HOUSE FINANCE COMMITTEE April 9, 2010 9:13 a.m. 9:13:57 AM CALL TO ORDER Co-Chair Stoltze called the House Finance Committee meeting to order at 9:13 a.m. MEMBERS PRESENT Representative Mike Hawker, Co-Chair Representative Bill Stoltze, Co-Chair Representative Bill Thomas Jr., Vice-Chair Representative Allan Austerman Representative Mike Doogan Representative Neal Foster Representative Les Gara Representative Reggie Joule Representative Mike Kelly Representative Woodie Salmon MEMBERS ABSENT Representative Anna Fairclough ALSO PRESENT Elizabeth Hensley, Staff, Representative Reggie Joule, Sponsor. SUMMARY HCR 22 ALASKA NORTHERN WATERS TASK FORCE CSHCR22 (FIN) was REPORTED out of Committee with a "do pass" recommendation and with attached new fiscal note by the Legislative Affairs Agency. HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 22 Establishing and relating to the Alaska Northern Waters Task Force. 9:14:20 AM REPRESENTATIVE REGGIE JOULE, SPONSOR, noted that comments from a previous hearing had been considered carefully and incorporated into the proposed CS (Version T). ELIZABETH HENSLEY, STAFF, REPRESENTATIVE REGGIE JOULE, SPONSOR, described the changes in the work draft outlined on the handout "Changes Between 26-LS1622\E and T" (copy on file): Composition of the Task Force: · Pg. 2 line 21 - 11 members rather than 9 o 2 senators (not 1) o 2 reps (same) o 7 members appointed jointly (not 6) ƒ5 public, 3 of whom reside in coastal areas (i.e. 2 at-large)(not the 4 mayors) ƒ1 executive branch (same) ƒ1 federal (not 2) · Pg. 3 line 1 - vacancy shall be filled in the manner of the original document Ms. Hensley detailed that the seven non-legislative members are appointed jointly by the Senate President and Speaker of the House. She explained that issues addressed by the task force impact the entire state so the public members would be from all over. Co-Chair Stoltze clarified that "at large" is not geographically defined and could be Northern or Southeast. Ms. Hensley agreed. Representative Foster asked whether there had been feedback related to replacing the four mayors with the five public members. Ms. Hensley responded that there was not a lot of feedback about the change. 9:18:19 AM Representative Joule explained the process of changing the makeup of the membership. He pointed out that borough mayors may have an interest in the task force and that Native corporations and other groups might also want to be part of the group; the new CS provides the option to select a more diverse group. Representative Kelly appreciated the process that resulted in the changes. Ms. Hensley continued that the proposed CS addressed previous concerns about how a vacancy would be filled. Vice-Chair Thomas MOVED to ADOPT Work Draft for HB 22, 26- LS1622\T, Cook, 4/8/2010 (copy on file), as a working document before the committee. There being NO OBJECTION, it was so ordered. Co-Chair Stoltze asked about an amendment. Representative Joule responded that the CS covered the issue. Representative Kelly pointed to page 3 line 19 and asked whether the group would be prevented from meeting in a location other than the Northern region. Ms. Hensley replied that there was nothing to preclude the group meeting elsewhere; she noted that there were already three meetings scheduled to take place in Anchorage. 9:22:05 AM Co-Chair Stoltze liked not limiting the task force positions to politicians. Representative Austerman referred to fiscal note backup addressing the issue of meeting places. Representative Joule noted that while the number of task force members increased by two, the fiscal note did not increase because he assumed the at-large appointments would come from well-populated Southcentral or Interior regions and might not impact the fiscal note totals. Representative Foster commended the work on the legislation. Vice-Chair Thomas MOVED to report CSHCS 22(FIN) out of Committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal note. There being NO OBJECTION, it was so ordered. CSHCR22 (FIN) was REPORTED out of Committee with a "do pass" recommendation and with attached new fiscal note by the Legislative Affairs Agency. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 9:26 AM.