SENATE BILL NO. 18 "An Act making appropriations, including capital appropriations and other appropriations; making appropriations to capitalize funds; and providing for an effective date." 9:03:32 AM ^DEPARTMENT OVERVIEW: ALASKA COURT SYSTEM 9:03:32 AM DOUG WOOLIVER, DEPUTY ADMINISTRATIVE DIRECTOR, ALASKA COURT SYSTEM, (COURT) discussed the PowerPoint, "Alaska Court System, Senate Finance Capital Projects Overview" (copy on file). Mr. Wooliver discussed slide 2, "SB 18 Court Projects - $16,718,600." -Anchorage Campus Court Renovation -Electronic Filing/Records Management System -Juneau Superior Court Remodel -Court Security Projects -Deferred Maintenance Projects Mr. Wooliver looked at slide 3, "Anchorage Campus Court Renovation - 413152." -$6.1 million: complete seven-year remodel of the Boney Courthouse; extend useful life: minimum 20 years -Nesbett Courthouse: full to capacity when opened in 1996 -Growth in trial court operations necessitated remodel Mr. Wooliver discussed slide 4, "Anchorage Campus Court Renovation - 413152 (cont.)." -Secure prisoner transport -Construction of holding cells -Additional courtrooms -Court proceedings on Saturdays -Seismic structural upgrades Mr. Wooliver highlighted slide 5, "Anchorage Campus Court Renovation - 413152 (cont.)." -Additional $8.32 million needed for Nesbett Remodel -Additional courtroom and hearing room -Accommodate large juries -Relocate Probate Department and Children's Court from Boney to Nesbett Mr. Wooliver discussed slide 6, "Electronic Filing/Records Management System - 52410" -$5.9 million for second phase of multi-year project -Electronic transmission of documents with goal of moving to "paperless" -Electronic exchange of data between justice agencies (Law, DPS, Munis, Cities) -Improved justice system efficiencies and potential cost savings 9:08:38 AM Mr. Wooliver looked at slide 7, "Juneau Superior Court Remodel - 57097." -$998,600 - Addition of courtroom and grand jury hearing room -Current hearing room too small to accommodate grand jury -Second highest superior court filings per superior court judge -Increase operational efficiency and reduce delays in cases and hearings Mr. Wooliver discussed slide 8, "Court Security Projects - 47151." -SB 18 includes $1.3 million of the $5.1 million requested - statewide, multi-year project -Physical security for public, judges, staff, jurors, and others court users -Integrate security operations and technology with the architecture Mr. Wooliver highlighted slide 9, "Court Security Projects (cont.) - 47151." -Access control and physical barriers -Badging systems, screening equipment, single point of entry, cameras -Segregated prisoner delivery paths and elevators and security fencing around court perimeters -Ballistic shielding for judicial benches and clerks' counters -Duress alarms, surveillance systems, and holding cells 9:11:27 AM Co-Chair Meyer wondered if the Anchorage Campus Court Renovation was contained in the governor's request. Mr. Wooliver replied that $6.1 million was requested by the governor, and would finish the remodel for the Boney Courthouse. He furthered the $8.3 million for the Nesbit Courthouse was not included, because the courtrooms needed to be converted into larger courtrooms. Mr. Wooliver looked at slide 12, "Court Projects not included in SB18." -Statewide Remodel Projects -Replace Worn Furnishings and Repair Specialized - Finishes in Public Use Spaces -Statewide Building Code and Energy Upgrade for Court -Buildings -Conversion of Audio Records to Digital Format - Phase I Mr. Wooliver discussed slide 13, "Statewide Remodeling Projects." -Increased staff efficiency and improved access for the public -Reconstruct judicial benches for new technology -Video link to reduce cost of prisoner Transport Mr. Wooliver looked at slide 14, "Replace Worn Furnishings and Specialized Finishes in Public Use Spaces." -Upgrades and repairs for jury rooms, customer service areas, courtrooms, and libraries -Furnishings worn, damaged, and uncomfortable -Finishes unsafe, unsightly, and losing structural integrity Mr. Wooliver discussed slide 15, "Statewide Building Code and Energy Upgrade for Court Buildings." -Earthquake bracing -Energy efficient light fixtures -Americans with Disabilities (ADA) compliant doors -Other miscellaneous upgrades for code and ADA compliance Mr. Wooliver highlighted slide 16, "Conversion of Audio Records to Digital Format - Phase I." -Preserve original electronic court records -Degradation of media (cassette tapes) -Transfer media to server 9:14:34 AM Co-Chair Meyer wondered if the proposed additional items were necessary. He felt that if the governor could not be convinced, he hoped that the committee could be convinced of their necessity. Mr. Wooliver agreed to provide convincing information to the committee. ^DEPARTMENT OVERVIEW: DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY 9:15:53 AM JOSEPH MASTERS, COMMISSIONER, DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY, (DPS) displayed the PowerPoint, "Department of Public Safety, Capital Budget Overview" (copy on file). Commissioner Masters discussed slide 2, "FY 14 Capital Budget." Modest capital budget request $6,982,000 total funds includes -$5,782,000 of general funds -$1,200,000 of federal authorization Commissioner Masters looked at slide 3, "Aircraft and Vessel Repair and Maintenance." Annual request $1,800,000 GF to support repair and maintenance of: -43 aircraft statewide valued at over $21.7 million -39 large vessels statewide valued at over $19 million -68 smaller vessels statewide valued at over $1 million Commissioner Masters highlighted slide 4, "Alaska State Troopers Law Enforcement Equipment." -Annual request -$400,000 GF to purchase new and replacement equipment -Vehicle equipment (radar units and accident instrumentation) -All-terrain vehicles and snow machines -Firearms -Digital cameras, recorders, computer equipment Commissioner Masters discussed slide 5, "Alaska Wildlife Troopers Law Enforcement Equipment." -Annual request -$400,000 GF to purchase new and replacement equipment -Radar and GPS units -Boats, all-terrain vehicles and snow machines -Outboard motors and trailers -Firearms -Digital cameras, recorders, computer equipment Commissioner Masters looked at slide 6, "Village Public Safety Officer Equipment." -Annual request -$400,000 GF to purchase new and replacement equipment for existing VPSOs -Snow machines and all-terrain vehicles -Tasers and uniforms 9:20:09 AM Co-Chair Meyer queried the difference between a Taser and a stun gun. Commissioner Masters replied that "Taser" was the brand of stun gun that DPS was using. Co-Chair Meyer wondered if DPS had an adequate number of Tasers. Commissioner Masters responded that DPS currently issued a number of Tasers to VPSOs and State Troopers. He stressed that Tasers had a lifespan, and therefore needed to be upgraded on a regular basis. Vice-Chair Fairclough wondered how Tasers were recycled: were they put back on the market, or destroyed. Commissioner Masters believed that the Tasers were turned into the manufactures when they expire. Senator Bishop looked at item 45300, and wondered if the radar guns for the wildlife safety officers were used for traffic monitoring. Commissioner Masters responded that some wildlife safety officers were assigned to some traffic enforcement. Senator Bishop noted that DPS had 68 small vessels under 20 feet, and wondered if any of the wildlife troopers used the small vessels. Commissioner Masters replied that the wildlife troopers used the small vessels, but those small vessels did not include the safety equipment that was attached to the large vessels. He furthered that funds were utilized for major repairs for the vessels. Vice-Chair Fairclough felt that there were many items in the bill that should have been included in the Operating Budget. Senator Olson stressed that the weapons had a limited shelf life, and wondered why the requests were not a part of the Operating Budget. Commissioner Masters responded that the items had historically been in the capital budget. Senator Olson felt that the DPS equipment requests were not commonly a part of the Capital Budget. Co-Chair Meyer felt that the requests should be properly organized between the Capital Budget and the Operating Budget. 9:26:32 AM Commissioner Masters discussed slide 7, "New APSIN Transitional Contract Support." -$975,000 GF one time request -Alaska Public Safety Information Network (APSIN) is critical law enforcement information database -July 2013 production of server based system to replace mainframe based system -Transitional year from contractor to department staff Commissioner Masters looked at slide 8, "Bethel Public Safety Hangar Repair and Renovation." -Phased request of $300,000 GF -30 year old hangar with 10,000 square feet -Storage of 4 DPS aircraft and 2 Civil Air Patrol aircraft -Electrical, mechanical, heating and energy repairs based on 2011 engineers report Commissioner Masters displayed slide 9, "Marine Fisheries Patrol Improvements." -Annual request of $1,200,000 federal authorization from NOAA -Joint Enforcement Agreement (JEA) with National Marine Fisheries Service -Equipment and support of Alaska Wildlife Troopers in coastal communities Commissioner Masters discussed slide 10, "Alaska Wildlife Troopers Enforcement Activities." -One-time request of $200,000 of criminal fines from the Fish and Game fund -Support marine enforcement program with surveillance platforms and equipment -Criminal restitution funds from P/V Pavloff case -Supported by Fish and Game Commissioner Masters looked at slide 11, "Deferred Maintenance, Renewal, Repair and Equipment." -Annual request of $1,307,000 GF -Over 160 facilities in 66 locations -Over $6 million backlog in deferred maintenance projects -Electrical, mechanical, energy and security projects -Four allocations listed on next page Commissioner Masters displayed slide 12, "Deferred Maintenance, Renewal, Repair and Equipment - Allocations." -Fairbanks detachment repair and maintenance $225,000 - security improvements and public restrooms -Sitka training academy energy upgrades $225,000 - energy and lighting improvements -Rural trooper housing repair and improvements 225,000 - siding/window replacement and security improvements -Statewide facilities deferred maintenance $632,000 - emergency generators, security and electrical/mechanical repairs 9:31:54 AM Co-Chair Meyer stated that that he was the chairman of the Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development (DCCED) subcommittee. He stated that there was an increment of the transfer of the Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) Board from DPS to DCCED, so there should be a corresponding savings in DPS. He understood that it was an Operating Budget item, so he would save that issue until that discussion. Vice-Chair Fairclough referred to slide 7, and commented that the federal government collected statistical information from states when they issue murder and other crime statistics. She queried the name of that system. Commissioner Masters responded that it was the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) system, which was an index of selected major crimes that allowed for states to access crime rate statistics in specific areas. Vice-Chair Fairclough wondered if the $975,000 was affecting the system in how Alaska reports to the UCR. Commissioner Masters replied that it would not affect UCR reporting, but it would affect Alaska's ability to interface with the new records manage system to automatically report. Vice-Chair Fairclough wondered if DPS was hand reporting or digitally transmitting information for the UCR codes. Commissioner Masters replied that DPS was hand verifying the reported information delivered to DPS by the various police agencies across the state. Vice-Chair Fairclough remarked that she worked at Standing Together Against Rape (STAR), and had consistently asked why the State of Alaska did not digitize and standardize the way that data and information was collected. She felt that Alaska needed its own way of digitizing reporting, because the UCR only used the most extreme crime; other associated crimes would not be a part of the UCR. Commissioner Masters 9:36:28 AM Vice-Chair Fairclough wondered if and when the system could be more comprehensive and cost effective. She stressed that she had been working on the issue for more than a decade. She stressed the importance of local law enforcement agencies partnering with the State system, in order to electronically transmit the information to the national system. Commissioner Masters responded DPS could and will adapt to a system that was more cost effective that may provide services to the local law enforcement agencies at low or no cost. He furthered that there could also be imputative measures of withholding state grants from those agencies that do not participate in a data collection system. Co-Chair Meyer agreed with Vice-Chair Fairclough's concerns, specifically related to procurement. He stressed the importance of being electronically compatible. He felt that a universal electronic system should be a goal for DPS and all law enforcement agencies across the state. Commissioner Masters shared that DPS was re-constituting the Criminal Justice Information Advisory Board, in order to discuss information sharing data systems and uniform platforms to share data. Vice-Chair Fairclough expressed appreciation for Commissioner Masters's leadership. Co-Chair Meyer would like to see a centralized effort to streamline data sharing, while also understanding the cost of such upgrades. ^DEPARTMENT OVERVIEW: DEPARTMENT OF LAW 9:40:33 AM RICHARD SVOBODNY, DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL, CRIMINAL DIVISION, DEPARTMENT OF LAW, (DOL) explained that he did not provide a PowerPoint presentation because DOL only had two items in the capital budget that were related to technology. RN 56509 Electronic Data Sharing $400,000 Mr. Svobodny explained that this project will implement an electronic data sharing system to interface with other criminal justice entities within the State of Alaska. This system will allow for the efficient transfer of criminal justice data between multiple agencies, including the Department of Law, the Alaska Court System, the Department of Public Safety, the Department of Revenue, the Department of Health & Social Services and the Department of Administration. This supports the Governor's priorities by facilitating Law's mission of public protection and successfully prosecuting both civil and criminal matters via the efficient sharing of data between multiple criminal justice minded entities. RN 56972 New Case Management System $1,800,000 Mr. Svobodny stated that this project will allow the Department of Law to acquire and implement a new criminal case management system. This is a full system replacement to be provided by a third party vendor. The current system needs to be replaced because vendors no longer support the underlying infrastructure. Should the current case management system fail, it would significantly impact the department's ability to efficiently prosecute cases. This project supports the Governor's priorities by facilitating the department's mission of public protection and successfully prosecuting criminal matters, e.g., sexual assault and family violence cases. ^DEPARTMENT OVERVIEW: DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS 9:49:15 AM LESLIE HOUSTON, DEPUTY COMMISSIONER, DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, (DOC) highlighted the capital requests for DOC. RN 50675 Regional and Community Jails Repairs, Renovations and Equipment $225,000 Ms. Houston explained that this project provides essential safety and security repairs, renovation, and equipment for 15 local government jails under contract with the State of Alaska, Department of Corrections. These jails require repairs and modifications to continue operations in support of the Department of Correction's mission to provide secure offender confinement, thus enhancing community safety. RN 45637 Annual Facilities Maintenance and Repairs $1,000,000 Ms. Houston stated that this project provides renewal, replacement, renovation, remodeling, and repair of essential electrical, mechanical, roofing, walls, fire and life safety, security, structural, food service, pavement and site drainage systems at all correctional facilities. This work is required to enable continued secure and efficient operation of the 24-hour incarceration facilities in order to keep the community safe from offenders placed in the department's custody. 9:49:40 AM RN 49376 Deferred Maintenance, Renewal, Repair and Equipment $4,840,000 Ms. Houston explained that this project provides critical maintenance for 117 state-owned buildings. It will address deferred maintenance requirements for electrical, mechanical, roofing, walls, safety, security, structural, pavement and site drainage systems. This work is required to enable continued secure and efficient operation of the 24-hour incarceration facilities in order to keep the communities safe from offenders placed in the department's custody. Co-Chair Meyer wondered if there were any current budget items related to the Goose Creek Prison. Ms. Houston responded that there were no current budget requests for Goose Creek. Vice-Chair Fairclough wondered if the transaction was complete to increase the perimeter of the land by Highland Correctional Center. Ms. Houston replied that the project was almost complete. She furthered that January, 29, 2013; the Anchorage Assembly had a unanimous vote that approved the transaction. She stated that DOC was currently waiting for snow and ice to melt in order to locate the survey markers to conduct the appraisal. Senator Olson queried the status of the holding facility or jail in Kotzebue. Ms. Houston responded that Kotzebue had maintained their contract through the fiscal year. She furthered that there was an item in the Operating Budget, which was phase two to complete the project. She stated that DOC had allocated money to make all the community jails whole in their requests and expenditures. She explained that DOC wanted to enter a five year contract with the jails with one year option to renew, with a consumer price index for the areas to keep up with the cost of living increases. ^DEPARTMENT OVERVIEW: UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA 9:53:21 AM PATRICK GAMBLE, PRESIDENT, UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA, (UA) discussed University of Alaska FY 14 Capital Budget Request Summary, UA Board of Regents' compared to Governor's Proposed" (copy on file). He stated that there were only two capital requests in UA's budget. MICHELLE RIZK, ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT, STATEWIDE PLANNING AND BUDGET, UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA, thanked the committee for allowing UA to present their budget requests. RN 45326 Deferred Maintenance, Renewal, Repair and Equipment $37,500,000 Ms. Rizk explained that this is the fourth year of the Governor's five-year plan to reduce the State's deferred maintenance backlog, and this project will allow the University of Alaska to continue addressing their system wide maintenance backlog. The highest priority DM and Restore and Renewal projects at the main campuses are the UAA Beatrice McDonald Building in Anchorage, UAF Cogen Heating Plant Required Upgrades to Maintain Service in Fairbanks, and UAS Auke Lake Way Campus Entry Improvements and Road Realignment in Juneau. The UA owns and maintains over 400 buildings, totaling 6.7 million gross square feet, with an adjusted value that currently exceeds $2.5 billion. RN 57085 UAF Cold Climate Housing Research Center Sustainable Village Phase 2-4 $1,300,000 Ms. Rizk stated that in 2008, the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) identified the need to create a more sustainable campus. Since then, the Office of Sustainability was created as a partnership between the Chancellor's Office and the UAF student body with the shared goal of creating a sustainable housing village to accommodate students. This village's sustainability at UAF will be furthered through a partnership with the Cold Climate Housing Research Center's (CCHRC) Sustainable Northern Communities program. In each phase, four houses will be construct to accommodate 16 students. The houses are designed to test sustainable, durable, healthy, and cost effective building technologies for people living in the Circumpolar North. President Gamble explained that the deferred maintenance requests were divided throughout the entire system. He stated that they were prioritized based on age of the buildings, a digitized formula, and actual "eye-ball" method to determine the real problems. The determination was based on a subjective value assessment to divide up the money throughout the entire system to include the community campuses. Co-Chair Meyer requested more information about some items that were not contained in the governor's proposal. 9:55:51 AM President Gamble explained that UA was approaching an overlap of several high priority needs. He explained that the deferred maintenance need required a very high budget request. He stressed that the deferred maintenance need was more than $750 million for over 400 buildings. He shared that UA was reviewing those buildings with an objective assessment method, because the buildings had a value to the mission of the university. While the buildings held value, they also were very old; therefore UA had to determine whether or not the building should be rebuilt. He explained that UA was developing a system to determine how to decide if buildings should be destroyed across the system. The determination was based on a balance of value versus age. He furthered that the deferred maintenance cost could be eliminated, if the building was demolished. President Gamble stated that there were also extremely high costs related to the age of the power plant, and the risk assessment with regard to that power plant at the University UAF. He stressed that the power plant was coal fired and passed its service life. He explained that the there was discussion related to the access to a supply of natural gas to fill the gap of time between a clean energy plant and the coal fired plant. 10:00:11 AM Co-Chair Meyer wondered if there was a need for one college's engineering building request to be completed before another. President Gamble replied that the need was based on the fact that neither college could accommodate the total number of engineers that were needed for Alaska. He stressed that the demand for engineers was high enough, so both colleges needed to graduate the engineers to be put in the work force. Co-Chair Meyer surmised that the Fairbanks campus focused on petroleum engineering and the Anchorage campus focused more on civil and mechanical engineering. President Gamble responded that the Anchorage campus also focused on electrical engineering. Vice-Chair Fairclough queried the number of students enrolled in each of the UA campuses: Anchorage and Fairbanks. President Gamble agreed to provide that information. 10:03:38 AM Vice-Chair Fairclough felt that there may be an issue of choosing which facility took greater precedence based on cost and need. President Gamble shared that UA may propose that the option should be about moving both projects forward, at a reduced cost for each project. Vice-Chair Fairclough noted that there was a tuition cap for the upcoming school year, and wondered if there was operating budget money to support the two proposed buildings. President Gamble replied that UA would need new operating budget money. He furthered that there was not a system set up for operating dollars for new construction. He shared that there was a proposal for a university building fund that would provide the money before the building was open. Vice-Chair Fairclough supported the concept, but felt that there may not be money available, because the revenue projections did not reflect a growing general fund. Senator Dunleavy felt a compromise would be to place one of the buildings at the Mat-Su campus. He wondered if the request that related to Chinook Salmon Production Decline Research was in conjunction with the $10 million request from Department of Fish and Game (DFG) for King Salmon studies. President Gamble responded that the request was separate. He furthered that the intent of DFG was to engage UA with their program. Senator Dunleavy surmised that the UA request was developed separately from DFG. President Gamble agreed. Ms. Rizk furthered that the two requests were complementary. She stated that UA was working with DFG, and understood that approximately $700,000 of DFG's request may go to UA for process studies. 10:08:27 AM President Gamble stated that there was also funding that was not included in the governor's request related to Alaska-focused research. He remarked that buildings required repurposing approximately 20 to 30 years after construction. He explained that it was common to accumulate an account in a privatized housing project that would be available at the 25-year point to repurpose that entire housing unit. He explained that UA did not have that kind of account. He stressed that the amount for the size of the UA real estate and age of the square footage was approximately $50 million per year. He furthered that if a contribution were made to an account each year, it would prevent projects from accumulating on the deferred maintenance list. Co-Chair Meyer noted that there was a project for UAF Arctic Oil Spill prevention partnership. President Gamble replied that those were line item research items. He stressed that those issues were in place, because that item was specifically directed toward Alaskan issues and problems. He pointed out that the item was offered in order to encourage companies to hire consultants that were specifically trained in Alaska for Alaskan issues. Co-Chair Meyer stressed that the research on Arctic oil spills was a very relevant issue. President Gamble responded that UA would like to be the prominent university for oil and gas research. 10:13:09 AM Co-Chair Meyer wondered if UA had benefited from the tax credit that was enacted in the year prior. President Gamble responded that UA had benefited from that tax credit, but furthered that it was not of potential interest to those that UA assumed would be interested in that money. Ms. Rizk agreed to provide more information regarding the specifics of the tax credit benefit. President Gamble furthered that there was no question that people had benefited from the credit, but there was no overwhelming interest. Co-Chair Meyer remarked that Shell may help in the Arctic oil spill research, if they had seen a better year financially. He added that there were some mining companies that had taken advantage of the tax credit. He understood that the power plant was a concern at UAF, but was not comfortable with the rest of Fairbanks lacking heat, while UAF was heated efficiently. He also felt that it was odd that UAF had its own power plant, because UAA used private power companies. He understood that the infrastructure was not in place at UAF. President Gamble shared that the power plant was built in the 1970s. At that time, separate power plants were built across the town. He stressed that the cost of an environmentally sound power plant, as it approached billions of dollars, needed to be deemed a State or UA issue. Co-Chair Meyer agreed, and stated no objection to using coal to power. President Gamble stressed that the decision about how to adjust the power plant was on the horizon. He pointed out that the current day's meeting was a presentation of UA's relevant issues. SB 18 was HEARD and HELD in committee for further consideration.