LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL  NOVEMBER 25, 2020  11:00 AM      MEMBERS PARTICIPATING BY TELECONFERENCE:  Senator Gary Stevens, Chair  Representative Louise Stutes, Vice-Chair  Senator Tom Begich  Senator John Coghill  Senator Cathy Giessel  Senator Lyman Hoffman  Senator Bert Stedman  Senator Natasha von Imhof  Representative Bryce Edgmon  Representative Neal Foster  Representative DeLena Johnson  Representative Jennifer Johnston  Representative Chuck Kopp  Representative Steve Thompson      MEMBERS ABSENT:      OTHER MEMBERS PRESENT:  Senator Elvi Gray-Jackson  Senator Jesse Kiehl  Representative Harriet Drummond      SPEAKER REGISTER:  Jessica Geary, Executive Director, Legislative Affairs Agency (LAA)  Megan Wallace, Legal Services Director, LAA  JC Kestel, Procurement Officer, LAA          11:00:15 AM    I. CALL TO ORDER  CHAIR STEVENS: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to the  Legislative Council meeting. Today is November 25, 2020; it  is exactly 11:00 a.m.  Thank you all for being here. I do apologize. I  planned for this to be a one-issue meeting, but things get  out of hand. We've got four items we need to deal with. I  appreciate all of you making time here on the day before  Thanksgiving to attend our meeting.  So, Jessica Geary, are you online?  MS. GEARY: Chair Stevens, I am online. It looks like  we might be waiting for a few more members to join. It  sounds like they are getting patched in right now.  CHAIR STEVENS: Okay. I don't have any record of that,  so just let me know what's going on.  MS. GEARY: Okay. I will let you know once we have  eight members.  CHAIR STEVENS: Thanks, Jessica.  MS. GEARY: All right. Chair Stevens, we have members  online.  CHAIR STEVENS: Okay. If we have enough, then let's go  ahead and get started. Thank you all for spending this time  with us the day before Thanksgiving. I apologize. We have a  much longer agenda than I had originally thought with one  item. Now -- as things happen, of course, we have four items  to deal with.  Jessica Geary, if you can call the roll, please.  MS. GEARY: Senator Begich?  SENATOR BEGICH: Here. I'm here.  MS. GEARY: Senator Coghill?  SENATOR COGHILL: I'm here.  MS. GEARY: Senate President Giessel?  PRESIDENT GIESSEL: Here.  MS. GEARY: Senator Hoffman?  Senator Stedman?  SENATOR STEDMAN: Here.  MS. GEARY: Senator von Imhof?  Speaker Edgmon?  SPEAKER EDGMON: Here.  MS. GEARY: Representative Foster?  REPRESENTATIVE FOSTER: Here.  MS. GEARY: Representative DeLena Johnson?  REPRESENTATIVE JOHNSON: Here.  MS. GEARY: Representative Jennifer Johnston?  REPRESENTATIVE JOHNSTON: Here.  MS. GEARY: Representative Kopp?  Representative Thompson?  REPRESENTATIVE THOMPSON: Here.  MS. GEARY: Vice-Chair Stutes?  VICE-CHAIR STUTES: Here.  MS. GEARY: Chair Stevens?  CHAIR STEVENS: Here.    MS. GEARY: We have 11 members present.  CHAIR STEVENS: 11 members present. Fine. Thank you so  much. So we have enough to conduct our meeting. Again, I  apologize for all these issues, but I think we can move  through them fairly reasonably.    *Representative Kopp joined at 11:07am, Senator Hoffman  joined at 11:08am, Senator von Imhof joined at 11:18am.    II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA    SENATOR STEVENS: I'll call on Representative Stutes for  a motion on our agenda.    11:04:06 AM  VICE-CHAIR STUTES: Certainly, Mr. Chair. I move and  ask unanimous consent that the Legislative Council approve  the agenda as presented.  CHAIR STEVENS: Thank you.  Any objections or additions to that agenda?  SENATOR BEGICH: Mr. Chairman.  CHAIR STEVENS: Yes, Senator Begich.  SENATOR BEGICH: Yes, I was hoping that we might have a  discussion of establishing some certainty for -- a topic area  to establish some certainty for what legislators and staff  can do to plan for coming to Juneau in January. I don't know  how quite to word that, but I think we should have a  discussion of that toward the end of this meeting, if that's  at all possible, perhaps setting up a special group of us to  discuss some certainty. People are having trouble making  travel plans, having trouble deciding whether staff should or  shouldn't go, finding lodging, that kind of thing. So we  need to have something definitive in place.  CHAIR STEVENS: You know, Senator Begich, we have a  discussion coming up on the Code of Conduct. We'll be  covering some of those issues. Why don't we expand that code  of conduct discussion to include the issues you brought up so  people know what to expect when they get to Juneau in  January. Is that okay?  SENATOR BEGICH: Yes, that would be fine. I withdraw my  objection.  CHAIR STEVENS: Great. Thank you, Senator Begich.  Any further additions to these and/or concerns?  With no objection, the agenda is approved as presented.    The first item of business, we're going to deal with is  the Code of Conduct, and then we'll go into the Mat-Su lease  and then finally, under an executive session, we're going to  deal with the RFP 642 and also an update from Representative  Josephson.    III. COMMITTEE BUSINESS    A. ADOPTION OF PANDEMIC CODE OF CONDUCT POLICY    Let's begin with the Code of Conduct. And if we  could have a motion from Representative Stutes.    11:05:42 AM  VICE-CHAIR STUTES: Certainly. I move that Legislative  Council approve the Pandemic Code of Conduct Policy.  CHAIR STEVENS: Thank you. I will object for purposes  of discussion. We discussed this issue at our last meeting  and there was not a real consensus on it and some concerns  about specific issues, like approval of travel. So we've  been working on this and made some changes, and I think  hopefully it will be something that we can support.  I'll ask Jessica to discuss this Code of Conduct.  She's been working harder on it than any of us. Jessica.  MS. GEARY: Thank you, Chair Stevens. Good morning,  everyone. For the record, Jessica Geary, executive director,  Legislative Affairs Agency.  At the Leg Council meeting we discussed this  policy, and, as Chair Stevens said, weren't quite ready to  take action on it. I did work with the Chair to make a few  changes to this, and I was just going to go through those  changes briefly and then answer any questions any of you  have.  In the very first section there was a statement  that this policy was mandatory and without exceptions. And  so we crossed that out because, as we all know, there are  always exceptions. So to write a policy that, right off the  bat, doesn't allow for that probably doesn't make the most  sense.  Then we added in a statement -- where it says  "arrive in Juneau with a negative COVID-19 test," we changed  that to "an approved molecular COVID-19 test."  Then there was a statement in there about  isolating when you get to Juneau pending results. I'm not  sure "isolating" was the proper term. It's been changed to  the word "quarantine," which is, I think, the most  appropriate.  I think that's it as far as the changes go. I  don't know if you want me to go into it again in more  detail -- I know we already discussed this -- or if you just  want to open it up for questions. I'm happy to go either  way.  CHAIR STEVENS: Yes, thanks, Jessica. I think let's  open it up for questions. Could you explain that molecular  test? That is a test that is not in every community, I don't  think. But we do have it in Juneau; is that right?  MS. GEARY: That's correct, we do have it available in  Juneau, and that is the standard course for testing. That's  the approved Health and Social Services test, and it is the  most accurate of the tests. I'm not an expert, but I do know  that some of the other tests, the antigen testing and the  antibody testing are not recognized as being super accurate,  and they're not recommended.  CHAIR STEVENS: A question was raised earlier.  Representative Foster brought up the issue of how does it  work if you're testing before you get to Juneau, does the  Legislature pay for that? Have you thought about that at  all, Jessica?  MS. GEARY: Sure. I think we'll get into that a little  bit when we have the discussion later during executive  session.  But part of the idea is that the Legislature would  pay for whatever testing it's considering required. So that  would be testing prior to arrival in Juneau and then whatever  testing protocols are developed for the actual period of  session. So the idea is that the Legislature, if requiring  that, would also pay for it.  CHAIR STEVENS: Thanks, Jessica. I appreciate that  comment about when we deal with the RFP under executive  session we'll be going into some of these details as well.  Further questions or comments that anybody may  have?  Yes, Representative Stutes.  VICE-CHAIR STUTES: Yes. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I see  on that particular item "with the approved molecular COVID-19  test or test upon arrival and quarantine pending results."  What's the timeline for the molecular COVID test to get the  results?  MS. GEARY: Through the Chair, Representative Stutes, it  kind of depends. Each community has a different wait time.  Some of the communities are sending to a testing lab and  getting results back in 24 hours. Again, during our RFP  discussion, we are discussing rapid tests or 48-hour maximum  turnaround time.  VICE-CHAIR STUTES: Okay. Thank you.  PRESIDENT GIESSEL: Mr. Chairman.  CHAIR STEVENS: Yes, please, go ahead.  PRESIDENT GIESSEL: Thank you. So, first of all, to  Representative Foster's questions about will the Legislature  pay for a test procured prior to arrival in Juneau, the State  of Alaska is providing COVID testing free of charge to  Alaskans. Whether that will still be in place in January, I  can't speak to that, but right now it is being provided free  of charge.  Jessica kind of answered the question already  about the molecular tests and the time frame. The Abbott  rapid test takes approximately 15 minutes for results, but  there are multiple molecular tests which are less expensive  than that and take a bit longer. The molecular testing is  the best practices, most reliable way of testing for active  disease.  Thank you, Mr. Chairman.  CHAIR STEVENS: Thank you, President Giessel. Maybe we  should go to Representative Foster. I was trying to  interpret his question.  But, Representative Foster, does that answer your  concerns?  REPRESENTATIVE FOSTER: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yes, I  think it mostly does. But one other question on that would  be that in Anchorage, my understanding was that you could get  the free tests to Alaskans upon arrival at the Anchorage  Airport. Does that mean that you can also -- when you're  departing Anchorage to Juneau, you can also get that test  down there in the baggage area? I know that's where they're  doing it.  CHAIR STEVENS: Senator Giessel, you're our expert on  this. Do you have any comments on that, testing in  Anchorage? Representative Foster, coming from Nome traveling  through Anchorage to Juneau, can he get tested there in  Anchorage?  PRESIDENT GIESSEL: Mr. Chairman, right now the State of  Alaska is encouraging Alaskans to get a COVID test whether  they have symptoms or not, and the State of Alaska is paying  for those tests. I can't speak for certain. That is the  messaging here in Anchorage. I don't know that that is the  case in Nome, but I know that Nome right now is having an  outbreak, and I suspect the same policy would apply there.  Thank you, Mr. Chairman.  CHAIR STEVENS: Thank you, Senator Giessel.  So I think that answers your question,  Representative Foster.  REPRESENTATIVE FOSTER: Yes. Thank you.  CHAIR STEVENS: Thanks very much.  REPRESENTATIVE JOHNSON: Mr. Chair, may I ask a  question? This is Rep Johnson.  CHAIR STEVENS: Yes. I'm sorry. It's sort of hard to  get everyone in the cue here, but sorry if I skipped you  earlier, Representative Johnson. Go ahead.  REPRESENTATIVE JOHNSON: Thank you. Maybe we're going  to have more of a discussion on the travel portions, but when  we talk about having pretty robust testing before we arrive  in Juneau, is the state going to pay for a test if someone  goes home? If someone is going to go home for a weekend,  well, you can hardly follow that same quarantine as when you  arrived. When we talk about trips out of the capital, are  talking about just the first trip in, which makes sense what  we're doing, but then getting into the second round is  whether, people coming and going, I guess I'd like to have a  little more of a discussion on that.  CHAIR STEVENS: Well, that's a very good point. We did  deal with the travel, and you'll see in the Code of Conduct  it's recommended that folks avoid all non-essential trips out  of the capital city. We certainly can't stop that, and  people are going to be going home. I'm hoping that the next  Legislature, however it's organized, will attempt to have as  brief a session as we can, whether it's 60 days or 90 days or  75 days or whatever it might be. It would be nice to have it  as short as possible so people may not be traveling home  every weekend, though, we know some folks will. I'd assume  that if you travel home for the weekend, for example, if you  come back to Juneau, you'd have to be tested again.  Is that your understanding, Jessica?  MS. GEARY: Chair Stevens, that's correct, that's my  understanding.  CHAIR STEVENS: Okay.  REPRESENTATIVE JOHNSON: So the testing would be paid  for by the Legislature or individuals, and then the  individual would provide that to someone to verify, and then  they would have to quarantine until they got their results, I  assume? If it's a rapid test, it wouldn't matter so much,  but --  CHAIR STEVENS: Jessica, and I believe once we get to  the discussion of the RFP, the plan is that the company who  gets that contract will test legislators and staff and media  in the Capitol Building; is that right?  MS. GEARY: Chair Stevens, that's correct.  CHAIR STEVENS: So, Representative Johnson, that might  all be taken care and paid for through the legislative  process.  REPRESENTATIVE JOHNSON: Okay. Thank you.  SENATOR BEGICH: Mr. Chairman, this is Senator Begich.  CHAIR STEVENS: Senator Begich.  SENATOR BEGICH: Would this be the time for me to, more  articulately, put my suggestion on the table?  CHAIR STEVENS: Yes, please. Go ahead.  SENATOR BEGICH: What I'm recommending is that we  establish a structure for the planning on convening with a  recommended session protocol, which would include, one, the  timing and number of staff on-site; two, the recommended  calendar of activities, whether present or remote; and,  three, suggested actions for each office. Again, knowing  that we can't bind a future Legislature, what we could do is  at least provide substantive guidance to that Legislature.  CHAIR STEVENS: Thanks, Senator Begich. You're  absolutely right.  Just so everyone is aware, we cease to exist when  the new Legislature is formed and when the Leg Council is  appointed. So all we can do -- I think it's a good point to  try to make these recommendations. We can't tell them what  they're going to do in the next Legislature, but if these  plans are in place, it would be very easy for next  Legislature just to assume ours or change them in any way  they want or eliminate them entirely. But I think you're  right, we need to do the best job we can to make sure the  guidance is there. They can choose to follow it or not.  SENATOR BEGICH: I don't know if I should put that in  the form of a motion that we set up a special work group just  to establish this and present it for adoption. But those  three components would be the components I'd want to see in  something, which would be, again, the number and timing of  any staff on-site; the recommended calendar of activities,  whether remote or in person; and then suggested actions at  offices, each office should take.  CHAIR STEVENS: I think that's a very valid  recommendation, and we can establish a work group. We don't  necessarily need a motion. But if that is the consensus, we  will do that to try to figure out -- I know the valid  questions are how many folks are going to be in the building?  We have heard that the peak in the United States will be  January 15, which, unfortunately, is just about the time we  are beginning.  If Alaska follows that or is a little behind that,  we may want to have more strict requirements, maybe fewer  staff in the building. The only people that really have to  be there are -- I think are the secretarial office and the  House and the Senate, as well as legislators. So we might  require admitting -- depending on what the situation is, we  might require everyone else to be working at a distance. So  that's perfectly all right with me if there's no objection to  that.  Senator Begich, we'll do that. We'll put together  a work group, along with Jessica, to try to figure out what  ramifications there are and how the timing will work.  SENATOR BEGICH: Sounds good to me. Thank you.  CHAIR STEVENS: Thank you, Senator Begich.  Any other comments or questions on this Pandemic  Code of Conduct? Again, we have no idea how bad or good  things may be when we get to Juneau, but this is a good  policy for us to have. As you know, if you look at the last  thing, the enforcement, it applies to legislative staff at  the discretion of a supervisor or appointing authority.  Enforcement as applied to legislators will be left to the  members.  PRESIDENT GIESSEL: Mr. Chairman.  CHAIR STEVENS: Yes, Senator Giessel. Please, go ahead.  PRESIDENT GIESSEL: Thank you. On the Code of Conduct,  I wanted to comment on Section 4, Effective date. I have two  comments about this section. It says, "This policy is  effective immediately and may be updated or rescinded by Leg  Council Chair without need of additional Leg Council action  in accordance" -- so my first concern is embodying the  updating or rescission of this policy to one person, that  being the Chair of Leg Council, I am just expressing concern  about that. I feel that it would be more prudent to have the  entire council's wisdom in that decision.  The second piece on that effective date goes on in  the second half of the sentence. It says, "In accordance  with guidelines of Leg Council, CBJ, State of Alaska, and  CDC."  We are hiring a professional contracting company  to come in, who are also best practices experts, and I would  recommend adding their guidance in here also. That is  actually part of our contract with them, their consultation  and guidance on these type of policies. So these are just  two comments I would make about Section 4, Effective date.  Thank you, Mr. Chairman.  CHAIR STEVENS: Thank you, Senator Giessel. I have no  problem about that at all. I don't know how it wound up in  the Chair's responsibility solely. I'd be perfectly  comfortable to make that change to have it updated or  rescinded by the Legislative Council and then adding our  contractor in at the end of that sentence.  Is that acceptable to you, Senator Giessel?  PRESIDENT GIESSEL: Yes. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.  CHAIR STEVENS: Any objection to us making that friendly  amendment to No. 4, Item 4, the Effective date? Any  objection to that or further comments on that issue?  Jessica, do you have any response to that? Does  that cause any difficulty for you?  MS. GEARY: Chair Stevens, I wouldn't say "difficulty."  The reason there is the statement in there about "in  accordance with guidance from" is so that if there were some  sweeping change that came down from the CDC or otherwise,  that it wouldn't require us to have another Legislative  Council meeting to make that change. But aside from that, I  take no issue with it. It just could lengthen the time a  little bit for letting up on some of these restrictions if  we're at a time where we're able to do that.  CHAIR STEVENS: Yes, I understand your concerns. We can  meet pretty quickly, though, I think, Leg Council, if  necessary. Thanks for those comments.  So any further objection to that friendly  amendment? Okay. Then we have made that change, and I think  that's adequate to do that.  Any other comments on the Code of Conduct Policy?  Any other comments or objections to the Code of Conduct  Policy?  SPEAKER EDGMON: Senator Stevens, this is Representative  Edgmon.  CHAIR STEVENS: Speaker Edgmon, yes, please, go ahead.  SPEAKER EDGMON: I apologize. I missed some of it.  Hopefully you can hear me okay.  CHAIR STEVENS: Yes, we hear you fine, Mr. Speaker. Go  ahead.  SPEAKER EDGMON: I missed some of the discussion.  Perhaps it was covered a moment ago. But going back to the  very top of the document, where it reads, "The Legislative  Council Pandemic Code of Conduct Policy applies to  legislators and legislative staff," the part of the  discussion I think I might have missed is the applicability  to anybody else in the Capitol. Can somebody get me straight  on that?  CHAIR STEVENS: Yes, good question.  I'll go back to Jessica. If you have any thoughts  on it, Jessica.  MS. GEARY: Through the Chair, Speaker Edgmon, the idea  is that it applies to everyone within the building, but  because this is a sort of code of conduct, we can't really  require others to follow this code of conduct. We  technically could insert in the media and members of the  Executive Branch or anyone doing business within the Capitol,  but I'm not sure our policy would cover them. That was my  only reason why I didn't add that in.  We did make the other policies that were passed at  the last meeting, the Screening Policy and the Mask Policy;  those do apply to the media. So I am open to changing that  if that's the will of the committee. It would be easy enough  to add in.  SPEAKER EDGMON: Through the Chair, I might recommend  that might be a change that we consider. Even if it's worded  such that everybody else in the Capitol is recommended to  follow these guidelines or however that might be phrased, but  I think it would be useful, and I would recommend that.  CHAIR STEVENS: Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Mr.  Speaker. I think that's something we can readily do, to make  sure that it does cover everyone.  I have spoken with the governor's chief of staff,  and they are quite supportive of what we're doing here and  will comply with the recommendations that we come up with.  So, Jessica, can you give me some wording that we  can add in on that first sentence?  MS. GEARY: Absolutely. I am trying to draft it right  now.  CHAIR STEVENS: This is unusual, I know, online like  this. Take your time, and let's try to do this correctly and  make sure everyone is comfortable with it. Perhaps something  like, "The recommendation that everyone entering the building  complies with our code of conduct," can we say that?  VICE-CHAIR STUTES: "Everyone within the confines of the  Capitol."  CHAIR STEVENS: "Everyone entering the Capitol Building  will adhere to our Pandemic Code of Conduct."  SPEAKER EDGMON: I like that.  MS. GEARY: Yes, I like that too. I think that works.  SPEAKER EDGMON: Yes, that sounds good to me.  CHAIR STEVENS: Great. Would you make that change then,  Jessica?  MS. GEARY: Yes, sir.  CHAIR STEVENS: Any further comments on this Pandemic  Code of Conduct? I appreciate everyone's willingness to work  on this. It's important to have this behind us. Again, it  will only be in place until we cease to exist, and but  hopefully it will be there as a recommendation to the future  Legislature.  MS. GEARY: We have Megan Wallace on the line, and  perhaps she might have a comment on this subject.  CHAIR STEVENS: Okay. That's a good idea. Thank you so  much, Jessica.  Megan Wallace, any thoughts that you care to share  with us?  MS. WALLACE: Mr. Chairman. For the record, Megan  Wallace, legal services director. I apologize. I was trying  to speak up. I think my line was muted.  But I just wanted to make a comment that I would  encourage the incoming rules chair to potentially make the  obeyance of the Pandemic Code of Conduct Policy part of their  credentialing process when they work incoming media for the  next legislative session. That's another way to enforce this  policy as to folks that are not employed by the Legislature.  CHAIR STEVENS: Okay. And, Megan, would that be  something you think we should include in this Code of Conduct  then?  MS. WALLACE: Mr. Chairman, I don't think there's any  harm in adopting the language that you just suggested, but in  terms of enforcement, that's just another layer that I would  recommend to ensure compliance with credentialed media.  CHAIR STEVENS: Okay. Can you give us some wording and  where that would be? Under Enforcement, under 5, I assume?  MS. WALLACE: Mr. Chairman, I don't think it needs to be  in the policy. It would just be something to make sure that  maybe our current rules chair share with their successors to  the extent that we have different rules chairs once the next  Legislature becomes organized, and that would be as part of  that process.  CHAIR STEVENS: Yes, that makes sense. And I'm sure the  presiding officers, whoever they may be, and the rules  chairs, whoever they may be, hopefully will go back and pick  up on this Code of Conduct and make sure that everyone  complies with it. Thank you, Megan.  SENATOR COGHILL: Mr. Chairman, this is Senator Coghill.  CHAIR STEVENS: Senator Coghill, please, go ahead.  SENATOR COGHILL: A good suggestion, and we are  preparing a transition document from this rules chair to the  incoming. We'll make sure that this Code of Conduct gets  included in the suggestions that they do for credentialing.  CHAIR STEVENS: Thank you, Senator Coghill. That makes  a lot of sense.  Okay. Any other comments that anyone has on this  Code of Conduct?  Then I will remove my objection and ask Jessica to  do a roll call, please.  MS. GEARY: Chair Stevens, should we have Vice-Chair  Stutes reread the motion to add the language as amended since  we made a couple amendments to this?  CHAIR STEVENS: Good point, yes.  Would you make that change, Representative Stutes?  VICE-CHAIR STUTES: I would be happy to do so,  Mr. Chairman. I move the Legislative Council approve the  Pandemic Code of Conduct Policy, including the new language  which has been added to this document.  CHAIR STEVENS: Thank you. And again, then I remove my  objection.  Thank you for that comment, Jessica, and would you  do a roll call, please?  MS. GEARY: Senator Begich?  SENATOR BEGICH: Yes.  MS. GEARY: Senator Coghill?  SENATOR COGHILL: Yes.  MS. GEARY: Senate President Giessel?  PRESIDENT GIESSEL: Yes.  MS. GEARY: Senator Stedman?  SENATOR STEDMAN: Yes.  MS. GEARY: Speaker Edgmon?  SPEAKER EDGMON: Yes.  MS. GEARY: Representative Foster?  REPRESENTATIVE FOSTER: Yes.  MS. GEARY: Representative DeLena Johnson?  REPRESENTATIVE JOHNSON: Yes.  MS. GEARY: Representative Johnston?  REPRESENTATIVE JOHNSTON: Yes.  MS. GEARY: Representative Thompson?  REPRESENTATIVE THOMPSON: Yes.  MS. GEARY: Vice-Chair Stutes?  VICE-CHAIR STUTES: Yes.  MS. GEARY: Chair Stevens?  CHAIR STEVENS: Yes.  MS. GEARY: 11 yeas, 0 nays.  SENATOR HOFFMAN: This is Senator Hoffman. I'll vote  twice as yes.  MS. GEARY: Oh, I apologize, Senator Hoffman.  REPRESENTATIVE KOPP: And Representative Kopp votes yes  as well.  SENATOR VON IMHOF: I vote yes, please. Thank you.    MS. GEARY: Okay. 14 yeas, 0 nays.  CHAIR STEVENS: Thank you all, and thanks for those of  you who are now with us.    B. MAT-SU LIO LEASE SUBORDINATION AGREEMENT    SENATOR STEVENS: Let's move on to the second issue on  our agenda, and that's the Mat-Su LIO lease subordination  agreement.  Representative Stutes, for a motion, please.  11:08:30 AM  VICE-CHAIR STUTES: Certainly. I move that Legislative  Council approve assignment of the lease for Mat-Su office  space from Wasilla Station, LLC to 600 East Railroad Avenue,  LLC, and further move that Legislative Council approve the  subordination agreement between 600 East Railroad Avenue,  LLC, Northrim Bank, and the Legislative Affairs Agency for  the duration of the lease.  CHAIR STEVENS: Thank you, Representative Stutes.  I'll object for purposes of discussion and call on  JC Kestel, our procurement officer, to give us an explanation  and try to answer any questions that we may have. We also  have Emily Nauman with us for any legal questions. She's  online as well I believe right now.  So, JC Kestel, if you could help us understand  this Mat-Su lease.  MR. KESTEL: Thank you, Chair Stevens. My name is JC  Kestel. I'm the procurement officer for the Legislative  Affairs Agency, for the record.  The Legislature's Mat-Su office space, located in  Wasilla, has been purchased by 600 East Railroad Avenue, LLC,  owned by Dr. Tony Nimeh. The office space is currently  occupied by the Mat-Su legislative delegation and the Mat-Su  Legislative Information Office.  Our procurement procedures require that a  legislative lease assignment with a subordination agreement  be considered and approved by a majority of the members of  Legislative Council. LAA requests Legislative Council's  approval to proceed with the lease assignment and consent  with the subordination agreement for the existing Mat-Su  lease agreement from Wasilla Station, LLC to 600 East  Railroad Avenue for the duration of the lease.  Once approved, all obligations under the lease  agreement would be transferred to 600 East Railroad Avenue,  LLC. The subordination agreement would exist between 600  Railroad Avenue, LLC, Northrim Bank, and the Legislative  Affairs Agency.  If the lease assignment and consent is not  approved by the council, a new RFP will have to be issued for  Mat-Su office space.  I have included a copy of the draft subordination  agreement for members to review, and I'm available to answer  any questions about the lease assignment and consent.  CHAIR STEVENS: Thank you, JC, I appreciate that. I  know it's a complicated issue changing ownerships of that  building. I've not heard any objections to that building, to  that contract, to that lease that we have.  Anyone from Mat-Su who are in those offices? I  believe they are Senators Hughes, Wilson, Shower;  Representatives Neuman, Tilton, Sullivan-Leonard, Johnson,  Eastman, Rauscher; and also the Mat-Su LIO.  Do any of you have any comments on that contract  and how it's working right now? Apparently, there's no  objection at all. So, yes, go ahead.  REPRESENTATIVE JOHNSON: I should have looked a little  closer at that, but I don't have any objections. My  understanding was that the Mat-Su Central School was going to  purchase the building, but I'm not sure if that's what  happened. I'm a little bit behind on this one, but so far  everything else has been okay.  CHAIR STEVENS: Okay. Thank you very much,  Representative Johnson.  JC, can you help us understand that the purchase  was actually Dr. Tony Nimeh in that area who purchased it?  MR. KESTEL: Chair Stevens, yes, that is correct. When  I first took over as procurement officer for the Legislative  Affairs Agency, if I'm not mistaken, there was some news that  the Wasilla or Mat-Su School District was trying to purchase  that building, but was unable to obtain it.  CHAIR STEVENS: Okay. Well, good. Well, thank you, JC.  Any other questions or comments on the Mat-Su  office space?  And no legal issues? Emily Nauman, are you with  us?  MS. NAUMAN: Senator Stevens, yes, I'm here.  CHAIR STEVENS: Thank you, Emily. Do you have any  comments on this? Any concerns about the lease changes?  MS. NAUMAN: No.  CHAIR STEVENS: Okay. Great. Well, thank you so much.  Well, then if there's no further comments, I'll remove my  objection.  Jessica, would you do a roll call, please.  MS. GEARY: Senator Begich?  SENATOR BEGICH: Yes.  MS. GEARY: Senator Coghill?  SENATOR COGHILL: Yes.  MS. GEARY: Senate President Giessel?  PRESIDENT GIESSEL: Yes.  MS. GEARY: Senator Hoffman?  SENATOR HOFFMAN: Yes.  MS. GEARY: Senator Stedman?  SENATOR STEDMAN: Yes.  MS. GEARY: Senator von Imhof?  SENATOR VON IMHOF: Yes.  MS. GEARY: Speaker Edgmon?  SPEAKER EDGMON: Yes.  MS. GEARY: Representative Foster?  REPRESENTATIVE FOSTER: Yes.  MS. GEARY: Representative DeLena Johnson?  REPRESENTATIVE JOHNSON: Yes.  MS. GEARY: Representative Johnston?  REPRESENTATIVE JOHNSTON: Yes.  MS. GEARY: Representative Kopp?  REPRESENTATIVE KOPP: Yes.  MS. GEARY: Representative Thompson?  REPRESENTATIVE THOMPSON: Yes.  MS. GEARY: Vice-Chair Stutes?  VICE-CHAIR STUTES: Yes.  MS. GEARY: Chair Stevens?  CHAIR STEVENS: Yes.    MS. GEARY: 14 yeas, 0 nays.  CHAIR STEVENS: Thank you all very much. That motion  passes 14 to 0.    IV. CONTRACT APPROVALS/UPDATE - EXECUTIVE SESSION    A. RFP 642 ALASKA STATE CAPITOL COVID-19-RELATED SERVICES    SENATOR STEVENS: The next issue is our executive  session. I know it's a little difficult when we're all  online like this, but we're going to discuss the RFP 642 and  also receive an update by Representative Josephson on the  Department of Law spending on the Janus lawsuit.  Representative Stutes, could we have a motion for  Executive Session.    11:12:04 AM  VICE-CHAIR STUTES: Certainly Mr. Chair. I move that  Legislative Council go into executive session under Uniform  Rule 22(b)(1) and (3), discussion of matters, the immediate  knowledge of which would adversely affect the finances of a  government unit and discussion of a matter that may, by law,  be required to be confidential.  The following individuals can remain online:  Jessica Geary, JC Kestel, Megan Wallace, Emily Nauman, and  any legislators not on Leg Council and any staff of Leg  Council members.  CHAIR STEVENS: Thank you for that motion,  Representative Stutes. A little complicated here now. We'll  go ahead and arrange this executive session, and when we hear  from Jessica that we are ready, we'll continue with the  agenda then. If you'd all hang on for a few seconds.  Council went into Executive Session at 11:12am.    12:45:30 PM   Council came out of Executive Session at 12:45pm.    A roll call vote was requested.    MS. GEARY: Senator Begich?  SENATOR BEGICH: Here.  MS. GEARY: Senator Coghill?  SENATOR COGHILL: Here.  MS. GEARY: Senate President Giessel?  PRESIDENT GIESSEL: Here.  MS. GEARY: Senator Hoffman?  Senator Stedman?  SENATOR STEDMAN: Here.  MS. GEARY: Senator von Imhof?  Speaker Edgmon?  SPEAKER EDGMON: Here.  MS. GEARY: Representative Foster?  Representative DeLena Johnson?  Representative Johnston?  REPRESENTATIVE JOHNSTON: Here.  MS. GEARY: Representative Kopp?  REPRESENTATIVE KOPP: Here.  MS. GEARY: Representative Thompson?  REPRESENTATIVE THOMPSON: Here.  MS. GEARY: Vice-Chair Stutes?  VICE-CHAIR STUTES: Here.  MS. GEARY: Chair Stevens?  CHAIR STEVENS: Here.  MS. GEARY: Senator Hoffman?  SENATOR HOFFMAN: Here.  MS. GEARY: Senator von Imhof?  Representative Foster?  Representative Johnson?  We have 11 members present.    CHAIR STEVENS: Great. Thank you very much, Jessica.  So we're going to deal now, back in session, with  the RFP but also with the motion on the Janus issue. So we  have a quorum ready to go back.  Representative Stutes, if we could have a motion  on the RFP.    12:47:07 PM  VICE-CHAIR STUTES: Certainly, Mr. Chair. I move that  Legislative Council approve the contract award of RFP 642 to  Beacon Occupational Health and Safety Services for a total  not to exceed $1.5 million.  CHAIR STEVENS: Thank you. And I'll object for purposes  of the discussion and ask JC to give us an explanation for  the record.  MR. KESTEL: Thank you, Chair Stevens. For the record,  my name is JC Kestel, procurement officer for the Legislative  Affairs Agency and the procurement manager for RFP 642.  At the request of legislative leadership, the  Legislative Affairs Agency issued a Request for Proposal 642  on October 30, 2020, to solicit proposals for contractors to  provide COVID-19-related safety services at the Capitol.  RFP 642 closed November 9, 2020, and two proposals  were received: from Capstone Clinics and from Beacon  Occupational Health and Safety Services.  The agency has estimated the expenses for the  contract resulting from RFP 642 may total $1.5 million for  the upcoming legislative session. The PEC had recommended  the award of the contract to Beacon Occupational Health and  Safety Services, that they were considered most advantageous  to the agency.  The agency is requesting Legislative Council to  approve the contract for RFP 642 to Beacon Occupational  Health and Safety Services for a total to not exceed  $1.5 million.  Thank you, Chair Stevens.  CHAIR STEVENS: Thank you, JC, I appreciate that.  Again, I want to thank those who are on that Proposal  Evaluation Committee for all the work they put into it.  We have before you a motion to award this RFP. Is  there any discussion at this time?  Very well. Then I will remove my objection and  ask Jessica for a roll call please.  MS. GEARY: Senator Begich?  SENATOR BEGICH: Yes.  MS. GEARY: Senator Coghill?  SENATOR COGHILL: Yes.  MS. GEARY: Senate President Giessel?  PRESIDENT GIESSEL: Yes.  MS. GEARY: Senator Hoffman?  SENATOR HOFFMAN: Yes.  MS. GEARY: Senator Stedman?  SENATOR STEDMAN: Yes.  MS. GEARY: Senator von Imhof?  Speaker Edgmon?  SPEAKER EDGMON: Yes.  MS. GEARY: Representative Foster?  Representative Johnson?  Representative Johnston?  REPRESENTATIVE JOHNSTON: Yes.  MS. GEARY: Representative Kopp?  REPRESENTATIVE KOPP: Yes.  MS. GEARY: Representative Thompson?  REPRESENTATIVE THOMPSON: Yes.  MS. GEARY: Vice-Chair Stutes?  VICE-CHAIR STUTES: Yes.  MS. GEARY: Chair Stevens?  CHAIR STEVENS: Yes.    MS. GEARY: 11 yeas, 0 nays.  CHAIR STEVENS: Thank you. The motion passes by 11  votes.    B. DEPT. OF LAW SPENDING ON CONTRACT RE: JANUS REPRESENTATIVE  JOSEPHSON    SENATOR STEVENS: We will move on to the next issue that  we have discussed.  Representative Stutes.  12:50:19 PM  VICE-CHAIR STUTES: Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that  Leg Council write a letter to the governor in regard to state  spending related to the Janice lawsuit.  CHAIR STEVENS: Thank you.  And I will object for purposes of discussion and  open this up to any discussion. Any comments anyone care to  make at this time?  Megan Wallace, would you have some thoughts on  that letter?  MS. WALLACE: Yes, Mr. Chairman. For the record, Megan  Wallace, legal services director.  As agreed by the council, I will work to draft a  letter to be sent to the governor on these issues, that  hopefully we can get some resolution on, to the council's  satisfaction.  SENATOR BEGICH: Mr. Chairman.  CHAIR STEVENS: Yes, go ahead, Senator Begich.  SENATOR BEGICH: Yes, I would like to just make it a  point for the public record that it is critical for us to  continue to work to ensure that there are three co-equal  branches of government in this state and that each of those  branches respects the will and authority of the others, and  that this action, this letter, provides us the opportunity to  reinforce the incredibly important appropriation role of the  Legislature in a way that is non-prescriptive, but is  certainly descriptive of our power.  And with that, I just wanted to be sure that that  was on record that it is important that all three branches be  treated equally and that this letter is our effort to ensure  that our branch continues to be treated as a co-equal branch  of government.  CHAIR STEVENS: Thank you, Senator Begich.  Representative Josephson, I certainly appreciate  you bringing this issue to the Legislative Council and for  your work on this in the past. Do you have any comments or  thoughts you'd care to share with us at this time?  REPRESENTATIVE JOSEPHSON: Well, yes, just that I'm very  proud to be a legislator today and very grateful and proud of  your membership.  CHAIR STEVENS: Thank you, Representative Josephson.  Any further comments anyone cares to make at this  point?  (Indiscernible - simultaneous speech.)  CHAIR STEVENS: I'm sorry, a couple of voices. I didn't  hear them. Try again. Senator Coghill?  SENATOR COGHILL: Yes, Senator Coghill.  CHAIR STEVENS: Please go ahead.  SENATOR COGHILL: I appreciate the motion, but it  highlights just the Janus issue instead of the authority  issue. Should we make the motion with regard to legislative  appropriation authority?  CHAIR STEVENS: I think we will do that. That was the  intention certainly, so I think we can add to that and  include that as well.  SENATOR COGHILL: Thank you.  REPRESENTATIVE THOMPSON: This is Representative  Thompson.  CHAIR STEVENS: Representative Thompson, please, go  ahead.  REPRESENTATIVE THOMPSON: I just wanted to ask the  question, once the draft is put together, are we going to  have it sent to us so we can take a look at it before it's  mailed to the governor?  CHAIR STEVENS: Yes, that's a very good idea. We will  do that.  REPRESENTATIVE THOMPSON: Thank you.  CHAIR STEVENS: So before we send it out, we'll send a  draft of the letter to members of the Legislative Council.  Any further comments?  Then I will remove my objection and ask Jessica to  take a roll call.  MS. GEARY: Thank you, Chair Stevens. Was the motion  going to be amended?  CHAIR STEVENS: Yes, just read the question exactly that  was asked just by Representative Stutes right now. So maybe  are you ready for an amendment?  VICE-CHAIR STUTES: I am ready.  CHAIR STEVENS: Okay. I'd ask for an amendment,  Representative Stutes.  VICE-CHAIR STUTES: So I would say I move Legislative  Council write a letter to the governor in regards to state  spending related to the Janus lawsuit and their authority to  do so.  Is that what you wanted, Senator Coghill, and  their authority --  SENATOR COGHILL: Yes, I think that's --  VICE-CHAIR STUTES: -- and spending those funds?  CHAIR STEVENS: Okay. Thank you, Senator Coghill. That  will work.  VICE-CHAIR STUTES: Okay.  CHAIR STEVENS: That sounds good. So we have an  amendment before us. So let's vote on that before we go to  the main motion.  Could we have roll call, please, on the amendment?  MS. GEARY: Senator Begich?  SENATOR BEGICH: Yes.  MS. GEARY: Senator Coghill?  SENATOR COGHILL: Yes.  MS. GEARY: Senate President Giessel?  PRESIDENT GIESSEL: Yes.  MS. GEARY: Senator Hoffman?  SENATOR HOFFMAN: Yes.  MS. GEARY: Senator Stedman?  Senator von Imhof?  SPEAKER EDGMON: Yes.  MS. GEARY: Representative Foster?  Representative Johnson?  Representative Johnston?  Representative Kopp?  REPRESENTATIVE KOPP: Yes.  MS. GEARY: Representative Thompson?  REPRESENTATIVE THOMPSON: Yes.  MS. GEARY: Vice-Chair Stutes?  VICE-CHAIR STUTES: Yes.  MS. GEARY: Chair Stevens?  CHAIR STEVENS: Yes.    MS. GEARY: That was 9 yeas, 0 nays.  CHAIR STEVENS: The motion passes with 9 yeas; that's  the amendment to the motion.  So we have before us the amended motion. Maybe  you could read that again, Representative Stutes, just so  everyone knows what they're voting on.  VICE-CHAIR STUTES: Certainly, Mr. Chair. I move Leg  Council write a letter to the governor in regard to state  spending related to the Janus case and their authority to be  doing so.  CHAIR STEVENS: Okay. So that's the motion as amended.  Any discussion on that? Then how about a roll call vote,  Jessica, on that motion.  MS. GEARY: Senator Begich?  SENATOR BEGICH: Yes.  MS. GEARY: Senator Coghill?  SENATOR COGHILL: Yes.  MS. GEARY: Senate President Giessel?  PRESIDENT GIESSEL: Yes.  MS. GEARY: Senator Hoffman?  SENATOR HOFFMAN: Yes.  MS. GEARY: Senator Stedman?  SENATOR STEDMAN: Yes.  MS. GEARY: Senator von Imhof?  Speaker Edgmon?  SPEAKER EDGMON: Yes.  MS. GEARY: Representative Foster?  Representative Johnson?  Representative Johnston?  REPRESENTATIVE JOHNSTON: Yes. And I'm yes on the other  one. I got disconnected.  MS. GEARY: Okay. Thank you for that.  Representative Kopp?  REPRESENTATIVE KOPP: Yes.  MS. GEARY: Representative Thompson?  REPRESENTATIVE THOMPSON: Yes.  MS. GEARY: Vice-Chair Stutes?  VICE-CHAIR STUTES: Yes.  MS. GEARY: Chair Stevens?  CHAIR STEVENS: Yes.    MS. GEARY: So that's 11 yeas, 0 nays.  CHAIR STEVENS: Thank you. By 11 yeas. And then, in  addition, the amendment had 10 yeas, I believe.  MS. GEARY: Yes, that's correct.    V. ADJOURN    CHAIR STEVENS: Okay. Well, thanks so much everyone, on  the day before Thanksgiving, being with us, much bigger  agenda than I had hoped for. And I wish you all have a  wonderful Thanksgiving dinner, and we are adjourned. Thank  you. Meeting adjourned at 12:58pm.    12:58:28 PM