ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE STATE AFFAIRS STANDING COMMITTEE
March 18, 2008
8:00 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Bob Lynn, Chair
Representative Bob Roses, Vice Chair
Representative John Coghill
Representative Kyle Johansen
Representative Craig Johnson
Representative Andrea Doll
Representative Max Gruenberg
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
CS FOR SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 15(SED)
Proposing amendments to the Uniform Rules of the Alaska State
Legislature relating to standing committees.
- MOVED HCS CSSCR 15(STA) OUT OF COMMITTEE
HOUSE BILL NO. 44
"An Act relating to information from veterans on the permanent
fund dividend application form."
- MOVED CSHB 44(STA) OUT OF COMMITTEE
HOUSE BILL NO. 266
"An Act relating to the approval and administration of child
care services by the Department of Administration primarily for
the benefit of state officers and employees; and providing for
an effective date."
- SCHEDULED BUT NOT HEARD
HOUSE BILL NO. 353
"An Act relating to the blocking of certain Internet sites at
public libraries and to library assistance grants."
- BILL HEARING RESCHEDULED TO 3/20/08
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: SCR 15
SHORT TITLE: AMEND UNIFORM RULES: STANDING COMMITTEES
SPONSOR(s): SENATOR(s) STEVENS BY REQUEST OF JT LEG EDUCATION
FUNDING TASK FORCE
01/18/08 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
01/18/08 (S) SED, STA
01/30/08 (S) SED RPT CS 2DP 1DNP 1NR 1AM NEW
TITLE
01/30/08 (S) DP: STEVENS, OLSON
01/30/08 (S) DNP: HUGGINS
01/30/08 (S) NR: WILKEN
01/30/08 (S) AM: DAVIS
01/30/08 (S) SED AT 8:00 AM BUTROVICH 205
01/30/08 (S) Moved CSSCR 15(SED) Out of Committee
01/30/08 (S) MINUTE(SED)
02/14/08 (S) STA AT 9:00 AM BELTZ 211
02/14/08 (S) Moved CSSCR 15(SED) Out of Committee
02/14/08 (S) MINUTE(STA)
02/15/08 (S) STA RPT CS(SED) 3DP 2NR
02/15/08 (S) DP: MCGUIRE, FRENCH, STEVENS
02/15/08 (S) NR: GREEN, BUNDE
03/03/08 (S) BEFORE THE SENATE ON FINAL PASSAGE
03/03/08 (S) TRANSMITTED TO (H)
03/03/08 (S) VERSION: CSSCR 15(SED)
03/04/08 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
03/04/08 (H) STA, RLS
03/18/08 (H) STA AT 8:00 AM CAPITOL 106
BILL: HB 44
SHORT TITLE: VETERAN INFO ON PFD APPLICATIONS
SPONSOR(s): REPRESENTATIVE(s) GUTTENBERG, DAHLSTROM, KERTTULA
01/16/07 (H) PREFILE RELEASED 1/5/07
01/16/07 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
01/16/07 (H) MLV, STA
02/26/08 (H) MLV AT 1:00 PM BARNES 124
02/26/08 (H) Moved CSHB 44(MLV) Out of Committee
02/26/08 (H) MINUTE(MLV)
02/29/08 (H) MLV RPT CS(MLV) 5DP 1AM
02/29/08 (H) DP: LEDOUX, FAIRCLOUGH, DAHLSTROM,
BUCH, ROSES
02/29/08 (H) AM: KAWASAKI
02/29/08 (H) FIN REFERRAL ADDED AFTER STA
03/18/08 (H) STA AT 8:00 AM CAPITOL 106
WITNESS REGISTER
TIM LAMPKIN, Staff
Senator Gary Stevens
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented SCR 15 on behalf of Senator
Stevens, sponsor by request of the Joint Legislative Education
Funding Task Force.
REPRESENTATIVE DAVID GUTTENBERG
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented HB 44 as prime sponsor.
TOM BAIRD
Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 903;
Alaskan Republican Party District 15
Wasilla, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in during the hearing on HB 44.
MAURICE BAILEY, Founder
Veterans Aviation Outreach (VAO)
(No address provided)
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified during the hearing on HB 44.
DAVE GLENN
Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 903
Wasilla, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified during the hearing on HB 44.
McHUGH PIERRE, Director of Communications, Legislative Liaison
Office of the Commissioner/Adjutant General
Department of Military & Veterans' Affairs (DMVA)
POSITION STATEMENT: Answered questions during the hearing on HB
44.
ACTION NARRATIVE
CHAIR BOB LYNN called the House State Affairs Standing Committee
meeting to order at 8:00:54 AM. Representatives Roses, Coghill,
Johnson, Doll, and Lynn were present at the call to order.
Representatives Johansen and Gruenberg arrived as the meeting
was in progress.
SCR 15-AMEND UNIFORM RULES: STANDING COMMITTEES
8:02:10 AM
CHAIR LYNN announced that the first order of business was CS FOR
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 15(SED), Proposing amendments
to the Uniform Rules of the Alaska State Legislature relating to
standing committees.
8:02:13 AM
TIM LAMPKIN, Staff, Senator Gary Stevens, Alaska State
Legislature, presented SCR 15 on behalf of Senator Stevens,
sponsor by request of the Joint Legislative Education Funding
Task Force. The proposed resolution, he explained, would set up
a standing committee to address issues related to education in
the state. He noted that Alaska is one of only three states in
the Union that does not presently have a [standing] committee
for education, and he said there is a spread sheet in the
committee packet that supports that statement.
8:03:08 AM
MR. LAMPKIN, in response to a question from Representative
Roses, explained that there are a number of Senators who are
convinced that the proposed standing education committees for
both houses will be cumbersome and will not work, and thus are
responsible for adding a sunset clause so that [on "the first
day of the First Regular Session of the Twenty-Eighth Alaska
State Legislature"] the new standing education committees would
be "reabsorbed" by the House Health, Education and Social
Services Standing Committee and the Senate Health, Education and
Social Services Standing Committee. In response to a question
from Chair Lynn, he proffered that the decision of committee
members as to whether that sunset should be in the bill would
most likely be determined based on whether or not they think the
idea of creating separate education standing committees is a
good one.
REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL stated that he agrees with the proposed
sunset, because there are so many areas where education, social
service, and health policies intertwine, and it is important to
"keep some of those things in context." Furthermore, he said
most of health and social service policies, as broad as they
are, really center on about four or five different topics, while
education policy "is generally settled in the funding process."
8:06:07 AM
REPRESENTATIVE DOLL stated that she does not think the sunset is
needed. She said she thinks it is important to separate issues
of education from those of health and social services.
8:06:36 AM
REPRESENTATIVE JOHNSON said he agrees with Representative
Coghill that education policy is "centered around funding," and
he expressed his hope that the committee would "start centering
education around results." He stated, "So, I see this as being
an opportunity for us to take that next step that we need to
take to bring in the home schooling and to do the other things,
and to pay the type of attention we need to, to hold the schools
accountable for the money that we've been spending all these
years."
MR. LAMPKIN offered his understanding that the purpose of the
Joint Legislative Education Funding Task Force in creating a
standing education committee was to separate the fiscal
conversations from discussions of policy.
8:08:00 AM
REPRESENTATIVE ROSES, as a member of the Joint Legislative
Education Funding Task Force, confirmed that typically, about
the only thing discussed regarding education is funding. He
added, "And by having worked to try to put a multiple-year
funding mechanism in place, to where those conversations didn't
have to be constantly revisited every year, we felt like
creating a standing education committee would allow us to have
some more substantive conversations about addressing the
concerns that people have ...." He mentioned getting students
to the point where they can compete on a global scale and
concerns regarding the university's graduation system. He said
this is his second year serving on the House Health, Education
and Social Services Standing Committee, and the bills heard in
that committee run 10:1, social and medical issues to education
issues. He said he does not think a sunset clause is necessary,
because the legislature can revisit the issue in five years and
decide on its own whether or not to continue running standing
education committees in both houses.
8:10:23 AM
REPRESENTATIVE ROSES moved to adopt Amendment 1, which read as
follows [original punctuation provided]:
Page 2, Line 25 through Page 3, Line 30
Delete all material
Page 3, Line 31, following ""by"
Delete: "sec. 1 of"
Page 4, Lines 1-2
Delete all material
REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL objected for discussion purposes.
REPRESENTATIVE ROSES clarified that Amendment 1 would remove the
sunset clause.
REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL removed his objection to Amendment 1,
explaining that his previously expressed opinion about the
sunset clause is not strongly held. There being no further
objections, Amendment 1 was adopted.
8:12:05 AM
REPRESENTATIVE ROSES moved to report CSSCR 15(SED), as amended,
out of committee with individual recommendations and the
accompanying fiscal notes. There being no objection, HCS CSSCR
15(STA) was reported out of the House State Affairs Standing
Committee.
HB 44-VETERAN INFO ON PFD APPLICATIONS
8:13:04 AM
CHAIR LYNN announced that the last order of business was HOUSE
BILL NO. 44, "An Act relating to information from veterans on
the permanent fund dividend application form."
[Before the committee was CSHB 44(MLV).]
8:13:06 AM
REPRESENTATIVE DAVID GUTTENBERG, Alaska State Legislature,
presented HB 44 as prime sponsor. He said the intent of the
bill is to establish a way for military veterans to learn about
their rights and benefits. The bill proposes that there be a
box to check on the Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD)
application, which would show that the applicant is a veteran.
That information would then be passed on to [the Department of
Military & Veterans' Affairs (DMVA)] and made a available to
service organizations. Contact could then be made to inform
veterans' of changes, for example, to benefits and eligibility.
The benefits that find their way to veterans would roll back
into the economy, he said.
8:14:55 AM
REPRESENTATIVE ROSES directed attention to language on page 1,
beginning on line 8, which read:
the department shall release information provided
under this subsection to the Department of Military
and Veterans' Affairs and, on request, to veterans
service organizations in the state.
REPRESENTATIVE ROSES said he does not think the language clearly
articulates that the intent is for the information to go to
DMVA, and for any other service organization to request the
information from DMVA. Instead, he continued, the language
sounds as though the service organizations could request the
information from the Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend Division,
which is not the intention. He suggested the need to clarify
that part of the bill.
REPRESENTATIVE GUTTENBERG concurred. He stated that the Alaska
Permanent Fund Division does not want to do that work and
furthermore is probably not the right agency to be reaching out
the veterans.
8:16:07 AM
REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL asked Representative Guttenberg to
confirm that the information to be released to the DMVA from the
division would include only the facts regarding the applicant's
military service, not the whole PFD application.
REPRESENTATIVE GUTTENBERG said he imagines that would be the
case. He added that the division already has rules about what
information can be released, and it is his intent that the only
information given to DMVA by the division be the name of the
veteran and the type and length of the veteran's service.
REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL noted that on separation from the
military, a veteran is given a form called, "DD-214." He asked
if that form would be "a required document in this."
REPRESENTATIVE GUTTENBERG replied that the bill does not require
the form; however, DMVA might require it. He clarified that the
purpose of the bill is not to establish whether or not someone
is a veteran. He spoke of qualifications that exist outside of
the bill to ensure that someone really is a veteran.
REPRESENTATIVE GUTTENBERG, in response to a request from
Representative Coghill, restated the steps that would be taken
with the veteran's information. He added that a veteran would
also be able to choose not to fill in the information.
8:19:44 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GUTTENBERG, in response to Representative Doll,
recollected that the catalyst for the bill may have been that he
was approached by someone who thought the issue was important.
He noted that, to date, he has heard from many veterans
regarding the bill.
8:20:37 AM
REPRESENTATIVE JOHANSEN said his wife is a veteran who gets
information in the mail and is contacted by the local office of
the American Legion, and he questioned whether there is
difficulty anywhere in the state in finding a list of veterans.
8:22:01 AM
REPRESENTATIVE ROSES noted that CSHB 44(MLV) includes amended
language that adds the Alaska Territorial Guard. He said he
agrees with Representative Johansen that there is plenty of
information available regarding "regular veterans"; however, he
said the House Special Committee on Military and Veterans'
Affairs committee worked hard to add the Alaska Territorial
Guard to the bill, because there are many who serve in the
Alaska Territorial Guard who qualify for benefits but are not
receiving them.
8:23:15 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GUTTENBERG said it is wonderful if every veteran
in a district is registered and affiliated with one of the
service organizations; however, he said he thinks that is not a
"representative example." He related that his own father, a
veteran of 60 years, has never been inside a service
organization in his life. He said he thinks there are a lot of
veterans who, for one reason or another, have not kept up to
date with what is going on in terms of services available to
them.
8:25:00 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GUTTENBERG, in response to a question from
Representative Doll, offered his understanding that a bill was
passed several years ago that made information entered into the
PFD database private; the proposed legislation would be the
exception. In response to comments from Chair Lynn, he
confirmed that the information the veterans would enter on the
PFD application would not be made available to the public. In
response to Representative Coghill, he confirmed that the
proposed bill would not change the confidentiality status of the
information currently required on the PFD application.
8:26:01 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG directed attention to a report compiled
by Legislative Research Services, dated February 8, 2008,
included in the committee packet, which shows that the military
population in Alaska, as of December 31, 2007, totaled 26,176
and the number of veterans, [as of September 30, 2007], totaled
74,557. He said many people in active duty military about to
leave the service are interested in finding out what will be
available to them, and organizations are interested in
contacting them. He asked if the sponsor would consider
allowing active military to check the proposed box on the PFD
application.
REPRESENTATIVE GUTTENBERG explained his intent through the
proposed legislation is that "everybody understands and has a
form of availability for all the services that are available to
them"; therefore, he said Representative Gruenberg's suggestion
would not be problematic.
8:27:52 AM
REPRESENTATIVE JOHNSON stated that when he first read the
original bill version, he did not see any need for the
legislation; however, upon seeing the addition of the Alaska
Territorial Guard in the version before the committee, he has
been convinced that the legislation is necessary. He said he
thinks including active duty military is not necessary, because
those on active duty who do not "know what's going on" have only
themselves to blame. He concluded, "I think this is a veterans'
bill, and I'd certainly like to see it stay that way."
8:28:50 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG pointed out that some people on active
duty who are serving overseas have very little knowledge of
upcoming services that will be available once they are off duty.
He stated that he would have welcomed having this information
while he was still on active duty. He restated that the
veterans' organizations will probably want to contact active
military personnel to let them know their rights and the
availability of the organizations available to serve them, and
he expressed his hope that Representative Johnson would not
object to an amendment to include active military.
8:29:36 AM
CHAIR LYNN said he does not think the intent of the bill is to
recruit members for organizations, but rather to explain the
benefits available.
REPRESENTATIVE GUTTENBERG responded that is correct.
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG explained that [including active
military] would allow veterans' organizations to contact
military personnel to let them know about benefits for which
they may qualify.
8:30:27 AM
TOM BAIRD, Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 903; Alaskan
Republican Party District 15, noted that there are three
veterans present to testify. He said, "We are pleased that HB
44 is being passed out of committee this morning."
8:30:46 AM
MAURICE BAILEY, Founder, Veterans Aviation Outreach (VAO), told
the committee that VAO has four pilots that fly statewide to
inform veterans of their benefits. Many veterans, he said,
leave service without knowing what is available to them. He
said there are currently close to 80,000 veterans in Alaska,
with the influx of veterans from wars fought in Afghanistan and
Iraq. He said he thinks passage of HB 44 would be a step in the
right direction toward helping those who have helped Americans
remain free. He thanked the committee for its "deep
consideration of the passage of this bill."
8:31:41 AM
DAVE GLENN, Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 903, shared his
personal history in the military. He said he served in Vietnam,
where he saw his fellow soldiers sustain grievous injury and
death, and he said some of those veterans still suffer today
from both mental and physical injuries sustained in combat. He
said it is reported that Vietnam veterans have a 10-year shorter
life span and are 5 times more susceptible to suffer illness in
their senior years. He requested that the committee pass HB 44,
which he said will allow members of military organizations to
locate and render assistance to perhaps thousands of veterans
who have been ignored by the federal government for decades. He
stated that "contrary to popular belief," the federal government
does not track its veterans. The information derived from HB 44
would help in locating veterans and guiding them through the
process of collecting the benefits they were promised during
their military service.
8:33:11 AM
REPRESENTATIVE JOHNSON asked if any of the previous testifiers
would like to see active duty military personnel included with
veterans as those who would be able to check off the box
proposed to be put on the PFD application.
8:33:32 AM
MISTERS BAIRD, BAILEY, and GLENN answered yes.
8:33:47 AM
CHAIR LYNN closed public testimony.
8:33:53 AM
REPRESENTATIVE ROSES moved to adopt Conceptual Amendment 1,
which would add "of the department" after "request" on page 1,
line 10. There being no objection, Conceptual Amendment 1 was
adopted.
8:35:08 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG asked if U.S. Merchant Marines in war
time, the U.S. Coast Guard, perhaps Public Health Service, and
the Philippine people who fought for the United States in World
War II are included in the term "veteran."
8:36:12 AM
McHUGH PIERRE, Director of Communications Legislative Liaison,
Office of the Commission/Adjutant General, responded yes. He
continued:
The reason why we included Alaska Territorial Guard is
because unless they have received an official
discharge certificate, they are not veterans. So,
that's the whole ... purpose there of achieving that
discharge certificate and distributing that to the
family members. The same goes for the members of the
Philippines; they need to be officially discharged and
acknowledged by the military - and that's other
efforts that are ongoing right now.
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG asked if an amendment is needed to
include the aforementioned groups.
MR. PIERRE responded that the term "veteran" includes all of
those members. He added, "If you feel that you're a veteran,
and you check the box, we're going to make sure that we don't
censor that list, but we give it to the appropriate veterans'
organizations." In response to a question from Representative
Gruenberg, he said the department would not object to including
active military to the check-off box proposed for the PFD
application.
8:37:29 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG moved to adopt Conceptual Amendment 2,
to add "or active duty, including a reservist or National
Guard".
8:38:06 AM
REPRESENTATIVE ROSES objected. He explained that improvements
have been made in letting active duty military personnel know
what their benefits will be when they leave, but so many
benefits have been added at both the state and national level
that many who are already veterans do not know about them unless
they are contacted.
8:39:26 AM
REPRESENTATIVE JOHANSEN objected to Conceptual Amendment 2. He
said he concurs with Representative Roses.
CHAIR LYNN asked what the harm would be in including active duty
military personnel in the bill.
8:40:40 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG said sometimes people "don't get the
word at first" and need to be told something several times.
Younger people may not feel the information is important
initially. He stated that he does not think it would do any
harm to include active military personnel, and he emphasized
that it is "very important that they know their rights."
8:41:27 AM
REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL objected to Conceptual Amendment 2. He
recommended keeping the focus on veterans, rather than including
the rapidly changing number of active military.
8:42:21 AM
CHAIR LYNN said he is a veteran. He observed that those who are
on active duty are also veterans, because they have served -
even if just for one day.
8:42:53 AM
REPRESENTATIVE ROSES said he wouldn't disagree with Chair Lynn
and there will probably be many active duty military personnel
who will check the box proposed to be added to the PFD
application. He continued:
But the other fact of the matter is ... if this bill
passes and we end up having a check box, and you don't
provide it for those that are active duty military, I
guarantee you that the first permanent fund dividend
application that they fill out after they get out of
the military they will check it, because they are a
veteran then. So, by either definition, they're going
to have an opportunity to self-select: those that
already think they're veterans and those that will
become veterans the minute that they get out and
receive the next application. So, I think we've
covered them no matter how you look at it ....
8:43:42 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG maintained his motion to adopt
Conceptual Amendment 2.
REPRESENTATIVE ROSES maintained his objection.
A roll call vote was taken. Representatives Gruenberg, Doll,
and Lynn voted in favor of Conceptual Amendment 2.
Representatives Coghill, Johansen, Johnson, and Roses voted
against it. Therefore, Conceptual Amendment 2 failed by a vote
of 3-4.
8:44:24 AM
REPRESENTATIVE DOLL said she will probably support HB 44, but
expressed concern about the use of the information that is
gathered on the application and whether this may be a precedent
for other departments and other groups wanting to also access
that information. She said she thinks those who fill out PFD
applications feel that that information is going to be used only
for the purpose of being issued a dividend.
8:45:08 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG moved to report CSHB 44(MLV), [as
amended], out of committee with individual recommendations [and
the accompanying fiscal notes]. There being no objection, CSHB
44(STA) was reported out of the House State Affairs Standing
Committee.
8:45:58 AM
CHAIR LYNN announced the upcoming committee calendar.
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
State Affairs Standing Committee meeting was adjourned at
8:46:29 AM.