ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE SENATE RULES COMMITTEE  May 5, 2001 2:45 p.m. DRAFT MEMBERS PRESENT  Senator Drue Pearce, Chair Senator John Cowdery, Vice Chair Senator Randy Phillips Senator Johnny Ellis Senator Gene Therriault MEMBERS ABSENT  All members present   COMMITTEE CALENDAR  CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 65(HES) "An Act relating to a new optional group of persons eligible for medical assistance who require treatment for breast or cervical cancer; and providing for an effective date." APPROVED FOR CALENDARING CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 101(FIN) "An Act relating to charter schools; and providing for an effective date." APPROVED FOR CALENDARING CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 142(HES) "An Act relating to the Alaska temporary assistance program; and providing for an effective date." APPROVED FOR CALENDARING CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 193(FIN) "An Act relating to the primary election and to the nomination of candidates for the general election; and providing for an effective date." APPROVED FOR CALENDARING CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 242(FIN) "An Act relating to reemployment of and medical benefits for retired members of the teachers' retirement system and public employees' retirement system; relating to the inclusion of cost-of- living differentials on compensation and benefits under the public employees' retirement system; and providing for an effective date." APPROVED FOR CALENDARING CS FOR HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 23(STA) Advocating the retention of the electoral college system in its present form. APPROVED FOR CALENDARING PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION  HB 65 - See HESS minutes dated 4/30/01 and Finance Report dated 5/5/01. HB 101 - See HESS minutes dated 4/28/01 and Finance Report dated 5/4/01. HB 142 - See HESS minutes dated 4/30/01 and Finance Report dated 5/4/01. HB 193 - See Judiciary minutes dated 4/27/01 and 4/30/01 and Finance Report dated 5/5/01. HB 242 - See Finance Report dated 5/5/01. HJR 23 - No previous Senate committee action. WITNESS REGISTER  Mr. Elmer Lindstrom Department of Health & Social Services PO Box 110601 Juneau, AK 99801-0601 POSITION STATEMENT: Explained proposed Amendment 2 to SCS CSHB 65(HES). ACTION NARRATIVE TAPE 01-10, SIDE A  Number 001 CHAIRWOMAN DRUE PEARCE called the Senate Rules Committee meeting to order at 2:45 p.m. Members present were Senators Cowdery, Phillips, Ellis and Pearce. CHAIRWOMAN PEARCE announced the first order of business to be HB  65-MEDICAL ASSISTANCE:BREAST/CERVICAL CANCER. SENATOR ELLIS stated he has three proposed amendments to HB 65. He will not offer one of them because he understands that Senator Leman plans to offer an amendment on the Senate floor that addresses the same concerns about the report to the legislature. SENATOR ELLIS moved to adopt Amendment 1, which repeals Section 3 of SCS CSHB 65(HES). Amendment 1 would remove the two-year limitation on the state's participation in the program and renumber the remaining sections accordingly. SENATOR PHILLIPS objected. The motion to adopt Amendment 1 failed with Senators Ellis and Pearce voting "yea," and Senators Cowdery, Phillips and Therriault voting "nay." SENATOR ELLIS clarified that he would propose an amendment on the Senate floor to make the reporting requirements in the bill more acceptable. His third concern is the tight control on the amount of money that can be expended per individual in SCS CSHB 65(HES). He proposed (Amendment 2) using the language from HB 65 on the subject of cost-per-patient coverage. He asked Mr. Elmer Lindstrom to address that issue. MR. ELMER LINDSTROM, Special Assistant to Commissioner Perdue in the Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS), said he believes Senator Ellis is speaking to the intent relative to the funding of the program. Amendment 2 would delete lines 11-14 on page 1. SENATOR ELLIS asked Mr. Lindstrom to speak to the merits of Amendment 2. MR. LINDSTROM explained the amounts shown in SCS CSHB 65(HES) are consistent with the DHSS fiscal note, but those amounts are estimates. If this bill becomes law, DHSS will pay the bills as they are submitted, as this is an entitlement for those clients. SENATOR ELLIS moved to adopt Amendment 2. SENATOR COWDERY objected. The motion to adopt Amendment 2 failed with Senators Ellis and Pearce voting "yea," and Senators Phillips, Therriault and Cowdery voting "nay." SENATOR COWDERY moved to calendar SCS CSHB 65(HES). There being no objection, the motion carried. SENATOR PHILLIPS moved to calendar all Senate versions of HB 101- CHARTER SCHOOLS. There being no objection, the motion carried. SENATOR PHILLIPS moved to calendar all Senate versions of HB 142-AK  TEMP. ASSISTANCE PROGRAM AMENDMENTS. There being no objection, the motion carried. CHAIRWOMAN PEARCE informed committee members that it is her understanding that the Senate Finance Committee adopted the contents of the Senate State Affairs version of the bill, rather than the Senate Judiciary version. SENATOR COWDERY moved to calendar all Senate versions of HB 193- MODIFIED BLANKET PRIMARY ELECTION. SENATOR ELLIS objected. The motion to calendar all Senate versions of HB 193 carried with Senators Phillips, Cowdery and Pearce voting "yea," and Senator Ellis voting "nay." SENATOR COWDERY moved to calendar all Senate versions of HB 242-TRS  & PERS REEMPLOY & MED BENEFITS; COLA. There being no objection, the motion carried. SENATOR PHILLIPS moved to calendar HJR 23. There being no objection, the motion carried. There being no further business to come before the committee, CHAIRWOMAN PEARCE recessed the meeting to a call of the Chair.