Alaska Legislature: Joint Budget & Audit 8/20/26, 10:30am

Good morning. I call the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee To order. Today is Thursday, August 20th, and the time is 10:32 AM. Please silence all cell phones. Thank you.

We have the following members present: Vice Chair Fields, Representative Foster, Representative Josephson online, Representative Kopp online, Representative Colon, Senator Guiso, Senator Wilkowski online, and myself, Senator Gray Jackson. Therefore, we have a quorum to conduct business. I don't see any other legislators in the room, but first I want to thank Sophie Tinney from House Records and staff from the Anchorage LIO office for supporting our committee today. It's my intent, so you know ahead of time, to adjourn the meeting by noon and maybe even before. So are there any questions before we get underway?

Okay, great. Vice Chair Fields, may I please have a motion for the approval of the agenda? I move and ask unanimous consent that the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee approve the agenda as presented. Thank you. Seeing no objection, the agenda is approved.

We're at agenda item number 3, approval of the minutes. Vice Chair, may I please have a motion for approval of the minutes? I move and ask unanimous consent the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee approve the minutes of the meeting on July 16, 2026. Thank you. Seeing no objection, the minutes are approved.

We are now at agenda item 4, executive session. The committee will now be going into executive session for the consideration of the final release of 4 sunset audits, the preliminary release of 2 sunset audits, the status of ongoing audits, procurements, and a personnel issue— and a personnel matter. Mr. Vice Chair, may I please have a motion? I move and ask unanimous consent of the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee go into executive session under Uniform Rule 22, discussion of matters the immediate knowledge of which would adversely affect the finances of government unit, and Uniform Rule 22, discussion of a matter that may by law be required to be confidential. The following individuals may remain in the room or online during executive session: Agenda items A, B, and C: Chris Curtis and any staff of the Legislative Auditor, Emily Nauman and Megan Wallace, any legislators not on the LB&A Committee, and any staff of the LB&A Committee members.

The following individuals may remain in the room or online during agenda item D: Mark Lundahl, Emily Nauman, Megan Wallace, and any legislators not on the LB&A Committee. Thank you. I don't see an objection. The committee will now go into executive session. So let's take a brief at ease while we clear the room.

We are now out of executive session and back on the record at 11:47 AM. The following members are present: Representative Fields, Representative Foster, Representative Josephson online, Representative Kopp online, Representative Kollum, Senator Guiso, Senator Werlikowski online, and myself, Senator Murray-Jackson. Therefore, we still have a quorum to conduct business. During the executive session, we discussed the topics listed on the agenda. Next, the committee will take action on several of those issues.

First one, final release of sunset audits. Mr. Vice Chair, may I have a motion for the final release of the sunset audits? I move and ask unanimous consent that the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee release the following audits as final sunset audit reports. Board of Chiropractic Examiners, Board of Barbers and Hairdressers, Board of Dental Examiners, and the Statewide Suicide Prevention Council. Thank you.

Is there any objection? Seeing none, the final sunset audit reports are released. We're now on a preliminary release of sunset audits. Mr. Vice Chair, may I have a motion for the preliminary release of the sunset audit reports to the agencies for responses? I move and ask unanimous consent that the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee release the following preliminary sunset audit reports to the agencies for for response, Board of Marine Pilots and Marijuana Control Board.

Thank you. Is there any objection? Seeing none, the preliminary sunset audits are released to the agencies for their responses. We are now at agenda item personal matter, hiring of the legislative audit—. Auditor.

As noted during our July meeting, after 34 years with the Division of Legislative Audit, serving 12 of those years as a legislative auditor, Chris Curtis submitted her letter of resignation to the committee in June with an effective date of August 30th. In response, a recruitment was initiated and a job announcement was posted to Workplace Alaska for 3 weeks. 3 Weeks. Last Thursday, a subcommittee comprised of myself, Vice Chair Fields, and Representative Kopp interviewed Mark Lundahl for the legislative auditor position. Mr. Lundahl was the only applicant determined to meet the qualifications for the position.

His application packet was distributed to all committee members for review, and the committee had the opportunity to ask Mr. Lundahl questions during the executive session. Mr. Vice Chairman, may I have a motion? I move and ask unanimous consent of the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee place the name of Mark Lundahl in nomination before the legislature for appointment as legislative auditor and authorize the chair to transmit the committee's nomination to the presiding officers of the House and Senate. Thank you. I will object for the purposes of discussion, and I would like to offer support for the nomination of Mr. Lundell.

On August 13th, a subcommittee of Vice Chair Fields, Representative Kopp, and I, as mentioned, we interviewed Mr. Lundell, and after the interview, we determined that we wanted to move his name forward to the committee to be the State Auditor. I followed through with checking the references that he presented to us, and every one of those references recommended him with flying colors. And I'm glad that we went through that professional process, and now here we are. I'd like to know if there are any other comments from committee members before we move on. Uh, yes, Madam Chair, Andy Josephson.

Thank you, Representative Josephson. This may be my last opportunity to make a comment. And I'd love it, Madam Chair, if you would explain— you said you'd forward the nomination unless an objection is maintained. I'm certainly not going to object. I support Mr. Lindahl fully, and I congratulate him.

But I'm just curious. You're going to forward the nomination of the presiding officer. And I don't know, I suspect that in January, the next legislature will vote yea or nay is my memory. But I wanted to take 30 seconds to talk about Ms. Curtis. So I just want to thank her for her state service, for her exemplary performance and integrity.

Her response to this when inquiries were made for her intelligence, for her work with her staff, and her— for her standing up for what is proven to be a very beleaguered portion of the three-party— three-body system, and that is the legislature. She stood up for us, and she stood up for the power of the auditor under law, um, even when it was under attack. So she will be missed. Thank you, uh, Representative Josephson.

Okay, um, I don't see any other comments at this time, so I will remove my objection. Are there any other objections? Okay, seeing none, then the motion is approved and the committee will place the name of Mark Lundell in nomination before the legislature for appointment as legislative auditor. And I'll transmit the committee's nomination to the presiding officers of the House and the Senate for consideration and a vote by the legislature on the appointment. But please note, if the 34th legislature does not convene before the conclusion of its term and therefore does not vote on this nomination, I will submit the committee's nomination to the incoming presiding officers for consideration by the 35th Legislature.

Also, under Alaska Statute 24-20251, because the legislature is not currently in session, Mr. Lundell will begin carrying out the duties of the legislative auditor on August 31st, 2026, and will serve as acting legislative auditor pending consideration of the nomination by the legislature. But at this time, I would like to invite Mark the opportunity— up to the podium to have the opportunity, if you'd like, to briefly address the committee and introduce yourself to the public. Sure. For the record, Mark Lundahl, Deputy Legislative Auditor, Division of Legislative Audit. I'd just like to thank you, Chair Gray Jackson and Vice Chair Fields and the committee for this amazing opportunity.

I'm thrilled to accept the role of Acting Legislative Auditor. I think my experience has prepared me very well for the job, and I'm really excited to get to the hard work to validate your decision. I'm looking forward to the challenge. I'd also like to say that I feel very fortunate to have been mentored by Kris Curtis for many years. She's, she's been a great state auditor and a great leader for our division, and I am really excited and look forward to carrying on our role as, you know, a promoter and enhancer of accountability for the state government.

Thank you very much. Thank you. Appreciate that, Mark. Okay. We're now at agenda item 5, adjournment.

Do any members have any comments before we adjourn? I have one comment, but any comments from members? Okay. So please note that we're planning to hold the next meeting in early October for a time-sensitive procurement, followed by a meeting in early December. And a final meeting on Monday, January 18th in Juneau.

And I would just like to, of course, thank the committee for always making attending this meeting a priority. I want to thank Chris and her staff for great presentations. And I also want to thank, of course, my staff, Jeff, for making my job easy. With that said, and nothing else to come before us, we are adjourned at 11:55 a.m.