01/22/2024 01:30 PM Senate LABOR & COMMERCE
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB182 | |
| Adjourn |
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | SB 182 | TELECONFERENCED | |
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE LABOR AND COMMERCE STANDING COMMITTEE
January 22, 2024
1:33 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Jesse Bjorkman, Chair
Senator Click Bishop, Vice Chair
Senator Elvi Gray-Jackson
Senator Kelly Merrick
Senator Forrest Dunbar
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
SENATE BILL NO. 182
"An Act extending the termination date of the Big Game
Commercial Services Board; and providing for an effective date."
- HEARD & HELD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: SB 182
SHORT TITLE: EXTEND BIG GAME COMM SERVICES BOARD
SPONSOR(s): LABOR & COMMERCE
01/16/24 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
01/16/24 (S) L&C, FIN
01/22/24 (S) L&C AT 1:30 PM BELTZ 105 (TSBldg)
WITNESS REGISTER
RAYMOND MATIASHOWSKI, Staff
Senator Jesse Bjorkman
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Introduced SB 182 on behalf of the bill
sponsor.
KRIS CURTIS, Legislative Auditor
Alaska Division of Legislative Audit
Legislative Affairs Agency
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Provided invited testimony on SB 182.
SYLVAN ROBB, Director
Division of Corporations, Business, and Professional Licensing
(DCBPL)
Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development
(DCCED)
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Provided invited testimony on SB 182.
JASON BUNCH, Chair
Board of Game
Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G)
Kodiak, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Provided invited testimony and answered
questions on SB 182.
SAM ROHRER, President
Alaska Professional Hunter Association
Kodiak, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of SB 182.
ACTION NARRATIVE
1:33:53 PM
CHAIR JESSE BJORKMAN called the Senate Labor and Commerce
Standing Committee meeting to order at 1:33 p.m. Present at the
call to order were Senators Gray-Jackson, Merrick, Dunbar
Bishop, and Chair Bjorkman. Senator Bishop joined the meeting
thereafter.
SB 182-EXTEND BIG GAME COMM SERVICES BOARD
1:34:41 PM
CHAIR BJORKMAN announced the consideration of SENATE BILL NO.
182 "An Act extending the termination date of the Big Game
Commercial Services Board; and providing for an effective date."
He invited his staff member, Raymond Matiashowski, to introduce
the bill.
1:35:04 PM
SENATOR BISHOP joined the meeting.
1:35:13 PM
RAYMOND MATIASHOWSKI, Staff, Senator Bjorkman, Alaska State
Legislature, Juneau, Alaska, introduced SB 182, reading
from the following statement:
[Original punctuation provided.]
For the record, my name is Raymie Matiashowski, Staff
to Senator Bjorkman, and I am here to present the bill
before you, SB 182, an act to extend the Big Game
Commercial Services Board. The purpose of this bill is
to review the Legislative Audit of the Big Game
Commercial Services Board, and to give the Legislature
the opportunity to review the Board Actions.
The Big Game Commercial Services Board was created for
the purpose of licensing and regulating the activities
of providers of commercial services to big game
hunters in the interest of the State's wildlife
resources.
The audit in question found that the Board is
operating in the public's interest, however there was
occasional lack of adequate documentation for board
licenses. The audit also questioned whether two
private landholder board seats continue to be
necessary for effective regulation.
Legislative Audit conducted the audit, and recommended
extending the Board for six years, however, the issues
brought up in the audit revolved around staffing and
systemic issues, which are related to the operations
of CBPL, not necessarily the Big Game Commercial
Services Board. While we appreciate the recommendation
of the audit, we felt that these issues were best
addressed through this review process and the
budgetary process rather than shortening the board
extension and creating more work for Legislative
Budget and Audit to review the Board in six rather
than eight years.
1:36:33 PM
MR. MATIASHOWSKI continued:
[Original punctuation provided.]
I have with me Legislative Auditor Kris Curtis, to
speak to the audit,
Director Sylvan Robb from the Division of
Corporations, Business, and Professional Licensing, to
speak to the points in the audit relating to CBPL, and
how they are working to address those points.
and Jason Bunch, Chair of the Big Game Commercial
Services Board to speak to the work of the board to
address the points put forth in the audit.
1:37:32 PM
KRIS CURTIS, Legislative Auditor, Division of Legislative Audit,
Legislative Affairs Agency, Juneau, Alaska, explained that this
is a sunset audit, meant to determine whether the board is
serving the public's interest and if it should be extended. The
division found that the board is serving the public's interest,
conducting meetings effectively, supporting statutory changes
when deemed necessary, and actively amending regulations. The
division also discovered that board licenses are not
consistently supported by appropriate documentation and the two
private landholder board seats were either vacant or had
extended absences during the audit period.
1:38:24 PM
MS. CURTIS said the division recommends that the board be
extended six years, two years less than the eight-year maximum
allowed according to statute. The board has had some issues. Ms.
Curtis recommended in 2008 to extend the board by four years if
they had a deficit of over $1,000,000 and the board was extended
only three years. Her last recommendation of eight years was
bumped down by the legislature to a five year extension. The
only issue found in the course of the audit was licensure
documentation which falls to the division staff but is
ultimately over seen by the board. She commented that the sunset
process is a legislative oversight function.
1:40:19 PM
MS. CURTIS asserted two recommendations: that the DCBPL director
improve oversight procedures to ensure the required licensure
documentation is obtained and reviewed, and that the board
consider whether the two private landholder board seats are
necessary for effective regulation. One of the private
landholder board seats was vacant for twelve months and had
unexcused absences for seven months. The other seat had
vacancies for 31 months.
1:41:45 PM
MS. CURTIS referred to the bill packet, pointing out that as of
January 2023 the board had 1,438 active licenses. By February
2023, the board had climbed out of the deficit hole and now had
a surplus of over $850,000. The board then eliminated the annual
report filing and assistant guide license fees, effective for
the December 2023 licensing cycle.
MS. CURTIS provided a synopsis of management's response to the
audit. The commissioner of the Department of Commerce, Community
and Economic Development agreed with the first recommendation
regarding licensure and documentation. Regarding the first
recommendation, the board did not believe that the finding
acknowledged improvements the division has made over the last
three years. Regarding the second recommendation, the chair did
not believe that a change in board composition was necessary; he
believes the governor should do a better job of communicating
the opportunities to serve on the board.
1:43:44 PM
SENATOR DUNBAR commented that the chair said there was currently
one private landholder seat vacant, and one filled with someone
who is engaged and productive; it sounded like inconsistent data
regarding seat absences. He asked how the statute regulation
defines the term "private landowner" and whether an Alaska
Native Corporation representative hold a seat.
1:44:24 PM
MS. CURTIS responded that, while the chair could provide a
better answer, Native corporations are included in the
definition. She asserted that the qualifying group for the
private landholder designation is a small pool, which makes
securing the seat challenging.
1:44:55 PM
SENATOR DUNBAR asserted that there must be additional
requirements in statute for the seat because Alaska has a lot of
landholders.
1:45:10 PM
MS. CURTIS asserted that the statute specifies a large private
landholder.
1:45:16 PM
SENATOR DUNBAR opined that reducing the land size requirement
would increase the pool size for the seat.
1:45:24 PM
MS. CURTIS replied that the board did not view the lack of
participation from those two seats as a problem for regulation.
1:46:00 PM
CHAIR BJORKMAN asked what the Division of Corporations, Business
and Professional Licensing could do to improve management of
licensure procedures, filing of all required documentation, and
ensuring review and retention of documents to support licensure.
1:46:36 PM
MS. CURTIS responded that checklists, supervisor review, good
training, and good written procedures are the types of controls
in place to combat turnover and ensure effective operations.
1:47:05 PM
CHAIR BJORKMAN how the number of staff assigned to a
professional board is determined and how many staff the board
has.
1:47:20 PM
MS. CURTIS answered that is a good question for the department
but that typically staff might have multiple boards, depending
on how complex the profession is.
1:48:00 PM
CHAIR BJORKMAN invited Sylvan Robb to put herself on the record
and begin her testimony.
1:48:13 PM
SYLVAN ROBB, Director, Division of Corporations, Business, and
Professional Licensing (DCBPL), Department of Commerce,
Community and Economic Development (DCCED), Juneau, Alaska,
reiterated that the department had no issue with the finding
directed to the division. A substantial portion of the time
covered by the audit was during the COVID-19 pandemic when the
division struggled with high vacancy rates and turnover. Were
the audit to be conducted thereafter, better results would be
found. The staff working on the licensing program were hired
during a time of crisis. The board is now able to provide more
robust training. In the absence of occupational licensing
examiners, supervisors have been stepping up to ensure that
professionals are getting licenses. Those without a license
cannot work so the division is licensing as quickly as possible.
1:50:01 PM
VICE-CHAIR BISHOP brought up the board chair's previous mention
of enhancing communication regarding vacant positions. He asked
whether any progress had been made in this regard and whether
discussions had occurred with the Boards and Commissions office
about improving the methods of communicating open positions and
advertising them effectively.
1:50:42 PM
MS. ROBB replied that the department is in frequent
communication with Boards and Commissions. CBPL has 136 board
members when all seats are filled and the Department of Congress
has even more, so the department is constantly working on
communication to ensure that there is awareness and insight
regarding open seats. The department is working with board
members to ensure good connections with those in the respective
industries and to drum up interest in applying for open
positions. She said good communication is an ongoing effort.
1:51:39 PM
CHAIR BJORKMAN asked if there were people who applied for
positions on the board who were not appointed.
1:51:46 PM
MS. ROBB deferred to Boards and Commissions in the governor's
office.
1:51:56 PM
CHAIR BJORKMAN asked if the board continues to build its
positive cashflow.
1:52:16 PM
MS. ROBB replied that AS 08.01.065 requires that the division
set licensing fees to be approximately equal to the cost of
running the program. At one point the program was in a
substantial deficit. At the time of the audit the board had
about $850,000. Professional licenses are good for two years so
there is ample fluctuation from year to year. Each program
generates the majority of revenue during renewal years. Since
the department has had to raise fees before, they were
conservative in their estimate of fee reductions, but they did
reduce fees for certain positions. The department will take
stock after a year of that fee position to see how the fee rates
are affecting the program.
1:54:09 PM
SENATOR GRAY-JACKSON asked to hear more about the deficit.
1:52:22 PM
MS. ROBB replied that the deficit was before her time, but she
would look into it and provide that information to the
committee.
1:55:00 PM
JASON BUNCH, Chair, Board of Game, Alaska Department of Fish and
Game (ADF&G), Kodiak, Alaska, confirmed that the committee has
received his response to the audit and said he was available for
questions.
1:55:27 PM
SENATOR GRAY-JACKSON asked how long he has been on the board.
1:55:38 PM
MR. BUNCH answered almost six years.
1:56:15 PM
SENATOR GRAY-JACKSON asked if Mr. Bunch knew the reason for the
deficit.
1:56:30 PM
MR. BUNCH answered he did not know but speculated that the
deficit occurred when the board sunset and oversight was lost.
Today's decisions are discussed before action is taken.
1:57:33 PM
CHAIR BJORKMAN asked if the board has taken action to improve
the processes of filing paperwork.
1:57:55 PM
MR. BUNCH said Big Game administrative responsibilities are
fairly robust and administering licenses takes a lot of
understanding. The board deals with natural resources and has
its hand in a lot of different areas of the state. Consequently,
it requires consistent administrative staff who can retain the
knowledge and experience required to manage licensing. Retention
has been difficult for the board to achieve. He suggested that
the board had a high degree of turnover because of
administrative burden and because the division was more of a
steppingstone rather than a final destination for employees. The
board has looked at that carefully and discussed it for the last
three years. The board decided to recommend that the executive
administrator position be exclusively designated for the Big
Game Commercial Services Board, rather than shared with the
Marine Pilot Board. Currently, the board has around $800,000 and
only needs $600,000 to be self-sustaining. The board held onto
licensee money to support a full time executive administrator
and recommended that the position be a higher paid job for
consistent leadership, which would alleviate some of the
findings of the audit.
2:01:24 PM
CHAIR BJORKMAN asked how long the current examiner has worked
with the board and the department.
2:01:35 PM
MR. BUNCH replied approximately two years. She added that the
current executive administrator has worked with them for four
years, initially as the licensing examiner before stepping up to
be the administrator.
2:02:28 PM
At ease
2:04:04 PM
CHAIR BJORKMAN reconvened the meeting and opened public
testimony on SB 182.
2:05:01 PM
SAM ROHRER, President, Alaska Professional Hunter Association
(AHA), Kodiak, Alaska, testified in support of SB 182. He stated
that he is the president of the AHA, which strongly supports SB
182. He said the Big Game Commercial Services Board is critical
to the long-term viability of the guide industry in Alaska. The
board serves the state's best interests by maintaining testing
standards and providing oral testing for new guides. It ensures
that only well-qualified applicants receive hunting guide
licenses. Alaska continues to have the most stringent hunting
guide qualifications in all of North America thanks to the
board. Without the board, oral testing would not be possible and
licensing standards would suffer. The guiding profession in
Alaska is one of the few professional licenses not requiring a
formal education. Instead, licenses are acquired through the
apprenticeship process, making the license more enticing for
individuals in rural areas. The Big Game Commercial Services
Board provides the only interface between the Division of
Occupational Licensing and the guiding profession. Without the
board the profession has no meaningful input on the development
of regulations that directly impact hunting guides. The public
also has a vested interest in how guides are regulated. Without
the board the public has very little opportunity to influence
regulations that control the guiding industry.
2:07:53 PM
CHAIR BJORKMAN left public testimony on SB 182 open and set the
bill aside.
2:08:22 PM
There being no further business to come before the committee,
Chair Bjorkman adjourned the Senate Labor and Commerce Standing
Committee meeting at 2:08 p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| SB182 ver A.pdf |
SL&C 1/22/2024 1:30:00 PM SL&C 1/29/2024 1:30:00 PM |
SB 182 |
| SB182 Sponsor Statement Ver A 1.17.2023.pdf |
SFIN 4/9/2024 9:00:00 AM SL&C 1/22/2024 1:30:00 PM SL&C 1/29/2024 1:30:00 PM |
SB 182 |
| SB182 Supporting Documents-BGCSB Audit.pdf |
SFIN 4/9/2024 9:00:00 AM SL&C 1/22/2024 1:30:00 PM SL&C 1/29/2024 1:30:00 PM |
SB 182 |
| SB182 Fiscal Note-DCCED-CBPL-01.18.24.pdf |
SL&C 1/22/2024 1:30:00 PM SL&C 1/29/2024 1:30:00 PM |
SB 182 |