SENATE TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE February 17, 1998 1:30 p.m. MEMBERS PRESENT Senator Jerry Ward, Chairman Senator Gary Wilken, Vice Chair Senator Lyda Green Senator Rick Halford Senator Georgianna Lincoln MEMBERS ABSENT None COMMITTEE CALENDAR SENATE BILL NO. 259 "An Act relating to the membership of and the state's participation in a metropolitan highway planning organization." MOVED CSSB 259(TRA) OUT OF COMMITTEE PREVIOUS SENATE ACTION SB 259 - No previous action to report. WITNESS REGISTER Senator Dave Donley Alaska State Capitol Juneau, Alaska 99801-1182 POSITION STATEMENT: Sponsor of SB 259 Thomas B. Brigham Director, Division of Statewide Planning Department of Transportation & Public Facilities 3132 Channel Drive Juneau, Alaska 99801-7898 POSITION STATEMENT: Commented on SB 259 ACTION NARRATIVE TAPE 98-2, SIDE A CHAIRMAN WARD called the Senate Transportation Committee meeting to order at 1:32 p.m. Present were Senators Ward, Wilken, Halford and Lincoln. The committee took up SB 259. SB 259 - METROPOLITAN PLANNING AUTHORITY CHAIRMAN WARD informed committee members a proposed committee substitute was prepared to correct a drafting error. SENATOR WILKEN moved to adopt CSSB 259(TRA). SENATOR LINCOLN asked for an explanation of the changes made in the committee substitute. SENATOR DAVE DONLEY, sponsor of SB 259, described the changes to the committee substitute as follows: the two legislative members will be voting members of AMATS; the Governor will appoint one member to AMATS; and the section that dictated how the Assembly representatives would be chosen was deleted. SENATOR LINCOLN asked where the deleted section was located in the original bill. SENATOR DONLEY said it was on page 1, lines 9-12. SENATOR LINCOLN withdrew her objection. CHAIRMAN WARD announced CSSB 259(TRA) was adopted by the committee. CHAIRMAN WARD noted Senator Green arrived at 9:34 a.m. SENATOR DONLEY gave the following overview of CSSB 259(TRA). According to federal highway funding regulations, communities with a population of over 50,000 must form a metropolitan planning organization to qualify for federal highway funds. Anchorage is the only community in Alaska that is subject to this requirement. The Mayor of Anchorage and the Governor have signed an agreement creating the Anchorage Metropolitan Area Transportation Study Group (AMATS). According to that agreement, the membership consists of the Mayor, two people from the Anchorage Assembly who are chosen by the Mayor, and two people appointed by the Governor, including one from the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and one from the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (DOTPF). The only elected public officials who have no input into AMATS' work are legislators. AMATS holds public hearings, prioritizes all transportation projects within the Anchorage area, and submits the priority list to the Legislature for funding. While the Legislature does not have to fund everything on the list, it cannot add new projects to the list because those projects were not subject to AMATS' review as required by ISTEA. The Anchorage Caucus is asking the Legislature to place, in statute, guidelines for membership of the AMATS committee, and require one House and one Senate member. SENATOR WILKEN asked if the total membership of six members, three state and three city members, will create a problem with tie votes. SENATOR DONLEY thought the probability that the committee would lock up on issues is unlikely. There will be a great diversity of interests involved and he felt it is important to have a balance between state and local interests. SENATOR WILKEN asked if CSSB 259(TRA) will have any statewide implications at all. SENATOR DONLEY could not think of any and explained the bill does not affect the dollar amount in the state budget for roads, or for any regional area for roads. SENATOR WILKEN questioned whether any other board or commission might be affected by CSSB 259(TRA). SENATOR DONLEY said no. SENATOR LINCOLN asked why a majority of both the House and Senate have to select the member instead of having the members appointed by the Senate President and Speaker of the House. SENATOR DONLEY clarified the selection would be made by the majority of members of the districts that are within the metropolitan area of AMATS. He noted the two legislative members could be appointed by the Speaker and President, but he thought a collective vote by members of that area would be reasonable. SENATOR LINCOLN questioned why the legislation is so specific when the matter is not up to the entire Legislature to designate the members. SENATOR DONLEY answered that the legislative members would be chosen by the legislators who are from the AMATS area. SENATOR LINCOLN asked if the entire Anchorage caucus requested the bill. SENATOR DONLEY indicated there were two dissenting votes out of 26. SENATOR LINCOLN asked the reasons for the dissenting votes. SENATOR DONLEY replied one voter felt the legislative members should be non-voting members. CHAIRMAN WARD added that was the reason for both dissenting votes. Number 176 SENATOR HALFORD asked if Fairbanks might have a metropolitan planning organization soon, and questioned whether the population is determined separately for the city and the borough. SENATOR WILKEN replied the city's population is about 28,000. SENATOR DONLEY thought Fairbanks' population would be large enough if it had a unified form of government. SENATOR HALFORD pointed out the borough population includes the city population. SENATOR DONLEY said for some reason, it is considered separate by the federal agency. CHAIRMAN WARD noted Fairbanks would have to vote on unification and form one charter. SENATOR LINCOLN asked if the Municipality of Anchorage (MOA) is in favor of SB 259. SENATOR DONLEY indicated he wrote to both the Mayor and the Governor after the Anchorage Caucus voted, almost two months ago, but he has not received a response from either. The Anchorage Assembly expressed some concern that if the number of the Governor's appointees was not reduced, the state would have too many votes and the representation would be imbalanced. The Anchorage Caucus' intent was to give some elected state level representatives the opportunity to participate in the process, not to overpower the municipality. To accommodate the MOA's concern, the number of the Governor's appointments was reduced. He added the Honolulu metropolitan planning organization consists of six legislators, five city council members, and an appointee of the Governor and an appointee of the Mayor. SENATOR HALFORD commented that after having watched AMATS operate for years, he does not believe it works well and therefore feels no obligation to follow its priorities and funding requests. He believed his attitude toward AMATS would change if the composition of its membership changes. TOM BRIGHAM, Director of Statewide Planning with DOTPF, made the following comments about DOTPF's concerns. AMATS' structure was formed as the result of an agreement between the Mayor and the Governor twenty years ago. Both have to agree to any changes in the way AMATS is structured. He questioned what will happen if CSSB 259(TRA) is enacted and the MOA does not agree with the new membership. AMATS could meet without state membership, because CSSB 259(TRA) would prevent state participation if AMATS is not structured with the three representatives of the state. DOTPF has received no indication from the MOA that it is enamored of this legislation, possibly because at present, the MOA can out vote the state. The MOA now has three votes, the state has two; DOTPF and DEC. CSSB 259(TRA) would place the MOA in a tie position with the state. CHAIRMAN WARD asked Mr. Brigham's opinion of putting legislators on AMATS. MR. BRIGHAM said DOTPF is not opposed to having legislators on AMATS, per se. Its concern is with the mechanics of AMATS. So far the working relationship between the state and the MOA has been a good one. Both factions have been struggling with federal rules and regulations that have slowed the process down and have created frustration on the part of many Anchorage legislators and DOTPF staff. Restructuring a group that has worked well on a bipartisan basis for 20 years creates the risk of upsetting the apple cart. MR. BRIGHAM added that if one assumes the MOA decides to increase its membership on AMATS by one, since the state's membership will be increased by that amount, a sticky situation could result since the MOA is currently in a dispute about how the Assembly people are appointed to AMATS. Number 304 CHAIRMAN WARD indicated that he recently spoke to Chairman Begich of the local assembly and to the Mayor, and neither one voiced a concern. SENATOR DONLEY thought Mr. Brigham's point was valid. He offered to redraft lines 6-9 on page 1 to specifically say the municipal planning organizations in Alaska would consist of six members, three from the state and three from the local government, and to set out who will comprise the state membership. CHAIRMAN WARD concurred with Senator Halford's remark that AMATS has not worked for 20 years, but many legislators are concerned about how it operates. He asked Senator Donley to offer a redrafted section to the committee at this time, since this issue is important to Anchorage. He announced the committee would take a brief at-ease. CHAIRMAN WARD called the Senate Transportation Committee back to order and announced a proposed amendment to CSSB 259(TRA) had been prepared. SENATOR DONLEY explained the proposed language would be inserted on page 1, line 6, after the word "state," and would replace the existing language through line 9. The amendment read as follows: "...metropolitan highway planning organizations designated or redesignated under 23 U.S.C. 134 or metropolitan planning organizations organized under 23 U.S.C. 134 shall consist of six members. Three members shall be designated by the municipal government. Three members shall be designated as follows:". Number 332 SENATOR WILKEN moved to adopt the proposed amendment submitted by Senator Donley. There being no objection, the motion carried. MR. BRIGHAM discussed DOTPF's second concern. Anchorage is currently designated as a moderate non-attainment area for carbon monoxide by EPA. It is about to be designated a serious non- attainment area. One of the effects of the bill will be to pull DEC's representative off of AMATS. He respectfully advised against doing so. SENATOR HALFORD maintained DEC has had a representative on AMATS for 20 years and it obviously has not done any good. CHAIRMAN WARD advised DEC will still be able to have input on AMATS. SENATOR DONLEY thought DEC should be involved in the process and can hopefully coordinate with DOTPF. Traditionally one of the Assembly members is also supposed to be representing air quality concerns. He added he asked the Federal Highway Administration (FHA) if the lack of DEC representation would create a problem at the federal level. The FHA thought DEC's input on AMATS would be beneficial but is not required. Number 362 There being no further discussion on CSSB 259(TRA), SENATOR HALFORD moved the bill out of committee with individual recommendations and its accompanying zero fiscal note. There being no objection, the motion carried. CHAIRMAN WARD adjourned the meeting at 2:00 p.m.