Legislature(2007 - 2008)CAPITOL 106
01/19/2008 11:00 AM House STATE AFFAIRS
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB296 | |
| HB281 | |
| HB260 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | HB 296 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | HB 269 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| += | HB 281 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 260 | TELECONFERENCED | |
HB 296-EXTENDING BOARD OF PAROLE 11:10:46 AM CHAIR LYNN announced the first order of business was HOUSE BILL NO. 296, "An Act extending the termination date of the Board of Parole; and providing for an effective date." 11:11:31 AM MICHAEL STARK, Vice Chair, Parole Board, introduced HB 296 on behalf of Representative Bob Lynn, sponsor. He noted that he had worked in the Office of the Attorney General for 20 years prior to his seven years on the board. He stated that the proposed legislation would extend the life of the Parole Board, which is set to sunset at the end of fiscal year 2008 (FY 08). MR. STARK directed attention to the Parole Board's statistical report for calendar years 1996-2007 [included in the committee packet], which shows all the responsibilities that keep the board busy. He said the board conducts hundreds of hearings each year, during which it considers early release of persons who have demonstrated that they are a "safe risk to be released into the community." He indicated that a majority of the hearings are focused on the issue of parole revocation, wherein the parole board must decide whether to deal with the parolee through intermediate sanctions, issue a warning, or put him/her back in prison and require program participation. 11:13:42 AM REPRESENTATIVE DOLL stated that the Parole Board is an important link in the corrections system. She directed attention to the audit report, dated August 28, 2007, [included in the committee packet], and asked for comment from the board regarding two recommendations found in the audit [on page 7], which read as follows [original punctuation provided]: The Board of Parole should increase public accessibility to, and accountability for, its administrative actions and operations. The Board of Parole should hold a general session meeting, open to the public, at least once a year. 11:14:25 AM ED RAIS, Chair, Parole Board, replied that in response to reading those recommendations, the board will be advertising [its hearings] in local newspapers in Juneau, Fairbanks, and Anchorage. He offered his understanding that in the past, only one or two people have had questions of the board. 11:15:32 AM MR. STARK, in response to Representative Doll, said the Parole Board will be scheduling its statewide teleconference for public participation in July. REPRESENTATIVE DOLL, citing another entry on page 7 of the aforementioned audit, read, "... since 2001, the board has not formally issued a statistical report summarizing how effective the board has been at achieving operating objectives." She commented that that is a long time between reports. MR. STARK referred again to the statistical report covering the period of 1996 to 2007. He stated, "In fact, the board has produced annual statistics demonstrating what the board has accomplished each year. However, due to some budget constraints, they stopped publishing a formal report." He said information has been made available on the web site. He clarified, "It was the actual formal publishing that was lacking, not the production of the statistics." In response to a follow-up question from Representative Doll, he said the legislature fully funded the board this fiscal year. 11:17:48 AM REPRESENTATIVE JOHANSEN mentioned that he had questions regarding a handout in the committee packet from the Division of Probation & Parole's "Goals and Objectives," but that he would wait to get clarification. 11:18:35 AM REPRESENTATIVE ROSES asked how many of the 497 full board hearings conducted in 2007 were full-day sessions as opposed to half-day sessions. MR. STARK replied that the board typically hears 8 to 13 hearings in a day, and each hearing is allotted between 30 minutes to one hour. In response to a follow-up comment from Representative Roses, he clarified that most of the days the board meets are full days. He added, "So, you have to divide that 497 by that number to figure out roughly how many days there were of full compensation for hearings alone." He noted that the statistics reflect that the board serves other functions, too. REPRESENTATIVE ROSES told Mr. Stark that it would be helpful to the committee if the board would submit the number of full days and half day meetings to accompany the fiscal note to facilitate translation of the information in order to decide whether or not the fiscal note is in line. MR. STARK noted that the compensation for board members is a relatively minor expense in the board's budget. There are five staff persons who work full-time. KATHY MATSUMOTO, Executive Director, Parole Board, Department of Corrections, acknowledged Representative Roses' request to see a list of the number of full and half days that the board meets. In response to that request, she explained that she cannot recollect any half days scheduled in addition to the five full days of hearings that the board schedules on its calendar each month. She noted that additionally, individual board members provide preliminary hearings. She said, "That also adds to the cost in terms of compensation." 11:21:33 AM MR. REIS reported that during calendar year 2007, he personally conducted 172 preliminary hearings in Anchorage. He offered his understanding that the other Parole Board member, Charles Moses (ph), conducted almost 190 preliminary hearings, while Mr. Stark conducted 124 preliminary hearings. He said [conducting preliminary hearings] comprises a majority of the board members' work. He noted that board members work out of their homes and are compensated $16 per each file read. He said he believes the board as a whole signed over 500 parole warrants last year. MS. MATSUMOTO confirmed that statistic. MR. REIS added that many board members are also required to speak before the public, and they work in conjunction with the department to discuss , for example, the budget and planning. 11:23:13 AM CHAIR LYNN stated the need for this information to be supplied to the House Finance Committee. REPRESENTATIVE ROSES concurred. He clarified that he does not think anyone believes the parole board is not putting in lots of time; the information is needed simply in order to balance finances. 11:23:39 AM MR. REIS said the committee should also be made aware that in addition to parole, the board is also responsible for clemency. MS. MATSUMOTO inserted that the board members are responsible for conducting final board hearings, preliminary hearings, signing warrants, reading packets, and studying parole conditions; however, "it falls on board staff in terms of responsibility for clemency." She clarified, "The board doesn't have any impact on that work; that's strictly assigned to board staff." MR. REIS said his point is that it will take a lot of board staff time to conduct the business of the state in that area. 11:24:33 AM REPRESENTATIVE ROSES asked the sponsor why he chose 2016 as the next sunset date. He asked if eight years was a deliberate time frame. 11:24:49 AM CHAIR LYNN indicated that choosing that date had to do with the audit. MR. STARK added that the last time the legislature extended the Parole Board, they did so for an eight-year period. 11:25:04 AM MR. STARK, in response to a question from Representative Johansen, reiterated the board's plan to make an annual meeting available to the public. 11:26:47 AM MS. MATSUMOTO, in response to a question from Representative Doll regarding past fiscal notes, reported the Parole Board's past budgets as follows: $481,200 allocated and $612,424 expended in FY 03; $530,400 in FY 04; and $524,000 allocated, with a supplemental of $65,000 in FY 05. REPRESENTATIVE DOLL observed that the board has been spending an average of $600,000 [a year]; therefore, it is looking for an additional $169,000 this year. MR. STARK offered his understanding that the board is "looking at a maintenance budget for this coming year," and that the amount in the current fiscal note is the amount that was appropriated last year. MS. MATSUMOTO responded that she thinks there was an increase. 11:28:41 AM MR. REIS noted: One of the issues per board compensation members was never budgeted. I believe per day it was $150 per board member. That had not been changed since 1984. When I became the chair under the Murkowski Administration, Governor Murkowski signed a bill that allowed each board member, on a full day of compensation, to receive $250 dollars per day. That was never offset in our budget until last year. We asked for $794,000, and I believe that we were appropriated ... $736,000. We also have - due to retirement benefits ... for employees to the board -- as the committee all knows, those costs have all gone up. And that was our request there to fund all those positions. And the board ... for years has been funded for two ... Parole Officer III positions, and for almost two and half years we did not have one of those positions filled, because our budget was restricting ... [filling] that position. CHAIR LYNN noted that the fiscal note analysis read: Passage of this legislation should have no fiscal impact on the Department of Corrections. CHAIR LYNN said the issue at hand is whether or not to extend the Parole Board, and he stated that he does not want to do too much of the House Finance Committee's work for them. MR. REIS assured the committee that the board members will be willing to go through the board's budget line by line with the House Finance Committee. In closing, he stated that he thinks the eight-year off-set for the budget is a good thing, because a sunset audit of the board yearly would be a waste of state resources. He said he understands the importance of outside perception and having an annual open meeting for the public, as is mandated in statute; however, as Mr. Stark previously noted, the board is not fully funded to do a lot of the work as is required by statute. In response to a question from Representative Johnson, he said he has not heard from the deputy commissioner regarding allocations to the board this year. 11:32:22 AM DWAYNE PEEPLES, Deputy Commissioner, Department of Corrections, in response to a question from Representative Johnson, noted that the fiscal note has been modified. He explained: The number being reflected for [FY] 09 on the note page, first column - appropriation required - is the base in the governor's request FY 09. The second column in the fiscal note, where you see FY 09 again, would be additional monies required to implement. The base is $769.1 thousand in the current governor's budget request. By passage of the sunset law, there [are] no additional funds required. 11:33:08 AM REPRESENTATIVE ROSES moved to report HB 296 out of committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal notes. There being no objection, HB 296 was reported out of the House State Affairs Standing Committee.
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