Legislature(2001 - 2002)
01/24/2002 03:34 PM Senate STA
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
SB 237-TERRORISM, CIVIL DEFENSE, AND DISASTERS
CHAIRMAN THERRIAULT asked Mr. Rush to explain the technical
amendment for the bill.
MR. RUSH explained the bill amends AS 26.20 civil defense to
authorize the governor to declare a state of emergency and
exercise emergency civil defense powers in the event of a
terrorist attack or a credible threat of an attack. It also
amends AS 26.23, the Alaska Disaster Act, to add terrorist or
enemy attack, outbreak of disease or credible threat of such
events to the definition of disaster. It also amends AS 26.23 to
give the governor the power to allocate or redistribute
pharmaceuticals and other medicines or supplies as well as the
power to access and inspect medical records as necessary to
protect public health and safety.
He said these changes are necessary because the current world
situation indicates that the governor of Alaska needs greater
flexibility to respond to and or prepare for a terrorist attack
quickly. AS 26.20, the Civil Defense Act, currently allows the
governor to declare a civil defense emergency only in the event
of an actual enemy attack. SB 237 changes AS 26.20 to allow the
governor to declare a state of emergency in the event of an enemy
or terrorist attack or credible threat of such an attack against
Alaska. This change is necessary for the state to make adequate
preparations for a threatened enemy or terrorist attack and be
able to respond just as quickly to an actual terrorist attack as
it would to an enemy attack from another country.
AS 26.23 currently allows the governor to declare a disaster
emergency for a variety of events but not specifically for actual
enemy or terrorist attacks or outbreaks of disease or the
credible threat of the same. The same reasoning for changing AS
26.20 applies for changing AS 26.23. Because bioterrorism is a
potential threat even if the state is not the actual target, the
outbreak or threatened outbreak of disease needs to be added to
the list of specific disaster emergencies.
SB 237 will allow the state to more quickly prepare for
threatened enemy and terrorist attacks, to include bioterrorism
attacks in statute and to more effectively respond if an attack
occurs.
CHAIRMAN THERRIAULT asked who determines what constitutes a
credible threat of attack and what would go into that
determination.
MR. RUSH replied a recommendation would probably go to the
governor from the Disaster Policy Cabinet.
CHAIRMAN THERRIAULT asked what the governor's options would be
once the cabinet made its recommendation.
MR. RUSH said the governor would first decide whether the threat
is credible and then a determination of action would be made.
CHAIRMAN THERRIAULT said it takes a specific event to trigger
these powers but it's a huge difference between authorizing those
powers when something has happened and authorizing them for times
when something might happen. Although the people want to empower
the governor to act when it's appropriate, there is a question of
when it is or is not appropriate. He asked if consideration was
given to include wording to spell out the criteria for
determining a credible threat. Legislators have a responsibility
to be careful and selective in giving the governor such
extraordinary powers over individuals and their property. He then
asked for the considerations made when the decision was made to
add this to the statutes.
MR. RUSH said the determination of a credible threat is largely
in the hands of the state's intelligence apparatus and then the
emergency management apparatus that includes the Disaster Policy
Cabinet. That information then goes to the governor. If the
governor were to determine there is a credible threat it does not
mean he could embrace all the powers, just the ones deemed
necessary to prepare for that particular threat.
He used the [Korean] airliner that was inbound to Anchorage on
September 11 as an example of the difficulty associated with
making determinations in a short period of time. For eleven
minutes it was not known whether the plane was under enemy
control or not. This event offered little time for a
determination to be made and in this type of circumstance, the
emergency organization is heavily relied upon to determine
whether it is or is not a credible threat.
CHAIRMAN THERRIAULT asked if there was anyone present to answer
questions on access and inspection of health care and medical
records.
MR. RUSH replied they did have someone present and there are two
parts to the bill. One deals with including allocation of
pharmaceuticals and medicines and the other with access to health
care records.
CHAIRMAN THERRIAULT said he is less concerned with the
distribution of medicines and more concerned or suspicious of
access to citizens' health records. He asked whether the medical
association was part of the discussion in developing the
legislation.
KAREN PEARSON, Director of the Division of Public Health (DPH),
Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS), agreed; the
privacy of medical records is a significant concern. She said
Kristen Bomengen from the Department of Law was part of the
deliberations on incorporation and was available for questions.
There are situations in which people may need a drug or
prophylactic administered and they aren't in a situation to sign
a release to give to their provider. This bill addresses this
type of situation and would provide for the protection of the
individual in danger and public health.
CHAIRMAN THERRIAULT responded this says nothing about an
individual being incapacitated or unable to give their release.
MS. PEARSON said time is of the essence if you need to get a
prophylactic drug or immunization to thousands of people and
there isn't time to get the signed agreement to medical records
and the records back.
SENATOR PHILLIPS asked if there is someone on central command at
Fort Richardson from Public Health and do they have a direct say
in proceedings or do they have to call Juneau for information and
authorization to act in case of emergency.
MS. PEARSON said the anthrax incident serves as a good example.
She commended the legislators for recognizing the need for a 24
hour per day 7 day per week (24/7) command prior to September 11
because this proved to be invaluable during the incident. The
epidemiologists for Public Health are located in Anchorage and
whenever a call come through about a suspicious powder or
package, the call is routed to the coordinating center that
contacts Public Health physicians for direction.
SENATOR PHILLIPS asked if the individual on duty at the time
makes the decision.
MS. PEARSON said the individual on duty has the authority to make
decisions but there is also an established communication system
so advice and additional resources are instantly accessible from
the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta.
SENATOR PHILLIPS asked whether the phones ever fail.
MS. PEARSON replied it was a solid system prior to September 11
but CDC has since built in additional redundancy. Public Health
in Alaska is also looking for support to build more capacity and
quicker communication capacity and more redundancy in their
system to guard against failures.
CHAIRMAN THERRIAULT questioned whether the language, "on an as
needed basis" is all Public Health needs for record access and
what kind of information they might be able to obtain from his
own chart at his family doctor. Would the language restrict when
access is available or the type of information in his chart?
MS. PEARSON said from the public health standpoint, "as needed"
means access is authorized to just that information that is
needed to deal with the situation at hand. It does not open the
entire medical file.
CHAIRMAN THERRIAULT referred to "access, inspect, and… on an as
needed basis…" and said the event would trigger access to his
chart but the wording doesn't speak to what could be looked at
inside his chart.
KRISTEN BOMENGEN from the Department of Law responded it is her
understanding there is a general disclosure of information that
is exchanged between doctors when they call one another regarding
a patient. The entire chart isn't discussed, just the "front of
the chart." She then said she isn't fully qualified to address
what information that would involve. The wording intends to mean
just information that physicians are generally accustomed to
disclosing. She then pointed out that the Division of Public
Health already has reasonable access to medical records
throughout the state. This legislation places the option of
triggering expedited access to the information in the hands of
the governor if the circumstances of the particular disaster call
for that in order to get individual information.
TAPE 02-2, SIDE B
CHAIRMAN THERRIAULT asked if anyone from the medical community
had reviewed that portion of the proposed legislation.
MS. BOMENGEN said she had no knowledge of that.
SENATOR PHILLIPS said he is most interested in the mechanics of
meeting the challenge of a terrorist attack and he wanted to know
whether the DPH is confident they can meet these challenges as
they may arise. He questioned whether systems are currently in
place to handle an anthrax threat and how such a threat would be
managed.
MS. PEARSON replied they cannot guarantee they are able to handle
any threat that arises now or next week. They are making great
strides in that direction, but there are problem areas in the
system. They are concerned about having adequate personnel in
their laboratories to run tests and enough physicians and nurse
epidemiologists for handling incoming calls and directing field
activity. Public Health also has the responsibility of supporting
the local Emergency Medical Service (EMS) by making sure they are
adequately trained and have the equipment they need.
Public Health has conducted assessments with the Department of
Military and Veterans Affairs as well as other departments and
they have response plans for current capacity but are aware they
need additional capacity.
SENATOR PHILLIPS asked for current response specifics.
MS. PEARSON said one example is the recent response to the
potential cutaneous anthrax case. A physician provider who has
seen anthrax called the coordinating center to report a potential
case. The epidemiologist, physician, and head of the laboratory
all examined the patient and took specimens for analysis. They
put the patient on prophylactic antibiotics that evening because
there was enough positive evidence they could not rule out
anthrax. At that time, "All the major players for the department
and executive branch were on the phone." The post office was
alerted and everyone knew that if there was a positive in the
morning everyone on the team needed to know his or her course of
action. They ran through the list of responsibilities and
discussed whether they had the capacity to trace the pathway
back. The good news was that the confirmation tests began to
indicate this was not anthrax. They sent samples to the CDC for
confirmation and it took a week and one half before they could
positively rule out anthrax.
SENATOR PHILLIPS asked why they couldn't confirm locally rather
than send specimens to Atlanta.
MS. PEARSON replied more sophisticated tests are available in
Atlanta.
SENATOR PHILLIPS commented CDC "sounds like a centralization
system versus a de-centralization system" and he can see
situations where CDC could be overwhelmed.
MS. PEARSON said the Anchorage laboratory is certified at the
highest level next to the reference laboratories like the CDC
which will always be there as a higher level backup than any
state could ever maintain.
CHAIRMAN THERRIAULT called for a discussion of the proposed
amendment.
MR. MIKE MITCHELL, Department of Law, said this amends AS
26.23.210 in the disaster chapter and draws a distinction between
natural disaster covered under AS 26.23 and disaster caused by
attack which is covered under the little used, 1950's civil
defense statute AS 26.20. All disaster response in the last
several decades has been authorized under AS 26.23 and in the
event of a terrorist attack or credible attack they want AS 26.23
to apply.
CHAIRMAN THERRIAULT asked for questions or further testimony.
AL ROTHFUSS testified via teleconference against the bill. In his
opinion, this law infringes on individual rights, freedoms and
privileges. He said, "It is not Alaska's responsibility to defend
me in all cases. It is up to me to defend me. All Alaska has to
do is give me the information."
SENATOR PHILLIPS asked for an example of how SB 237 infringes on
individual rights.
MR. ROTHFUSS replied the governor should not have the right to
move him wherever he wants to move him and he should not have the
right to confiscate properties. "If we give this governor all
these powers what are you guys going to do? What do we need you
for? We don't. That's what you're down there for is to do these
things."
SENATOR PHILLIPS asked for a page and line upon which to focus.
MR. ROTHFUSS cited from the bottom of page 2 on to the top of
page 3.
CHAIRMAN THERRIAULT advised Mr. Rothfuss the text on the bill
that is not underlined and bolded is current law. Changes on page
one give the governor the power to act both after an attack and
in the face of a credible attack rather that just afterwards.
MR. ROTHFUSS asked whose definition would be used to identify a
credible threat.
CHAIRMAN THERRIAULT said it is a legitimate question and one he
raised himself. He thanked him for his testimony.
There being no further questions, the bill was held in committee.
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