ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE  LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL  MAY 02, 2016  5:00 PM    MEMBERS PRESENT  Senator Gary Stevens, Chair Representative Bob Herron, Vice Chair Senator John Coghill Senator Charlie Huggins Senator Anna MacKinnon Senator Kevin Meyer Senator Cathy Giessel, alternate Representative Mike Chenault Representative Craig Johnson Representative Sam Kito Representative Charisse Millett Representative Mark Neuman Representative Steve Thompson, alternate Representative Harriet Drummond, alternate MEMBERS ON TELECONFERENCE    Senator Lyman Hoffman MEMBERS ABSENT  Senator Peter Micciche Senator Lesil McGuire, alternate Representative Mike Hawker   OTHER MEMBERS PRESENT    Senator Olson; Representatives Edgmon, Guttenberg, Ortiz, Pruitt, Saddler, Seaton, Spohnholz, Stutes, Tarr, Tuck, Wilson, and Wool AGENDA  OTHER COMMITTEE BUSINESS SPEAKER REGISTER  5:01:47 PM I. CHAIR GARY STEVENS called the Legislative Council meeting to order at 5:01 p.m. in Room 208 of the Bill Ray Center. Present at the call were Senators Stevens, Meyer, Coghill, Huggins, MacKinnon, and Giessel, alternate member; Representatives Herron, Chenault, Johnson, Kito, Millett, Neuman, and Thompson and Drummond, alternate members. Participating via teleconference was Senator Hoffman. Senators Micciche and McGuire, alternate member, and Representative Hawker were absent. Other Legislators present: Senator Olson; Representatives Edgmon, Guttenberg, Ortiz, Pruitt, Saddler, Seaton, Spohnholz, Stutes, Tarr, Tuck, Wilson, and Wool. II. COMMITTEE BUSINES - EXECUTIVE SESSION  a. Anchorage Office Space  b. Records Policy Amendment  a. Anchorage Office Space  CHAIR STEVENS noted that the reason for this meeting is for Council to discuss an Anchorage office space proposal and issues related to the Records Policy. 5:03:12 PM VICE CHAIR HERRON moved that Legislative Council go into Executive Session under Uniform Rule 22(B)(1), discussion of matters, the immediate knowledge of which would adversely affect the finances of a government unit and 22(B)(3), discussion of a matter that may, by law, be required to be confidential. I ask that the following individuals remain in the room; Pam Varni, Doug Gardner, Katrina Matheny, Linda Hay, and any legislative staff working for Council members. We also welcome any Legislators that are not on Legislative Council to remain in the room or on teleconference. There being no objection to the motion, Council went into Executive Session. 6:36:06 PM Legislative Council came out of Executive Session. 6:36:21 PM Vice Chair Herron said that, in light of the statement that the Governor will veto the $32.5 million appropriation for 716 W 4th Avenue, he moved that Legislative Council authorize the Chair to negotiate a sales price not to exceed $12,500,000 for the building and land at 1500 W Benson and approves a $125,000 earnest money agreement. A due diligence time is needed of at least 60 days. The Chair will bring back to the Council the final sales price for final approval. REPRESENTATIVE KITO objected to make a comment. He said he was concerned about moving forward when we have already started negotiations on another property, but a bigger concern really is that there is available space at the Atwood Building as offered by the Governor. There is some transition time that would be required and maybe a little bit of money that would be required to renovate the space but there is space available and it's already owned by the State. He said he had a concern about entering into a purchase agreement where we don't have another obligation and the potential of us having a lawsuit concurrent with trying to occupy a separate building. SENATOR MACKINNON responded that the space at the Atwood Building, as far as this Council has been informed, is not available to us until December 2017 or January 2018 and she just wanted that on the record. She said there may be transition space and it's a different level of space than the Legislature is currently seeking and wanted that to be noted. In addition, the parking space, while it is considered adequate with the Atwood Building, it is not ideal for the general public to get in and out of that area in any kind of significant way if there are large meetings in the area, depending on time and being in the downtown area. SENATOR COGHILL noted that just moving to the Atwood Building is about one quarter of the cost of this building. By the time one pays the first year's lease, which we have to wait a year to get into, the value of that move probably goes up. CHAIR STEVENS said that as we compare the Atwood to the Wells Fargo property, in a 20 year period, we will have paid $14 million at the Atwood. Should everything work out with the Wells Fargo property, with the money we're charging Wells Fargo and the savings that we have from moving others into that building, there's a savings of about $9 million in a 20 year period; also, we would own it at the end of that 20 year period. SPEAKER CHENAULT asked if the numbers included the $3.5 million it would cost to renovate the Atwood Building for the Legislature to move into. The Chair responded that they were not included. VICE CHAIR HERRON, at the request of Chair Stevens, re-read the motion: …In light of the statement that the Governor will veto the $32.5 million appropriation for 716 W 4th Avenue, he moved that Legislative Council authorize the Chair to negotiate a sales price not to exceed $12,500,000 for the building and land at 1500 W Benson and approves a $125,000 earnest money agreement. A due diligence time is needed of at least 60 days. The Chair will bring back to the Council the final sales price for final approval. A roll call vote was taken. YEAS: Meyer, Coghill, Huggins, MacKinnon, Giessel, Chenault, Johnson, Millett, Neuman, Thompson, Herron, Stevens NAYS: Kito The motion passed 12-0. b. Records Policy Amendment  6:42:18 PM VICE CHAIR HERRON moved that Legislative Council approve the amendment to the Legislative Council Records Policy as per the attached draft. REPRESENTATIVE KITO objected to say that he had been working on the whole concept of personal records versus public records and would like to continue on that. He said he thought this was a step in the correct direction; we end up with a disclosure. He said he does think there is more we can do for individuals who may not have signed a disclosure or who might not in the future; we need to provide some provision for individuals who for some reason do not sign a disclosure. A roll call vote was taken. YEAS: Meyer, Coghill, Huggins, MacKinnon, Giessel, Chenault, Johnson, Kito, Millett, Neuman, Thompson, Herron, Stevens NAYS: None The motion approving the amendment to the Records Policy passed 13-0. 6:43:50 PM VICE CHAIR HERRON moved that with the newly adopted change to the Records Policy and after review by Legal Services, that Legislative Council authorize the release of the late Representative Max Gruenberg's legislative files to Kayla Epstein. CHAIR STEVENS said that Council would deal with the release of records of other Legislators that have passed away should the need arise. SENATOR COGHILL asked for clarification if it would require a vote by Council to release records of other Legislators who had passed away or if Legal Services could deal directly with it under the above motion. Doug Gardner of Legal Services confirmed that it would take a vote by Legislative Council to release the legislative records of any former Legislator. A roll call vote was taken. YEAS: Meyer, Coghill, Huggins, MacKinnon, Giessel, Chenault, Johnson, Kito, Millett, Neuman, Thompson, Herron, Stevens NAYS: None The motion to release the late Representative Gruenberg's legislative files to Kayla Epstein passed 13-0. There being no further business before the committee, the Legislative Council meeting was adjourned at 6:45 p.m. 6:45:47 PM