Legislature(2019 - 2020)BUTROVICH 205
04/23/2019 03:30 PM Senate STATE AFFAIRS
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB48 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | HB 48 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | SB 73 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE STATE AFFAIRS STANDING COMMITTEE
April 23, 2019
3:33 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator John Coghill, Vice Chair
Senator Lora Reinbold
Senator Peter Micciche
Senator Scott Kawasaki
MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator Mike Shower, Chair
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 48(FIN) AM
"An Act removing from the exempt service of the state persons
who are employed in a professional capacity to make a temporary
or special inquiry, study, or examination as authorized by the
governor and including those persons in the partially exempt
service of the state; repealing the authority of the governor or
a designee of the governor to authorize higher pay than is
otherwise allowable for certain partially exempt employees in
the executive branch; requiring the commissioner of
administration to submit a report to the legislature; and
providing for an effective date."
- HEARD & HELD
SENATE BILL NO. 73
"An Act relating to succession to the offices of governor and
lieutenant governor in case of vacancy; and providing for an
effective date."
- BILL HEARING CANCELED
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: HB 48
SHORT TITLE: TEMP STATE EMPLOYEES IN PART EXEMPT SVCE
SPONSOR(s): REPRESENTATIVE(s) WILSON
02/20/19 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
02/20/19 (H) L&C, FIN
03/18/19 (H) L&C AT 3:15 PM BARNES 124
03/18/19 (H) Heard & Held
03/18/19 (H) MINUTE(L&C)
03/20/19 (H) L&C AT 3:15 PM BARNES 124
03/20/19 (H) Moved HB 48 Out of Committee
03/20/19 (H) MINUTE(L&C)
03/22/19 (H) L&C AT 3:15 PM BARNES 124
03/22/19 (H) Moved HB 48 Out of Committee
03/22/19 (H) MINUTE(L&C)
03/25/19 (H) L&C RPT 3DP 1NR
03/25/19 (H) DP: HANNAN, TALERICO, LEDOUX
03/25/19 (H) NR: WOOL
03/26/19 (H) FIN AT 9:00 AM ADAMS ROOM 519
03/26/19 (H) Heard & Held
03/26/19 (H) MINUTE(FIN)
03/28/19 (H) FIN AT 9:00 AM ADAMS ROOM 519
03/28/19 (H) Moved CSHB 48(FIN) Out of Committee
03/28/19 (H) MINUTE(FIN)
03/29/19 (H) FIN RPT CS(FIN) NT 7DP 4NR
03/29/19 (H) DP: JOHNSTON, LEBON, KNOPP, JOSEPHSON,
ORTIZ, WILSON, FOSTER
03/29/19 (H) NR: CARPENTER, TILTON, MERRICK,
SULLIVAN-LEONARD
04/08/19 (H) BEFORE HOUSE IN SECOND READING
04/09/19 (H) NOT TAKEN UP 4/9 - ON 4/10 CALENDAR
04/10/19 (H) NOT TAKEN UP 4/10 - ON 4/11 CALENDAR
04/12/19 (H) TRANSMITTED TO (S)
04/12/19 (H) VERSION: CSHB 48(FIN) AM
04/15/19 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
04/15/19 (S) STA
04/23/19 (S) STA AT 3:30 PM BUTROVICH 205
WITNESS REGISTER
REPRESENTATIVE TAMMIE WILSON
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Sponsor of HB 48
REMOND HENDERSON, Staff
Representative Tammie Wilson
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Provided information about HB 48 on behalf
of the sponsor.
NANCY SUTCH, Deputy Director
Division of Personnel and Labor Relations
Department of Administration
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Answered questions related to HB 48.
ACTION NARRATIVE
3:33:20 PM
VICE CHAIR JOHN COGHILL called the Senate State Affairs Standing
Committee meeting to order at 3:33 p.m. Present at the call to
order were Senators Kawasaki, Micciche, Reinbold, and Vice Chair
Coghill.
HB 48- TEMP STATE EMPLOYEES IN PART EXEMPT SVCE
3:34:08 PM
VICE CHAIR COGHILL announced the consideration of CS FOR HOUSE
BILL NO. 48(FIN) am "An Act removing from the exempt service of
the state persons who are employed in a professional capacity to
make a temporary or special inquiry, study, or examination as
authorized by the governor and including those persons in the
partially exempt service of the state; repealing the authority
of the governor or a designee of the governor to authorize
higher pay than is otherwise allowable for certain partially
exempt employees in the executive branch; requiring the
commissioner of administration to submit a report to the
legislature; and providing for an effective date."
3:35:03 PM
REPRESENTATIVE T. WILSON, Alaska State Legislature, Juneau,
sponsor of HB 48, introduced the bill speaking to the following
sponsor statement:
The purpose of CSHB48(FIN) am is to discontinue the
historical practice by the Executive Branch of using
AS 39.25.110(9) to unilaterally establish high level
executive exempt positions that have no salary limits.
The statute was enacted to employ persons in a
professional capacity to make a temporary or special
inquiry, study or examination by establishing
"temporary exempt" positions.
CSHB 48(FIN) am would eliminate the establishment of
"temporary exempt" positions and place these positions
in the partially exempt service. Positions in the
partially exempt service are included in the position
classification plans established under AS 39.25.120
and are compensated according to the pay plan under AS
39.27.011. It would limit the amount paid to a newly
hired temporary employee. It applies only to
employment contracts entered into, on, or after the
effective date that AS 39.23.110(9) is repealed. It
does not affect the salary of existing employees or
individuals hired prior to the effective date of the
bill.
CSHB 48(FIN) am requires that not later than 60 days
after the effective date of this Act, the Commissioner
of Administration prepare and submit to the
legislature a report that includes a list of all
positions in exempt service of the state under AS
39.25.110 and the partially exempt service of the
state under AS 39.25.120 and the salary and proposed
salary schedule for each of the positions.
3:36:56 PM
REPRESENTATIVE T. WILSON said she'd like to be able to provide a
list of the employees in these temporary exempt positions but
she has been unable to get that information. What is clear is
that some people have been in these positions for years. When
the statute was put in place it was for jobs that required a
special skillset that paid more but were needed for just a
limited period of time. She clarified that this is not about the
current Governor. "You can pretty much name any governor and
they have not been utilizing this statute in a way that we
thought it was actually put in." She explained that the House
Finance Committee capped the salaries that previously had no
limit. The bill was subsequently amended on the House floor to
require a report listing the individuals in these positions and
their salaries.
3:38:11 PM
CHAIR COGHILL asked where and how many inquiries were made to
get information and salary levels for these temporary employees.
3:38:22 PM
REMOND HENDERSON, Staff, Representative T. Wilson, Alaska State
Legislature, Juneau, explained that the first request was sent
in August 2017 and eventually the Office of Management and
Budget provided a consolidated response. However, it did not
include the positions that were specifically established under
this statute. It was a laundry list of all exempt and partially
exempt positions without specifically identifying the positions
established under this statute. Early this year the sponsor made
another attempt to get the information and while there has been
some response, they have not received a comprehensive list.
SENATOR MICCICHE noted that AS 39.25.110(9) talks about "persons
employed in a professional capacity to make a temporary or
special inquiry, study or examination as authorized by the
governor." He said he has some of those skills and he knows that
this expertise is not cheap. He asked how hiring such a
specialist for a short period would be handled.
MR. HENDERSON explained that someone could be hired under the
exempt service statute which does not have salary limits.
3:41:00 PM
CHAIR COGHILL asked if repealing this statute closes one avenue
for hiring individuals with specific expertise.
MR. HENDERSON clarified that the bill does not close a hiring
avenue; it moves the positions from exempt to partially exempt
and places a cap on the salary.
VICE CHAIR COGHILL expressed satisfaction with the answer. He
asked Senator Micciche if that addressed his concerns.
SENATOR MICCICHE responded that he needed to review the statutes
a little more.
SENATOR KAWASAKI asked the sponsor if she had an idea about who
was hired under AS 39.25.110(9).
3:42:21 PM
REPRESENTATIVE T. WILSON said she's spent a lot of time looking
at the book that shows the position control numbers (PCNs) and
the salary for each of the positions and she learned that some
of these individuals are being paid out of the governor's office
and are not temporary. Switching these positions to partially
exempt will result in the PCNs being listed under the
appropriate agency and there will be a cap on the salary. She
offered her understanding that initially these exempt positions
were used for political appointments or favors. She opined that
it's not necessary to have these kinds of positions if there
isn't transparency about who they are and why they are
classified as temporary when they really aren't. Employees who
are not temporary should get all the benefits that come with
fulltime service, she said.
3:44:00 PM
SENATOR KAWASAKI asked if there is a definition for "temporary"
so that a governor could hire a specialist for a specific job
without putting it out for a request for proposal (RFP) or any
other method of procurement.
REPRESENTATIVE T. WILSON said Mr. Henderson described other ways
of doing that. It's not that the governor's office couldn't hire
the same individuals, it's that it would be under a different
statute. HB 48 establishes that process.
SENATOR KAWASAKI asked, should the bill pass, if it wouldn't be
necessary to work with the Governor's Office to ensure that
specialty hiring is done through the process the bill
establishes.
MR. HENDERSON restated that the governor or a commissioner could
still hire the same kind of individuals with specialized skills;
it's just that the positions would move from exempt to partially
exempt and the salary would be capped. He added that if the
exempt statute is used, a higher salary is available. The bill
allows somebody to be hired at a step F.
3:46:34 PM
SENATOR REINBOLD thanked the sponsor and stated support for HB
48 because it closes an important loophole.
SENATOR MICCICHE summarized that the bill eliminates the ability
to hire professionals in exempt service and allows those
professionals to be hired in the partially exempt service. He
asked if the highest compensation in the partially exempt
service is $10,979 per month.
MR. HENDERSON answered yes; range 30 step F is $10.9 thousand.
He deferred further explanation to Nancy Sutch with the
Department of Administration.
3:48:36 PM
SENATOR MICCICHE asked, should HB 48 pass, what is the highest
somebody employed in a professional capacity could be paid in
the partially exempt service.
3:48:50 PM
NANCY SUTCH, Deputy Director, Division of Personnel and Labor
Relations, Department of Administration, Juneau, answered that
somebody hired after the effective date could start at step F of
a range. She noted that a provision in AS 39.27.011(k) allows
the governor to authorize a higher pay than Step F but that
would typically be the cutoff. She said Mr. Henderson has
information about the salary for that step.
SENATOR MICCICHE pointed out that the bill repeals subsection
(k) so that option would not be available. He said the warning
that goes with that is that $10.9 thousand is less than half
what a critical specialist would receive. On the upper end of
that skillset it would be nearly impossible to get somebody to
accept that salary. He commented that it's often a bargain to
hire a specialist for the length of a project, but the bill
doesn't seem to allow that.
3:51:10 PM
MR. HENDERSON said he believes a specialist could still be hired
temporarily at a high salary under the exempt service. The other
option would be to contract for the specific expertise without
doing an RFP.
CHAIR COGHILL asked Ms. Sutch if she agrees with those
statements.
MS. SUTCH replied the position would have to fall under one of
the 43 categories of exempt service listed in AS 39.25.110.
CHAIR COGHILL asked if she agrees that there would be the
ability to contract for specific expertise under AS 39.
MS. SUTCH said her basic understanding is that contracting would
be possible as long as the procurement rules were followed.
SENATOR MICCICHE said the downside of repealing AS 39.23.110(9)
is that it adversely impacts the ability to temporarily hire
somebody with highly specialized expertise who commands a salary
that is much higher than $10,900 a month.
REPRESENTATIVE T. WILSON advised that the Governor has a bill
that also deletes paragraph (9) which leads her to believe that
he doesn't see the purpose of keeping that section of statute.
3:55:02 PM
SENATOR KAWASAKI said he'd like to know who these people are and
how long they've been in these temporary positions. He asked Ms.
Sutch if she could provide that information to the committee.
MS. SUTCH replied she could provide a report that lists the
individuals who are in a temporary position. The specific
agencies would need to supply information about what duties
those individuals have been assigned and that would take longer
to assemble.
SENATOR KAWASAKI said he'd initially be satisfied with a list of
the people working under paragraph (9) and their salaries.
MS. SUTCH agreed to provide the information.
CHAIR COGHILL asked when she could send that information to the
committee.
MS. SUTCH offered to try to do it sooner than the typical 10-day
turnaround for data requests.
3:57:49 PM
At ease
3:59:48 PM
CHAIR COGHILL reconvened the meeting and asked Ms. Sutch to send
the information to the committee as quickly as possible.
MS. SUTCH said she'd work with committee staff to get
satisfactory information to the committee as quickly as
possible. She noted that an older report may be more readily
available.
CHAIR COGHILL said even an older report would be instructive and
it may answer Senator Kawasaki's question.
SENATOR KAWASAKI said knowing who these people are is part of it
but he'd also like to know what they're doing. He said it's
troublesome when it's not clear how these people are getting
paid, but it also makes sense for the governor to have the
ability to hire someone temporarily in exempt service.
4:02:28 PM
CHAIR COGHILL asked Ms. Sutch if she could get information about
where these individuals are assigned.
MS. SUTCH answered yes.
CHAIR COGHILL commented that would likely be sufficient and it
may not be necessary to repeal either paragraph (9) or
subsection (k).
SENATOR WILSON pointed out that the repeal applies to employment
entered into on or after the effective date. There is no
intention to suddenly fire all these people, she said.
SENATOR MICCICHE said he'd like to say he likes the idea but he
worries that these sections of statute may be needed. He read
the list of exempt positions and clarified that while he'd like
to see more restraints there, those positions would not be
affected.
REPRESENTATIVE T. WILSON talked about the frustration trying to
run down who the people are and in what department. She
emphasized that the bill is about transparency, equity, and
ensuring that people who should receive benefits do so.
4:08:06 PM
CHAIR COGHILL said he was willing to hold the bill until
Thursday for Ms. Sutch to provide the report.
SENATOR KAWASAKI asked that the report include information about
when the employee was appointed to the exempt position.
MR. HENDERSON suggested that Ms. Sutch also provide the date
that the position was established.
CHAIR COGHILL asked Ms. Sutch if that was possible.
MS. SUTCH said she didn't want to over-promise but she'd do as
much as she could prior to Thursday.
SENATOR COGHILL said thanks.
4:10:27 PM
SENATOR MICCICHE asked the sponsor if she had considered
sideboards instead of repealing paragraph (9) and subsection
(k).
REPRESENTATIVE T. WILSON said she didn't consider that but she
would provide information about avenues other than this statute
to hire expertise and which have a limit and which don't because
that seems to be causing some confusion.
4:12:49 PM
CHAIR COGHILL held HB 48 in committee.
SENATOR MICCICHE said he likes the idea but he's trying to think
about whether this will hamstring a governor from doing the
right thing with the right expertise. He said he looks forward
to hearing about the other ways to hire an expert.
CHAIR COGHILL reviewed the agenda for Thursday.
4:14:37 PM
There being no further business to come before the committee,
Vice Chair Coghill adjourned the Senate State Affairs Standing
Committee meeting at 4:14 pm.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| SSTA OFFICIAL AGENDA MEMO.pdf |
SSTA 4/23/2019 3:30:00 PM |
agenda |
| CSHB048(FIN) am ver U.A Sponsor Statement.pdf |
SSTA 4/23/2019 3:30:00 PM |
HB 48 |
| CSHB0048(FIN) am ver U.A.pdf |
SSTA 4/23/2019 3:30:00 PM |
HB 48 |
| CSHB048(FIN) am ver U.A Explanation of Changes.pdf |
SSTA 4/23/2019 3:30:00 PM |
HB 48 |
| HB 48 - Fiscal Note - DOA.pdf |
SSTA 4/23/2019 3:30:00 PM |
HB 48 |