Alaska State Legislature
News From The House Majority
Ken Freeman, Press Secretary
State Capitol
Juneau, AK 99801
Phone: (907) 465-3804
Actuality line: 1-800-478-6540
web site: http://www.akrepublicans.org
For Immediate Release: February 6, 1997 Contact: Rep. Gene Therriault, Co-Chairman, House Finance Committee (907) 465-4797
Legislative Package Closes Unused State Accounts
Action to bring about more efficient government
JUNEAU -- Legislation introduced to repeal inactive accounting requirements will be heard before the House Finance Committee, Monday, February 10 at 1:30 p.m. in room 519 of the State Capitol. The package of seven bills, sponsored by the House Finance Committee, enacts a major clean-up of nearly 30 inactive state accounts.
Representative Terry Martin spearheaded identification of the inactive accounts during his tenure as last year's Chairman of the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee. "Following our initial investigation, we contacted agencies responsible for the funds and discovered that in many cases the funds have been completely inactive since their creation," said Representative Martin. "Virtually without exception, the departments have supported the elimination of these accounts."
Representative Gene Therriault, Co-Chairman of the House Finance Committee, said he was happy to introduce the package as committee bills in order to clear unnecessary language from statute and to remove a large number of unused accounts from the accounting process.
"As we continue to reduce state spending, I believe it is important to thoroughly evaluate the functions of government and determine what changes can be made to permit our state agencies to do their job more efficiently with less." Therriault said. "Prior to introducing these bills, I contacted several agencies to ensure the greatest efficiencies could be achieved while maintaining the integrity of the existing programs."
Senator Randy Phillips, current chairman of the LB&A Committee and member of the Senate Finance Committee, noted this collection of bills as a step toward downsizing government. "If we are to succeed in making our government smaller and smarter, we must scrutinize inefficient and unnecessary administrative functions," said Senator Phillips. "Passing these measures will help us to remove the cobwebs and follow through on our commitment to put Alaska's finances in order."
Following is a list of the legislation followed by a short description of the bills:
"An Act abolishing the Alaska Medical Facility Authority . . . "
This legislation would follow up with last year's SB 136, which transferred the balance remaining in the Alaska Medical Facilities Authority Fund to the State General fund, thus closing out all accounts pertaining to the Authority. The balance in the Fund was then appropriated to the Department of Health and Social Services. Since that time, neither the Fund nor the Authority have been used. By repealing AS 18.26, the obsolete Alaska Medical Facility Authority would be cleared from the Statutes.
"An Act repealing certain state funds and accounts and boards and programs related to those funds and accounts. . . "
Repeals 23 inactive accounts.
" An Act relating to the unorganized borough national forest receipts program . . . "
There is no present or anticipated use for the unorganized borough national forest receipts fund. Federal appropriations for the program go directly into the General Fund, leaving the special account inactive and empty. The legislation would clear the unused account from Statutes, by changing the reference from "fund" to "program".
"An Act relating to the municipal assistance program and organization grant program..."
Although active programs exist the municipal assistance and organization grant funds are inactive and empty. Legislation would clear the "fund"s from statutes, and refer only to the "program"s.
"An Act repealing the search and rescue fund, relating to expenditures for search and rescue activities . . ."
Appropriation for search and rescue activities is not conducted through the search and rescue fund, which has remained empty and inactive. The Legislation removes the fund from statutes, as well as reference to the fund.
"An Act relating to water quality enhancement and water supply, waste water, and solid waste systems grants . . . "
The legislation removes from Statutes the empty fund, not used in appropriation for the program.
"An Act relating to the crime victim compensation program. . ."
The crime victim compensation program does not receive allocations from the fund established by statute. The inactive account is cleared by changing reference from "fund" to "program".
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