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Administrative Order No. 243

I, Sarah Palin, Governor of the State of Alaska, under the authority of art. III, secs. 1 and 24, of the Alaska Constitution, establish the Governor’s Coordinated Transportation Task Force.

Purpose

The provision and integration of cost-effective, community-based transportation services to persons with special needs is an important government function. The purpose of this Order creating the task force is to ensure that this function is adequately recognized and properly carried out.

Background

The coordination among agencies providing community-based transportation services to persons with special needs and the sharing of resources to accomplish a cost-effective system of providing those services already has a proven track record in this state. This coordination has increased the availability and quality of services, while helping to eliminate duplication of services and inefficient spending. With the cooperation of other state agencies, the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities currently prepares the Alaska public transportation management system inventory of publicly funded transportation vehicles and equipment in this state, which facilitates the delivery of those services. The Department of Transportation and Public Facilities’ efforts to coordinate those services have already led to significant partnerships with human services agencies and the private sector. These partnerships have led to coordinated community-based transportation systems throughout this state.

This coordination and sharing of transportation resources can be furthered through improved interagency planning at the state level. Therefore, the role of the task force is to facilitate and enhance the coordination and integration of community-based public transportation services for the benefit of persons with special needs. The task force would maximize the availability of community-based transportation services, the sharing of transportation resources among government and private entities providing those services, and the coordination among providers of those services.

Duties

The task force shall serve as the advisory committee to the governor to develop policy and procedural recommendations for the state’s various existing programs that provide or coordinate community-based transportation services in communities in this state for persons with special needs. These programs are administered primarily through the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, the Department of Health and Social Services, the Department of Education and Early Development, the Department of Labor and Workforce Development, the Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development, the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, the Alaska Commission on Aging, the Governor’s Council on Disabilities and Special Education, the Alaska Mental Health Board, the Governor’s Advisory Board on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority, the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation, and others.

The task force shall perform the following duties:

  1. identify state, federal, and local government agencies and private entities that administer or support community-based transportation services for persons with special needs;
  2. identify barriers to coordination at the state, federal, and local levels for those services;
  3. recommend the removal of barriers that prevent coordination of those services;
  4. propose changes in statutes or regulations that would facilitate coordination of those services;
  5. develop mechanisms and incentives to governmental agencies to coordinate those services through means including collaborative vehicle use, centralized dispatch services, joint or bulk purchase of fuel and vehicles, multi-purpose transportation voucher programs, centralized maintenance, and joint insurance;
  6. identify available financing for accessible services in communities in this state that have limited or no publicly financed transportation services to serve persons with special needs;
  7. develop a mechanism to ensure that services for persons with special needs in this state are coordinated and services are evaluated;
  8. prepare and issue a final report, including recommendations, concerning the duties set out in this Order.

Membership

The task force consists of nine voting members, as follows:

  1. the commissioner of the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, or the commissioner’s designee; that person shall serve as chair;
  2. the commissioner of the Department of Health and Social Services, or the commissioner’s designee;
  3. the commissioner of the Department of Labor and Workforce Development, or the commissioner’s designee;
  4. one member appointed by the governor from the following:
    1. the commissioner of the Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development, or the commissioner’s designee;
    2. the commissioner of the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, or the commissioner’s designee;
    3. the commissioner of the Department of Education and Early Development, or the commissioner’s designee;
    4. the chair of the board of trustees of the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority, an alternate member of the board selected by the board, or
    5. the chief executive officer of the Authority; if appointed, the person listed in this provision may name a designee;
  5. five members,
    1. three of whom have expertise in the transportation needs of the following populations:
      1. senior citizens;
      2. persons with disabilities;
      3. low-income individuals;
      4. transit-dependent individuals;
    2. two of whom represent the following:
      1. municipalities;
      2. transportation providers that receive federal funding available to Indian tribes, including funds provided under 23 U.S.C. 204(j) and 49 U.S.C. 5311(c).

Members on the task force under paragraph (5) of this Order are appointed by the governor and serve at the pleasure of the governor.

Additionally, the commissioner of the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities shall invite the following agencies to name an advisor to the task force as a non-voting member:

  1. the United States Department of Health and Human Services;
  2. the Federal Transit Administration of the United States Department of Transportation;
  3. the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.

Other Provisions

The task force may set operating procedures as bylaws and establish standing and workgroup committees as it considers appropriate. Workgroup committees may include individuals who are not members of the task force.

Task force members do not receive compensation as a member of the task force. Members of the task force who are not state, federal, or local government employees are entitled to per diem and travel expenses in the same manner permitted for members of state boards and commissions. Per diem and travel expenses for a member of the task force who is a representative of a government agency are the responsibility of that agency.

The task force may use teleconferencing or other electronic means, to the extent practicable, in order to gain the widest public participation at minimum cost.

Meetings of the task force shall be conducted, and notice of regular meetings provided, in accordance with AS 44.62.310 and 44.62.312 (open meetings of governmental bodies). A majority of appointed voting members of the task force constitutes a quorum for conducting business.

Records of the task force are subject to inspection and copying as public records under AS 40.25.110 – 40.25.220.

Support Services

The Department of Transportation and Public Facilities shall provide administrative support for the task force.

Duration

The task force shall forward its final report to the governor on or before January 15, 2010. The task force ceases to exist on the date that the report is forwarded to the governor.

Definitions

In this Order,

  1. “Alaska public transportation management system” means the principal capital planning document prepared by the state for public transportation;
  2. “community-based transportation services” does not include
    1. marine highway transportation or air transportation; or
    2. transportation services for diffuse populations in areas within the state that are too remote for cost-effective centralized community-based transportation;
  3. “persons with disabilities” includes persons in this state with the following:
    1. physical disabilities;
    2. developmental disabilities;
    3. mental illness;
    4. traumatic brain injury;
    5. dementia;
    6. substance abuse problems;
  4. “persons with special needs” means the following persons in this state who require community-based transportation services:
    1. senior citizens;
    2. persons with disabilities;
    3. preschool children participating in a head start program financed by the United States Department of Health and Human Services;
    4. public school students;
    5. low-income individuals, including those receiving public assistance or Medicaid;
    6. other persons with special needs;
  5. “services” means community-based transportation services delivered in this state;
  6. “task force” means the Governor’s Coordinated Transportation Task Force.

This Order takes effect immediately.

DATED at Scranton, PA this 14th day of October, 2008.

/s/Sarah Palin
Governor

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