04/02/1993 03:00 PM House HES

  HB 195:  AUTHORIZING YOUTH COURTS                                            
                                                                               
  CHAIR BUNDE noted that it was decided at an earlier hearing                  
  on the bill that there was a need for some adjustment to the                 
  bill.  He opened public testimony on the bill and, noting no                 
  one wishing to testify, closed public testimony on the bill                  
  and opened committee discussion.                                             
                                                                               
  REP. VEZEY passed out a blank committee substitute (CS) of                   
  the bill, which he said included all amendments adopted at                   
  the previous meeting, including the creation of a new                        
  juvenile justice grant fund.  He said that, as the bill                      
  carried no fiscal note and contained no appropriation to the                 
  fund, the department would not be able to adopt regulations                  
  to carry out the purpose of the act.  He said Legal Services                 
  advised him that the bill had to contain such an explicit                    
  denial, but he questioned the need for inclusion of such a                   
  denial.                                                                      
                                                                               
  Number 285                                                                   
                                                                               
  REP. OLBERG recalled that there had been some disagreement                   
  on the bill at the earlier meeting.  He said he had had no                   
  problems with the original bill and asked if the committee                   
  had yet adopted the committee substitute.                                    
                                                                               
  CHAIR BUNDE answered no.                                                     
                                                                               
  REP. B. DAVIS asked if there was testimony on the CS.                        
                                                                               
  CHAIR BUNDE answered no.                                                     
                                                                               
  Number 298                                                                   
                                                                               
  REP. B. DAVIS moved adoption of the CS as a working draft of                 
  HB 195.                                                                      
                                                                               
  REP. OLBERG objected.                                                        
                                                                               
  CHAIR BUNDE asked for a roll call vote.                                      
                                                                               
  There followed a moment of confused discussion in which a                    
  point of order was called but not acknowledged.                              
                                                                               
  REP. B. DAVIS asked the sponsor of the bill or his                           
  representative to speak to the CS version.                                   
                                                                               
  Number 302                                                                   
                                                                               
  PAULA TERREL, AIDE TO REP. SITTON, testified on HB 95.  She                  
  said that Rep. Sitton did not object to the CS, though he                    
  felt that the substitution of the term "person" for                          
  "nonprofit" was slightly unwieldy.  She said he thought it                   
  was less likely that individual people would start youth                     
  courts than nonprofit corporations.  Ms. Terrel stated, "But                 
  that they are included, and the department still may adopt                   
  regulations for this, and in view of that, he doesn't have a                 
  problem with the separation of the funds.  He accepts it."                   
                                                                               
  CHAIR BUNDE asked if Rep. Sitton had reacted to the fact                     
  that the CS version did not include any money to implement                   
  the bill.                                                                    
                                                                               
  MS. TERREL said that Rep. Sitton would have liked to have                    
  the money, but if it was not there, it was not there.  She                   
  commented that if someone in the Finance Committee wanted to                 
  amend it ...                                                                 
                                                                               
  Number 322                                                                   
                                                                               
  REP. OLBERG said that he did not see the necessity of                        
  creating a new grant fund or eliminating the old grant fund.                 
  He said the original proposal would have converted the                       
  community legal assistance grant fund into the legal                         
  assistance and juvenile justice grant fund.  He said that                    
  the bill now created the juvenile justice grant fund, but                    
  gave it no money.  He questioned the necessity of that                       
  action.                                                                      
                                                                               
  REP. B. DAVIS asked if it would be possible to include new                   
  language that would allow money to be transferred from one                   
  of the separated funds to another, now that the co-mingling                  
  of funds issue had been addressed.                                           
                                                                               
  MS. TERREL said she had checked with the Department of                       
  Community and Regional Affairs and had learned that there                    
  was no money available in the legal assistance fund.                         
                                                                               
  Number 338                                                                   
                                                                               
  REP. B. DAVIS asked Rep. Vezey to explain again why he                       
  preferred the use of the term "person" instead of                            
  "nonprofit."                                                                 
                                                                               
  REP. VEZEY repeated that the legal definition of "person"                    
  encompassed almost all of those organizations that could                     
  provide a youth courts, including nonprofit corporations,                    
  but not limiting it to nonprofit corporations.                               
                                                                               
  Number 356                                                                   
                                                                               
  REP. B. DAVIS asked if it was possible to make a simple                      
  amendment instead.                                                           
                                                                               
  REP. VEZEY noted that an organization did not have to be                     
  nonprofit, or a corporation, to provide public service.  He                  
  said the legal protections formerly provided by the                          
  corporate structure had been weakened over the last 20                       
  years, and there were reasons not to use such a structure.                   
                                                                               
  Number 369                                                                   
                                                                               
  CHAIR BUNDE said using the word person provided the greatest                 
  possible flexibility in the establishment of a youth court.                  
                                                                               
  REP. B. DAVIS asked if the bill contained a definition of                    
  the term "person."                                                           
                                                                               
  CHAIR BUNDE said the definition was contained in statute.                    
                                                                               
  Number 375                                                                   
                                                                               
  REP. VEZEY said the term "person" was defined in AS 01.10.60                 
  paragraph 8.  He said virtually no person or group was                       
  excluded by that definition.                                                 
                                                                               
  CHAIR BUNDE said that the definition might include the                       
  Alaska Native Brotherhood.                                                   
                                                                               
  REP. VEZEY said that a political subdivision of the state                    
  was not a nonprofit corporation.                                             
                                                                               
  REP. TOOHEY asked Rep. Vezey if there were any other changes                 
  to the bill contained in the CS other than the two changes                   
  he mentioned, those being the creation of a new grant fund                   
  and the substitution of the term "person" for "nonprofit."                   
                                                                               
  REP. VEZEY said that to his knowledge those were the only                    
  changes.                                                                     
                                                                               
                                                                               
  REP. TOOHEY commented that there had been changes to Section                 
  4 to include municipalities instead of just cities.                          
                                                                               
  REP. VEZEY said that this change had been made by his                        
  office.                                                                      
                                                                               
  REP. TOOHEY asked if another amendment had not deleted from                  
  the bill lines 4-7 on page 4.  She said that if he could                     
  show her that those were the only changes, and that the                      
  sponsor was happy with the changes, she would believe the                    
  bill was a good piece of legislation.                                        
                                                                               
  REP. VEZEY said that the deletion she mentioned had not been                 
  accepted by the committee, nor had it been included in the                   
  CS.                                                                          
                                                                               
  Number 409                                                                   
                                                                               
  REP. OLBERG withdrew his objection to adopting the CS                        
  version of HB 195.                                                           
                                                                               
  CHAIR BUNDE, hearing no objection, then declared that the                    
  committee had adopted the CS version of HB 195 as a working                  
  draft.  He noted that the next committee of referral was the                 
  House Finance Committee.                                                     
                                                                               
  Number 412                                                                   
                                                                               
  REP. TOOHEY moved passage of CSHB 195 with individual                        
  recommendations.                                                             
                                                                               
  CHAIR BUNDE asked for objections and hearing none, declared                  
  that CSHB 195 had passed with individual recommendations.                    
  CHAIR BUNDE adjourned the meeting at 4:24 p.m.