CSHB 226(FIN)-REPEAL TERMINATION OF STEP PROGRAM                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
1:40:05 PM                                                                                                                    
CHAIR ELLIS announced  CSHB 226(FIN) to be  up for consideration.                                                               
He said that  the Palin administration intended to  make the STEP                                                               
program  a permanent  part  of  state statute.  The  CS in  their                                                               
packets extends it to 2018.                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
1:41:48 PM                                                                                                                    
RYNNIEVA  MOSS, staff  to Representative  Coghill, sponsor  of HB                                                               
226, agreed the  original intent was to make  STEP permanent, but                                                               
the current  bill gives  it a 10-year  extension (it  is repealed                                                               
June  30, 2009),  which the  sponsor supports.  He also  supports                                                               
leaving language in that says  the commissioner of the Department                                                               
of Labor  and Workforce Development  (DOLWD), Click  Bishop, will                                                               
work with all the stakeholders to  review the program to look for                                                               
more  improvements.  Since  Commissioner  Bishop  took  over  the                                                               
Department of  Labor he  had been  reviewing the  program, making                                                               
revisions and making it more accessible to the public.                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR ELLIS said  the department needed to  address the integrity                                                               
of the  program and the  commissioner assured the  committee that                                                               
those reviews  were being made. He  asked her to apprise  them of                                                               
what  is  actually happening.  Some  folks  suggested moving  the                                                               
program out of the DOLWD, but  he couldn't think of another place                                                               
that would make more sense.                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
MS. MOSS  responded that  she hadn't  heard that  suggestion. The                                                               
sponsor thinks the  DOLWD is where the program  should be because                                                               
it is about training labor.                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
1:46:30 PM                                                                                                                    
GUY  BELL,  Assistant  Commissioner,   Department  of  Labor  and                                                               
Workforce Development (DOLWD), supported  Ms. Moss's comments and                                                               
the 2018  extension that  should carry through  the new  gas line                                                               
construction.                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
He said  Commissioner Bishop had  appointed David Stone,  the new                                                               
deputy  commissioner, to  lead a  task force  to review  the STEP                                                               
program  for potential  improvements.  That  process has  already                                                               
begun.                                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
1:47:37 PM                                                                                                                    
SENATOR STEVENS and SENATOR HOFFMAN joined the committee.                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
1:48:46 PM                                                                                                                    
SENATOR  BUNDE  said  he  shared   the  sponsor's  confidence  in                                                               
Commissioner  Bishop  and   that  he  would  keep   his  word  on                                                               
investigating this issue. He thought 2018 was a good compromise.                                                                
                                                                                                                                
1:49:43 PM                                                                                                                    
SENATOR BUNDE  moved to  adopt SCS CSHB  226(L&C). There  were no                                                               
objections and it was adopted.                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
1:50:29 PM                                                                                                                    
SENATOR STEVENS  moved to pass  SCS CSHB 226(L&C)  from committee                                                               
with individual recommendations and  attached fiscal notes. There                                                               
were no objections and it was so ordered.