SENATE BILL NO. 6 "An Act relating to the disposal of state land." This was the third hearing for this bill in the Senate Finance Committee. A motion to adopt and a motion to amend Amendment #2 were pending from the previous hearing. Co-Chair John Torgerson directed the Committee's attention to a proposed committee substitute, 1-LS0071/H, 3/26/99, the sponsor wanted adopted. Senator ROBIN TAYLOR, the sponsor of the bill, joined the Committee and explained that the proposed committee substitute shifts the obligation for both identifying and selling State land from the commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources to a State Land Commission that would be formed under this legislation. He noted that while the governor would appoint the members of the land commission, the commission would report to the legislature and the process would be subjected to a five-year review period and a ten-year sunset. This, he stressed, would give the legislature an opportunity to review and revise the process as necessary. He described the membership of the commission, saying it would consist of five members: a real estate appraiser, a real estate broker, a land surveyor plus two members of the public appointed at-large. He added that no more than three members could belong to the same political party. Senator Robin Taylor then noted that the committee substitute also calls for the creation of land disposal advisory boards in every municipality and borough. Those areas of the state not included in a borough would also be represented by advisory boards, he stated, following the Model Borough Boundary Act to establish the geographic regions. He stressed that the purpose of the advisory boards would be to provide local input to the State Land Commission recommending lands to be offered for sale. Senator Robin Taylor stated that the intent of this legislation is to create a land disposal bank that would have a minimum of 250,000 acres available each year for disposal by the state. Senator Robin Taylor pointed out that this legislation places some limitations on the size of land disposals. The legislation reads as follows: ".parcels identified as appropriate for sale must consist of 160 acres or more, except that parcels identified by an advisory board as suitable for recreation and homesites must consist of 40 acres or more, individual parcels in subdivisions intended for private residential or recreational use may not exceed five acres." He also noted that lands must be provided for a variety of uses such as agricultural, timber and recreational. In other words, he explained all the lands available for disposal would not be located in one area or have only one feasible use. Senator Robin Taylor stated the committee substitute provides that lands would be sold at auction and a provision requires that bidders meet the same Alaskan residency criteria as dictated in the Permanent Fund dividend program. He noted that the bidding procedures would not change from the current practices and that land not sold through the auction process would then become available to nonresidents for purchase. Senator Robin Taylor pointed out that the committee substitute replaces the word "Commissioner" with "Commission" in several places in the bill to reflect the change of authority over the land disposals. Senator Robin Taylor explained that the committee substitute establishes that the legislature annually reviews the lands selected and decides which lands are offered for disposal. Senator Robin Taylor summarized by saying that other language in the committee substitute is basically housekeeping items to state the terms of the commission members. However, he noted the absence of earlier clean-up language that was added to an earlier committee substitute regarding the appraisal system. He did not know why the language was omitted and felt it should be included. Co-Chair John Torgerson guessed the language was omitted due to changes made to the provisions governing auctions. Senator Pete Kelly asked if the committee substitute contained a mechanism for land that is put up for auction but not sold. Senator Robin Taylor replied that the land would accrue in a "land bank", which is the current practice. He thought that the land bank currently contains 45 to 50 thousand acres that are surveyed and placed up for public sale. He noted that most of that land is property earlier sold but returned to the State for various reasons such as default on payment. Senator Robin Taylor added that this bill began as an effort to force the Department of Natural Resources to sell land held in the land bank. Co-Chair John Torgerson referred to the provision on page 3, beginning at line 26 of the committee substitute directing the Department of Natural Resources to dispose of land held in the land bank. He asked if there should be a cap on the amount of land held in the land bank. He had concerns with the wording, "disposed of". He suggested using, "offered" instead so that the department is not forced to simply give the land away. Senator Robin Taylor felt that a cap should be placed. Co-Chair John Torgerson qualified that he had not had much time to study the bill and that this hearing was intended as an overview. Senator Loren Leman shared Co-Chair John Torgerson's concern about the implication of the phrase "shall be disposed of". He also had concerns about the minimum and maximum parcel size stipulations. He thought the witness' testimony did not accurately reflect the language of the committee substitute. Senator Robin Taylor clarified his earlier statement. Senator Loren Leman wanted to know the reason for the minimum size restrictions for recreation use lands and homesites. He suggested there could be some areas smaller than forty acres that would be suitable for these uses such as around Lake Clark. Senator Robin Taylor replied that he has been working with the department to draft the bill's provisions. He learned that the cost of disposal of small parcels becomes unfeasible for the State. He qualified that he did not believe there should be any of the size limitations. For example, he wanted the land managers to dispose of the state's bug infested timberlands in any way possible for the purpose of cleaning up the land and reforestation. He stated, "trying to legislate common sense is very difficult." His intent with this legislation is to give the department perimeters and he was willing to amend the bill in any way to effectively achieve this. Senator Loren Leman suggested a fallback position stipulating that the size provisions will be standard except when a finding is made showing that another method is more appropriate. He stressed that he did not want the department to use the size provisions as an excuse to not dispose of certain lands. Co-Chair John Torgerson noted his efforts along with the sponsor's to establish a land disposal commission. He felt that more needed to be done on this legislation before it could be reported from Committee. He wanted the committee substitute distributed to the department for recommendations on how to further refine the bill. Senator Lyda Green moved for adoption of CS SB 6, 1- LS007/H, 3/26/99 as a Workdraft. It was ADOPTED without objection. Senator Dave Donley was concerned that the title is so specific that he was unsure if the other body would support the legislation. He wanted to know if the stipulation that 250,000 acres must be distributed annually could be deleted from the title. Senator Robin Taylor responded that he was not bound by any number and that he only used 250,000 as a starting point. He stressed that he was open to suggestions. Senator Dave Donley stated that he thought a generic figure would be more appropriate. Co-Chair John Torgerson agreed and felt 250,000 acres is aggressive especially if it is to be an annually reoccurring disposal. Senator Loren Leman moved to amend the committee substitute to delete "250,000 acres of" from page 1 line 2, the title. Co-Chair John Torgerson said the motion could be made but the Committee would then need to come back with a new committee substitute. He preferred to incorporate this change along with other suggestions into one committee substitute rather than make a few small changes here and there. Senator Loren Leman withdrew his motion. Co-Chair John Torgerson ordered SB 6 held in Committee. Co-Chair John Torgerson explained that the meeting will recess until 9:00 AM when the teleconference is connected to allow public testimony on the State's budget. Senator Gary Wilken asked if the Senate Resolution regarding crowning the Women of Senate Finance as Alaskan royalty would be heard today. Co-Chair John Torgerson said the resolution would be taken under advisement. He noted that the Senate Finance Secretary's office did not file the resolution in a timely manner. Senator Gary Wilken suggested the resolution be referred to a number of subcommittees for consideration. Co-Chair John Torgerson agreed and appointed Senator Gary Wilken as chair of the first subcommittee; Senator Loren Leman as chair of the second; Senator Dave Donley as chair of the third; Senator Lyda Green as chair of the forth and Senator Pete Kelly as chair of the fifth subcommittee. Senator Lyda Green protested that the Committee was not advancing the legislation in support of the Women of Senate Finance. [APRIL FOOLS!!] AT EASE until 9:05AM/9:06AM Co-Chair Sean Parnell noted this portion of the meeting was set aside for public testimony on long range solutions for the state's fiscal situation. There was no one present to testify so the Committee addressed the next bill on the agenda with the understanding that it would be set aside if anyone arrived wishing to testify on the budget. AT EASE 9:07AM/9:09AM