2000-07-14                     Senate Journal                      Page 3827
SB 312                                                                       
		Chapter 129, SLA 2000                                                        
		Effective Date: 7/1/00                                                       
                                                                               
SB 4                                                                         
Message dated and received June 8, stating:                                    
                                                                               
Dear President Pearce:                                                         
                                                                               
Under the authority of art. II, sec. 15 of the Alaska Constitution, I          
have vetoed the following bill:                                                
                                                                               
CONFERENCE CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 4                                           
An Act relating to victims rights; relating to                                 
establishing an office of victims rights; relating to                          
compensation of victims of violent crimes; relating                            
to eligibility for a permanent fund dividend for                               
persons convicted of and incarcerated for certain                              
offenses; relating to notice of appropriations                                 
concerning victims rights; amending Rule 16,                                   
Alaska Rules of Criminal Procedure, Rule 9, Alaska                             
Delinquency Rules, and Rule 501, Alaska Rules of                               
Evidence; and providing for an effective date.                                 
                                                                               
Although described as an offer to assist crime victims, the approach           
taken in this bill is inefficient and will only serve to create more           
bureaucracy rather than put money and resources into direct aid to             
crime victims.                                                                 
                                                                               
Crime victim advocacy groups, including Victims for Justice, MADD,             
and the Alaska Network on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault                 
also oppose this legislation for the reasons I stated above. In its            
letter requesting I veto this bill, Victims for Justice wrote,  . . . the      
funding necessary to establish and maintain a rather large, expensive          
state bureaucracy would be better spent on direct victims services.            
In its letter of opposition to the bill, the Network wrote, We do not          
support establishing an office that attempts to address these issues           
only  after  someone's rights have been violated. The Network goes