Legislature(2007 - 2008)CAPITOL 106
05/12/2007 09:00 AM House STATE AFFAIRS
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB171 | |
| HB252 | |
| HJR25 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | HJR 25 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | HB 252 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | SB 171 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
HB 252-LEAVE FOR ORGAN/BONE MARROW DONATIONS 9:10:10 AM CHAIR LYNN announced that the next order of business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 252 "An Act requiring paid leave from employment for organ and bone marrow donation." CHAIR LYNN clarified that CSHB 252(HES), Version 25-LS0817\E, was before the committee. 9:11:20 AM REPRESENTATIVE GABRIELLE LEDOUX, Alaska State Legislature, presented HB 252 as prime sponsor. She explained that HB 252 would require the State of Alaska to grant a paid leave of absence to an employee for the purpose of making a personal organ or bone marrow donation. The employer would not be required to provide more than 80 hours of leave; however, the leave could not be less than 40 hours, unless the employee were to request fewer hours. She noted that there are nearly 160 patients in Alaska waiting for a kidney transplant, while less than 100 people in Alaska are awaiting a bone marrow transplant. 9:12:46 AM REPRESENTATIVE ROSES moved to adopt the committee substitute (CS), Version 25-LS0817\M, Mischel, 5/11/07, as a work draft. 9:13:03 AM REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG objected for discussion purposes. 9:13:12 AM CHRISTINE MARASIGAN, Staff to Representative Gabrielle LeDoux, Alaska State Legislature, on behalf of Representative LeDoux, prime sponsor of HB 252, explained the changes to Version M. 9:13:57 AM REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG removed his objection to Version M. There being no further objection, Version M was before the committee. 9:14:09 AM REPRESENTATIVE DOLL cited language in Section 4, on page 2, beginning on line 18, which read as follows: Paid administrative leave may not include time spent on a screening process to determine whether the employee is a compatible donor. REPRESENTATIVE DOLL offered her understanding that the screening process is often lengthy, and she asked why it could not be included in the leave time. MS. MARASIGAN explained that the [House Health, Education and Social Services Standing Committee] had specifically requested that any language regarding testing be deleted, because it could be possible for someone to request leave multiple times. She said the process of screening for a bone marrow donor does not take long; however, the process of screening a prospective kidney donor can be more involved. In response to a follow-up question from Representative Doll, she explained that if someone is already on "the list" he/she has already completed the screening process; therefore, the idea is that he/she will use the leave time for the actual donation. REPRESENTATIVE DOLL revealed that she had taken steps to find out if one of her kidneys was compatible with [Representative Richard Foster who is waiting for a kidney transplant], and during that process she found out that the early testing process is lengthy. She concluded, "I would think that we would want to say something about that here." REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX said she would not object to an amendment to that effect, since that was the language of the original bill version. CHAIR LYNN asked if adding that language would slow the process and, if so, if it would be better to expand the legislation in a later bill. He said time is of the essence both for the people involved in the transplants and for the legislature. 9:17:42 AM REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX said those members of the first committee of referral may not favor seeing the language they voted out of the bill reinstated, which could slow the bill process down. In response to Chair Lynn, she offered her understanding that the bill is accompanied by an indeterminate fiscal note. 9:18:14 AM REPRESENTATIVE DOLL suggested the word "not" could be deleted from the aforementioned language [text provided previously]. REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX [nodded yes.] 9:18:43 AM REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG concurred with Representative Doll's suggestion. He spoke of Stan Robbins, the late husband of Representative Sharon Cissna, who he said lived a number of years thanks to a kidney transplant. He asked the bill sponsor if she would mind adding Mr. Robbins' name to the short title of the bill. REPRESENTATIVE LeDOUX replied that she would not mind. 9:19:46 AM MS. MARASIGAN, in response to a query by Representative Gruenberg, said current statute allows someone to take leave to care for someone who is sick. Regarding donors, she said, "Because you're a healthy person when your donate, it's an elective surgery, so it's not part of ... what's already on the books." 9:21:00 AM REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG directed attention to [page 2, lines 28-29], which says an employee is someone "who is employed for an average of 30 or more scheduled hours each week and who is paid by a warrant issued by the state." He offered his understanding that many state employees are paid electronically; they are no longer paid by warrant. He suggested that the language could read simply, "who is paid by the state". MS. MARASIGAN called Representative Gruenberg's observation a good one and explained that that language exists because of a recommendation by the House Health, Education and Social Services Standing Committee. REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG turned to [page 2, lines 25-27], which list the following state agencies: "executive, judicial, or legislative branch of state government, the Alaska Railroad Corporation, or the University of Alaska". He suggested that the following be considered for addition to the list: the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation (AHFC), the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation, the Judicial Council, and the Commission on Judicial Conduct. MS. MARASIGAN, in response to a question from Representative Gruenberg, confirmed that it is the sponsor's intent to include all state employees. 9:22:31 AM MS. MARASIGAN, in response to a request from Representative Coghill, reiterated the timing involved for a donor of bone marrow and of a kidney. She offered more detail regarding the latter. REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL indicated that the language in Version M would not stop a donor from making a leave request more than once. MS. MARASIGAN offered her understanding that the donor would request leave one time to cover preparation and donation time. 9:25:22 AM CHAIR LYNN, after ascertaining that there was no one to testify, closed public testimony. 9:25:40 AM REPRESENTATIVE DOLL moved to adopt Amendment 1 as follows: Page 2, line 18 Between "may" and "include" Delete "not" REPRESENTATIVE ROSES objected. He offered some background related to the discussion of the previous committee of referral. He stated that most screenings are done locally. He said the reasoning behind not allowing multiple leave is that the donor does not have to fly to where the donee is except at the actual time of donation. Further testing and screening is done directly before the operation, which would be included in the single leave time. He indicated that using the phrase "may not" would allow someone to appeal his/her case. 9:28:19 AM REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG said unfortunately that is not the way the court would interpret that language; "may not" is prohibitive language, he explained. He said allowing someone to take leave before the leave taken for the actual procedure, for example, to undergo screening, would save lives, and he expressed his hope that Representative Roses would remove his objection. 9:29:26 AM REPRESENTATIVE ROSES removed his objection. There being no further objection, Amendment 1 was adopted. 9:29:35 AM REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG moved to adopt Amendment 2 as follows: Page 2, line 29: Between "who is paid" and "by the state" Delete "by a warrant issued" There being no objection, Amendment 2 was adopted. 9:30:09 AM REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG moved to adopt Conceptual Amendment 3, on page 2, line 27, after "University of Alaska," to add any other appropriate entities, including Alaska Housing Finance Corporation, the Permanent Fund Corporation, the Judicial Council, and the Commission on Judicial Conduct. CHAIR LYNN asked if there was any objection to Conceptual Amendment 3. There being none, it was so ordered. 9:31:24 AM REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG moved to adopt Amendment 4, as follows: On page 1, line 5: Between "Richard Foster" and "and Alex Cesar" Insert ", Stanley M. Robbins" REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG, in response to a question from Chair Lynn, said the names could appear in any order that the sponsor wishes. Furthermore, he told Chair Lynn that he is certain that Representative Cissna would [approve]. CHAIR LYNN asked if there was any objection to Amendment 4. There being none, it was so ordered. 9:32:38 AM REPRESENTATIVE DOLL moved to report CSHB 252, Version 25- LS0817\M, Mischel, 5/11/07, as amended, out of committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal notes. There being no objection, CSHB 252(STA) was reported out of the House State Affairs Standing Committee.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|