Legislature(2007 - 2008)SENATE FINANCE 532
04/16/2007 09:00 AM Senate FINANCE
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation: Sound Families Initiative | |
| SB89 | |
| SB69 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| += | SB 89 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | SB 69 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
10:05:23 AM SENATE BILL NO. 69 "An Act relating to the creation of a civil legal services fund." This was the first hearing for this bill in the Senate Finance Committee. 10:05:35 AM MARIT CARLSON-VAN DORT, Staff to Senator Lesil McGuire, presented the bill, listing "talking points" into the record as follows. · SB 69 is designed to provide a financial mechanism whereby the legislature may make appropriations to organizations that provide civil legal services to low-income Alaskans. · SB 69 would create a civil legal services account funded by provisions required under AS 09.17.020(j), a section of Alaska law requiring 50% of all punitive damage awards be given to the state and deposited into the general fund. · SB 69 logically calls for the funds needed to assist the disadvantaged in civil legal matters flow out of the civil legal system itself. · These low-income Alaskans can unduly strain and make inefficient the court system. Often self-represented litigants find themselves unable to effectively represent their interests. This pro-Senator Elton representation costs the system time and money, placing additional burdens on the legal system. · Necessary efficiencies are achieved throughout the entire process by working these cases through a non- profit entity such as the Alaska Legal Services Corporation. · ASLC was founded in 1966 and handles cases involving family law issues, landlord/tenant, public entitlements, health, probate and consumer issues. · SB 69 identifies an ongoing source of funding designed to aid the ASLC in its efforts to provide civil legal assistance to low-income Alaskans. · SB 69 does not create a mandatory expenditure. Each legislature possesses an option to appropriate these monies to a civil legal services fund. 10:07:47 AM Co-Chair Stedman announced intent that this bill would not be reported from Committee at this meeting, but rather public testimony would be taken and the Committee would review the legislation. 10:08:26 AM Co-Chair Hoffman asked if a similar program exists in other states. 10:08:44 AM Ms. Carlson-Van Dort could not speak to the programs of other states but indicated she would research the matter. 10:08:57 AM Senator Olson asked for a comparison of the current general budget of the Alaska Legal Services Corporation (ALSC) to that at the agency's inception in 1966. 10:09:07 AM Ms. Carlson-Van Dort answered that the budget has decreased from the budget at the agency's formation. 10:09:15 AM Senator Huggins asked the amount of civil damages awarded over the past several years. 10:09:44 AM VANCE SANDERS, President, and former Staff Attorney and Supervising Attorney, Alaska Legal Services Corporation, testified that Mr. Harrington could provide figures of amounts collected by the State in civil damages. 10:10:43 AM Ms. Carlson-Van Dort informed that a spreadsheet was included in the supporting documentation for this bill provided to Members. 10:10:52 AM Mr. Sanders understood that less than $600,000 was collected over the last three fiscal years. He had expected the Alaska Court System to provide exact figures. 10:11:13 AM Co-Chair Stedman shared that the aforementioned spreadsheet was included in a memorandum addressed to Representative Jay Ramras from the Department of Law dated January 22, 2007 [copy on file.] AT EASE 10:11:43 AM / 10:12:13 AM 10:12:44 AM Mr. Sanders stated that his knowledge of the ALSC budget dates to 1984. In that year the agency's budget was approximately $3.5 million and included $1.2 million appropriated by the legislature. During that period, the ALSC had offices located in Nome, Kotzebue, Dillingham, Kodiak, Juneau, Ketchikan, Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Barrow. Mr. Sanders reminded that the agency received no State funding for FY 07. Although federal funding had been "relatively constant", U.S. Senator Ted Stevens has warned that funds received for "Native allotment work" would likely no longer be available and therefore the agency would experience a decrease in federal funding. Mr. Sanders advised that the concept to utilize revenues generated from punitive damages was suggested by the Alaska Court System in a study it conducted on equal access to justice. The Alaska Court System decided against including civil legal services funding in its budget and offered this option. Mr. Sanders spoke of the "serious funding issue" of the ALSC. The offices located in Kodiak and Barrow had been closed, and although the Nome office had been recently reopened after being closed, future operation of that location was uncertain. Mr. Sanders communicated efforts undertaken by the ALSC to secure funding from private attorneys in the State. Donations had been received and a "gifting program" was established. Approximately $300,000 had been raised for the purpose of creating a foundation with the intent that the agency would eventually become self-sufficient. 10:15:01 AM Senator Olson asked if the ALSC primarily represented plaintiffs or defendants. Mr. Sanders answered that the parties represented varies, with the constant being "poor people". In some cases these are plaintiffs and in others they are defendants. Approximately one- third of the cases pertain to domestic relations, with approximately two-thirds of those cases involving victims of domestic violence. 10:15:30 AM Senator Olson pointed out one case listed in the documentation involving a business and asked if the ALSC represented that party. Mr. Sanders clarified that the list of cases Senator Olson referenced was cases in which punitive awards were obtained. The ALSC "would never be involved in a case where punitive damages were awarded." 10:15:56 AM Senator Huggins directed attention to the aforementioned spreadsheet detailing punitive damage awards made in the years 2005 through 2007. Determining the actual amount of the awards was difficult given the notation of "minus attorney fees". 10:16:15 AM Ms. Carlson-Van Dort did not have a cumulative total, but noted the spreadsheet is intended to demonstrate the "variability in the punitive damage awards" and relay the difficulty in collecting the monies. 10:16:32 AM Senator Huggins assumed that funds could be allocated to the ALSC directly from the general fund since such appropriations would not be limited to a funding source. Because the collection of punitive damages was not "lucrative", the zero fiscal note was inaccurate and that a "debit from the general fund" would occur. 10:17:30 AM Ms. Carlson-Van Dort corrected that this legislation would provide "an additional avenue to gain funds in the event that the general funds were unavailable." She reiterated that the ALSC had received no general funds in the last several years. 10:17:50 AM Senator Huggins reposed his assertion that punitive damage awards "does not appear to be a very robust source to gain money from." 10:18:14 AM Mr. Sanders characterized punitive awards as a "windfall to the State". However, such judgments were "pretty rare" with a cumulative total of $586,000 awarded by juries in Alaska. 10:18:54 AM ANDY HARRINGTON, Executive Director, Alaska Legal Services Corporation, testified via teleconference from Fairbanks that during calendar year 2004 the State received $167,000 in punitive damages, $300,000 in 2005, and $333.00 in 2006. This demonstrates that the amount received by the State from this source "are a bit of a roller coaster ride." However, "all of these numbers are greater than zero," the amount received by the ALSC from the State for the past few years. For this reason he was appreciative of Senator McGuire for sponsoring the bill. 10:20:39 AM Mr. Harrington gave examples of a commercial fisherman not paid for fish delivered to a large seafood producer headquartered in another state; a patient traveling out of state for emergency medical treatment whose Medicare and Social Security disability claims are denied; and a young family locked out of their apartment. Similar situations are experienced by many Alaskans but are especially difficult for the poor. The ASLC attempts to assist these people. Mr. Harrington spoke to efforts to establish offices in additional communities in which population increases and other factors have created a need for services. 10:25:00 AM CHRISTINE PATE, Attorney, Alaska Network on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, testified via teleconference from an offnet location in Sitka and characterized this bill as "a critical piece of legislation in helping to end the cycle of violence in the lives of many Alaskans." She told of a study conducted by two economists that found that legal services are "the most effective means of ending the violence in the victims' lives." A victim deciding to leave her batterer for immediate safety is "just the beginning of her journey for safety for her and her children." To maintain safety, several resources are necessary and include economic help to support her family from child support or spousal support, a protection order to maintain physical safety, a custody order granting custody of her children, and permanent housing. Only an attorney could assist in securing all these elements. Ms. Pate identified the insufficient number of attorneys providing these legal services. The Network, comprised of a coalition of the domestic violence shelters located in Alaska, has repeatedly surveyed its legal advocates, which report that "civil legal representation is one of the most important things and the highest priority they see as an ongoing need for their clients." Ms. Pate daily administered a volunteer attorney program for those entering the domestic violence shelter. This is a separate program from that operated by the Alaska Legal Services Corporation. Many attorneys accept one or more cases per year, donating up to 100 hours per case. In the past seven or eight years the program has been in existence, approximately $2 million in legal services has been donated to the Network. Despite these efforts, almost one-half of those in need of legal assistance could not receive services due to lack of adequate funding. Ms. Pate told of the consequences to a victim of domestic violence who is unable to secure legal representation, including losing custody of children, not being awarded child support or spousal support, and denial of a protection order. In this event, some victims return to the abuser uncertain if "they could not make it on their own." Ms. Pate reported that the Alaska Court System informed her that 70 percent of those "going to court in family law proceedings" were pro se. Many of those "are people who have domestic violence and sexual assault issues in their lives." Therefore, the Alaska Legal Services Corporation must have the resources to provide services to "the most needy Alaskans". 10:28:52 AM ALLEN BAILEY, Family Lawyer, testified via teleconference from Anchorage that he serves as an advocate for victims of domestic violence, in civil legal proceedings. He listed his positions and memberships in professional and service organizations, including the Alaska Bar Association (ABA), Commission on Domestic Violence; Chair, ABA Family Law Section; and Co-chair of a joint workgroup between the ABA and the American Psychological Association on abuse issues. Mr. Bailey read from the report conducted by the economists as referenced by Ms. Pate. The report said, in part, "The availability of legal services has a significant negative effect on the incidence of abuse." Additionally it found, "The continued expansion of the availability of civil legal services will likely continue to lower of incidence of intimate partner abuse in the future." This research was conducted to identify the reasons that domestic violence has declined in the United States over the past several years. He qualified, "Unfortunately, Alaska has the distinction of having the highest rate of rape in the United States and one of the top five rates of domestic violence." Mr. Bailey stressed that victims of domestic violence must have legal assistance necessary to "get to safe places, to achieve safety for their children, their families, and to obtain support for the future." He averred, "The first step is to get out of the abusive home and, for many people, the second step is simply not there; they have no help." This legislation would "at least contribute a small amount" towards rectifying this. 10:32:20 AM JEFF JESSEE, Chief Executive Officer, The Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority, testified as follows. I came to Alaska in 1980 as a Vista Volunteer and worked part time for Alaska Legal Services and part time for, what now is, the Disability Law Center. I thought it would be helpful for the Committee to know that for many of the Mental Health Trust beneficiaries, access to civil legal help is really very essential to their well being. They are uniquely unable to actually do any of this work on their own. I'll give you a couple of examples. Mr. Harrington referred to Social Security disability. That's huge for many of our beneficiaries, not only because of being eligible for the SSI payment, but that's the gateway to Medicaid. If you're unable to get SSI eligibility and you don't have Medicaid, then you end up in the emergency room to get your care. That's uncompensated care that all the rest of us pay for. I'll give you an example of how difficult this can be. Back in the 80s there was a period of time where the Social Security Administration on re-determination kicked thousands of people off of SSI. And they actually found a memo coming out of the Social Security Administration that said, "You know, we should kick a bunch of people off of SSI and only a fraction of those people will appeal. Now most of them that appeal will get back on because in fact they are eligible, but in the end we'll save money because a lot of people won't appeal and they won't end up with any benefits." For our beneficiaries there's really no recourse for them. I'm not saying that that's going on today, but that's just one example of how difficult it can be for our beneficiaries if they don't have access to some sort of civil legal representation. 10:34:40 AM Co-Chair Stedman established that no other testimony was forthcoming. 10:35:00 AM Senator Thomas asked the number of the recommendations made on page 31 of the "Access to Civil Justice Task Force Report and Recommendation" had been implemented. 10:35:28 AM Ms. Carlson-Van Dort could not answer. 10:35:53 AM Mr. Harrington responded that the Alaska Court System established a "follow-up committee" to address the recommendations. Most recommendations pertaining to the Alaska Court System had been implemented. Additionally a separate agency was established to handle those civil cases in which the Alaska Legal Services Corporation was prohibited from accepting under "Congressional restrictions". This agency is called the Alaska Pro Bono Program Incorporated. Mr. Harrington informed that the recommendation that the ALSC required a budget of approximately $5 million to achieve "the minimum access" that "should be the goal." The current budget of the ALSC is approximately $3.4 million, of which approximately $300,000 to $400,000 represents volunteer services donated by private attorneys handling cases pro bono. 10:38:04 AM Co-Chair Stedman ordered the bill HELD in Committee.
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