Legislature(2009 - 2010)
04/07/2010 02:43 PM Senate JUD
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB249 | |
| HB52 | |
| HJR48 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
HJR 48-CRIME VICTIMS FUND PRESERVATION ACT
VICE-CHAIR WIELECHOWSKI announced the consideration of HJR 48
3:12:53 PM
REPRESENTATIVE BETH KERTTULA, sponsor of HJR 48, said this
resolution was drafted after a similar National Council of State
Legislatures (NCSL) resolution passed unanimously last December.
She related that a friend who works with victims recognized that
the National Victims of Crime fund was growing, but the money
wasn't flowing through to the states. HJR 48 recognizes the
effort in Congress to see that the money is used more
productively while continuing to sustain the fund.
SAMANTHA ENGILSHOE, First Alaskans Institute fellow and intern
for Representative Kerttula, thanked the committee for hearing
HJR 48. She reported the following:
For more than 25 years the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA)
fund has been a protected and dedicated source of
funding for crime victim services. Each year VOCA
dollars are distributed to states to support two
important types of programs - crime victim
compensation programs and victim assistance programs.
The VOCA fund is financed by a collection of fines,
forfeitures, and other penalties paid by federal
criminal offenders - not by taxpayer revenue.
Because the fund is comprised of offender penalties
and fines, the amount deposited into the fund
fluctuates from year to year. In 2000, Congress
started annual obligations from the fund, saving the
amount collected over the cap to ensure the fund's
stability. Currently, the VOCA fund has an accumulated
balance of nearly 3 billion dollars. Under the VOCA
statutory formula for the annual distribution of VOCA
funds, state-assisted grants are dependent on the size
of the cap and the amount available for those grants
is, in effect, whatever remains after other programs
have been funded. Unless the cap is high enough, state
VOCA assistance grants are cut as other VOCA-dependent
costs increase under the cap programs and earmarks are
added.
Despite unprecedented deposits into the fund,
inadequate caps led to severe cutbacks in VOCA victim
assistance grants from 2006 to 2008 causing a
devastating impact on programs providing direct
services to crime victims. At the same time as those
state victim assistance grants were cut by $87
million, the fund grew more than $700 million. That
balance would have otherwise been available for direct
services were the cap minimum higher. Under the Crime
Victims Fund Preservation Act, the VOCA statute would
establish minimum funding levels for fiscal years 2010
through 2014 steadily drawing down a portion of the
accumulated balance. It is projected by the Office of
Management and Budget that even with these minimum
caps, the fund will have a balance of at least $1.3
billion at the end of 2014 insuring the fund's
sustainability without the need for other revenue
sources.
There is strong state support for the Crime Victims
Fund Preservation Act including support by the Alaska
Department of Health and Social Services, the Alaska
Department of Public Safety, and both state Attorney
General Dan Sullivan and Congressman Don Young have
signed letters of support for the federal legislation.
Representatives from the State of Alaska Violent
Crimes Compensation Board and the Council on Domestic
Violence and Sexual Assault are here to testify to the
importance of additional resources for their statewide
efforts.
3:16:01 PM
LAUREE MORTON, Program Coordinator, Council on Domestic Violence
and Sexual Assault, Department of Public Safety (DPS), said she
serves as the VOCA assistance coordinator for the state. She
explained that VOCA assistance funds are distributed to states
on a formula basis - $500,000 per state and a prorated amount
based on population. Alaska typically receives between $1
million and $1.2 million annually. During the 2009 federal
fiscal year, VOCA funds were used to provide services to 5,779
violent crime victims and in the 2010 state fiscal year, 18
community-based victim service programs are using VOCA funds to
fund staff and provide services for victims of violent crimes
primarily at AWAKE in Anchorage, IAC in Fairbanks, and AWARE in
Juneau. uses VOCA funds to support their legal advocate.
3:18:57 PM
MS. MORTON provided several examples to demonstrate how VOCA
funds are being used. She explained that IAC in Fairbanks is a
member of the sexual assault response team that responded to 264
sexual assaults during federal FY09. The IAC VOCA-funded
advocate was able to go to the hospital, meet with the victim,
and be with her or him during the sexual assault nurse examiner
forensic exam. In another example she related how the children-
focused VOCA advocate at AWAKE helped a mother who was a victim
of domestic violence file a Violent Crimes Compensation Board
claim to get counseling for her child who had witnessed the
domestic violence and was traumatized and withdrawn. The VOCA
advocate worked with the counselor to help the child work
through the trauma and ultimately reengage in school and with
other children.
MS. MORTON summarized that a graduated cap will allow
sustainability of the fund and enough growth to stabilize funds
to states. This is important, she concluded.
3:20:34 PM
CHAIR WIELECHOWSKI closed public testimony and announced he
would hold HJR 48 in committee.
3:20:53 PM
There being no further business to come before the committee,
Vice-Chair Wielechowski adjourned the meeting at 3:20 p.m.
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