council Presidents
Bethel, Alaska 99559
POSITION STATEMENT: Supports SB 293
Mr. Michael Walleri
Tanana Chiefs' Council
122 1st Ave., Suite 600
Fairbanks, Alaska 99701
POSITION STATEMENT: Supports SB 293
Sharon Olsen
Tlingit and Haida Central Council
320 West Willoughby
Juneau, Alaska 99801
POSITION STATEMENT: Supports SB 293
ACTION NARRATIVE
TAPE 98-38, SIDE A
Number 001
CHAIRMAN WILKEN called the Senate Health, Education and Social
Services (HESS) Committee to order at 9:08 a.m. Present were
Senators Leman, Ward, and Chairman Wilken. Senators Green and
Ellis arrived shortly after the meeting convened. The first order
of business before the committee was HB 407.
HB 407 - TEACHER SCHOLARSHIP LOANS
REPRESENTATIVE GARY DAVIS, sponsor of the HB 407, gave the
following description of the measure. Alaska established the
Teacher Scholarship Loan Program to provide an incentive to Alaska
students to return to teach in rural Alaska after completing a
teaching degree program. After teaching in a rural area for four
years, Alaska student loan borrowers can get up to 100 percent of
their loans forgiven. HB 407 simply provides the same loan
forgiveness provision to a very small group of student loan
borrowers who have contracted an illness that requires them to
remain in urban areas to receive special medical attention. Those
borrowers must be teaching in the urban areas. In the specific
case Representative Davis was made aware of, a student loan
borrower contracted a degenerative disease that requires continual
physical therapy and doctor's visits. Current statute contains a
provision allowing loan forgiveness if a borrower becomes disabled,
but in this instance, the borrower does not want to file for
disability. This woman wants to continue to teach.
CHAIRMAN WILKEN asked Representative Davis if a constituent brought
this problem to his attention.
REPRESENTATIVE DAVIS explained he was approached by the father of
a student from the Soldotna area.
Number 087
GARY REED testified via teleconference from Soldotna. He is the
father of the student who prompted this legislation. He asked the
committee to support HB 407. He explained that his daughter
graduated from high school with a high GPA and went to college with
the intent of returning to teach in rural Alaska. During the first
semester of her senior year, she was diagnosed with a disease that
is progressively degenerative and has no cure, but is treatable.
At this time his daughter is capable of teaching full-time, and she
is not interested in qualifying for a disability. Stress is a
factor that increases the degeneration, and the fact that she could
not teach in rural Alaska added to her stress, as well as the
hardship the student loan payments cause her. He noted the House
passed this bill unanimously.
MRS. REED also urged the committee to support HB 407.
Number 146
SENATOR LEMAN moved to pass HB 407 from committee with individual
recommendations. There being no objection, the motion carried.
HB 353 - ADOPTION BY REFERENCE IN REGULATIONS
BRUCE CAMPBELL, staff to Representative Pete Kelly, informed
committee members he prepared a committee substitute after several
concerns were discussed by committee members at a previous meeting.
SENATOR ELLIS moved to adopt SCSCSHB 353(HES), version F, as the
working document of the committee. There being no objection, the
motion carried.
MR. CAMPBELL explained the changes made in the committee
substitute. On page 1, line 11, language was added allowing this
process to be applied when a regulation references a regulation
adopted by another state agency. For example, DHSS regulations
require that child care centers meet fire marshall codes. The fire
marshall regulations regarding fire codes change when codes are
updated. Rather than require DHSS to repromulgate its regulations
regarding fire codes in child care centers when the code is
updated, HB 353 will allow the new code regulations to be adopted
by reference. On page 3 an additional U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services' reference document was added, entitled "The
Relative Value Units Used in the Medicare Program for the
Determination of Fee Schedules."
Number 190
SENATOR LEMAN asked if Mr. Campbell decided the inclusion of
Amendment #1, proposed at the last meeting, was inappropriate in
the committee substitute.
MR. CAMPBELL responded Amendment #1 is moving independently as SB
305, and is now in the House Labor and Commerce Committee. He
stated had it been included, two bills that do the same thing will
be enacted.
SENATOR GREEN asked if, when new legislation is being drafted, a
search through the regulations to cross-reference any tangential
connection could create a conflict.
MR. CAMPBELL said he did not think so because regulations are not
normally quoted in statute. If DHSS cross references the fire
marshall code in its regulations on child care centers, then DHSS
should be able to amend the regulations so that it can use the
updated fire marshall code without re-promulgating regulations
which can take six months.
CHAIRMAN WILKEN asked the committee's wishes on HB 353. There
being no motion to moved HB 353, CHAIRMAN WILKEN announced HB 353
would be taken up again by the committee on Monday, April 27.
SB 266 - MEDICAID COVER/HEALTHY FAMILIES AK PROGRAM
SENATOR GREEN moved to adopt CSSB 266(HES), version B, as the
working document of the committee. There being no objection, the
motion carried.
CHAIRMAN WILKEN noted HB 369 is a mirror version of this bill. He
asked Mr. Livey what the status of that legislation is.
JAY LIVEY, Deputy Commissioner of DHSS, replied HB 369 passed out
of the House Finance Committee the previous day.
CHAIRMAN WILKEN asked Mr. Livey to give the committee a synopsis of
what activity has occurred in regard to HB 369.
MR. LIVEY stated the original bill, as introduced by the Governor,
proposed to increase Medicaid eligibility for children and pregnant
women, whose income is up to 200 percent of the poverty level. The
provision including pregnant women was removed on the House side so
the bill that passed out of the House Finance Committee yesterday
retained the Medicaid increase up to 200 percent of the poverty
level for children only. The original bill proposed continuous
eligibility up to 11 months; that provision remains in the House
bill. The original Governor's bill also proposed targeted case
management, which is a Medicaid option. Targeted case management
for the Healthy Families Program and for nurse midwives was removed
from the House bill. The original Governor's bill also contained
a proposal to allow DHSS to proceed with certain types of managed
care. That provision was put back in by the House Finance
Committee. The language that allows for cost sharing for children
at over 150 percent of the poverty level remains in the bill. The
remaining sections of the bill were definitional sections.
Number 282
SENATOR LEMAN asked if version B of SB 266 is similar to the House
Finance Committee version.
CHAIRMAN WILKEN answered it is identical.
SENATOR ELLIS moved CSSB 266(HES) out of committee with individual
recommendations and its accompanying fiscal notes. The motion
carried with no objection.
Number 303
SB 293 - STATE/REG'L/TRIBAL FAMILY ASS'T PROGRAMS
CHAIRMAN WILKEN announced HB 401, which is similar to SB 293, is
now in the House Rules Committee. He asked Mr. Livey to update the
committee on the status of that measure during his presentation on
SB 293.
JAY LIVEY presented SB 293 to the committee. When the federal
welfare reform legislation passed, it contained a provision that
allowed the 12 Alaska Native regional non-profit corporations to
apply to the federal government to administer welfare programs in
their service areas. The "welfare" program would consist of
monthly cash payments, employment training services, or any other
services necessary to put people to work under welfare reform. The
regional non-profit corporation would submit a plan to the federal
government for approval. If approved, the regional corporation
would receive, directly from the federal government, an amount of
money equivalent to what the state spent in that service area in
1994. The state's welfare block grant is also based on the 1994
amount, so the new federal law reroutes the state's federal block
grant to regional non-profit corporations. Current welfare funds
are comprised of half state and half federal money, so the regional
corporations will also need to receive state funds to provide a
program equivalent to that provided by the state. SB 293
establishes a mechanism by which the state can convey money to the
regional corporations to provide those public assistance services.
MR. LIVEY explained that DHSS and the regional corporations
discussed various options, and came to a consensus on four or five
points. First, the tribes and the state agreed that self-
sufficiency should be promoted, as that is the whole point of
welfare reform. Second, both agreed that flexibility in self-
sufficiency strategies should be promoted because strategies used
in urban areas may not work in rural areas. Third, both agreed
that programs should be run efficiently. Fourth, both agreed that
disparity in benefit levels and services for similarly situated
Alaskans should be discouraged. For example, DHSS wanted to make
sure that two families living next to each other, who operate
within the same economy and community, were treated the same in
terms of benefits. Fifth, issues surrounding the state's
delegation of authority needed to be addressed.
MR. LIVEY explained the mechanics of SB 293. The regional
corporation will send its plan to the state six months prior to
sending the plan to the federal government. The state will review
the plan for two sets of standards. The first standard requires
that the service area boundary of the regional corporation makes
sense administratively, so that service areas are coherent and
compatible with other state service areas. DHSS does not want to
have pockets of service areas requiring the state to maintain a
presence to fill in the blank spots. The DHSS commissioner has
some authority to review the service area to ensure that it
comports with the service areas of the state. Second, DHSS
established five basic standards of welfare services that should be
in the plan, regardless of who administers it. DHSS took those out
of the state's public assistance plan. The recipient must have a
dependent child in the family to receive benefits; recipients must
work for their benefits, but not necessarily for cash; recipients
will have to cooperate with the Child Support Enforcement Division;
an appeals process must be in place; and, a minor parent must live
at home or in an adult supervised setting to receive a benefit. If
the regional corporation plan meets those two sets of standards, it
will be eligible to receive a grant or contract from the state that
will convey general funds to provide public assistance services in
its area. Once the plan is approved, the regional corporation will
be responsible for the public assistance services in that area.
MR. LIVEY discussed the issue of services to non-Native families
living within the regional corporation's service area. Two factors
were considered by DHSS: administrative efficiency and disparate
benefits for similarly situated families. DHSS decided it wants
all families in a service area to receive the same benefit package.
SB 293 provides that non-Native families will be served by the
regional corporation plan, at the Commissioner's discretion.
Number 412
SENATOR GREEN asked if the payment to the non-Native family would
consist of 100 percent state funds.
MR. LIVEY replied half of the money for Native families comes from
the federal government and half will come from the state. For the
non-Native families, 100 percent of the money will come from the
state because the federal dollars for non-Native families is
already in DHSS's budget.
MR. LIVEY stated DHSS believes SB 293 is a good idea for the
following reasons. DHSS believes this approach will make welfare
reform more successful because welfare services can be designed to
match the economy and labor force in specific regions. DHSS
believes partnering with regional corporations will be beneficial
to the state because many of the regional corporations have already
established employment training and child care programs, allowing
the state to leverage some services through the partnership.
Finally, regional providers are willing to express a local
responsibility to be successful within their regions. DHSS
believes it will be beneficial to take advantage of the regional
corporations enthusiasm and it wants to help the corporations
successfully deliver services.
Number 439
SENATOR WARD asked who requested the bill.
MR. LIVEY replied DHSS has been talking to the regional
corporations about this approach ever since the federal law was
enacted.
SENATOR WARD noted the Tlingit and Haida Central Council (THCC)
unanimously passed a resolution four days ago that states that the
Cook Inlet Regional Corporation (CIRI) should not be treated as a
tribe. The Cook Inlet Tribal Council is appointed directly by the
profit making corporation, so SB 293 would be giving state funds
directly to a profit-making corporation which has direct control
over its non-profit regional corporation by appointment. Eight of
the nine villages in the Cook Inlet region protested over the
hospital transfer.
Number 452
MR. LIVEY stated the federal law that set up the regional
corporation mechanism explicitly named the 12 regional non-profit
corporations and Metlakatla as being the only entities eligible to
receive the federal grants. He said he believes the Cook Inlet
Tribal Council is named in that law.
SENATOR WARD asked if any federal money will come to the state if
SB 293 is not enacted.
MR. LIVEY said if SB 293 is not enacted, regional corporations
could still write a plan and apply to the federal government to
provide services, however they could only use federal money since
the state would have no mechanism to convey general funds to them.
SENATOR WARD noted the regional corporations would also have to
present authorization from the villages within their regions each
time they applied. SB 293 would preclude that from happening.
MR. LIVEY stated he believes the federal law defined the regional
corporations as tribes for this particular purpose only.
CHAIRMAN WILKEN noted teleconference participants might be able to
address Senator Ward's concern later in the meeting.
Number 473
SENATOR LEMAN questioned whether SB 293 contains incentives to
encourage a reduction in the amount of payments going out.
MR. LIVEY thought the incentives for the regional corporations are
the same as those for the state. The federal money received by a
tribe will be in the form of a block grant, so the amount will not
fluctuate. The general fund portion will be subject to annual
appropriation, and the regional corporations understand that that
money will not increase if they are not successful. Also, the
state grants and contracts will contain performance requirements
regarding the services that have to be provided.
SENATOR LEMAN said at present, the state submits a supplemental
appropriation request if it exceeds its budget for welfare reform
services. He questioned whether the regional corporations will do
the same or whether incentives will be locked into the grants to
encourage the regional corporations to hold the line.
MR. LIVEY stated such clauses will be included in the contracts,
but situations, such as the Bristol Bay economic disaster, could
occur that require extra funding.
Number 500
SENATOR LEMAN questioned whether a commensurate reduction in the
state's cost to deliver the services through its public assistance
program will occur. He stated the fiscal note does not reflect any
reduction.
MR. LIVEY explained the fiscal note is indeterminate because DHSS
does not believe all twelve regional non-profit corporations will
participate. As the regional non-profit corporations do take on
this program, the existing money in the DHSS budget will be
distributed in the form of grants and contracts. DHSS anticipates
a savings to the state will occur, and it will reduce its
administrative components as well, because administrative money
will be going out to the regional corporations at the same time.
Number 514
CHAIRMAN WILKEN asked how much money is available from the federal
government.
MR. LIVEY said the state gets about $60 million in the federal
block grant.
CHAIRMAN WILKEN asked if the state will pass a portion of the $60
million on to the new program.
MR. LIVEY said that is correct, and the amount for the new program
will be reduced from the amount the state can claim from the
federal government.
CHAIRMAN WILKEN asked where the five criteria in the second
standard are located in the bill.
MR. LIVEY replied they appear on the bottom of page 5, line 30,
through page 6, line 18.
CHAIRMAN WILKEN clarified there are six criteria. He asked if this
proposal was before the Legislature during a prior session.
MR. LIVEY stated this is the first year this bill has been
introduced, however very short, similar language was contained in
the original welfare reform bill that allowed DHSS to contract with
regional corporations.
CHAIRMAN WILKEN noted Section 5 pertains to qualifications. He
asked if one person in a service area is served the everyone in
that area would be served.
MR. LIVEY explained the federal law gives the regional corporations
flexibility to design and draw boundaries around their service
areas. DHSS is requiring that it approve of the way those lines
are drawn to ensure that the boundaries make sense administratively
regarding efficiency of service.
CHAIRMAN WILKEN asked if it is possible that one family will be
provided service and another not, regardless of tribal affiliation,
if SB 293 passes.
MR. LIVEY replied that all eligible families within a service area
will be served by a regional corporation.
CHAIRMAN WILKEN asked if the families will have to meet the six
criteria.
MR. LIVEY clarified the six steps on pages 5-6 are actually
requirements of the tribal plan. If those are not included in the
regional corporation's plan, it will not be eligible for state
money.
SENATOR WARD noted the regional non-profit arm of the CIRI was the
Cook Inlet Native Association. CIRI then created Cook Inlet Tribal
Council; CIRI appoints the tribal council members. He asked if
guidelines regarding the formation of non-profit agencies are
contained in SB 293.
MR. LIVEY responded SB 293 contains no such guidelines.
SENATOR WARD asked whether any discussion about putting guidelines
in the bill took place.
Number 561
MR. LIVEY said no discussion took place, DHSS just referenced the
federal law which lists the eligible regional corporations. He
offered to supply committee members with a copy of the federal law.
SENATOR WARD maintained the bill will allow state funds to be given
to a regional non-profit corporation that is completely controlled
by its profit making arm. He thought it would be prudent for the
state to determine that all of the non-profits were formed,
operated, and controlled in the same manner.
MR. LIVEY stated he is not familiar with the situation in Cook
Inlet.
SENATOR WARD stated the amount of money is large enough to warrant
concern.
CHAIRMAN WILKEN took teleconference testimony.
MR. TERRY HOEFFERLE, Chief of Operations for the Bristol Bay Native
Association (BBNA), informed committee members BBNA is comprised of
32 tribal communities and is governed by a 37 member board of
directors. BBNA was formed to work for the passage of ANILCA over
30 years ago. BBNA has since been performing some of the not-for-
profit social and economic programs for the members of the
association.
TAPE 98-38, SIDE B
MR. HOEFFERLE stated the new federal law named 12 tribal groups in
Alaska as entities that could operate public assistance programs.
In doing so, Congress recognized the necessity for local
responsibility and to tie public assistance to local economic and
social conditions. BBNA's 1997 annual report details the programs
it operates and the resources it has employed. The report also
details the source of program funds. BBNA has a staff of 294; 239
of those workers are located in villages. The village employees
would be a major way to leverage some of the state's Temporary
Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) dollars. BBNA's 35 programs
are organized into divisions;, one of those divisions is called
workforce development. That division combines 10 separate programs
under a federal law called 102.477. That legislation permits BBNA
to combine Bureau of Indian Affairs, Department of Education, and
Department of Labor programs. Those programs are combined for
budgetary and administrative purposes. BBNA has operated the 10
programs as a single block grant, and by doing so has reduced
reporting requirements and the number of applications to one.
Administrative costs have been reduced by 30 percent; that money
was directly plowed into client services. Those programs include
six separate employment and training programs, a child care
program, a general assistance program, and adult basic education.
If BBNA has the opportunity to operate the state's public
assistance program independently, it will be able to provide the
necessary counseling required to move a person from welfare to
work. At present, those services are provided by telephone from
service providers in Anchorage. BBNA could provide individual
responsibility plans to clients in person.
SENATOR WARD asked if a majority of the voting members of BBNA's
non-profit regional board are elected or appointed by the profit-
making arm of the corporation.
MR. HOEFFERLE replied 32 board members are appointed by the
presidents of their local tribal councils, five are appointed by
the board of directors to provide expertise to the operation of
BBNA. Those five directors are BBNA members who generally
represent the Bristol Bay Native Corporation, the Bristol Bay
Health Corporation, the village representative to AFN, and two
others.
SENATOR WARD noted BBNA has a good non-profit regional corporation
that truly represents the villages which is the way the law was
intended.
MR. BOB CHARLES, Vice President of Operations for the Association
of Village Council Presidents (ACVP) in Bethel, testified. AVCP
represents 47 village communities of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta.
AVCP wholeheartedly supports CSSB 293(HES). AVCP has been involved
with the other regional corporations, the state, and its villages
about this issue since it began several years ago. AVCP was formed
in 1954 and was formally incorporated in 1968. Due to recent
changes in Alaska law, AVCP can concentrate its efforts more on
service delivery and improving the quality of services and case
management at the village level. AVCP's directors are elected by
their village residents. When Congress was considering this
legislation in 1995, the AVCP convention adopted a resolution in
support of it, and many of its villages started planning to assume
responsibility to deliver welfare services at the village level.
Local village coordinators were hired less than one year ago to
take referrals from the Division of Public Assistance. The
coordinators help people find work or training to help meet their
work requirements. AVCP has been working with about 800 families.
AVCP intends to integrate all of its services if CSSB 293(HES)
passes and it believes it can do a good job because it has a strong
and large infrastructure in place at the village level.
Number 460
SENATOR WARD asked if all non-profit regional corporations should
come under the same guidelines for their formation and existence.
MR. CHARLES replied that each non-profit regional corporation is
established according to the same principles and rules. Under the
federal legislation, non-profit regional corporations must have
established a cadre of services and programs comparable to the
state's program and operated under the same principles. Regarding
how the regional non-profit corporations are organized and managed,
each region is a little bit different from the others.
SENATOR WARD asked if any board of a regional non-profit
corporation, other than CIRI, is appointed by the profit making arm
of the corporation.
MR. CHARLES said he was not aware of other areas.
Number 445
MIKE WALLERI, the general counsel for the Tanana Chiefs' Conference
(TCC), stated support for CSSB 293(HES). TCC has a republican
form of governance; its board is comprised of 43 members who are
appointed by the village councils throughout the region, and two
associations in Tok and Fairbanks. All of the organization's
boards and councils are elected under a democratic system. There
are no appointments of Doyon or any village corporations involved
in the TCC governance. SB 293 was developed in consultation with
the regional non-profit corporations. TCC has been involved in
welfare reform for quite some time. It was the first region in the
state, and probably the first tribal organization in the nation, to
implement welfare reform within the Bureau of Indian Affairs
general assistance program. That ultimately resulted in a national
program called the Work Incentive Program, which TCC has
successfully operated for a number of years. TCC has undergone a
planning process for about 1+ years beginning with meetings in the
villages, meetings with regional boards, and culminating in two
region-wide meetings to develop a plan which has been submitted to
the federal authorities with a start date of July 1. The TCC plan
will have a heightened work requirement for participants in the
TANF program. The work requirement will be about 33 percent more
than the state program requires. TCC also provides for mandatory
drug and alcohol evaluation and treatment, and sanctions for not
participating. One of the major differences between the TCC plan
and the state program is in the delivery of services. TCC has a
network of offices in every village in the region in coordination
with the tribal councils. TCC is able to offer a "one-stop shop"
for all TANF and work services which the state has not been able to
do. Many regions objected to the lack of a "one-stop" service
delivery approach in rural Alaska in the state plan. Second, TCC
has more flexibility to develop plans to meet the local economies
and needs in its programs. This provision allows for a "bottom-up"
planning structure, beginning at the village level. This program
will also allow state programs to interface with existing tribal
regional programs and leverage off of those programs to provide the
same level of services currently available in urban areas. This
would not be possible under a state plan. Finally, it provides an
economy of scale, for region-wide planning operations, and it
avoids duplication of services that might occur if the tribal
organizations proceeded to operate the programs without the state
match.
In response to Senator Ward's and Senator Leman's questions, MR.
WALLERI said the Cook Inlet Region is different in terms of its
governance, but the federal legislation designates the Cook Inlet
Regional Corporation for purposes of contracting under the Indian
Self Determination Act. That law locks the Cook Inlet Regional
Corporation into a relationship in the actual contracting of those
programs. The federal TANF legislation differs from CSSB 293(HES)
in that it lists the non-profit corporations specifically,
including the Cook Inlet Tribal Association. To that extent, this
program offers a little more autonomy for that particular
corporation. Most of the regional corporations urged Congress to
adopt a decision-making structure at the village level as to who
will actually operate these programs, much as that decision is made
throughout most of the state under the Indian Self Determination
Act. The Alaska delegation felt this was a more appropriate way
to conduct the program therefore that issue should be addressed
with the Alaska delegation and should not stop this legislation.
TCC anticipates some cost reductions in the area of cost avoidance.
Leveraging off of the non-profit service dollars allows the state
to put together a program without having to actually pay out-of-
state dollars for the job service programs that can be provided by
the non-profit regional corporations. In addition, TCC expects to
see a benefit reduction because of TCC's additional drug and
alcohol sanctions and its higher level of work requirements. TCC
is unable to estimate what those cost reductions will be with any
degree of accuracy.
Number 318
SENATOR WARD commended the TCC program and agreed that an approach
that starts from the lower level and works up through a non-profit
regional corporation ends with a product that represents the entire
region. His concern about Cook Inlet is that the approach goes in
the other direction. He stated the only corporation that will be
affected if the bill requires 51 percent of the board seats too be
appointed by the villages is Cook Inlet.
CHAIRMAN WILKEN noted his intent to pass the legislation on to the
State Affairs Committee where that issue could be addressed.
SHARON OLSEN, Division Director for the Employment and Training
Programs for Tlingit Haida Central Council, gave the following
testimony. A packet she provided to committee members outlines
THCC's goals, principles, and strategies in its tribal plan, a
letter to Commissioner Perdue in support of SB 293 and other
materials. THCC has undergone a lot of preparation to position
itself to address welfare reform. THCC is comprised of 21 villages
throughout Southeast Alaska. It's delegates are elected every two
years; those delegates attend a general assembly annually to
address tribal affairs. THCC also has an elected executive
committee made up of a president and six vice presidents. THCC
receives funding for its programs from the Department of Labor,
Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services. The funding is for child care, work experience,
and training programs. THCC contracted with the State of Alaska
last year to work with Native ATAP clients in the Juneau area to
provide work search activities as well as case management. THCC
also receives a grant from the Department of Education for its
tribal vocation rehabilitation program. That program addresses
needs of tribal members with disabilities. Two years ago THCC
received a grant from HUD to construct a vocational training and
resource center which will be completed in August. That program
will offer computer training, small business management and tourism
classes, and basic skills with the focus on job preparation and
maintenance. THCC has undertaken these programs in preparation for
implementing a tribal TANF program. THCC was able to consolidate
a variety of programs into one budget, plan, and reporting system
which gives it a lot more flexibility in meeting the unique needs
of each of its communities. The unemployment and economic
conditions in Southeast's rural communities will be a challenge for
THCC. It has been working closely with all employers to identify
employment opportunities. THCC has had years of experience
providing on-the-job training and work experience programs. THCC
believes it is ready and able to take on this challenge.
Number 227
SENATOR WARD asked Ms. Olsen if she had a copy of THCC's resolution
regarding CIRI.
MS. OLSEN said she did not, but would provide it to committee
members later.
SENATOR ELLIS noted he has had THCC trainees in his office for
three years. He noted THCC runs a lean, serious, no-nonsense
operation which is exactly what policy makers asked for when they
started welfare reform in 1989. He applauded THCC for its efforts.
SENATOR GREEN asked whether THCC would use different standards for
non-Natives in a town already integrated, such as Juneau.
Number 200
MS. OLSEN replied that THCC has worked very closely with DHSS for
the last 2+ years addressing comparability, equal access, and other
issues related to running a TANF program. THCC believes treating
people fairly and consistently is important, which is one reason
THCC has spent so much time addressing every aspect of the program
that will come before it.
SENATOR GREEN moved CSSB 293(HES) to its next committee of referral
with individual recommendations. There being no objection, the
motion carried.
There being no further business to come before the committee,
CHAIRMAN WILKEN adjourned the hearing at 10:31 a.m.
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