ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE  HOUSE COMMUNITY AND REGIONAL AFFAIRS STANDING COMMITTEE  March 24, 2022 8:02 a.m. MEMBERS PRESENT Representative Sara Hannan, Co-Chair Representative Calvin Schrage, Co-Chair Representative Josiah Patkotak, Vice Chair Representative Harriet Drummond Representative Mike Prax Representative Ken McCarty Representative Kevin McCabe MEMBERS ABSENT  All members present COMMITTEE CALENDAR  HOUSE BILL NO. 298 "An Act establishing the Alaska Food Strategy Task Force; and providing for an effective date." - MOVED CSHB 298(CRA) OUT OF COMMITTEE PRESENTATION: DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS - HEARD PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION  BILL: HB 298 SHORT TITLE: ALASKA FOOD STRATEGY TASK FORCE SPONSOR(s): REPRESENTATIVE(s) SNYDER 02/04/22 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS 02/04/22 (H) CRA 03/15/22 (H) CRA AT 8:00 AM BARNES 124 03/15/22 (H) Heard & Held 03/15/22 (H) MINUTE(CRA) 03/17/22 (H) CRA AT 8:00 AM BARNES 124 03/17/22 (H) Heard & Held 03/17/22 (H) MINUTE(CRA) 03/24/22 (H) CRA AT 8:00 AM BARNES 124 WITNESS REGISTER REPRESENTATIVE LIZ SNYDER Alaska State Legislature Juneau, Alaska POSITION STATEMENT: As prime sponsor, responded to questions during the hearing on HB 298. ARIELLE WIGGIN, Staff Representative Liz Snyder Alaska State Legislature Juneau, Alaska POSITION STATEMENT: Confirmed a point made by the bill sponsor during the hearing on HB 298. LAURA BROOKS, Director Division of Health and Rehab Services Department of Corrections Anchorage, Alaska POSITION STATEMENT: Provided information during the presentation on the Department of Corrections. KELLY GOODE, Deputy Commissioner Department of Corrections Anchorage, Alaska POSITION STATEMENT: Provided information during the presentation on the Department of Corrections. MIKE MATTHEWS, Research Analyst Division of Administrative Services Department of Corrections Juneau, Alaska POSITION STATEMENT: Offered information during the presentation on the Department of Corrections. BRANN WADE, Chief Classification Officer Division of Institutions Department of Corrections Anchorage, Alaska POSITION STATEMENT: Offered information during the presentation on the Department of Corrections. SIDNEY WOOD, Acting Deputy Director Division of Institutions Department of Corrections Anchorage, Alaska POSITION STATEMENT: Provided information during the presentation on the Department of Corrections. ACTION NARRATIVE 8:02:10 AM CO-CHAIR CALVIN SCHRAGE called the House Community and Regional Affairs Standing Committee meeting to order at 8:02 a.m. Representatives Drummond, Prax, Hannan, and Schrage were present at the call to order. Representatives McCabe, McCarty, and Patkotak arrived as the meeting was in progress. HB 298-ALASKA FOOD STRATEGY TASK FORCE  8:02:48 AM CO-CHAIR SCHRAGE announced that the first order of business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 298, "An Act establishing the Alaska Food Strategy Task Force; and providing for an effective date." 8:03:07 AM REPRESENTATIVE DRUMMOND moved to adopt Amendment 1 to HB 298, labeled 32-LS1398\A.4, Ambrose, 3/23/22, which read as follows: Page 2, line 6: Delete "two members from the senate" Insert "one member from the minority caucus of the senate and one member from the majority caucus of the senate" Page 2, line 8: Delete "two members from the house of representatives" Insert "one member from the minority caucus of the house of representatives and one member from the majority caucus of the house of representatives" Page 2, lines 9 - 11: Delete "; (C) at least one member from the minority caucus of the senate or house of representatives" 8:03:13 AM REPRESENTATIVE PRAX objected for the purpose of discussion. REPRESENTATIVE DRUMMOND spoke to Amendment 1, explaining that it would ensure one member each from the minority and majority caucus of both the House and Senate. She said there would be no minimum or maximum of people. She opined that this equal representation was rational. 8:04:51 AM REPRESENTATIVE PRAX [withdrew] his objection to Amendment 1. 8:05:11 AM The committee took an at-ease from 8:05 a.m. to 8:06 a.m. 8:06:30 AM CO-CHAIR SCHRAGE announced that there being no further objection, Amendment 1 was adopted. 8:06:50 AM REPRESENTATIVE MCCABE moved to adopt Amendment 2 to HB 298, labeled 32-LS1398\A.2, Foote, 3/21/22, which read as follows: Page 2, line 18: Delete "and" Page 2, line 19, following "development": Insert "; and (6) the commissioner of transportation and public facilities" Page 4, line 2: Delete "six" Insert "seven" Page 4, line 9: Delete the second occurrence of "and" Page 4, line 10, following "communities": Insert "; and (7) improving transportation and infrastructure to transfer and deliver food in the state" Page 4, line 11: Delete "six" Insert "seven" Page 4, line 18, following "needs": Insert "and storage" Page 4, line 21, following "system": Insert "and storage" Page 4, lines 25 - 26: Delete "and food sovereignty" Insert ", food sovereignty, and local storage methods" 8:06:58 AM REPRESENTATIVE DRUMMOND objected for the purpose of discussion. REPRESENTATIVE MCCABE spoke to Amendment 2. He said it would address the transportation aspect of food security, which people often forget about. It would add the commissioner of the Department of Transportation & Public Facilities (DOT&PF) "to the mix." The increase in focus areas from six to seven would serve the same purpose of adding the focus on transportation and infrastructure, he explained. Further, he highlighted the focus on storage, which he emphasized is important. 8:09:16 AM REPRESENTATIVE MCCARTY stated support of Amendment 2. He noted that DOT&PF is in charge of some storage facilities throughout the state, and he suggested some of those buildings could be used for [food] storage. 8:09:43 AM REPRESENTATIVE DRUMMOND withdrew her objection to Amendment 2. There being no further objection, Amendment 2 was adopted. 8:09:54 AM REPRESENTATIVE MCCARTY moved to adopt Amendment 3 to HB 298, labeled 32-LS1398\A.5, Ambrose, 3/23/22, which read as follows: Page 2, line 21, following "board,": Insert "with due regard for broad geographic representation of the state," 8:09:58 AM CO-CHAIR HANNAN objected for the purpose of discussion. REPRESENTATIVE MCCARTY spoke to Amendment 3. He said it is a reminder that the members of the task force are to be from all around the state. CO-CHAIR HANNAN said she had no objection to the intent but questioned whether the use of the words "due regard" was a recommendation from Legislative Legal and Research Services. REPRESENTATIVE MCCARTY confirmed it came from Legislative Legal and Research Services. 8:11:55 AM CO-CHAIR HANNAN [withdrew her objection.] There being no further objection, Amendment 3 was adopted. 8:12:14 AM REPRESENTATIVE DRUMMOND moved to adopt Amendment 4 to HB 298, labeled 32-LS1398\A.1, Foote, 2/13/22, which read as follows: Page 3, line 16, following "includes": Insert "growing and harvesting," 8:12:21 AM REPRESENTATIVE MCCARTY objected for the purpose of discussion. REPRESENTATIVE DRUMMOND spoke to Amendment 4. She indicated that [the purpose for adding "growing and harvesting"] was that that is a necessary step before harvesting and processing. 8:12:48 AM REPRESENTATIVE MCCARTY withdrew his objection. 8:12:56 AM CO-CHAIR HANNAN questioned whether it should read "growing, harvesting" and continue with the list already in the language. REPRESENTATIVE DRUMMOND suggested commas instead of "and" later in the sentence, but then said she did not have a problem with the way it was. 8:13:54 AM CO-CHAIR SCHRAGE suggested leaving the punctuation up to Legislative Legal and Research Services. REPRESENTATIVE DRUMMOND said, "Let's do that." CO-CHAIR SCHRAGE announced there being no further objection, Amendment 4 was adopted. 8:14:17 AM REPRESENTATIVE DRUMMOND moved to adopt Amendment 5 to HB 298, labeled 32-LS1398\A.6, Ambrose, 3/23/22, which read as follows: Page 5, following line 13: Insert a new bill section to read: "* Sec. 3. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska enacted in sec. 2(c) of this Act is amended to read: (c) The following commissioners, or their designees, serve as members of the task force: (1) the commissioner of natural resources; (2) the commissioner of fish and game; (3) the commissioner of health [AND SOCIAL SERVICES]; (4) the commissioner of commerce, community, and economic development; and (5) the commissioner of education and early development." Renumber the following bill sections accordingly. Page 5, line 18: Delete "Sections 1 and 2" Insert "Sections 1 - 3" Page 5, following line 18: Insert a new bill section to read: "* Sec. 6. Section 3 of this Act takes effect July 1, 2022." Renumber the following bill section accordingly. Page 5, line 19: Delete "This" Insert "Except as provided in sec. 6 of this Act, this" 8:14:21 AM CO-CHAIR SCHRAGE objected for the purpose of discussion. REPRESENTATIVE DRUMMOND spoke to Amendment 5. She noted that the current Department of Health and Social Services was being split into the Department of Health and the Department of Social Services, and Amendment 5 would ensure the commissioner from the Department of Health would be on the taskforce. 8:15:51 AM REPRESENTATIVE LIZ SNYDER, Alaska State Legislature, as prime sponsor of HB 298, confirmed that Amendment 5 was following the advice of Legislative Legal Services. 8:16:26 AM REPRESENTATIVE PRAX assumed that it could be anyone from the department, not specifically the commissioner. REPRESENTATIVE SNYDER confirmed it could be the commissioner or the commissioner's designee. 8:17:00 AM CO-CHAIR HANNAN noted that there was reference made to the commissioner on page 2, line 16, and she queried whether "and Social Services" should be deleted from there, as well. 8:17:59 AM REPRESENTATIVE MCCARTY asked about the timing of the bill's effective date along with the timing of the split of the departments. 8:19:02 AM REPRESENTATIVE SNYDER noted the bill had been written as advised by Legislative Legal Services in light of the executive order (EO) that split the department into two departments. 8:19:19 AM ARIELLE WIGGIN, Staff, Representative Liz Snyder, Alaska State Legislature, on behalf of Representative Snyder, prime sponsor, confirmed that the language was recommended by Legislative Legal Services to ensure the commissioner of the new Department of Health would be specified in the bill. 8:19:52 AM REPRESENTATIVE MCCARTY suggested that in addition to the change suggested by Representative Hannan on page 2, line 16, the committee could set an effective date of July 1, 2022. 8:20:35 AM CO-CHAIR SCHRAGE observed that the topic on page 2, line 16, is not actually an issue, because "that will essentially be replaced by this new Section 3, which becomes effective July 1, 2022." He asked, "Is it ... a delayed effective date of this new Section 3, which would override the original section, and that's why we're not deleting it from the bill?" 8:21:06 AM REPRESENTATIVE SNYDER responded yes, and she explained the idea is to allow for a transition period. 8:21:47 AM REPRESENTATIVE MCCARTY questioned the need for expediency when there is "this council and the EO that is looking at the food." He suggested making the legislation correspond with the new Department of Health by making the effective date July 1, 2022. 8:23:28 AM REPRESENTATIVE SNYDER explained the idea is for the new task force to pick up where the governor's task force leaves off in the fall. Notwithstanding that, she said the formation of a task force takes time, and "time is of the essence." 8:24:19 AM REPRESENTATIVE MCCABE concurred with the idea of getting a start now to get a task force in place when needed. 8:24:47 AM REPRESENTATIVE MCCARTY agreed that the government process is slow but reiterated his thoughts about the effective date and how it could "eliminate that confusion." He concluded, "But, if there's other ways to solve this, great." 8:26:00 AM CO-CHAIR SCHRAGE withdrew his objection to the motion to adopt Amendment 5. There being no further objection, Amendment 5 was adopted. 8:27:55 AM The committee took an at-ease from 8:27 a.m. to 8:28 a.m. 8:28:36 AM CO-CHAIR HANNAN moved to report HB 298, as amended, out of committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal notes. There being no objection, CSHB 298(CRA) was reported out of the House Community and Regional Affairs Standing Committee. 8:29:02 AM The committee took an at-ease from 8:29 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. ^PRESENTATION: Department of Corrections PRESENTATION: Department of Corrections    8:30:53 AM CO-CHAIR SCHRAGE announced that the final order of business would be a presentation on the Department of Corrections. [This is the conclusion of the presentation begun on 3/22/22.] PRESENTER(S):  LAURA BROOKS KELLY GOODE MIKE MATTHEWS BRANN WADE SIDNEY WOOD NOTE: The presentation was recorded and log notes were taken. The recording is available at the legislature's web site akleg.gov or by contacting the House Records Office at State Capitol, Room 3, Juneau, Alaska 99801 (mailing address), (907)465-2214, and after adjournment of the second session of the Thirty-Second Alaska State Legislature this information may be obtained by contacting the Legislative Reference Library at (907) 465-3808. 10:02:37 AM ADJOURNMENT  There being no further business before the committee, the House Community and Regional Affairs Standing Committee meeting was adjourned at 10:02 a.m.