SB 13-SUMMER EBT BENEFITS FOR CHILDREN  4:58:36 PM CHAIR TOBIN reconvened the meeting and announced the consideration of SENATE BILL NO. 13 "An Act relating to the summer electronic benefits transfer program for children." 4:58:57 PM MIKE MASON, Staff, Senator Löki Tobin, Alaska State Legislature, Juneau, Alaska, offered an explanation of changes for SB 13, version N to I: [Original punctuation provided.] SUMMARY OF CHANGES  SB 13: SUMMER EBT BENEFITS FOR CHILDREN Version N to Version I 34-LS0141\I Section 1 Version A had the Department of Family and Community Services administering this program under AS 47.06. Version I makes it the responsibility of the Department of Education and Early Development under AS 44.27. 4:59:34 PM SENATOR BJORKMAN asked what is the rational for the change, since the Department of Health is the agency in charge of the program. 4:59:54 PM RACHEL LEVY, Staff, Senator Forrest Dunbar, Alaska State Legislature, Juneau, Alaska, answered questions on SB 13. She replied that Department of Education and Early Development (DEED) was the only department willing to administer it. 5:00:18 PM SENATOR KIEHL stated that interest in a program is one issue, but capacity, efficiency, and cost are separate concerns. He noted that the SNAP program operates with approximately six percent overhead, possibly less. Referring to the fiscal note, he observed that the administrative costs appeared to exceed 10 percent relative to the grants and benefits line. He said it was unclear why the state would incur higher administrative costs under the proposal. 5:01:07 PM SENATOR FORREST DUNBAR, District J, Alaska State Legislature, Juneau, Alaska, Sponsor of SB 13. He replied that discussions with the administration had occurred over several months to coordinate implementation across agencies. He explained that practical considerations arose from how the Pandemic EBT program operated, particularly regarding student data maintained by the Department of Education and Early Development (DEED). He stated that the Department of Health had indicated DEED needed to administer the program due to its access to school-based student data. He added that a companion bill in the other body still lists the Department of Health as the administering agency and said he was not opposed to that structure, although the administration appeared to favor DEED. 5:02:35 PM GAVIN NORTHEY, Programs Manager, Child Nutrition Programs, Department of Education and Early Development (DEED), Juneau, Alaska, answered questions on SB 13. He stated that the structure of the Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) program requires significant involvement from the state education agency because eligibility determinations rely heavily on student data maintained by DEED. He explained that the Department of Health indicated it would be less burdensome if a single agency administered the program in full. However, because the program depends on school-based eligibility data, DEED's involvement is necessary. MR. NORTHEY addressed the concern about administrative costs exceeding six percent noting that SNAP likely benefits from economies of scale because it distributes a much larger volume of benefits. In contrast, the Summer EBT program has approximately a $10 million benefit rate, which creates a smaller base over which to spread fixed administrative costs. As a result, the administrative percentage appears higher, slightly over 10 percent. He added that DEED plans to minimize costs by coordinating with the Department of Health. Approximately half of the administrative costsabout $1.01 millionrelate to issuing EBT cards. DEED intends to use the Department of Health's existing EBT contract and build the summer program within that framework. The cost for the program was derived from DOH's current contract. 5:04:59 PM SENATOR KIEHL replied that the explanation was helpful and asked whether additional elements of the program could be coordinated. He specifically referenced development of an eligibility platform and asked whether the state could use a reimbursable services agreement to utilize an existing eligibility system rather than creating a new one. 5:05:24 PM MR. NORTHEY replied that the eligibility platform required for the Summer EBT program is highly specific to student data. He stated that he does not have detailed knowledge of the Department of Health's eligibility system but noted that during the Pandemic EBT program, the Department of Health relied heavily on the Department of Education and Early Development to support eligibility determinations because they were based largely on school enrollment and student-specific data. He explained that this differs from the eligibility system used for traditional Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. 5:06:13 PM SENATOR KIEHL thanked the department for the explanation and said he still had questions about whether additional efficiencies could be achieved. He suggested there may be ways for DEED to provide necessary student data while allowing the Division of Public Assistance (DPA) to administer the program, thereby spreading administrative costs over a larger base and reducing overall overhead. He noted that while student data is privacy-protected, public assistance programs already manage HIPAA-protected information and are experienced in safeguarding sensitive data. He expressed interest in continuing to work on potential efficiencies as the bill moves forward, including the possibility of DEED certifying eligibility while DPA handles administration to lower costs. 5:07:00 PM CHAIR TOBIN agreed that exploring administrative efficiencies is worthwhile. 5:07:15 PM CHAIR TOBIN solicited a motion. 5:07:16 PM SENATOR STEVENS moved to adopt the committee substitute (CS) for SB 13, work order 34-LS0141\I, as the working document. 5:07:29 PM CHAIR TOBIN found no objection and CSSB 13 was adopted as the working document.  5:07:46 PM SENATOR DUNBAR thanked the committee for hearing SB 13 and hopes the funds will reach the children that need and desire it. 5:08:18 PM CHAIR TOBIN solicited the will of the committee. 5:08:21 PM SENATOR STEVENS moved to report CSSB 13, work order 34-LS0141\I, from committee with individual recommendations and attached fiscal note(s). 5:08:36 PM CHAIR TOBIN found no objection and CSSB 13(EDC) was reported from the Senate Education Standing Committee.