Legislature(2009 - 2010)BARNES 124
02/26/2009 08:00 AM House COMMUNITY & REGIONAL AFFAIRS
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB10 | |
| HB106 | |
| HJR15 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | HB 10 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | HB 106 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | HJR 15 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
HB 106-VILLAGE & REGIONAL PUB.SAFETY OFFICERS 8:27:02 AM CO-CHAIR MUNOZ announced that the next order of business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 106, "An Act relating to village public safety officers and regional public safety officers." 8:28:05 AM CO-CHAIR HERRON moved to adopt proposed CSHB 106, Version 26- LS0402\E, Luckhaupt, 2/25/09, as the working document. There being no objection, Version E was before the committee. 8:28:49 AM ELIZABETH HENSLEY, Intern, Representative Reggie Joule, Alaska State Legislature, speaking on behalf of the sponsor, explained that HB 106 attempts to change the Village Public Safety Officer (VPSO) program to enable municipalities to administer and receive grant funding for the VPSO program. The legislation seeks to ensure all villages in Alaska have a VPSO. She mentioned that this has been in the works for about five years. Ms. Hensley further explained that HB 106 will allow the Northwest Arctic Borough to take over the VPSO program, as the community desires. 8:30:36 AM REPRESENTATIVE REGGIE JOULE, Alaska State Legislature, related that [the proposal in HB 106] is a joint effort between Maniilaq Association and the Northwest Arctic Borough. 8:31:10 AM CO-CHAIR HERRON pointed out that there has been a significant change in the focus of the legislation from boroughs to municipalities. MS. HENSLEY explained that the change was recommended by the commissioner's office to make it possible for boroughs and other subdivisions of the state to administer the program. Therefore, legislation wouldn't be required for a community in which the Native corporation is unable to administer the program fully. 8:32:16 AM REPRESENTATIVE MILLETT inquired as to how the VPSO programs currently being performed by the Native corporation will be transferred to the municipalities. MS. HENSLEY clarified that the VPSO program is working well in Southwest Alaska, and thus the intent is to let those continue. The intent [with HB 106] is to allow more flexibility so that another entity is allowed to run the VPSO program when a nonprofit corporation isn't able to do so. REPRESENTATIVE MILLETT inquired as to who determines the program is or isn't working. MS. HENSLEY explained that Maniilaq Association and the Northwest Arctic Borough have, along with the commissioner's office, discussed [the need for the program to be run by the municipality]. She said that the aforementioned would be the model when a change is made. She noted that the commissioner's office does the contracting in conjunction with the Native corporation or the borough. 8:35:11 AM REPRESENTATIVE CISSNA opined that the VPSO presence is imperative in a community. She then inquired as to the different powers that communities assume, such as public health and police powers. REPRESENTATIVE JOULE pointed out that Representative Cissna had specified the level of powers that a borough may assume as a political subdivision. For example, as a home rule borough Barrow has assumed the power of health and public safety. However, that's not the case in the Northwest Arctic Borough. He noted that some incorporated municipalities have their own police departments. This legislation wouldn't impact the aforementioned. He reiterated that the Northwest Arctic Borough and Maniilaq Association have worked toward this end for a number of years and this legislation merely allows the borough to take over the agreement with the state; this legislation allows the commissioner the flexibility to allow such. 8:37:58 AM REPRESENTATIVE MILLETT inquired as to why municipalities and boroughs weren't included in the management of VPSOs initially. REPRESENTATIVE JOULE related his understanding that it was an effort to work with the outlying communities in the state and keep the program at the local level. Furthermore, at the time the VPSO program was established there weren't many boroughs. REPRESENTATIVE MILLETT inquired as to how the Native nonprofits feel about HB 106. REPRESENTATIVE JOULE said that he hasn't heard from anyone because the intent is to provide flexibility with regard to who can provide the VPSO program. There is no intent to take the VPSO program away from the nonprofit associations. 8:40:06 AM REPRESENTATIVE MILLETT inquired as to whether there is preferential treatment with regard to what entity assumes the VPSO program. MS. HENSLEY opined that the preference is in regard to what the community is asking for and what entities have the capacity and will to provide the VPSO program. At this time, the Northwest Arctic Borough feels it has the capacity to provide the VPSO program. Ms. Hensley said she didn't imagine there would be an automatic preference, nor is such reflected in HB 106. 8:41:14 AM REPRESENTATIVE KELLER inquired as to why HB 106 is necessary since an organized municipality surely has the ability to contract and receive funds to manage a VPSO program. MS. HENSLEY explained that in order to participate in the VPSO program, this legislation must be passed. She then informed the committee that the VPSO program has many components, including a training component, a financial component, and a discussion component. The goal is to have a VPSO in every village possible, which HB 106 would help achieve faster. She related that in the Northwest Arctic Borough there is one VPSO and nine villages without VPSOs. REPRESENTATIVE JOULE explained that HB 106 is necessary because the borough doesn't have the financial wherewithal to assume the public safety powers it could as a borough. Therefore, HB 106 enables the state to contract with the borough to provide the service without the borough having to assume the broader powers. 8:45:28 AM CO-CHAIR HERRON noted his support for HB 106. He then related his understanding that originally there were many tribal and village public safety officers and thus there was the desire to start the program within that framework. He said he supports HB 106 because there could be instances in which one wants to groom individuals within the community to be VPSOs, municipal officers, and ultimately state troopers. The program offers a good approach to building careers for young people in Alaska, he opined. 8:47:00 AM REPRESENTATIVE CISSNA, recalling her time on the [municipal level] public safety finance subcommittee, related her observation of the difficulty in increasing the number of VPSOs. She asked if [the VPSO program] is like an administrative partnership and the role of [the Department of Public Safety] is both financial and administrative. 8:48:11 AM JOSEPH MASTERS, Commissioner, Department of Public Safety, clarified that HB 106 isn't intended to change the VPSO program or how it interacts with the nonprofit corporations. He explained that the VPSO is a state program and not intended to provide officers to boroughs or municipalities, but rather is only intended to allow DPS to provide VPSO grants to villages through other entities [besides Native corporations] that can better administer the program. With regard to why boroughs and cities didn't initially participate in the VPSO program, Commissioner Masters related that the intent was to place safety officers in communities with a population of less than 1,000. This would be a cooperative relationship between the state, regional corporations, and the individual villages to have the most effective program. The VPSO wasn't intended to be a total state or government program without local input and collaboration. 8:51:53 AM CO-CHAIR HERRON recalled a time when the attitude from the Alaska State Troopers was that VPSOs were unwanted, although he said he understood that's not the current attitude. COMMISSIONER MASTERS opined that often the focus on law enforcement efforts and strategies is driven from the commissioner through to the deputy commissioners and down to those who actually administer the programs and initiatives. He said he wasn't comfortable characterizing the attitudes of previous commissioners or departmental leadership with regard to the VPSO program. However, he related that his rural law enforcement strategy is to increase the effectiveness of the troopers and the local level efforts, including the VPSO program. Commissioner Masters stated that the VPSO program is absolutely necessary in order to be effective in rural law enforcement. 8:54:22 AM REPRESENTATIVE HARRIS recalled the difficulty with drugs, alcohol, huffing, and etcetera in rural areas. Some of the remedy to the aforementioned issues has been more law enforcement in the area. However, it's difficult to place a trooper in every village. He asked if HB 106 helps to bring access to a VPSO in many of the smaller communities. He also asked if HB 106 helps with recruitment for the VPSO program from the local areas. COMMISSIONER MASTERS specified that this legislation doesn't necessarily add VPSOs to communities that wouldn't already have been eligible to have VPSOs. The department continues to try to expand the capacity of the VPSO program. This legislation, he explained, allows those areas that can't effectively manage, recruit, and retain VPSOs to have another entity manage the program and fill the positions. In the case of the Northwest Arctic Borough, HB 106 would allow another entity, an entity that's better equipped to manage the program, to manage it. Therefore, this legislation does make [DPS] more effective in placing VPSOs in communities in those areas. Commissioner Masters then related his support for HB 106, although he mentioned some reservations with some of the language in the legislation. He noted that he has voiced those concerns with the sponsor and intends to work on those concerns between committees. In further response to Representative Harris, Commissioner Masters confirmed that his office works with the governor's office regarding all legislation on which he testifies. However, he said that he hasn't had a conversation with the governor on HB 106 specifically. 8:59:47 AM BOB SCHAEFFER, Public Services Director, Northwest Arctic Borough, reviewed the history of the VPSO program. He recalled when the VPSO program was established in the 1970s, and related that it did work. At the time the Red Dog Mine wasn't in existence and the finances of the villages were minimal. However, once the Red Dog mine opened, the salaries in the area changed the income levels. The aforementioned resulted in the VPSO program becoming ineffective because no one could be paid enough to come to the villages and there were no benefits. Furthermore, there was no support and very little vacation time allowed. For the last five to six years it has been almost impossible to find folks to fill the VPSO positions simply because of the low salary. Furthermore, the infrastructure and buildings constructed in the 1970s have deteriorated. He then recalled that in 1986 the Northwest Arctic Borough established a public safety commission to address the borough resident's concerns regarding public safety in general. Ultimately, the borough assembly requested that the borough administration find ways to address the lack of public safety. He noted that the Northwest Arctic Borough is a small borough that doesn't have the resources to take control of public safety. The public safety commission met multiple times and asked if the borough would like to take over public safety functions. In closing, Mr. Schaeffer specified that the Northwest Arctic Borough is looking for a mechanism to [provide public safety] and the belief is that the borough could put more resources in the program and likely become more successful in terms of recruitment. 9:07:54 AM SUE STANCLIFF, Special Assistant, Office of the Commissioner, Department of Public Safety, related that the department is committed to work with the sponsor regarding concerns the department has. 9:08:42 AM SIIKAURAQ MARTHA WHITING, Mayor, Northwest Arctic Borough, related the Northwest Arctic Borough's support for HB 106. She further related that public service in law enforcement is a borough priority. Currently, the VPSO program is administered by the Maniilaq Association, a regional nonprofit that's doing all it can to provide [public safety] in the villages. There are many challenges, including finding local people who will pass the background check, low salaries, lack of housing, lack of jail facilities, long training periods outside the community, and lack of holding cells. There is also the challenge that people don't want to bust friends and family. The borough is up for those challenges, she opined. In 2006 the Northwest Arctic leadership team assigned the Northwest Arctic Borough to take the lead in public safety through the borough's public services department, although the borough doesn't have a mechanism to th administer the VPSO program. On February 24 the Northwest Arctic Borough Assembly passed a resolution in support of HB 106 and recently hired a public safety manager to manage this program. Ms. Whiting emphasized that the smaller communities of the state deserve this basic service and the Northwest Arctic Borough is ready to assume the responsibility [for the VPSO program]. The borough already partners with the Alaska State Troopers, the Kotzebue Police Department, and continues to meet with DPS to succeed. She related that the borough wants to be proactive in crime prevention by providing public awareness, ease, and involvement. She mentioned using local elders to teach discipline, responsibility, self control, and leadership. As a community-based organization, the borough is looking at preventing crimes and building a healthier community. In 2007 the borough hosted a law enforcement summit with DPS during which the statewide needs for public safety were reviewed in order to glean ideas as to what would work in terms of public safety in the Northwest Arctic Borough and the region as a whole. Recommendations from the communities will be reviewed by the commission and the activities will be prioritized in order to achieve long-sustaining public safety in the villages. Ms. Whiting then relayed that there is a congressional appropriation from the US Department of Justice in the amount of $500,000 to the Northwest Arctic Borough to provide VPSO training and planning opportunities. In conclusion, Ms. Whiting reiterated support for HB 106. 9:15:08 AM CO-CHAIR MUNOZ, upon determining no one else wished to testify, closed public testimony. 9:15:14 AM CO-CHAIR HERRON moved to report CSHB 106, Version LS0402\E, Luckhaupt, 2/25/09, out of committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal notes. There being no objection, CSHB 106(CRA) was reported from the House Community and Regional Affairs Standing Committee. 9:15:47 AM The committee took an at-ease from 9:15 a.m. to 9:21 a.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| HB 10 - Sectional.pdf |
HCRA 2/26/2009 8:00:00 AM |
HB 10 |
| CSHB106- 26-LS0402E.PDF |
HCRA 2/26/2009 8:00:00 AM |
HB 106 |
| HB 10 -- SCS CSHB67(CRA).pdf |
HCRA 2/26/2009 8:00:00 AM |
HB 10 HB 67 |
| HB 10 -- CSHB67(FIN)am.pdf |
HCRA 2/26/2009 8:00:00 AM |
HB 10 HB 67 |
| HB10.pdf |
HCRA 2/26/2009 8:00:00 AM |
HB 10 |
| HB106 Sectional.doc |
HCRA 2/26/2009 8:00:00 AM |
HB 106 |
| HB106 Sponsor Statement.doc |
HCRA 2/26/2009 8:00:00 AM |
HB 106 |
| HB 10 Sponsor Statement.doc |
HCRA 2/26/2009 8:00:00 AM |
HB 10 |
| HB 10 letters of support.PDF |
HCRA 2/26/2009 8:00:00 AM |
HB 10 |
| HB 10 Ltrs of Support II.PDF |
HCRA 2/26/2009 8:00:00 AM |
HB 10 |
| HB10-Fiscal Note-COM-CRA-2-20-09.pdf |
HCRA 2/26/2009 8:00:00 AM |
HB 10 |
| HB106-Fiscal Note-DPS-DET-02-23-09.pdf |
HCRA 2/26/2009 8:00:00 AM |
HB 106 |
| HJR 15 AMENDMENT 1.doc |
HCRA 2/26/2009 8:00:00 AM |
HJR 15 |
| HJR 15 Sponsor Statement.doc |
HCRA 2/26/2009 8:00:00 AM |
HJR 15 |
| HJR15 AMENDMENT 2.doc |
HCRA 2/26/2009 8:00:00 AM |
HJR 15 |