I call this meeting of the House Finance Department of Labor and Workforce Development Subcommittee
to order and I'll let the record reflect into just 3.32 p.m. on Friday.
February 6th, 2026.
Present today, we have Representative Carrick,
Representative Colomb, Representative Hall,
Representative Fields, and myself, Chair Schruggie,
expecting other members to be joining us soon
as they wrap up committees.
As we start, please remember to mute your cell phones.
I want to thank our LIO moderators, Zach Lawhorn,
for being with us today and helping us
are behind the scenes work for the committee.
Today, we will hear from the Department of Labor and Workforce Development regarding
Alaska's workers' compensation.
To present,
we have Director of Workers' Compensation, Charles Collins.
Thank you for being with us.
Director Collins, if you want to go ahead and make your way up to the table, and when
you're ready, put yourself on the record and begin with your presentation, which we
have queued up.
Thank You, Chair Schruggie, for the Record,
Charles Collins, Director, Workers's Compensation.
So, just at a high level, as we start out, workers' compensation is fairly complicated
in the state of Alaska, especially when it comes to funding, and it's quite common for
people to get a little confusion on how we do things.
So this first slide's got a lot of words on it, but the most important thing to remember
are directly involved with workers' compensation.
The most important one of those is the
worker safety and compensation administration account.
We call it WISCA, most of the time you'll hear it.
Counted WISCCA and that's the bulk of our funding for day-to-day
activities. It's made up of a tax premium
on premiums, a levy on that and then a 2.9%
service fee on self-insurance. We have 23 of
those in the state.
not to be confused with the benefits guarantee fund, which is a protected fund and pays only for
those injured employees whose employers neglected to have coverage for workers' compensation.
There's a little process for that. That fund is made up of penalties from those uninsured
It's a backstop to make sure that nobody falls through the cracks and then the third and
A little bit different type of fun the second injury fund closed in fun was closed and
HP 79 back in 2018
to new claims
And but we still collect
fees into that for ongoing claims there's 51 of them currently and it will outlast any of us so
Expect to just see it show up in the general fund at any time those 51 claims are all long-term
Claims, and I don't even have an idea when they run out life expectancy another 30 years on some of them. So
And representative Keirach question, thank you through the chair. Thanks for being here director Collins can you talk to about the
How well each of these funds is capitalized are they?
Over capitalized you are we collecting enough for the benefits we're paying out?
Just a little bit about the health of each of those funds
Through the chair
Representative Kerry, thank you for that question, and I will speak on that in fact
It's going to be the bulk of it here as we go forward each
of them are funded a slightly differently although the the second injury fund or the SIF
The monies are collected with
On it as we do our annual reports and some of the money's going into whisk are collected at the same time on the
Same report. So let's just move forward a slide if it's okay
Just please and I will take a moment just to quickly note that representative Nelson joined us at about 3 32. Thank you
So before we get to the main thing I want to hammer home that
One of the issues that we will be talking about is actually revenue
But on the other side there are employers out there that are paying these premiums hiring these people and working on it
And and this graph that is on page three of my little report shows over since
2013 so the last 10 years we have all the records for
the amount that workers compensation has saved employers so in the early
2010s 2013 14 and up to 15 was
Alaska was the most expensive place to operate as far as cost for workers' compensation in the entire nation.
And between safer workplaces, implementation of a new fee schedule, working really hard with our providers, insurers, employers, we have been able to reduce that considerably into this point since 2015.
We've saved employers $1.2 billion in costs over the past.
10 years. So we have made a huge cost savings change and I have been lucky enough to have
been here to watch that happen. It's a lot of work by a
lot people. I want to especially call out our medical services review committee which is made
up of complete volunteers from both the insurance side and the medical provider side that have
done the bulk of the work. And we are known across the nation for that work that we've done here.
And then on the next slide page four is the pertinent information that was asked about
The question from representative Carrick, so going back
pre-2019 or fiscal year 2019
Premiums were higher, but we also collected less money into the whiskers. So
by
The Division of Insurance, the fee on premiums is 2.7% on all workers' compensation premiums.
Actually, under the current law, it's all property and casualty other than a couple of carve-outs
for different lines, and that's a division of insurance. But workers compensation is
2,7%. Of that, currently, we get 2 point 5% of it and 0.2% goes directly to the general fund.
In 2018, in FY 2018 we got 1.82 percent yet you can see the revenue on the graph or I'm
sorry the spreadsheet here was actually 6.6 million and was recognized at that time by
my predecessor that something had to change and so under HB 79 the aforementioned bill
changed that from 1.82 up to 2.5 and for a couple of years, we actually broke even, revenue to expenditures.
However, as premiums continued to fall,
we fell into a deficit of spending.
I predicted in when I became director that by FY 25,
the Whisk of Fund would run out of money and unfortunately I was right.
So, you can see in FY 25 that we had a huge deficit in the spending and we're forecasting
having a sizable one again this year, and I've taken some measures for that.
As for forecasting to the future, we just took kind of a straight line on revenue.
We don't know the exact amount of premiums that were sold in 2025 yet, but we have a
pretty good idea.
And then, of course, going this year and beyond is, you know, a best-guess scenario.
But we kind of know what expenses are going to be, as we've some idea of, in workers'
a fair idea of what our expenses are.
We also, I hate to point out the obvious,
but we also experienced some sweep action
in there in a couple of legislative cycles
and with no reverse sweep, we lost about 2.7 million.
So it's important to state that the WISCA fund
funds not only workers' compensation, it's the bulk of the funding of workers compensation
and we get the bull of money. It also funds the appeals commission, which is quasi-part
of worker's compensation. We do the administration for them, but they have to, by statute, be
separate from work comp. And then a little bit of a money goes to occupational safety
We divert a little money into them for the services that they take care of for us because they're our actuary for
the benefit guarantee fund we get all of our information from them and and those decisions have been that way for many years, so
And we've been joined by Representative Sadler at 339. Thanks for joining us
Please continue Director Collins. I'm not seeing any questions. Okay. Well, let's just move forward then because I think that spreadsheet is pretty
self-explanatory. This is basically the same information in graph form. As I stated, we have
a couple of sections in the last eight or nine years where expenditures and revenue have been
in a proper order. That would be more revenue, less expenditures. Unfortunately, the FY19 and FY20.
Because of the change to 2.5%, we were able to just cover our expenses as they were and then as premiums continued to decline.
You know, save for workplaces, saving money for employers. Unfortunately, we're a product of our own.
good work, you know, and taking it. I can take no credit for FY2023 or 2024 because
that actually was a different division. If you notice on that, on the previous slide,
you'll see that labor standards or Alaska occupational safety saved a ton of money those
Serendipity more than anything they were able to save some money. So we were actually you know in fairly good shape that year
We forecast an ever, you Know a pretty flat revenue stream
We're selling about a hundred and eighty five. We are selling. I should take that back
Those great guys that sell workers compensation insurance out there or selling
and I don't expect that to increase a whole lot. Now, you know, a lot of things can change
at more people working. You know we're finally back to pre-pandemic numbers according to
Lenin. And you guys are familiar with Mr. Weller from Research and Analysis and he's saying we are
finally, back-to-full employment, as they're in. We hopefully have some great things on the
Damage is already done. So
Presentive column yeah, thank you chair through the chairs
So I guess I just need clarification so the blue line is the revenues
So we know that that went down because the premiums and the work the department has done correct
Why is he expenditures going up so much
through the chair, Representative Colomb.
So several things have caused expenditures to go up.
So, one, especially for FY 2025,
we installed a new program,
and according to Senate Bill 147,
we set up a stay at work, return to work program
that program was completely unfunded,
yet we were asked to implement it anyway.
was incorporated into what we were doing, you know, carefully, and it's been tough.
We also, unfortunately, at the same time, I had had a long-term classification study done for
our hearing officers. So let me explain our Hearing Officer thing. Hearing officers that do
be admitted to the bar and in some jurisdiction doesn't have to be Alaskan, but they have two and they
have have 2 years of workers compensation experience. However, they were not paid as attorneys.
We did a classification study and we were able to raise them up a class, now they're still not
paid as attorneys. The hearing officers themselves are still not on the hearing on
the attorney's schedule. So they they actually make less money. Any of my hearing
officers right now could apply for a job at law and possibly be hired and give
themselves a raise. They'd be doing something other than workers compensation.
I'm surmising, but that's just that all that is. But we did incur some extra
a couple of other positions that were reclassed.
I had a program coordinator one that's in charge of fish fund,
second injury fund and benefit guarantee fund
that we needed to preserve that position.
We had to class it up a little bit to keep that
position that trust me, that is extremely important
to the state of Alaska.
At the same time, the chief of adjudications is an attorney and classed into that, so there
was a fairly sizable increase in the personal services there.
And GGU, as you probably understand, also received a raise, which, you know, most of
By far the largest expense that I line item I have is personal services
Workers compensation does not pay claims out of the Whiska fund and I know behind me somebody saying oh yeah
They do because there's 11. I think we
Old ones that have some nominal amount in there, but but you know for the most part. It's not that way
So
Okay, so can I, can you clarify what you just said? I thought the Whiska funds was to pay for
claims. It doesn't pay. For claims, it just pays for your services or to the chair, Representative
Coloment Whiskya fund only pays with the administration of of the workers compensation board, you know,
division. Claims are paid by the employers.
Now the state of Alaska pays workers compensation claims does not go through workers' compensation. That's department of admin risk management
Any further follow-up representative clone? Yeah, I had one other. Yeah
That that's why I asked because when I look at your personal services detailed the salaries are
Hi, so that I was that was trying to figure out what were the
qualifications of these people that, i mean the
The chief is making over $300,000.
So I assumed it was a lawyer.
But when they did the salary study,
was it just the hearing officers and the fishermen fund person?
Or was that across the board increased all your people?
Through the chair, Representative Klom, the only classification
study I had done was on those positions that you mentioned.
We are a basically workers' compensation in Alaska
as a legal department.
I mean, we do nothing but follow statutes and regulations
and evidentiary work, so.
Can I have one more follow-up?
Yeah, go ahead.
Is there any opportunity?
I know at the end of your slide you had,
you guys have done some cost cutting,
but I'm mean this is a,
this a
Pretty beefy chart. Is there any opportunity to streamline the department in any way to help compensate for the increased salaries?
Through the chair representative cloned there's always
I'm a fiscal conservative. There are always ways to save money. I was in business for myself for what 30 or 40 years depending on
whether I ever made any money or not, but, you know, it's uh,
there are always ways to save money. However,
I will say
we handle thousands
of communications a week. We
deal with, at any
given time, I have 5,500 cases that are being contested in some fashion.
So, my hearing officers who are supported almost everybody else on the right-hand side
of that chart is support for the hearing officer and then the far left is all of the administrative
stuff and in the middle I have two other complete separate groups that are in there.
So we have our investigative team and we an investigator in Fairbanks, one in Juneau
We get a lapse list every month from the Division of Insurance to this date since 2005,
when we started with investigators, we've never yet once made it through the lapse
list in a month. We've ever touched it. When SIU was set up, they thought that there was
10 times that right now, I will tell you. Now, most of them do not have employees,
but we have to go through and do our due diligence on those. Then we
have one other group that's re-employment benefits, which was set up.
with the sweeping changes in the early 2000s and there's a group of that and and so
under AS 2330 041 and now 043 which is a stay at work that group does nothing but
re-employment so there is five positions currently there that are working and
you know basically we have
We deal with a massive amount of paperwork and, you know, it's a it is a legal shop, basically, so
Okay, thank you. Thank you, Chair. Representative Kerrick. Absolutely.
Um, Thank You through the Chair, Director Collins. So the Whisk of Fund pays for, like, the operational costs of the workers compensation program. Am I correct in that?
Through the chair, uh, Rep. Kerik, yes. Okay. And as a
I have a couple of follow-ups.
Go ahead.
And so that would include the physical space locations,
like the office in Anchorage and the Office
that we had in Fairbanks.
Through the chair, Rep. Kerrick, that is correct.
All divisions or departments have some arrangement of lease
that has a shared kind of cost.
If you really want the skinny on that,
we can invite Director DeBartolo up here,
tell you all about it because I don't have to worry about
it. That that may be helpful at some point. As a another follow
up. I did I hear you say a little bit ago that we're fully
staffed in the workers compensation.
Through the chair, Rep. Kerrick, I don't recall saying that.
We have 50 PCNs, but we actually have a 26% vacancy rate today.
A week ago, if you'd have asked, we'd had a closer to 30 as a director
stated in the full finance. But we hired an OA2 to answer the phone in Anchorage.
And can you give me an idea of where those vacancies are located around the state?
Through the chair rep Kirk I would be glad to as good as my memory is
So we have no
adjudication support staff in Fairbanks whatsoever.
So there's three positions that are not there now.
So those would be the people that actually met the public at the front.
I have a hearing officer that does work in the Fairbank's location,
and then I had an investigator and by statute,
our investigators cannot be co-located with adjudation staff.
So he's in a different portion of the building there.
In Juneau,
We're down a workers compensation officer and that's the only one I can think of off the
top of my head, but let me pull out a cheat sheet. How's that? I was going to say direct your
columns. I'm impressed with your memory. If you wanted to follow up afterwards, that'd be fine,
but if you have a sheet sheet, then that is great too. So we also have two OAs that we have not
filled in Juneau. So there's actually three open positions in the Juneaux office. And then
Anchorage has the bulk of the open position. We have two hearing officers, positions, those are
the lawyers that we had retirements on and we have not been filling, although we just received
permission to recruit for one.
Another workers' compensation officer, now the difference between a workers
compensation hearing officer and a worker's compensation
officer is the juris doctor or being a lawyer.
And so workers compensation officers handle preliminary events and they have
30 pre hearings a day, some of them, I mean that's how busy we are, and then we
have an investigator position and support staff positions,
I think four of then, that are open in Anchorage.
So seven, so all together we have 13 open positions.
Okay. Thank you. Follow-up. Yeah. It's okay.
Yeah, just for another minute or two.
Okay, I'm just very deeply concerned about the lack of adjudication support staff in Fairbanks
and the Lack of an office space there. What are we saving by not having the Fairbank's
office open? Is that a large cost savings for the division or is it fairly minimal?
through the chair, Rep. Kirk, I can get the exact numbers for you. We basically,
we don't, the department would own the space anyway, so there's not really any
space-saving, but the, as I stated previously, personal services is a huge
amount of it, and we are saving some money there. Now, realizing that in Alaska,
Fairbanks is really remote but it is let's face it the support there so under travel restrictions
it's really tough to build the energy between divisions transfer knowledge and stuff remotely
it can be done but we typically try to go to from Anchorage to Fair Banks or something a
couple of times a year so at this point we're not doing that there's some savings there
You know, it's not a good situation. We're not happy about it. It's the reality of what is.
And can you talk about the recruitment efforts to fill those positions and reopen the Fairbanks
office? If we have the location physically and we are just lacking for the staff, what are we doing
Through the chair, Representative Kerrick, at this moment, there's nothing being done,
because I would not have the funds to do that if you remember FY26 highlighted negative
three quarters of a million dollars plus. I just cannot afford to
do this fiscal year. It's just, I mean,
there is just no funding to fill any of those positions.
not adequate for the division to only have the provision of those services a
couple of times annually in a community as large as Fairbanks as the director
noted. We're not a remote community. There's a very significant concern in
the community about the lack of the services and I just want to note that
for this subcommittee that we are underserved in Fairbank's right now
critically as of this last year.
Thank you for those comments. I'll note for the record that representative Bynum joined us at about
351 thank you, for being here and representative Sadler
I believe you wanted to get in the queue you'll pass all right in that
Case director Collins, please proceed
Just a slide to talk chair shruggy about
realities of life. So on the left-hand side, on this slide, premiums over the
past, you know, little over ten years. You'll notice since about 2020,
you can, 21s, always going to be an odd number in everything. But since
about 2020, we've leveled off pretty much on premiums. We expect it to stay at
least at this level. I don't think it'll ever go back up to 2013, and I
But it's, you know, this is reality for us.
So certainly, as I stated before, the average premiums are in the $185 million range now.
And just for reference, they were 240 to 50 million before.
So a considerable amount of savings there year over year, 2015 by far,
at that time when the new fee schedule went in,
we just started on the decline.
The good thing is on
the right hand side is employers are enjoying
a considerable amount of savings
on covering their workers here.
So.
at one time in 2013, 14, 15, 2012 and back Alaska was by far the number one state for most expensive
to operate with workers compensation which all businesses have to have if they have any employees
so costing on an average of three hundred or three dollars and forty cents per hundred
dollars worth of payroll now granted if you're you know a receptionist or
ticket taker at the movie, you know, it's probably less than 340 even then.
But if you're a roofer,
you are probably paying $15 a hundred and that gets to be a pretty big bill at
the end of the year, depending on your payroll.
And then 2024, I'm happy to say that we're down to a $1.77 per hundred on
average, according to the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business
Services, which does a biennial every other year study of all the
States in the U.S. Alaska is 20. We're ranked at number 20 right in
the middle of the pact and this is like golf you know you want to be you
don't want be one for sure because you
know when you're one that costs you the most money so we are 106% of
the median right now by far the best
Alaska has ever done its entire history. So that makes us more competitive. Employers saving money,
we're doing our share to help Alaska grow and businesses to grow in the state.
And with that, just a short slide to say some of the things that we have implemented
at the Division to attempt to save money. And yes, any time we
I certainly hear a lot of things about it because this affects everybody, but we have
held positions open on purpose.
It's about the one and only tool that I have for saving money.
We had to restructure things, so it's depending on the positions that are open, how much
money we can actually save.
We have spent no money, we've a claims database that needs continued maintenance, and we
very much limited that and we went completely off of our scheduled
upgraded tech is you know computers
scanners printers all wear out we were on a three-year cycle and
we've just put that a hole because we just haven't had the money
the whole idea is to be able to service our claimants
and respond as quickly as possible and so some other things have to change
As Ellicott pointed out, there is, you cannot walk into the workers' compensation in Fairbanks,
requires a call, an email, or whatever. That means longer response times to injured employees,
which is what a number of my front-level staff, all my technicians, that's all they do all day,
and they don't get all of those responses done every day. For the first time in our history,
72 hours to get responses we don't that's not normal for us, but it's the it
what's happening right now because we just don t have the time to do it.
Delayed hearing schedules have been implemented because
we jus-
I only have a few hearing officers and we're doing everything we can to get
people into mediation or other things but at the end of the day we are going to have
100 to 120 formal hearings a year and uh we were having to schedule those out now
we used to be able to scheduled those 30 days now they are 60, 90 and then growing
because we just cannot get through all the work that we have.
That means extended periods of benefits paid or unpaid, which sounds like an oxymoron
But if you're an employer you get to make a choice
If you think you have medical evidence that says that you can contravert a claim and not pay benefits
You can do that, but
You have to Make a decision on whether or not that's going to cost you money because if your wrong and you haven't went to a hearing and that
comes to a hearing and you didn't pay those benefits you're going to pay all
those benefit plus a 25% fee on anything that's late paid and if you are the
injured employee and your trying to get benefits paid
We're holding you up because
We can't get you into a hearing and that's causing issues on that side and we have
Endured employees out there that are not getting any stipend wage replacement
Not being able to go see the doctor as they want and stuff and then finally and
Most fun for me stress and burn out of my staff
We are constantly dealing with
People they just they cannot get their work done. Hi
run a shop that should be staffed with 50 extremely professional people.
I don't we don t have fluff and workers comp and never have and our board
has taken an active role in that at all times
being very careful with whisk of funds going forward
even before I was director when I Was on the board it was
all the time how the Whisk of Fund was doing, how people were reacting,
how things were going because we live in these communities.
My staff is not able to get all their work done currently
and it affects morale across the board right now and and this is the reality where we are.
And so a week does not go by that I don't have some meeting to help people to deal with these
We're not seeing the end of this at all.
Today, as I said here, even if in the next budget we were given enough money to meet our
budgetary requirements for hiring back and getting Fairbanks open and other places staffed up,
it would be at least November, December before we even close at that. It's such a long turnaround
And let's face it, if you are going to go to work for a division where people have been
not hired for awhile, you know, people will have a choice when they decide where they
want to be, and they may be thinking, I don't know if I want go work here, because what
if next year I do not have the job, then that is a reality.
Thank You Director Collins. We've got 10 minutes left until our scheduled stop
time. Would love to be able to give a few minutes back to the committee but also
understand if we have questions. Representative Bynum I saw a hand go up.
Yes sir thank you co-chair Schraghi or Chair Schaghi in this sense it's
apologies on the running late here. Had a finance went long. So I'm just wanted
Through the chair, I'm just trying to get a better understanding of I I heard there was a management decision that says we have vacancies
And we're we had vacancies because we were trying
to save money
Yet we fund as far as I am aware in the budget the positions. So
I've just tried to give a bit understanding
of what your actual need is
because
It feels like we are under executing for Alaskans. We're not providing the services that we claim that were going to provide
So the only way that I can help you
Provide those services is through our budget less if you're asking for a regulatory chain or a change in law
Which is something we can do?
That's how I we help so I'm just trying to get a better understanding
We is when you say management decision is is that we hold vacancies because we need money
Yeah, we fund those big those vacant positions
connect the two. Can you help clarify clearly what you're trying to ask for when you say you
need you need our assistance to help perform for Alaskans when we're providing the funding
positions and that's how we do that. So I'm just trying
to get a better understanding what do you mean by Director Collins?
completely here. For some of them. Unfortunately, you know, a little, little lesson here, I guess.
I'm not sure. Please excuse me if I go over the same thing again. So every time that I get a raise,
everytime the legislature and the administration says that i get to raise. My raise comes out of
worker safety and compensation administrative account. Unfortunately, revenue that goes into
the Whiska Fund has been impinged. So in the past, I don't know, several years,
at least since FY20,
I have forecast that Whicka fund would run out of money in FY25. We would be completely out.
Or anybody else that worked for a workers' compensation, it was tagged toward the Whiska account.
Unfortunately, there's no money in the whiska accounts, so I can have a budget, but I don't have revenue to pay everything in that budget.
And so what we have done for several years has worked extremely hard to limit expenses through Whisca, through management.
tools that we have, which are limited, and one of those is vacancy rate.
And unfortunately, through a series of events, should we say,
not only did workers compensation and the medical services review committee,
Alaska Workers' Compensation Board work really hard to make workers' compensation
more affordable in Alaska.
that also hits us in the paycheck because revenue goes down because that's where our money comes from.
At the same time, there was some issues with sweeps out of the account. Whiska was one of them.
We lost $2.7 million over a series of fiscal years there. It doesn't matter. In FY25,
we would have probably been out-of-money. We were doing everything we can to put our fingers in
but we were not holding back all the water we could.
Because every time any expense goes up,
the legislature's been extremely good
at meeting our budget.
Unfortunately, we've been
extremely poor at getting the revenue into that fund.
Makes sense?
Thank you, and through the chair.
Sounds like we got some work to do.
I'd look forward to continuing that work.
Make sure they're gonna provide those services
to Alaskans that are paying for it.
Thank ya.
Representative clone. Thank you chair to the chair director, so I'm trying to put the pieces together
So we've got we got a sweep that swept 2.7 million out a couple years ago
You've Got
a loss of revenue you got a substantial increase in your compensation so we got kind of a mix
of things going on and there's 2.7 percent tax from the division of insurance but you're only
getting 2 point 5 percent of that right so there still 0.2 going the general fund if is I guess two
Do you have an idea how to reverse this trend and with the point two, if it went to you instead of the general fund, would that help you cover the costs going forward?
Director.
Through the chair, Representative Klom, I'll start with easy part first.
If statutory change was made, that we got the entire 2.7% that would increase the revenue, about 300,000 a year.
the whole. Other than that, I have lots of ideas on how we could increase revenue.
None of them are painless, shall we say. And I'm not the only one. I know there are some bills
circulating out there on it. The governor has not chosen a way forward on that.
you will see in the finance budget a one-time ask for 1.4 million just to get by for next year.
Unfortunately that's one year right and just one follow-up so to clarify if the sweep the 2.7
hadn't been swept you probably wouldn't have been without money until next
year but you still would have in in The Deficit eventually but it was this year next
I would love to meet and find out some ideas that you have.
I love what you've done with employers because businesses are under so much pressure.
Thank you for doing that.
But it's our responsibility to figure out how to make up the difference in revenue.
So thank you.
Okay and we have approximately three minutes left I think last question is
probably going to go to Representative Sadler. I can do it a minute and a half
thank you Mr. Chairman. On slide four you made reference to the decrease in
expenditure by under occupational safety and the health and I would
Again, there's a lot of interplay between these accounts.
I'm not quite sure what WISCA does and does not do.
So, looking at the budget book itself,
it does look like there has been a huge decrease
in expenditures.
Is that simply the money that goes
from this WISCA account into occupational safety
and health programs and at that stage?
Help me account for that.
Very significant decrease in expenditure
is in FY23 and 24.
Gotcha.
Through the chair, is it okay if I call for a lifeline?
Please do.
That kick over can't hear.
Director DeBartolo, I can see you.
Thank you, Chair Schraghi for the record.
My name is Dan DeAartola.
I'm the Administrative Services Director for The Department of Revenue Rep. Sadler through
the Chair.
the division of labor standards and safety in the two years you're referencing and on this chart,
let me just, I'm sorry, yeah FY 22 and FY 23. So the
just like any other division, we have ebbs and flows in vacancy and
so they have several positions they fund
with this portion of money and occupational safety and health and
at that point in time their total expenses were just down and it's in this interesting relationship because because
Workers' Compensation, the Workers Compensation Appeals Commission, Occupational Safety and Health and Labor and Market Info are all allocated a budget amount for Whiska.
If we, and I say myself and my budget manager, Lisa Flores in the room, don't restrict how much any one of those components can spend in a fiscal year,
the first people to the well on the revenue, basically get their portion.
Spent against their authority first
Occupational Safety and Health simply did not have the same expenses, but in the most
recent fiscal year, they had a sudden surge in legal fees associated with challenges to
decisions in that division.
And so all of a a the expenses went up, and you can see actuals and FY25 for occupational
safety and health were up to 616,000, where historically they were less than half of that
for many years.
an additional 300,000 unexpected from Whiska.
And so, our whole grew larger last year.
We had to find other places to scrape that money together.
Okay, I'm gonna use that for more of that three minutes.
You said three months ago.
Looking at the previous years of S.D. Bartow,
I see of occupational safety and health,
two million in 1.8, 1, 0.9, 2.1.
Am I just simply not understanding
what these numbers are telling me?
Representative Sadler through the chair and I believe this also dealt with a sweep issue
so prior to when we had the first year we would keep referencing we did not do the reverse sweep
there was additional whisk of funds that were also received by that component occupational
And if you go back and look at the records, almost 1.8 million.
at the end of that fiscal year, when we did not do the reverse sweep, did
not go back into that fund, that would have been FY 22, the
end FY22 and FY23. And so what happened there, a decision was made by
office management budget, and I think the legislature as a whole,
that funding for some of these components in the future years going out
holding a balance would be replaced with a UGF increment.
And so actually labor standards and safety
at this point where that whisk of money was swept away
received a $1.8 million UGF increment
that they have had since that point
where workers compensation did not
because at that time they were not under water
on their component line and so no adjustment was made.
And so here we are now basically the ramifications
about having no replacement income
for workers' compensation are
now being realized in FY 25 and FY 26.
I understand now.
Okay, very good, I'm glad to hear that
because we're now on borrowed time.
I want to thank the Liberal Commerce Cheers
for giving us just a couple extra moments here.
With that, we adjourned at 4.17 PM.
Thank you.