Legislature(2017 - 2018)BELTZ 105 (TSBldg)
04/05/2018 01:30 PM Senate LABOR & COMMERCE
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| Audio | Topic |
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| Start | |
| Confirmation Hearing(s) | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE LABOR AND COMMERCE STANDING COMMITTEE
April 5, 2018
1:37 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Mia Costello, Chair
Senator Kevin Meyer, Vice Chair
Senator Berta Gardner
MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator Gary Stevens
Senator Peter Micciche
OTHER LEGISLATORS PRESENT
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
CONFIRMATION HEARINGS
Alcoholic Beverage Control Board
Sara Erickson (Crapuchettes) - Soldotna
- CONFIRMATION ADVANCED
Alaska Labor Relations Agency
Tyler Andrews - Anchorage
- CONFIRMATION ADVANCED
Board of Marital and Family Therapy
Natalie Lewis - Kotzebue
- CONFIRMATION ADVANCED
Board of Pharmacy
Tammy Jean Lindemuth - Anchorage
- CONFIRMATION ADVANCED
Board of Certified Direct-Entry Midwives
Kenni Linden - Palmer
- CONFIRMATION ADVANCED
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record.
WITNESS REGISTER
TYLER ANDREWS, Appointee to the Management Seat
Alaska Labor Relations Agency
Anchorage, Alaska,
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified as appointee to the Alaska Labor
Relations Agency.
NATALIE LEWIS, Appointee to the Public Seat
Board of Marital and Family Therapy
Kotzebue, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified as appointee to the Board of
Marital and Family Therapy.
KENNI LINDEN, Appointee to a Public Seat
Board of Certified Direct-Entry Midwives
Palmer, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified as appointee to the Board of
Certified Direct-Entry Midwives.
TAMMY JEAN LINDEMUTH, Appointee to the Public Seat
Board of Pharmacy
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified as appointee to the Board of
Pharmacy.
SARA ERICKSON, Appointee to the Public Seat
Alcoholic Beverage Control Board
Soldotna, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified as appointee to the Alcoholic
Beverage Control Board.
ACTION NARRATIVE
1:37:42 PM
CHAIR MIA COSTELLO called the Senate Labor and Commerce Standing
Committee meeting to order at 1:37 p.m. Present at the call to
order were Vice Chair Meyer, Senator Gardner, and Chair
Costello.
^Confirmation Hearing(s)
CONFIRMATION HEARING(S)
Alaska Labor Relations Agency
Board of Marital and Family Therapy
Board of Certified Direct-Entry Midwives
Board of Pharmacy
Alcoholic Beverage Control Board
CHAIR COSTELLO announced the sole order of business was
confirmation hearings for Governor appointees to boards and
commissions.
1:39:28 PM
CHAIR COSTELLO asked Tyler Andrews to tell the committee about
himself and his interest in being reappointed to the management
seat on the Alaska Labor Relations Agency.
1:40:07 PM
TYLER ANDREWS, Appointee to the Management Seat, Alaska Labor
Relations Agency, Anchorage, Alaska, said he's been on the board
for some time and views the service as an opportunity to give
back drawing on his knowledge and expertise. He is able to learn
from others on a topic that is of great interest. He opined that
this very functional board serves an important purpose in the
public sector labor relations arena when parties are unable to
resolve their disputes.
1:41:10 PM
SENATOR GARDNER asked him to talk about the process for
addressing grievances.
MR. ANDREWS explained that grievances generally go to
arbitration, not the board. The board generally handles unfair
labor practices, claims that parties may file against each other
regarding the bargaining relationship, clarification of the
bargaining unit to which a position should be assigned, and
larger unit clarifications when a bargaining unit is being
formed or has changed over time. Grievances are usually issues
that come up between parties as to the application of specific
contract language or the operation of the agreement, whereas the
board addresses the relationship between the parties and their
bargaining unit.
CHAIR COSTELLO asked what he learned about negotiations from the
class he took in 2010 on Advanced Contract Negotiation Skills.
MR. ANDREWS related that he had taken several of those classes.
Most of them start with a discussion about the traditional
position-based bargaining like buying a house or car. The more
advanced classes study game theory and how to assess bargaining
relationships. In addition to position-based bargaining, there
is collaborative or cooperative bargaining, which labor
relations calls interest-based bargaining. He said he tries to
use this training in his day job and when he is working with his
colleagues at the agency.
CHAIR COSTELLO thanked Mr. Andrews for his service and stated
her intention to move his and the other names forward.
1:45:23 PM
CHAIR COSTELLO asked Natalie Lewis to tell the committee about
herself and her interest in serving on the Board of Marital and
Family Therapy.
1:45:35 PM
NATALIE LEWIS, Appointee to the Public Seat, Board of Marital
and Family Therapy, Kotzebue, Alaska, said she currently works
as the Director of Behavioral Health Services at Manililaq
Association. She wanted to serve on this board because of her
long-standing interest in helping to preserve families. She has
a Master of Social Work degree and a certificate in Marriage and
Family Therapy. She said there are unique challenges in Alaska
and she believes her skills and background mesh well with this
board.
1:47:02 PM
SENATOR GARDNER asked her to clarify the answers she gave on the
financial conflict of interest section of her application.
MS. LEWIS said she did not see any reason that she would have
any conflict serving on this board.
CHAIR COSTELLO thanked Ms. Lewis for being willing to serve.
1:48:15 PM
CHAIR COSTELLO asked Kenni Linden to tell the committee about
herself and her interest in serving on the Board of Certified
Direct-Entry Midwives.
1:48:34 PM
KENNI LINDEN, Appointee to a Public Seat, Board of Certified
Direct-Entry Midwives, Palmer, Alaska, said her midwife
approached her to apply to the board based on her family's
phenomenal experience with direct-entry midwives. She is a
client of midwifery and is passionate about women's health. She
currently serves on the Board of Directors for Alaska Family
Services in the MatSu Valley. They run family violence
intervention, a sexual assault response team, and a domestic
violence shelter. She has done some advocacy work and is
currently the editor, writer, and teacher with an online
publication. Her educational background includes conflict
transformation, nonviolent communication, and mediation. This
has been helpful on boards she has served on in the past. She is
passionate about midwifery care and ensuring that Alaskan
families have access to safe, informed, and compassionate care,
and that they are able to select the best birthing option for
themselves. That and her midwife's recommendation are why she
applied for this position.
1:50:38 PM
SENATOR MEYER asked her to talk about the Elephant Journal
Academy.
MS. LINDEN explained that she is the editor and academy
coordinator for Elephant Journal, which is an online publication
that has about 10 million readers monthly. They publish health-
related mindfulness articles through public submissions. She
teaches in the Elephant Journal Academy, which is a training
program for writers in writing, editing, social media, and
journalism.
SENATOR MEYER asked if she did that in Alaska or Boulder,
Colorado.
MS. LINDEN said she works from home in Alaska and the academy is
in Boulder.
SENATOR MEYER noted that she had worked in Anchorage as a
regional organizer for Planned Parenthood Votes Northwest and
Hawaii. He asked her to elaborate.
MS. LINDEN explained that for two years she was the Anchorage
regional field organizer for Planned Parenthood Votes Northwest
and Hawaii. She did advocacy for Medicaid expansion to cover
pregnant women and children and access to birth control. She
also worked on the Alaska State Children's Act that passed in
2016. She left in July 2016 to have a baby and is now six months
pregnant with their second child.
SENATOR MEYER asked if she had a small business called Running
Smart.
MS. LINDEN said yes; her she works as the director as part of
her husbands contracting business for website development
SENATOR MEYER thanked Ms. Linden for her interest in serving.
CHAIR COSTELLO thanked Ms. Linden for taking time to call in to
the committee.
1:54:22 PM
CHAIR COSTELLO asked Tammy Lindemuth to tell the committee about
herself and her interest in serving on the Board of Pharmacy.
1:54:40 PM
TAMMY JEAN LINDEMUTH, Appointee to the Public Seat, Board of
Pharmacy, Anchorage, Alaska, said she has a science degree from
the University of Oregon. She works at home as a medical
language specialist in the fields of oncology, hematology, and
obstetrics and gynecology. She is the mother of five and enjoys
being involved in protecting public health and safety. She was
interested in applying as soon as she learned the public
position was open. It's a way to help take care of the state.
SENATOR GARDNER said she initially wondered why Ms. Lindemuth
would want to be on the pharmacy board but she explained that
with her self-employment in medical transcription and work on
public health and safety issues.
CHAIR COSTELLO thanked Ms. Lindemuth for making herself
available to the committee.
1:56:17 PM
CHAIR COSTELLO asked Sara Erickson to tell the committee about
herself and her interest in serving on the Alcoholic Beverage
Control Board.
1:56:38 PM
SARA ERICKSON, Appointee to the Public Seat, Alcoholic Beverage
Control Board, Soldotna, Alaska, said she was born in Alaska and
grew up commercial fishing in Bristol Bay. She has always had a
passion for civic service and has served on many different
boards throughout the state. This board is of interest because
she has a good understanding of the impact of alcohol in rural
communities and the balance it plays between public health and
safety versus a healthy economy and the benefits that alcohol
can bring to a community. She attended the first meeting in Nome
two days ago, and hopes to help the public and make sure the
licensees abide by the rules. She hopes to be a voice of reason.
1:59:29 PM
SENATOR COSTELLO asked if she was following the Title 4 rewrite
bill that was going through the process.
MS. ERICKSON said yes.
SENATOR GARDNER asked her to clarify the statement that she was
a life-long Alaskan.
MS. ERICKSON said she was born and raised in Alaska, but she
moved to Pittsburg for 15 years before returning to Alaska in
2012.
2:00:40 PM
CHAIR COSTELLO thanked Ms. Erickson for making herself available
to the committee.
2:00:58 PM
CHAIR COSTELLO opened public testimony on the appointees to
boards and commissions. Finding no one who wished to comment,
she closed public testimony.
2:01:27 PM
CHAIR COSTELLO read the following:
In accordance with AS 39.05.080, the Senate Labor and
Commerce Committee reviewed the following and
recommends the appointments be forwarded to a joint
session for consideration:
Alaska State Board of Public Accountancy; Alcoholic
Beverage Control Board; State Board of Registration
for Architects, Engineers, & Land Surveyors; Board of
Barbers and Hairdressers; Board of Chiropractic
Examiners; Board of Dental Examiners; Fisherman's Fund
Advisory and Appeals Council; Labor Relations Agency
Alaska; Marijuana Control Board; Board of Marital and
Family Therapy; Board of Massage Therapists; Board of
Certified Direct-Entry Midwives; Board of Nursing;
Board of Examiners in Optometry; Board of Pharmacy;
State Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy Board;
Board of Professional Counselors; Board of
Psychologist and Psychological Associate Examiners;
Board of Certified Real Estate Appraisers; Board of
Social Work Examiners; Board of Veterinary Examiners;
Workers' Compensation Appeals Commission; and Workers'
Compensation Board of Alaska.
This does not reflect any intent by any of the members
to vote for or against the confirmation of the
individuals during any further sessions.
2:03:03 PM
SENATOR GARDNER noted that Robert Lee Calhoun was listed as a
nominee for a public seat for the Board of Physical and
Occupational Therapy when he is a practicing physical therapist.
She said she raised the issue with the Governor but wasn't sure
about the outcome.
CHAIR COSTELLO said her staff would contact the Governors
Office to ask if that fulfills the requirement for the public
seat.
2:04:05 PM
There being no further business to come before the committee,
Chair Costello adjourned the Senate Labor and Commerce Standing
Committee meeting at 2:04 p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| 04.05.18 Consideration of Governor's Appointees - Resumes.pdf |
SL&C 4/5/2018 1:30:00 PM |
Appointees |