Bills move closer to passage in Juneau

Last week was a dead one for legislators meeting in the state capital for the 2018 legislative session.

Agendas for House and Senate floor action were relatively light, although some legislative committees worked on bills. The big issues needing resolution, mainly a bill for a “structured” draw on Permanent Fund earnings for the budget, were discussed behind closed doors.

However, a House-Senate conference committee dealing with the structured draw, in Senate Bill 26, met Saturday afternoon, so there may yet be progress.

It’s unusual for the Legislature to grapple with big, tough issues like the Permanent Fund up until the last minute, and for legislative sessions to drag on in limbo while back-room negotiations are underway.

If the Legislature does come to agreement on SB 26 it will be a historic achievement, a major shift to diversify the state’s revenue away from oil and gas to income from investments of past oil and gas income.

One issue being worked on in the back room is a series of changes in criminal law including repeals of parts of SB 91, a controversial crime reform bill passed by the Legislature three years ago. That bill has was modified by another bill the following year, SB 54, but legislators are still feeling heat from constituents demanding more aggressive changes due to rising crime.

It’s late in the session, however, so the changes will probably emerge in the Senate through amendments tacked on to a bill already passed by the House.

Another important bill that has become controversial is HB 331, the governor’s proposal to fund about $900 million in unpaid tax credits owed to small oil and gas explorers through a bond mechanism, is in the House Finance committee where hearings are underway.

Few legislators disagree with the idea of funding this liability, which has become a stain on the state’s reputation, but there are disagreements over technical aspects of the proposed bonding mechanism.

Meanwhile, despite the inaction so far on major fiscal issues there has been progress on a number of other important bills, particularly regarding health care.

Two measures on the verge of final passage are HB 123 — on medical pricing “transparency” for consumers — is in the Senate Rules Committee awaiting placement on the Senate’s schedule for final action in that body. The bill has already passed the House.

The primary sponsor of HB 123 is Rep. Ivy Sphonholtz, (D-Anchorage), although there is a large group of cosponsors including Republicans and Democrats in both the House and Senate.

Another bill is Sen. Shelly Hughes’ SB 119 (R-Palmer), which is now in the Senate Finance Committee. It has price transparency provisions similar to Spoholhtz’ bill but goes further to include provisions dealing with pharmaceutical costs that were originally proposed by Sen. Bill Wielechowski, (D-Anchorage) and added to Hughes’ bill.

Another section of Hughes’ bill encourages consumers and insurers to seek the lowest prices for medical procedures and to share the savings.

One other bill on the verge of passage is HB 240, extending state regulation to Pharmacy Benefit Managers, or PBMs. These are entities, regulated in most states, that manage payments by insurers, under health plans, for medicine provided to consumers by pharmacies.

There have been complaints by Alaska pharmacies over aggressive tactics by the PBMs on pricing including practices that result in below-cost reimbursement to pharmacies for drugs they purchase, resulting in losses for the pharmacies.

HB 240’s prime sponsor is Rep. Dave Guttenberg, (D-Fairbanks), but Sen. Cathy Giessel (R-Anchorage), played a key role in steering the issue through the Senate, an example of bipartisan cooperation between House and Senate members on complex but important questions.

HB 240 is in the Senate Rules Committee awaiting final Senate action. It passed the House on April 13, 40-0.

Meanwhile, Giessel has another bill, SB 108, streamlining medical licensing procedures for physicians and providing a way of licensing assistants in physicians’ offices to do certain work they cannot do now. This would relieve work burdens on physicians, the bill contends. This bill passed the Senate 19-0 on March 31.

One other bill near final passage is SB 169, by Sen. David Wilson, (R-Wasilla), which would extend health coverage under Medicaid to clients of marital and family therapists who would qualify.

Many of the services offered by family therapists are related to behavioral health problems, and SB 169 would have the effect of expanding the funding for behavioral health services. There is now a serious shortage of people working in Alaska behavioral health despite the sharp increases in drug-related health problems.

There are a number of other bills in advanced stages of passage.

A bill allowing electric utilities to finance homeowners’ improvements in energy efficiency, called “on-bill financing,” passed the House April 6 and is now in the Senate Community and Regional Affairs committee.

HB 374 passed the House April 6 by a vote of 36-2. Rep. Adam Wool (D-Fairbanks), is prime sponsor but cosponsors include one Republican along with other Democrats.

House Bill 236, extending the senior citizens’ benefit program, passed both the House and Senate and is now on Gov. Bill Walker’s desk for signature. It passed the House 35-1 and the Senate 19-0. This provides a small monthly stipend, based on need, for senior citizens living in Alaska.