SB 121-NATIVE ORGANIZATIONS VPSO & TANF PROGRAMS  3:49:35 PM CHAIR BISHOP announced the consideration of SPONSOR SUBSTITUTE FOR SENATE BILL NO. 121, "An Act relating to Alaska Native organizations' family assistance programs." 3:50:03 PM SENATOR JESSE KIEHL, Alaska State Legislature, Juneau, Alaska, sponsor of SB 121, introduced the legislation speaking to the following sponsor statement: Sponsor Substitute Senate Bill 121 fixes a contradiction in Alaska law so the Central Council of Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska (T&H) can keep administering the tribal Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program in Southeast. AS 47.27.070(a) lists the organizations qualified to run TANF, including T&H. But subsection (c) of the same law says only "nonprofits" may run TANF. As a tribal government, T&H is not a non-profit. This contradiction endangers T&H's ability to keep running the program. T&H has successfully run TANF for almost two decades. Taking the contradiction out of the law will let the tribe continue its good work for Alaskans in need. SENATOR KIEHL stated that the bill is a simple technical fix. For many years, the State of Alaska has partnered with the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska (T&H) to provide a couple of programs, one of which is a TANF Program. SENATOR KIEHL said the partnership with T&H has been effective. They do an excellent job helping families to self-sufficiency and have been very successful in partnering with any number of groups and agencies around the region and around the state. In addition to an effective job, T&H does a fiscally efficient job for the State of Alaska because their participation helps lower the general fund requirement for the State of Alaska's maintenance of effort to participate in the TANF program. SENATOR KIEHL explained that when the partnership between the State of Alaska and T&H began, a section was put into statute that required the partners to be nonprofits. He said he was not sure how that section got into statute, but a tribe is not a state chartered nonprofit corporation. It is an entirely different entity. The bill will take care of the inconsistency by deleting the nonprofit requirement, thereby allowing the partnership to continue as it has for a number of years. He noted that SB 121 does not open the partnership for TANF to any and all organizations that might someday be interested. T&H is on a list in the statute via federal law. The bill is a simple and specific fix. CHAIR BISHOP asked Ms. Schlingheyde if she had anything to add. 3:52:38 PM CATHY SCHLINGHEYDE, Staff, Senator Jesse Kiehl, Alaska State Legislature, Juneau, Alaska, replied Senator Kiehl's explanation covered the intent of the bill. CHAIR BISHOP summarized that the bill is a technical fix to match federal law to state law. SENATOR MICCICHE said the statute seems to say that the tribal entity has to have a nonprofit entity, not necessarily that the entire tribe has to be nonprofit. He asked if T&H previously had a nonprofit entity that qualified it. SENATOR KIEHL answered that there are people from T&H who can answer that with 100 percent accuracy but he did not believe so. Rather, this has been a disconnect between the statute and the reality of the tribe's good work in this area for many years. 3:54:31 PM KENDRI CESAR, Outside Counsel, Central Council Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, Juneau, Alaska, explained that T&H had discussions with the Alaska Department of Law and the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services on options for a solution when the statutory problem was first identified three years ago. Forming a nonprofit or incorporating the tribe were considered but it is not a workable option for the tribe and the tribe had been successfully carrying out the TANF Program for 20 years without incorporation. Pursuing a statutory fix seemed to be the most straightforward solution. SENATOR MICCICHE asked if Tlingit and Haida Central Council that is named in the existing statute is the same entity discussed in the bill as Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska. MS. CESAR answered yes. SENATOR MICCICHE asked if the "Notwithstanding" in the repeal language covered those listed within [AS 47.27.070(a)]. MS. CESAR explained that subsection (a), like the federal provision, specifies the appropriate entities that Congress authorized to carry out the program for Alaska. However, the requirement in subsection (c) requires Alaska Native organizations to incorporate. She noted that the statutory requirement lists incorporated entities, like Metlakatla. 3:56:46 PM SENATOR MICCICHE questioned the necessity for the bill when it looks like subsection (a) covered T&H. CHAIR BISHOP stated that the bill will be set aside to allow the committee more time to ponder. SENATOR MICCICHE emphasized that his previous question should not in any way mean that he is not supportive of repairing the issue. He said it sometimes seems like the legislature is fixing things that are common sense issues that are adequately dealt with in existing code. CHAIR BISHOP said he would like to ask the Alaska Department of Law if they support the bill. SENATOR MICCICHE reiterated that his question is if the change is necessary as a technicality or if T&H is covered under section (a) in the statute. 3:58:18 PM STACIE KRALY, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Civil Division, Human Services Section, Alaska Department of Law, Juneau, Alaska, answered that the fix is necessary because of the way the federal tribal TANF Program is set up. SENATOR MICCICHE asked if the fix is for everyone on the list. MS. KRALY answered that the vast majority of those listed in the statute are nonprofit organizations. The other difference is Metlakatla is a tribal reservation in Alaska. She reiterated that this fix would solve the problem. CHAIR BISHOP asked if DOL supports the changes in the bill. MS. KRALY answered that the Alaska Department of Law takes no position on the proposed fix. The department recognizes that there were three different ways to fix the problem. Ms. Cesar discussed one fix that T&H declined, which was to become an organized nonprofit or file as a nonprofit. She said a second way to fix the problem would be to amend subparagraph 13 of the statute. The third way is the fix proposed by the bill. She summarized that any of the three fixes would work for the department. She said it is not that the department does not support the bill, the department supports the fix. 4:00:12 PM SENATOR GRAY-JACKSON thanked Senator Kiehl for bringing the bill forward. She said she does not blame T&H for not wanting to deal with becoming a nonprofit if they really do not have to. She stated that she is glad the housekeeping issue is coming forward and she is looking forward to moving forward. SENATOR MICCICHE asked why [AS 47.27.070(c)] was originally in statute. MS. CESAR explained that T&H looked at the state legislative history and unfortunately the analysis did not shed light on that question. T&H is not sure why the section was inserted other than perhaps as a regional tribe, which is unique in Alaska, was confused with the other nonprofits. She said there does seem to be some general misunderstanding about regional tribes, which are unlike any other tribes. She added that Alaska does tend to have a regional delivery of services like the TANF Program. CHAIR BISHOP asked if she had anything else to put on the record before the bill is set aside. MS. CESAR noted that Jesse Parr, TANF Manager for T&H, is in attendance to discuss the savings to the state which Senator Kiehl previously noted. CHAIR BISHOP asked Mr. Parr to highlight some of the savings from the TANF Program. 4:02:14 PM JESSE PARR, TANF Program Manager, Central Council Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, Juneau, Alaska, explained that the tribe receives TANF funding directly from the federal government. The tribal TANF Program is throughout the state and is comprised of about 30 percent of the federal TANF funding. The state realizes a 30 percent reduction in its maintenance of effort requirement that results in a $15 million savings, from $52 million to $36 million. He summarized that the TANF Program is good for all parties involved. He affirmed that T&H genuinely desires to continue providing services to help people. CHAIR BISHOP commented that the more the legislature can do to create jobs, less people will have to use the TANF Program. MR. PARR concurred. CHAIR BISHOP noted that he worked very closely with the TANF Program with the Tana Chiefs Conference in Fairbanks. 4:03:21 PM CHAIR BISHOP held SB 121 in committee.