HB 493-LONG TERM FISCAL PLAN Number 1120 CHAIR HAWKER announced that the final order of business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 493, "An Act relating to adoption and revision of a long-term fiscal plan for the State of Alaska." REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG, speaking as cosponsor, stated that there is a new committee substitute (CS) for HB 493, which requires the legislature in future years to adopt a comprehensive long-range fiscal plan. The proposed CS attempts to incorporate comments from Representative Ogg and Chair Hawker, he noted. He said a concurrent resolution introduced by Representative Whitaker in the previous legislature was also looked at and parts were included in the proposed CS. Number 1220 REPRESENTATIVE WEYHRAUCH moved to adopt the proposed CS for HB 441, Version 23-LS1765\H, Utermohle, 3/18/04, as the working document. REPRESENTATIVE WEYHRAUCH objected for discussion purposes. REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG explained that [Section 1] of the proposed CS lists a number of the constitutionally required state mandates, including, but not limited to, public health and welfare, providing for public education, and the utilization, development, and conservation of natural resources. Other requirements indicated, as well, are that the state government must provide for public safety, the construction and maintenance of public facilities and transportation, and the protection of the environment, he said. A lot of that language came from Representative Whitaker's resolution, he noted. REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG referred to page 2, lines 6 and 7, and said, "to carry out the responsibilities, we must have a reasonable level of expenditures to finance the operation of state government." He paraphrased the language in [paragraph 3] was made more accurate as a result of Chair Hawker's suggestions, and he paraphrased, "significant disparity between the revenue sources currently being utilized and the expenditures necessary to maintain a reasonable level of state services." In [paragraph 4] the original language "by drawing against the balance of the budget reserve fund" was added, he said. In [paragraph 5] it says the budget reserve fund is rapidly declining and [the state] needs to have a sound fiscal plan, and in [paragraph 6] it says there's not a simple solution and that [the state] must have [a plan] that is balanced and fair to all Alaskans, he related. He noted that the language was made a little more accurate. [Paragraph 7] says that a long-range fiscal plan will encourage the discipline necessary to insure the budget remains balanced and properly planned for the future, and finally, [paragraph 8] says the implementation of a comprehensive long-range fiscal plan will help stabilize the state's economy and level out its historical pattern of boom and bust cycles, he said. Number 1408 REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG explained that Section 2, which was the heart of the bill, was beefed up a little bit. The first sentence remains the same except it is made clear that it is the current fiscal year and the next four fiscal years, he said. The next two sentences [lines 27-31] are new, he said. [Subsection (b) on page 3] was left pretty much the way it was, except that [paragraph (3)] is broken out so it reads a little clearer dealing with the permanent fund, inflation proofing, dividend, and the flexibility to determine the appropriate use of the remaining earnings of the fund, he reported. REPRESENTATIVE WEYHRAUCH withdrew his objection to adopting Version H. There being no further objection, Version H was adopted as the working document. CHAIR HAWKER requested that the members take Version H into consideration for a future meeting. REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG asked that the committee move the bill today. CHAIR HAWKER replied that he is personally uncomfortable with the unspecific language regarding adopting and annually revising a long-range fiscal plan. He said he is still not certain what that would be and who would be responsible for that. He noted that it takes five affirmative votes to move this bill from committee. REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG suggested that it takes the majority of the members present as long as there is a quorum. CHAIR HAWKER deferred to Representative Gruenberg's judgment. Number 1740 REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG moved to report CSHB 493 out of committee with individual recommendations. CHAIR HAWKER objected. Number 1920 A roll call vote was taken. Representatives Weyhrauch, Moses, Samuels, and Gruenberg voted in favor of the motion to report CSHB 493 out of committee. Representative Hawker voted against it. Therefore, CSHB 493 was reported out of the House Special Committee on Ways and Means by a vote of 4-1. CHAIR HAWKER noted that this motion is subject to a ruling on how many members it takes to report a bill out of committee. REPRESENTATIVE WEYHRAUCH said he plans to check "amend" on the report because the bill is more similar to a resolution, as opposed to a statute, he opined. [Due to a majority of committee members not being present, the motion to report CSHB 493 was rescinded and voted upon again on April 21, 2004.]