HOUSE HEALTH, EDUCATION AND SOCIAL SERVICES STANDING COMMITTEE May 11, 1999 3:43 p.m. MEMBERS PRESENT Representative Fred Dyson, Co-Chair Representative John Coghill, Co-Chair Representative Jim Whitaker Representative Joe Green Representative Carl Morgan Representative Tom Brice Representative Allen Kemplen MEMBERS ABSENT All members present COMMITTEE CALENDAR * HOUSE BILL NO. 226 "An Act relating to credited service under the teachers' retirement system for education employees on leave without pay or receiving workers' compensation benefits because of certain on-the-job injuries." - MOVED CSHB 226(HES) OUT OF COMMITTEE HOUSE BILL NO. 16 "An Act transferring to the Department of Health and Social Services the authority to license all assisted living facilities; eliminating the authority of the Department of Administration to license assisted living facilities; and providing for an effective date." - HEARD AND HELD SENATE BILL NO. 71 "An Act relating to licensure by the State Medical Board." - BILL HEARING POSTPONED HOUSE BILL NO. 175 "An Act requiring the Department of Health and Social Services to provide notice to a community council on receipt of an application for a license to operate a certain kind of foster group home." -BILL HEARING CANCELED (* First public hearing) PREVIOUS ACTION BILL: HB 226 SHORT TITLE: CREDITED SERVICE FOR ON-THE-JOB INJURIES SPONSOR(S): REPRESENTATIVES(S) COGHILL, Dyson, Whitaker, Morgan, Green Jrn-Date Jrn-Page Action 5/06/99 1201 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRAL(S) 5/06/99 1201 (H) HES, L&C, FIN 5/11/99 (H) HES AT 3:00 PM CAPITOL 106 BILL: HB 16 SHORT TITLE: LICENSURE OF ASSISTED LIVING FACILITIES SPONSOR(S): REPRESENTATIVES(S) CROFT, Dyson Jrn-Date Jrn-Page Action 1/19/99 22 (H) PREFILE RELEASED 1/8/99 1/19/99 22 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRAL(S) 1/19/99 22 (H) STATE AFFAIRS, HES 2/24/99 307 (H) COSPONSOR(S): DYSON 4/13/99 (H) STA AT 8:00 AM CAPITOL 102 4/13/99 (H) HEARD AND HELD 4/13/99 (H) MINUTE(STA) 4/15/99 (H) STA AT 8:00 AM CAPITOL 102 4/15/99 (H) SCHEDULED BUT NOT HEARD 4/20/99 (H) STA AT 8:00 AM CAPITOL 102 4/20/99 (H) SCHEDULED BUT NOT HEARD 4/22/99 (H) STA AT 8:00 AM CAPITOL 102 4/22/99 (H) SCHEDULED BUT NOT HEARD 4/27/99 (H) STA AT 8:00 AM CAPITOL 102 4/27/99 (H) WAIVED OUT OF COMMITTEE 4/27/99 (H) MINUTE(STA) 4/27/99 1034 (H) STA REFERRAL WAIVED 4/27/99 1034 (H) REFERRED TO HES 4/29/99 (H) HES AT 3:00 PM CAPITOL 106 4/29/99 (H) HEARD AND HELD 4/29/99 (H) MINUTE(HES) 5/06/99 (H) HES AT 3:00 PM CAPITOL 106 5/06/99 (H) HEARD AND HELD 5/11/99 (H) HES AT 3:00 PM CAPITOL 106 WITNESS REGISTER RYNNIEVA MOSS, Legislative Assistant for Representative John Coghill Alaska State Legislature Capitol Building, Room 416 Juneau, Alaska 99801 Telephone: (907) 465-4530 POSITION STATEMENT: Presented HB 226. JOHN CYR, President National Education Association, Alaska (NEA-AK) 114 Second Street Juneau, Alaska 99801 Telephone: (907) 586-3090 POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of HB 226. GUY BELL, Director Division of Retirement and Benefits Department of Administration P.O. Box 110203 Juneau, Alaska 99811 Telephone: (907) 465-4471 POSITION STATEMENT: Answered questions on HB 226. REPRESENTATIVE ERIC CROFT Alaska State Legislature Capitol Building, Room 400 Juneau, Alaska 99801 Telephone: (907) 465-4998 POSITION STATEMENT: Testified as sponsor of HB 16. ELMER LINDSTROM, Special Assistant, Office of the Commissioner Department of Health and Social Services P.O. Box 110601 Juneau, Alaska 99811 Telephone: (907) 465-1613 POSITION STATEMENT: Testified on HB 16. ACTION NARRATIVE TAPE 99-55, SIDE A Number 0001 CO-CHAIRMAN DYSON reconvened the House Health, Education and Social Services Standing Committee meeting at 3:43 p.m. [The cover sheet for the Children's Issues Group can be found in the 3:03 p.m. minutes of the same date.] HB 226 - CREDITED SERVICE FOR ON-THE-JOB INJURIES Number 0020 CO-CHAIRMAN DYSON announced the next order of business as House Bill No. 226, "An Act relating to credited service under the teachers' retirement system for education employees on leave without pay or receiving workers' compensation benefits because of certain on-the-job injuries." Number 0051 REPRESENTATIVE GREEN made a motion to adopt the proposed committee substitute (CS) for HB 226, version 1-LSO917\D, Cramer, 5/11/99, as a work draft. There being no objection, Version D was before the committee. Number 100 CO-CHAIRMAN COGHILL explained that if teachers are assaulted on the job and are out of duty, they lose certain benefits. They do not accrue leave or get that time credited to their retirement benefit. House Bill 226 simply lets the teachers have their benefits from the effects of violent assault. REPRESENTATIVE GREEN asked if he were a teacher and came down with pneumonia, he would be covered, but if he were assaulted and was out for three or four weeks recuperating, he wouldn't be covered. RYNNIEVA MOSS, Legislative Assistant for Representative John Coghill, Alaska State Legislature, came forward to testify. She answered that there is an imparity between the Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) and the Teachers' Retirement System (TRS). Currently for any reason, a teacher cannot buy credit service, but under PERS, a public employee can. This bill also brings parity because it allows teachers to fall into that same benefit as PERS. If teachers are off the job because of an occupational illness or injury, they can buy credit service time. Also, HB 226 qualifies all school employees for the benefit of being off the job from a physical injury which resulted from an assault; the employer would pay the credited service time. CO-CHAIRMAN DYSON asked how many teachers are in that situation in a given year. MS. MOSS replied that she knows of one. There are very few revisions in the proposed CS because of a conversation with Retirement and Benefits to make sure that the language of the legislation covered the intent and was very clean so there couldn't be any misinterpretation of who qualified and who didn't. REPRESENTATIVE GREEN asked if a teacher injured on the job without being assaulted would be covered. MS. MOSS answered that his retirement is not covered. Public employees under PERS are covered; teachers under TRS are not. CO-CHAIRMAN DYSON asked why HB 226 does not have a fiscal note. MS. MOSS answered that it would not affect the state fiscally; the school district would contribute to the retirement if a teacher were injured from an assault. JOHN CYR, President, National Education Association, Alaska (NEA-AK), came forward to testify in support of HB 226. This legislation will only affect those people who are actually assaulted while working on the job. Currently, if a teacher is ill and has to leave work, he has sick leave, which is a paid status, and he continues in his retirement status. But if a teacher is hurt on the job, he is eligible for worker's compensation. Being on worker's compensation is a leave-without-pay status, which means he is no longer eligible for the retirement benefits. In those few cases where teachers are assaulted while doing their job, they deserve the protection of at least keeping their retirement. In the future, he hopes that no one needs this. REPRESENTATIVE BRICE asked Mr. Cyr if non-certified employees are covered as well. MR. CYR answered yes. GUY BELL, Director, Division of Retirement and Benefits, Department of Administration, came forward to answer questions. The main section that brings TRS on par with PERS allowing people to pay for credited service while on leave-without-pay due to an on-the-job injury is Section 3 (d). The other sections of the bill address the issue of physical assault to a teacher or another school district employee. Under those situations, the employer would be fully responsible for the cost of the TRS time. Number 0699 REPRESENTATIVE WHITAKER made a motion to move CSHB 226, version 1-LSO917\D, Cramer, 5/11/99, from committee with individual recommendations and the attached zero fiscal note. There being no objection, CSHB 226(HES) moved from the House Health, Education and Social Services Standing Committee. HB 16 - LICENSURE OF ASSISTED LIVING FACILITIES Number 0758 CO-CHAIRMAN DYSON announced the next order of business as House Bill No. 16, "An Act transferring to the Department of Health and Social Services the authority to license all assisted living facilities; eliminating the authority of the Department of Administration to license assisted living facilities; and providing for an effective date." Number 0774 REPRESENTATIVE ERIC CROFT, Alaska State Legislature, sponsor, came forward to testify saying that he felt it was the committee's discretion on what to do with HB 16. His original intention was a consolidation of a current function to solve a perceived conflict of interest and let the process of rewriting the regulations continue. Another option is to try to incorporate this consolidation into a change in function that would be a part of the regulations. He wants this committee to decide. He has a slight preference to do what he intended to do. Number 0875 REPRESENTATIVE BRICE commented that to concur with the original intention, they should probably move HB 16 as it is and move it without the fiscal note or ask the chair to rewrite a Health, Education and Social Services (HES) committee fiscal note that would show the actual transition between the Department of Administration (DOA) and the Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS). Number 0910 CO-CHAIRMAN DYSON said he believed that the committee had asked the departments and Representative Croft if there was a way to work this out. He repeated the philosophical questions they had asked: Should all the licensing be under one roof? Should the licensing be in an organization that is independent from the organization that administers the program? Can the administration come up with an ideal solution that heads them toward the best way to organize and administer the licensing and inspection process? Number 0983 ELMER LINDSTROM, Special Assistant, Office of the Commissioner, Department of Health and Social Services, came forward to testify. He agreed that those questions were raised and probably others, and there is a process that the DOA and DHSS are willing to commit to that will get those answers. He noted that the committee has been provided with a memorandum from Kay Burrows, Director, Division of Senior Services, DOA to Alison Elgee, Deputy Commissioner, DOA, dated May 11, 1999 regarding Timeline for review of Assisted Living Regulations. That is a process they are committed to engage in over the next several months. Their goal by the fall of 1999 is to have a very good understanding of where they want to go in terms of who should appropriately license the facilities. MR. LINDSTROM noted that they probably need to look at different standards for smaller "mom and pop" facilities as opposed to the larger assisted living facilities, like the pioneers' homes. By next fall they will have a much better sense of what they want this system to look like. He is willing to predict that one of their conclusions is that they will need legislation. Next year they will know what that legislation ought to look like from their perspective. Number 1082 REPRESENTATIVE GREEN commented that was a good move forward. He asked them to look at the possibility of new regulations for bigger and smaller facilities since that greatly affects the fiscal note. MR. LINDSTROM indicated they would be looking at that in the regulations. This review and developing the standards will allow them to refine their fiscal note far better than what was presented up to this point. Number 1159 REPRESENTATIVE KEMPLEN asked Mr. Lindstrom if the DHSS would be opposed to movement of HB 16 as it is written now. MR. LINDSTROM said he would like to pass on answering that question. Next fall they are likely to be looking at a need for some sort of legislative fix. He doesn't know if the sponsor would be interested in using HB 16 as a possible vehicle for that, but this bill needs further work. REPRESENTATIVE BRICE commented he was favoring moving out HB 16 as it is a simple change of administrative function that should come up with a net zero fiscal note moving out the DOA functions into DHSS, as it is written. If they want to focus on developing a stronger certification and licensing process and develop certain standards for assisted living programs, that is something outside of what they are talking about in HB 16. MR. LINDSTROM indicated that the Commissioner of DHSS would be opposed to this legislation should it pass without the funding they have estimated for the requirements at this time. The Committee took an at-ease from 4:05 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. Number 1311 CO-CHAIRMAN DYSON commented that the consensus of the committee is to hold this bill, revisit it and work with the departments. He asked that the departments keep the HES committee in the loop and suggested they have some concurrent meetings. The HES committee plans to meet in August, and they would like an update from the departments. In the meantime, a new fiscal note will be drafted. [HB 16 was held over.] ADJOURNMENT Number 1365 There being no further business before the committee, the House Health, Education and Social Services Standing Committee meeting was adjourned at 4:17 p.m.