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SHALLOW NATURAL GAS BILLS PASS HOUSE
HB 364 was the first shallow natural gas (SNG) bill to pass the House on Friday, April 30th. This is the bill I sponsored originally as a buy-back
of the Homer leases. I modified the bill to cause termination of the leases after their first 3-year term when the buy back had no traction for
movement. I was finally able to get the bill moved through it’s three committee assignments and onto the House floor. A floor amendment was
offered to convert this bill to a buy-back for all SNG leases in the Mat-Su and Homer. I argued against this amendment because the huge,
unknown fiscal note would have effectively ‘killed’ the bill. For example, SB 250 is still a buy-back bill and is still stuck in its first Committee of
referral. SB 250 has not even received a public hearing in the Senate. We passed SSHB 364 by a vote of 33 yeas and three nays with four
members not present. HB 364 was then transmitted to the Senate where it was assigned to be heard in State Affairs and then the Resources
Committee. I am sure we will get an early hearing in Senate State Affairs since our Senator Gary Stevens chairs that Committee. I am a
cosponsor of HB 395, which passed the House unanimously on Friday, April 30th. The bill was amended on the House floor to include
protections for public access to recreational waters. HB 395 codifies significant increased protections for water quality/quantity, public notice,
bonding, and public complaint resolution. The provisions of this bill that apply to exploration and production activities will apply to the currently
issued leases. HB 395 also repeals the Deputy Commissioner of DNR’s override authority of local ordinances. HB 531 was the third SNG bill
to pass the House last Friday. One amendment offered on the House floor would have given a surface property owner the absolute ability to
prevent a natural gas operator from using their surface estate. It also would have made the state a party to every surface use agreement and
required payments for loss of enjoyment; that amendment failed. A second amendment was passed that applies the provisions of HB 531 to any
SNG lease applications that have currently been entered but are not yet approved. This second amendment effectively denies those applications
that have not yet been issued leases. Also passed was a third amendment stating that only the mineral leaseholder can obtain an exploration
license or non-conventional gas lease for lands under their mineral lease. HB 531 eliminates the SNG lease program of much controversy and
replaces it with a “gas-only” leasing program that requires a best-interest-finding, increased public notice and a public comment review process.
HB 531 also repeals the deputy Commissioner of DNR’s override authority of local ordinances. We also incorporated the discretionary
extension language from HB 364 for non-productive SNG leases such as those in the Homer area. SB 312 was heard in the Senate Resources
Committee on Friday, but was not moved. SB 312 is the companion bill to HB 531. The Division of Oil and Gas gave a presentation to the
Committee on their draft enforceable regulations for coal bed methane developments in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough.
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 28
HCR 28, the resolution I sponsored at the request of the Joint Legislative Salmon Industry Task Force, passed the House unanimously on
Wednesday, April 28th. This resolution now awaits a hearing in the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee. HCR 28 asks the University of
Alaska to continue studying the effects of salmon harvesting cooperatives such as the one authorized in Chignik, and to expand their research to
cover the broader effects on coastal communities, derivative industries and the processing sector. This information is necessary for the state in
making policy decisions with respect to the controversial salmon harvesting cooperatives.
WINDING DOWN, HEATING UP
The House is still working on additional pieces of the fiscal solution. However, the keystone elements of the plan have been passed out of the
House and are now in the Senate. If the Senate cannot agree to place POMV and the Spending Cap Constitutional Amendments before the
voters, we are looking at another drastic clash in the current budget. Anticipating that the Senate will come through, we are investigating bond
packages for roads/harbors and school maintenance. The POMV or other very significant revenue measures would be necessary to provide the
state the long-term ability to pay off the bonds. If the Senate does not put the amendments to the voters, the Governor has indicated he will need
to veto many things, including any bond packages. Let us all hope that does not happen, but it is out of the House’s control. The House passed,
with my support, the Certificate of Need bill (HB 511) requiring determination of need in a particular locale/area before certain medical care
facilities, including diagnostic imaging centers and residential psychiatric facilities over one million dollars are allowed to be constructed. This
prevents overbuilding of duplicate facilities and protects local hospitals but does not affect doctor’s offices. We did not pass HB 472, which is
generally referred to as the medical malpractice bill. In the form presented on the House floor, HB 472 would have drastically reduced the
amount of non-economic damages an injured patient could have been awarded by the courts. Under current law, an award is capped at
$400,000 or $8,000 times the life expectancy of the injured patient in cases that are not flagrant, and $1,000,000 or $25,000 times their life
expectancy for severe disfigurement or disablement. This creates uncertainty as to the allowable award limits, as a long life expectancy could
more than double the amount. This was a concern of the insurance providers, although there have only been two cases in Alaskan history where
more than two million dollars were awarded. HB 472 attempted to lower the total allowable award to $250,000, which many of us thought was
too low as a lifetime maximum. So we amended the bill to create hard limits of $400,000 and $1,000,000. This lessoned the highest potential
claims by over 50% and eliminated the uncertainty for actuarial calculation. This was a balance between ‘relief’ for medical providers and
maintaining adequate compensation for constituents who may be severely injured by insured medical errors. However, before the final vote was
to be taken, I offered an amendment to incorporate the amounts into the bill’s title. Since this was a House bill, the Senate could only change the
allowable award amounts by also changing the title, which takes a 2/3 vote as opposed to the usual simple majority. The bill was withdrawn and
sent back to the Rules Committee, as the sponsors of the bill were unwilling to agree to that condition. The other contentious topic has been
casino gambling. HB 552 would create a single casino in any municipality with a population over 150,000 [which currently only applies to
Anchorage] as well as a gaming commission to regulate the industry. After much debate and maneuvering, the vote was 20 yeas to 18 nays. It
takes 21 votes to pass any measure, so it was a very close vote. One legislator changed their vote and tied it at 19–19. Two members were
absent who will be back on May 3rd when the bill comes up for a reconsideration vote. I have long indicated that I would support a statewide
lottery but oppose video poker and casino style gaming, so I was one of the ‘no’ votes. As we come to the end of the Twenty-third Alaska State
Legislature, we are definitely picking up the pace. This upcoming week is the final full week of the legislative session, which is scheduled to
adjourn on May 11th. We are meeting on the House floor almost everyday, and sometimes go late into the night. During breaks from floor
session we meet in Committees, which are scheduled to conclude by May 5th. There are many important pieces of legislation that still need to be
considered before the end of the session. Last week we implemented the 24-hour rule, meaning that Committees only have to notice a meeting
24-hours prior to when they plan to hear a bill, rather than the 5-day notice that is required the rest of the session.
MEDICAID SUPPLEMENTAL BUDGET
There has been a lot of concern lately in regards to the lack of Medicaid funding for long-term care, nursing homes and assisted living centers.
Without these funds, the affected care centers are not able to continue paying employees or caring for their patients. The needed funds were tied
up between the legislature and the Governor’s Office. The administration is again making payments with assurance from the House and Senate
leadership that the money will be approved in the supplemental budget.
HOMER AREA ROAD PROJECTS
I have been working to ensure that dust control abatement is scheduled again this year in the Homer Area. Streets most affected by heavy dust
conditions are Skyline Dive, Diamond Ridge, Mission, Greer, McClay and a short stretch of the North Fork. In years past, the Alaska
Department of Transportation (DOT) had planned to include many of the above listed roads in the gravel to black program; meaning those roads
would be paved in the near future. The program is highly political, often depending on which roads the Governor or the Commissioner of DOT
find most important. In recent discussions with DOT’s Deputy Commissioner, we have commitments to have Diamond Ridge and Skyline East
scheduled to go out to bid for paving next year. In the meantime, application of calcium chloride is necessary to control the excessive amounts of
dust on the Homer Area roads. This situation came to a head last year when DOT was not able to afford calcium chloride applications early in
the summer. My office worked hard with DOT and we were finally to find the funds in their year-end budget to apply calcium chloride in the most
needed areas. This year, DOT has assured me that the calcium chloride will be in place by late May or the first week of June. We are very
pleased with these recent developments. DOT has been very helpful. The Bartlett/Hohe Street rehabilitation project is another important project
that has been delayed for several years. Though it has been a long time coming, the Bartlett/Hohe project is going to bid early this month. As you
know, the large potholes create a severe safety issue for ambulances going to the hospital. The project has been delayed due to many plan
changes in order to accommodate sewer lines, drainage, utilities and cable lines. In recent conversations with DOT Deputy Commissioner John
Mackinnon, we were able to shed some light on the delays, subsequently moving the project to bid. DOT is optimistic the project will enter the
construction phase by late this summer. Special thanks to: Borough Assembly member Millie Martin, Homer City Manager Walt Wrede and the
other constituents who have worked diligently to help resolve our Homer area road issues.
STATE AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
The following bills all passed from the State Affairs Committee last week. SB 227 allows referendum and initiative petition elections to fall onto
the annual municipal October ballot. SB 227 is the companion bill to HB 322, a bill I introduced for the Municipal Clerks, which aims to save
money for local boroughs and municipalities. Currently, law for initiatives and referendums states that local boroughs and municipalities must hold
a special election within 90 days of receiving the petition. In some situations local governments have held upwards of five elections. This bill was
amended in the Senate by Senator Ben Stevens to override Anchorage’s election law. I don’t support overriding local control and I expect we
will vote on an amendment to address the issue with Anchorage’s election law when the bill goes to the floor. HB 327 allows the Dept. of
Transportation (DOT) to plan and construct projects without requiring them to conduct a full cost-benefits study. Recent litigation stalled an
important project in Western Alaska. The bill helps similar projects to go through without having a large constituency to support them.
Otherwise, only large population base cities such as Anchorage and Fairbanks, would ever benefit from capital projects funded and constructed
through DOT. HB 40 establishes who may be eligible to receive a state identification card or driver’s license. Individuals would have to prove
U.S. Citizenship or legal status before getting an Alaska diver’s license. Under HB 40, foreign workers with green cards or lawfully admitted
immigrants would be allowed to apply for a state ID card. HB 536 allows people serving in the military receiving hazard pay to apply for back
dividends (2003 and 2004 only). The bill attempts to address individuals who might not have applied because they were on active duty. The act
would become effective on passage of the bill and a limited amount of time would be allowed for active duty military to apply for those back
dividends. HB 461 allows local municipalities to charge for the full cost of 911 emergency services. Current law only allows local municipalities
to charge $.75 per phone line per month, which prevents them from recovering the costs incurred from labor and system upgrades. This lack of
funding has limited new, enhanced 911 technologies from being implemented. SJR 24 recommends that certain federal funding restrictions be
eased so that more villages in Alaska would qualify for assistance relating to flooding and erosion. HB 523 is the state’s omnibus elections bill
updating the entire elections statutes to conform to new technology and new federal laws. HB 523 had seven committee hearings, and
incorporates more than 30 amendments. The bill that passed from the State Affairs Committee greatly improves the details of the election
process. The Committee has only been hearing bills that seem to have a good chance of passing both the Senate and the House. The State
Affairs Committee is attempting to wrap-up its work this week.
HESS COMMITTEE
The House Health Education and Social Services Committee met and passed the following bills on April 27th. SB 179 allows teacher’s whose
fingerprints are not readable to still receive their teaching certification if they pass a criminal background check. SB 274 establishes the housing
assistance loan program through the Alaska Finance Housing Corporation. This is a much more flexible program than what is allowed under the
current teacher housing loan program. More people should be able to utilize this program to finance small community housing and multi-family
units. HB 72 adds an additional student member to the University of Alaska’s Board of Regents. Under this law, two students will serve
staggered two-year terms. For the first year one student will learn from the existing student appointee, then the second student will take over for
the prior regent, thus ensuring that the student regent is familiar and knowledgeable about the Board’s practices. HB 84, the bill I previously
amended in the Education Committee relating to establishing an Alaska History Curriculum in high schools also moved from Committee. HB 535
is a cost containment tool for the Dept. of Health and Social Services to utilize when the cost of the mental health treatment assistance program
grows to large. We also heard and held: HB 186, licensing of radiologic technicians; HB 239, ID Systems for prescriptions; HB 502, dispensing
opticians board and regulation; and finally we again heard and held HB 434, natropathic medicine.
BILL ACCESS SYSTEM
All bills can be found on the State’s BASIS system. You can
see what committee a bill is in, when it will be heard, how
committee members voted, and much more. You can access the
system from the website below:
LIVE ON THE WEB
Remember that you can hear most committee hearings or tune into just about any legislative session, present or past, by going to Gavel to Gavel, which transmits TV and public radio broadcasts of the state legislature as they occur. Gavel to Gavel also has an online archive of past meetings. Click on the link below to connect to Gavel to Gavel:
If you need to contact the staff please click on one of the links below:
Lauren Radcliffe,
Cameron Yourkowski,
Chris Knight,
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