CS FOR HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 8(L&C) Establishing a legislative task force to make recommendations regarding job descriptions and salary changes for the commissioners and support staff and the possible need for additional support staff of the Regulatory Commission of Alaska. This was the first hearing for this bill in the Senate Finance Committee. REPRESENTATIVE KURT OLSON, the bill's sponsor, informed the Committee that this Resolution would establish a nine member Legislative Task Force which would be charged with reviewing and developing recommendations pertaining to the salary schedules of the Alaska Regulatory Commission (RCA) and its staffing levels. Particular attention would be given to the issue of whether additional staff would be required to ensure compliance with docket determination timelines. Another element of interest would be the relationship between the RCA and the attorneys in the Attorney General's Office assigned to the RCA. Representative Olson specified that the Task Force would be comprised of three members appointed by the Speaker of the House; three members appointed by the Senate President; Governor Sarah Palin or her designee; Department of Law Attorney General Talis Colberg or his designee; and Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development Commissioner Emil Notti or his designee. The Task Force would meet five times during the Legislative Interim and compile a report of its recommendations to the Legislature by February 1, 2008. The Task Force would terminate on May 30, 2008. The Resolution is accompanied by a $10,000 fiscal note from the Legislative Affairs Agency. 3:03:17 PM DEAN THOMPSON, Legal Representative, Municipal Light & Power (ML&P), testified via teleconference from Anchorage and communicated that even though ML&P "is not convinced of the need for such a Task Force," it would not oppose it. He reiterated remarks he made during his earlier testimony on HB 209 in which he advised that ML&P believes that "the commissioners are overdue for a salary increase." ML&P would "support a statutory amendment that just specifies that the commissioners shall receive an annual salary." 3:04:03 PM JIM ROWE, Executive Director, Alaska Telephone Association, testified via teleconference from Anchorage. Like the previous testifier, he was not convinced of the need to convene a task force. It would simply consume time of commissioners, the Legislature, the industry, and the Administration. The issues could have been addressed during this Legislative Session. Mr. Rowe stated that charging the Task Force with developing a job description for the commissioners is unnecessary as that is a known element. The salary specifications that had been included in previous versions of separate Senate RCA legislation would have aligned commissioner compensation with that of a District Court judge. The Legislature could have addressed that if it had remained in the bill. That would have been his preferred approach. Support staff issues were, at one time, also included in the bill. Mr. Rowe restated comments made during his earlier testimony on HB 209 in which he had advocated for an increase in RCA staff and appropriate salaries. Nonetheless, since these things were not included in that RCA bill, this legislation is the only option available through which to address these matters. 3:05:20 PM KRISTI CATLIN, Representative, AT&T, testified via teleconference from Anchorage to emphasize that the industry would have preferred the issues specified in this Legislation to have been addressed during this Legislative Session. However, because the effort to correct the salary schedule of the Commissioners and other staffing issues is "long overdue", AT&T would not object to the Task Force. The desire is to get these issues resolved. 3:06:06 PM Co-Chair Hoffman moved to report the resolution from Committee with individual recommendations and accompanying fiscal note. There being no objection, CS HCR 8(L&C) was REPORTED from Committee with previous $10,000 fiscal note #1 from the Legislative Affairs Agency. RECESS TO THE CALL OF THE CHAIR 3:07:21 PM / 6:07:14 PM Co-Chair Stedman called the meeting back to order.