Legislature(2007 - 2008)CAPITOL 106
04/19/2007 03:30 PM House HEALTH, EDUCATION & SOCIAL SERVICES
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SCR4 | |
| HCR6 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | HCR 6 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| += | SCR 4 | TELECONFERENCED | |
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE HEALTH, EDUCATION AND SOCIAL SERVICES STANDING COMMITTEE
April 19, 2007
3:34 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Peggy Wilson, Chair
Representative Bob Roses, Vice Chair
Representative Anna Fairclough
Representative Mark Neuman
Representative Paul Seaton
Representative Sharon Cissna
Representative Berta Gardner
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
CS FOR SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 4(HES)
Relating to public health and a health compact.
- MOVED HCS CSSCR 4(HES) OUT OF COMMITTEE
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 6
Relating to civics education and a citizens' advisory task
force.
- MOVED HCR 6(HES) OUT OF COMMITTEE
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: SCR 4
SHORT TITLE: PUBLIC HEALTH AND HEALTH COMPACT
SPONSOR(s): HEALTH, EDUCATION & SOCIAL SERVICES
02/21/07 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
02/21/07 (S) HES
03/19/07 (S) HES AT 1:30 PM BUTROVICH 205
03/19/07 (S) Moved CSSCR 4(HES) Out of Committee
03/19/07 (S) MINUTE(HES)
03/21/07 (S) HES RPT CS 4DP 1NR SAME TITLE
03/21/07 (S) DP: DAVIS, ELTON, THOMAS, DYSON
03/21/07 (S) NR: COWDERY
03/28/07 (S) BEFORE THE SENATE ON FINAL PASSAGE
03/28/07 (S) TRANSMITTED TO (H)
03/28/07 (S) VERSION: CSSCR 4(HES)
03/29/07 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
03/29/07 (H) HES
04/17/07 (H) HES AT 3:30 PM CAPITOL 106
04/17/07 (H) Heard & Held
04/17/07 (H) MINUTE(HES)
04/19/07 (H) HES AT 3:30 PM CAPITOL 106
BILL: HCR 6
SHORT TITLE: CIVICS EDUC/ CITIZENS ADVISORY TASK FORCE
SPONSOR(s): REPRESENTATIVE(s) HARRIS BY REQUEST
03/28/07 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
03/28/07 (H) HES, FIN
04/19/07 (H) HES AT 3:30 PM CAPITOL 106
WITNESS REGISTER
RICHARD BENAVIDES, Staff
to Senator Bettye Davis
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented the changes to the House CS for
CSSCR4, on behalf of Senator Davis, Chair of the Senate Health,
Education and Social Services Committee, sponsor.
GARY FERGUSON, Doctor of Naturopathy
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of SCR4.
TOM WRIGHT, Staff
to Representative John Harris
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented HCR6 on behalf of Representative
Harris, by request from the Alaska Association of School Boards
(AASB).
CARL ROSE, Executive Director
Alaska Association of Alaska School Boards (AASB)
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Answered questions during the hearing on
HCR6.
ACTION NARRATIVE
CHAIR PEGGY WILSON called the House Health, Education and Social
Services Standing Committee meeting to order at 3:34:35 PM.
Representatives Cissna, Gardner, Fairclough, Roses, and Wilson
were present at the call to order. Representatives Seaton and
Neuman arrived as the meeting was in progress.
SCR 4-PUBLIC HEALTH AND HEALTH COMPACT
3:35:15 PM
CHAIR WILSON announced that the first order of business would be
CS FOR SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 4(HES), Relating to
public health and a health compact.
3:35:55 PM
RICHARD BENAVIDES, Staff to Senator Bettye Davis, Alaska State
Legislature, Juneau, Alaska, presented the changes to the House
CS for CSSCR4, on behalf of Senator Davis, Chair of the Senate
Health, Education and Social Services Committee, sponsor, which
read [original punctuation provided]:
Page 1 line 3 Insert "Whereas good health is a common
goal for all Alaskans,"
Page 1 Replace lines 5-8 with "Whereas obesity and
lack of physical activity can lead to long-term
illnesses, such as heart disease, diabetes, and other
diseases that require costly and ongoing health care;
and
Page 1 line 9-16 Delete
Page 2 line 1-7 Delete
Page 2 line 8 replace "greatest" with "major"
Page 2 line 15 replace the comma with a period and
delete the remaining words after the comma
Page 2 line 16 insert "Further Resolved each Alaskan
is encouraged to share person-to-person or through
various media, personal health successes and
experiences."
"Further resolved that Legislators, as members of the
Health Compact, support personal health successes"
3:38:02 PM
REPRESENTATIVE ROSES moved to adopt HCS CSSCR 4, Version 25-
LS0627\O, Mischel, 4/19/07, as the working document.
3:38:46 PM
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON objected for discussion purposes. He
asked for the purpose of the "further resolved" that states that
legislators support personal health success.
3:39:06 PM
REPRESENTATIVE CISSNA explained that this statement was
suggested by Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS)
Commissioner Karleen Jackson. Representative Cissna said that
[this confirms the] "buy-in" of legislators as leaders; there
are many successful stories within the legislative body that
could be shared with constituents. She informed the committee
that a witness is available to further explain this part of the
resolution.
3:40:48 PM
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON then asked whether the explanation would
also address the "further resolve" that states that each Alaskan
is encouraged to share, person-to-person or through various
media, personal health successes and experiences.
CHAIR WILSON opined that Commissioner Jackson envisioned a
statewide initiative to support preventive health inspired by
the personal stories of legislators. She said this might
include weight-loss competitions in offices.
REPRESENTATIVE CISSNA added that the commissioner said this
statement was for the resolution; however, supporting the
resolution is a personal decision.
3:42:24 PM
GARY FERGUSON, Doctor of Naturopathy, informed the committee
that he is the wellness coordinator for Eastern Aleutian Tribes
Inc. (EATs), and works with many state public health advocates
and agencies that promote public health and disease prevention.
He said that this resolution is an exciting opportunity for the
legislators to put their best step forward to encourage health
and wellness. He said that the primary focus of his practice is
on health promotion and disease prevention, and in helping
communities be healthier places. Good health starts with health
care leaders setting examples of trying to live healthier lives.
The state has supported EATs with a grant for tobacco and
diabetes prevention; he is excited to see the legislators
setting the standard for a "landscape" of wellness and expressed
his support for the resolution.
3:45:00 PM
REPRESENTATIVE FAIRCLOUGH moved Amendment 1. On page 2 line 2,
the amendment adds "voluntary" following the word as; on page 2
line 3 the amendment deletes "personal health success" and
inserts "healthy choices made to support personal health and
well-being."
3:46:14 PM
REPRESENTATIVE ROSES objected for discussion.
3:46:20 PM
REPRESENTATIVE GARDNER suggested Amendment 1 to Amendment 1 that
deletes "healthy."
3:46:39 PM
There being no objection, Amendment 1 to Amendment 1 passed.
3:46:55 PM
REPRESENTATIVE ROSES asked whether the signers of the resolution
would be required to stop the baking of cookies in the lounge.
REPRESENTATIVE FAIRCLOUGH said that volunteers may proceed as
they wish.
3:47:22 PM
MR. BENAVIDES asked for a reading of the amendment.
REPRESENTATIVE FAIRCLOUGH read:
Further Resolved that individual legislators, as
[voluntary] members of this compact, support choices
made to promote personal health and well being.
3:47:56 PM
REPRESENTATIVE GARDNER clarified "voluntary."
3:48:10 PM
MR. BENAVIDES read Amendment 1 back for clarity.
3:48:35 PM
REPRESENTATIVE ROSES removed his objection to the amendment.
3:48:43 PM
There being no objection, Amendment 1 [as amended] passed.
3:48:49 PM
REPRESENTATIVE FAIRCLOUGH thanked the sponsors for quickly
responding to the suggestions made by the committee.
3:49:08 PM
REPRESENTATIVE NEUMAN moved to report HCS CSSCR 4, Version 25-
LS0627\O, Mischel, 4/19/07, as amended, out of committee with
individual recommendations and a zero fiscal note. There being
no further objection HCS CSSCR 4(HES) was so moved.
HCR 6-CIVICS EDUC/ CITIZENS ADVISORY TASK FORCE
3:50:14 PM
CHAIR WILSON announced that the final order of business would be
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 6, Relating to civics education
and a citizens' advisory task force.
TOM WRIGHT, Staff to Representative John Harris, Alaska State
Legislature, presented HCR 6 on behalf of Representative Harris,
sponsor by request of the Alaska Association of School Boards
(AASB). He paraphrased from a prepared statement, which read as
follows [original punctuation provided]:
HCR 6 follows the work of the Alaska Civic Learning
Assessment Project. This group of 19 Alaskans from
many walks of life agreed in a recent report that
Alaska schools could improve civics learning among K-
12 students - indeed, that such an improvement is
imperative to the health of our democracy - and made
several recommendations for follow-up work. The
citizen's advisory task force created by HCR 6 would
help advance that follow-up work by focusing on well-
articulated civics curriculum and effective
professional development strategies for teachers, as
well as review existing civics content standards.
3:52:01 PM
REPRESENTATIVE NEUMAN asked whether civics courses are history
courses.
3:52:09 PM
CARL ROSE, Executive Director, Alaska Association of Alaska
School Boards (AASB), answered that civics is very precise in
terms of the governance of our country: history is history. He
stressed that civics is critically important to a democracy and
its neglect is borne out by less attention given to civic
responsibilities and the impact seen now in [low] voting
percentages. His experience is that civics is not commonly
discussed and this resolution is critically important at this
point in time. He said, "Democracy doesn't happen on its own.
Democracy is learned. If we are not teaching it in our schools,
I think we are subjecting our next, next generation to chance."
Mr. Rose explained that this resolution allows for volunteer
citizens, who have an interest in this subject, to examine the
existing articulated curriculum and successful professional
development opportunities and make recommendations for
improvement.
3:54:01 PM
CHAIR WILSON asked whether this resolution will create an
unfunded mandate to schools.
3:54:28 PM
MR. ROSE explained that the intent is to have volunteer citizens
make recommendations to the legislature. This will not create a
mandate, but will direct the volunteers to look at the existing
standards and make recommendations, if necessary. He opined
that this is information that would benefit the Alaska State
Board of Education & Early Development. Recommendations to
better articulate the curriculum or to identify successful
professional development will be made to schools; that is their
responsibility.
3:55:23 PM
REPRESENTATIVE GARDNER recalled attending a civic engagement
roundtable discussion at the University of Alaska where she
realized that civic engagement is more than paying attention to
government and voting; it involves a wide range of volunteer
participation in the community, such as serving the community in
a political way, and other activities. Civic engagement
includes citizens who are uninterested in politics, but who are
active in the community. She stated her support for SCR6.
3:56:47 PM
REPRESENTATIVE ROSES observed that, at one time, there was
concern that students were not being taught Alaska history.
When teachers were told to teach more Alaska history, the
reaction was that other subjects will be have to be cut;
academic choices are limited by the number of required courses
and exit exams. There are fewer academic options now. He
stated his support for SCR6, but asked if the intent of this
review is that more civics courses will become a graduation
requirement.
3:57:51 PM
MR. ROSE called the committee's attention to the report by the
Alaska Civic Learning Assessment Project, Advancing Civic
Learning in Alaska's Schools. Findings were that No Child Left
Behind (NCLB) legislation has schools concentrating on reading,
writing, and mathematics at the expense of other critical
subjects. He opined that civics can be taught "across the
curriculum"; it can be taught, and measured, as part of reading,
writing, and math requirements. He recommended re-introducing
civics in a feasible way and to elevate its importance. Mr.
Rose opined that the concentration on reading, writing, and math
in the last ten years has caused schools to neglect standards.
3:59:19 PM
REPRESENTATIVE ROSES provided a personal history of his teaching
that incorporated history, government, and civics. He
recommended that civics be taught in middle school, before
students have to accumulate credits for graduation from high
school. He opined that middle school age is an especially
appropriate time to be exposed to positive information about the
student's community.
4:00:55 PM
REPRESENTATIVE GARDNER drew the correlation of Representative
Roses's three years of civics courses in school and his service
as a legislator.
4:01:22 PM
REPRESENTATIVE CISSNA asked whether the recommendations will be
a broad review of ideas.
4:01:50 PM
MR. ROSE stated that he is speaking on behalf of retired teacher
Mary Bristol, the state coordinator for civics, who would have
the responsibility of organizing and administering this
activity. He noted that there will be an outside source for
funding the administration of the task force. The intent is to
make a curriculum review and report back to the legislature and
the Alaska State Board of Education & Early Development as to
how civic learning can be ingrained in education. The
recommendations will include identifying appropriate grade
levels and incorporating statewide and community civic
activities as well.
4:03:23 PM
CHAIR WILSON pointed out the omission of "writing" as one the
subjects referred to in the sponsor statement. She asked
whether Mr. Rose would object to the addition of "writing" into
page 1, line 11 of the resolution.
MR. WRIGHT said no.
4:04:01 PM
CHAIR WILSON moved Amendment 1 that proposed on page 1, line 11,
following the word "reading" inserting ", writing".
Hearing no objection, Amendment 1 passed.
4:04:36 PM
REPRESENTATIVE NEUMAN suggested everyone take the test on page
36 of the Alaska Civic Learning Assessment Project Report.
4:04:57 PM
MR. WRIGHT explained one of the questions.
4:06:00 PM
REPRESENTATIVE NEUMAN moved to report HCR 6,as amended, out of
committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying
fiscal notes. There being no further objection, CSHCR 6(HES)
was so moved.
4:06:29 PM
CHAIR WILSON announced the next meeting is scheduled on Tuesday.
4:06:46 PM
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Health, Education and Social Services Standing Committee meeting
was adjourned at 4:06 p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|