01/21/2016 08:00 AM House STATE AFFAIRS
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB231 | |
| HB175 | |
| Adjourn |
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | HB 175 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | HB 231 | TELECONFERENCED | |
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE STATE AFFAIRS STANDING COMMITTEE
January 21, 2016
8:04 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Bob Lynn, Chair
Representative Wes Keller, Vice Chair
Representative Louise Stutes
Representative David Talerico
Representative Liz Vazquez
Representative Max Gruenberg
Representative Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
HOUSE BILL NO. 231
"An Act extending the termination date of the Board of Parole;
and providing for an effective date."
- MOVED HB 231 OUT OF COMMITTEE
HOUSE BILL NO. 175
"An Act establishing November 1 as Military Family Day."
- MOVED HB 175 OUT OF COMMITTEE
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: HB 231
SHORT TITLE: EXTEND BOARD OF PAROLE
SPONSOR(s): REPRESENTATIVE(s) LYNN
01/19/16 (H) PREFILE RELEASED 1/8/16
01/19/16 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
01/19/16 (H) STA, FIN
01/21/16 (H) STA AT 8:00 AM CAPITOL 106
BILL: HB 175
SHORT TITLE: ESTABLISH MILITARY FAMILY DAY
SPONSOR(s): REPRESENTATIVE(s) LYNN
04/01/15 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
04/01/15 (H) STA
01/21/16 (H) STA AT 8:00 AM CAPITOL 106
WITNESS REGISTER
ESTHER MIELKE, Staff
Representative Bob Lynn
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented HB 231 on behalf of the House
State Affairs Standing Committee, sponsor, on which
Representative Lynn serves as the chair.
JEFF EDWARDS, Executive Director
Parole Board
Division of Probation and Parole
Department of Corrections (DOC)
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Answered questions during the hearing on HB
231.
KRIS CURTIS, Legislative Auditor
Legislative Audit Division
Legislative Affairs Agency
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Answered questions during the hearing on HB
231.
ESTHER MIELKE, Staff
Representative Bob Lynn
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented HB 175 on behalf of the House
State Affairs Standing Committee, sponsor, on which
Representative Lynn is the chair.
LAURIE HUMMEL, Adjutant General/Commissioner
Department of Military & Veterans' Affairs
Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson (JBER), Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of HB 175.
KEVIN DEAN
Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson (JBER), Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of HB 175.
ACTION NARRATIVE
8:04:04 AM
CHAIR BOB LYNN called the House State Affairs Standing Committee
meeting to order at 8:04 a.m. Representatives Keller, Stutes,
Talerico, Kreiss-Tomkins, and Lynn were present at the call to
order. Representatives Vazquez and Gruenberg arrived as the
meeting was in progress.
CHAIR LYNN indicated that the intent of the committee would be
to give priority to proposed legislation addressing the state's
budget or revenue over proposed legislation pertaining to other
subjects.
HB 231-EXTEND BOARD OF PAROLE
8:06:32 AM
CHAIR LYNN announced that the first order of business was HOUSE
BILL NO. 231, "An Act extending the termination date of the
Board of Parole; and providing for an effective date."
[CHAIR LYNN handed the gavel to Vice Chair Keller.]
8:08:05 AM
CHAIR LYNN, as chair of the House State Affairs Standing
Committee, sponsor, announced his staff member would present HB
231.
8:08:47 AM
ESTHER MIELKE, Staff, Representative Bob Lynn, Alaska State
Legislature, presented HB 231 on behalf of the House State
Affairs Standing Committee, sponsor, on which Representative
Lynn serves as the chair. She stated that the Board of Parole
currently serves in Alaska as the authority over determination
of paroles. Under current statute, the board will be terminated
on June 30, 2016. The proposed legislation would extend the
date to June 30, 2022.
MS. MIELKE stated that the Division of Audit conducted an audit
on the Parole Board last year. The audit included an
examination of the board's performance in light of the eleven
sunset criteria points provided within Alaska Statute. The
division found the board to be in good standing, but recommended
four improvements to the board's operations, which address:
Accuracy and consistency of information contained in parole
files; documentation of victim and offender notifications;
deficiencies in proposed regulation changes methods; and the
security of the Department of Corrections' information system.
Ms. Mielke concluded by stating that HB 231 would fulfill the
constitutional requirement that the State of Alaska establish a
parole system and accordingly assist in keeping Alaskans safe.
She noted the following people were available to answer
questions: Sherrie Daigle of the Department of Corrections,
Kris Curtis from Legislative Audit, and Jeff Edwards from the
Parole Board.
8:10:41 AM
VICE CHAIR KELLER remarked that the work by the Criminal Justice
Commission has increased the importance of the function of [Mr.
Edwards on the Parole Board].
8:11:21 AM
JEFF EDWARDS, Executive Director, Parole Board, Division of
Probation and Parole, Department of Corrections (DOC), in
response to Vice Chair Keller, stated that the Parole Board has
been working with the commission on a regular basis, and the
commission has been keeping the board apprised of the
recommendations made. He characterized the Parole Board as a
quasi-part-time board whose members are appointed by the
governor and work from their homes around the state and convene
monthly to conduct hearings. He indicated that future
legislation would create change wherein the board may be
incorporated and have its work schedule increased. Further, he
said he anticipated the board would be asked to dramatically
increase the number of people who apply for parole, which is a
goal already supported by the board. He said the board feels
that its process is solid, in the fact that the board can
conduct a good evaluation of candidates and, instead of
warehousing inmates "in hard bed," which is very expensive, the
board can conduct a thorough evaluation of the applicants and
potentially offer early release. He said the board has found
the process to be cumbersome; the applicants sometimes do not
want to apply. New legislation could be introduced to demand
that all eligible inmates apply for early parole, which would
increase the Parole Board's docket significantly. He indicated
there is other legislation that will affect the board, and the
overall global scope is to reduce recidivism, free up hard beds,
allow people to transition and reenter into the communities as
returning Alaska citizens, and ensure there is fair and
impartial review process of any parolees who commit parole
violations on the street.
8:13:40 AM
VICE CHAIR KELLER noted that the Alaska Criminal Justice
Commission had been meeting for a little over a year, and he
indicated that there had been ensuing legislation presented as a
result. He related that both House and Senate leadership, as
well as other various legislators, have asked the commission to
figure out how the state is going to be able to afford to keep
its prisoners in the future. He continued:
Because of the projected increase in prisoners in the
future, we were looking at another Goose Creek
construction project, and it gave us the opportunity
to do some reform considerations, and I was really
impressed with the work that was done, and it puts a
lot of focus on the Parole Board, because obviously
when people get out they need those transition
procedures and processes and programs there to help.
8:15:05 AM
KRIS CURTIS, Legislative Auditor, Legislative Audit Division,
Legislative Affairs Agency, offered to answer questions.
8:15:20 AM
REPRESENTATIVE VAZQUEZ directed attention to page 16 of the
audit, which she observed shows "rate of replication decision"
by the Parole Board. The decisions are broken up from 2004-2007
and show high rates, but she said the rates shown from 2011-2014
are higher. For example, she noted that the rate for 2011 was
74 percent "revoke and re-parole"; the rate for 2012 was 66
percent; and the rate in 2017 was 77 percent. She opined there
is a problem - not in the Parole Board itself, but having to do
with a lack of success in paroling people. She read a note
below those statistics, as follows: "The board stated that past
decisions 2004-2007 were heavily influenced by the elimination
of various treatment programs during difficult budget years."
She asked Ms. Curtis if it is her conclusion that it is the lack
of treatment programs that is the cause [of the high rates].
8:16:48 AM
MS. CURTIS said the point to make is reflected in the column to
the right: "revoke and deny." In terms of revoking and re-
paroling an individual and allowing him/her to remain in the
community as opposed to having the person return to prison,
"from 2011-2014, compared to 2004-2007, they were re-paroling
them at a much higher rate than in previous years. And the
reason why we were being told they were being re-incarcerated at
a higher rate in 2004-2007 was the lack of treatment programs in
the community, as a result of budgetary restrictions during that
time." She stated that the audit makes the point that "from our
review, they were - during the audit period - being re-paroled
at a higher rate." She offered her belief that that is what the
communities wanted.
VICE CHAIR KELLER noted that the handout to which Representative
Vazquez had previously referred was "easily available."
8:18:37 AM
VICE CHAIR KELLER closed public testimony on HB 231.
8:18:52 AM
REPRESENTATIVE VAZQUEZ asked what had been done to address the
audit recommendations made in 2015.
VICE CHAIR KELLER noted that "the justice commissioner" had done
a lot of work, but said the issue was whether or not the
deadline would be extended. He asked Representative Vazquez if
she was recommending that the committee not act on the bill
today.
REPRESENTATIVE VAZQUEZ answered no. She opined that the work of
the board is critical to both the criminal justice system and
the community. She clarified that she was interested to know if
the "good audit recommendations" were being addressed.
VICE CHAIR KELLER suggested that the committee could, at a later
date, invite the Parole Board to talk to the committee about
what it had done in response to the audit.
CHAIR LYNN noted that there would be an upcoming overview from
the Department of Corrections, at which time the committee might
be able to hear from the Parole Board.
8:21:17 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG noted that under HB 231, the board
would be extended by only six years. He said he knows other
boards that are extended for eight, and he questioned why the
same was not proposed for the Parole Board.
CHAIR LYNN said he did not have an answer to that question.
8:21:56 AM
MS. CURTIS explained that the Legislative Audit Division
recommended a 6-year extension because of the dynamic nature of
"the corrections policy arena right now and ... how the board
will change dramatically in upcoming years." She indicated that
those changes, as well as the full recommendations of the
division, could warrant oversight and monitoring at a more
frequent rate than the maximum eight years. In response to
Representative Gruenberg, she clarified that currently there are
a lot of pending policy changes to the role of the Parole Board,
in both its workload and procedures. Additionally, a new risk
assessment tool was implemented recently and, because of the
timing of the audit, the impact of that tool was not yet
evident. She said the division settled on six years as a time
when it would be able to see the implications of the policy
changes and come back to review "the current status of the
recommendations."
MS. CURTIS, in response to a follow-up question, explained that
the aforementioned new risk assessment tool was being used by
the board to evaluate the suitability of parole for those who
apply for parole.
VICE CHAIR KELLER suggested Representative Gruenberg would have
another opportunity to asked more in-depth questions but said
that for now, he would like to move on with the bill discussion.
8:25:26 AM
CHAIR LYNN pointed out that the overview from the Department of
Corrections was scheduled for Thursday, January 28, 2016.
8:25:41 AM
REPRESENTATIVE STUTES moved to report HB 231 out of committee
with individual recommendations and the accompanying zero fiscal
note. There being no objection, HB 231 was reported out of the
House State Affairs Standing Committee.
HB 175-ESTABLISH MILITARY FAMILY DAY
8:26:36 AM
VICE CHAIR KELLER announced that the final order of business was
HOUSE BILL NO. 175, "An Act establishing November 1 as Military
Family Day."
8:26:56 AM
ESTHER MIELKE, Staff, Representative Bob Lynn, Alaska State
Legislature, presented HB 175 on behalf of the House State
Affairs Standing Committee, sponsor, on which Representative
Lynn serves as the chair. She stated:
House Bill 175 establishes Military Family Day to
honor and support families of our servicemen and women
in Alaska every year on November 1. Nationally,
November is designated as National Military Family
month. The President of the United States typically
makes an annual announcement to inform the public
about this month. We thought it was fitting to have
our Alaskan Military Family Day to coincide with the
beginning of the nationally designated month.
8:27:49 AM
CHAIR LYNN stated that HB 175 is far more than a "day bill"
because it is important to national defense. He talked about
the service of those in the military and related his own
experience growing up in a military family and his subsequent
service in the U.S. Air Force. He went to flight school, got
married, and subsequently had six children. Typically, he
explained, a military family moves to a different post around
the U.S. every two years, which disrupts the lives of the
military person's spouse and children and requires them to have
to start all over at each new post. He pointed out that a
service person is either in combat or preparing for combat. He
served in Vietnam and received his family's support while
serving there, which was very important.
CHAIR LYNN pointed out, "When you join the military, your family
joins with you." He said the military families back home had
support groups, which allowed him to do a better job and made it
possible for him not to worry. In conclusion, he opined that
the family is the bedrock foundation for what makes our nation's
military great, and it deserves acknowledgment; passing HB 175
is one way to do that.
8:32:43 AM
VICE CHAIR KELLER noted that Chair Lynn had authored a book, "My
Own at War."
CHAIR LYNN pointed out that family support is needed regardless
of the service person's rank.
8:33:30 AM
LAURIE HUMMEL, Adjutant General/Commissioner, Department of
Military & Veterans' Affairs (DMVA), thanked the committee for
inviting her to testify and offered her support for HB 175. She
noted that while she is always prepared to publically
acknowledge the patriotism, dedication, and skill of Alaska's
military men and women, she is especially pleased to focus on
the enormous contributions of military families. She said
military families make many sacrifices and make possible the
operation of the armed forces; however, the public rarely fully
appreciates the families' contributions.
ADJUTANT GENERAL HUMMEL said she knows what military families do
because she has seen it and lived it firsthand in her life. She
recounted that her father was in the U.S. Army for close to 24
years and was married to her mother for the latter 20 years of
that time. Four of those twenty years were spent in combat and
two of those twenty years were spent away from home on field
exercises and other places the U.S. Army sent him. Her mother
had two babies alone overseas, as both times her father was away
in the field, and they lived in nine different places in twenty
years. Her mother would have liked to have her own career, but
put those plans on the shelf as she supported military unit
functions, army volunteer programs, and acted as both parents.
Adjutant General Hummel pointed out that her description of her
mother describes all the members of military families.
ADJUTANT GENERAL HUMMEL shared that she has been a deployed
soldier and has been the spouse of a deployed soldier. She
stated that being the spouse left at home is more difficult,
because it involves twice the work, all of the worry, and none
of the credit. She pointed out that there are lots of families
whose service members' deployments resulted in life altering
injuries. When this happens, family members' lives are just as
affected as service members as they adjust, care, and give.
Similarly, when a member of the military loses his/her life in
service, the "gold star families" left behind must, of
necessity, find a way to move forward, but they never fully
heal.
ADJUTANT GENERAL HUMMEL stated that nearly 74,000 veterans call
Alaska home. Alaska has more veterans per capita than any other
state. Alaska's veterans and their families deserve the
public's unwavering support. The success of veterans is not
sustained by what they have already done but in what more they
can provide and especially how best they can show appreciation
to the backbone of the military - the military families. She
posited that it is appropriate that November 1, All Saints Day,
has been selected as the day for recognition.
8:38:09 AM
KEVIN DEAN testified that his wife is currently a staff sergeant
in the military and they have been through two deployments
together as a family with two children. He stated that Adjutant
General Hummel [illustrated the life of a military spouse and
family] well. He related that there have been many times where,
as a spouse, he has been left to take care of a lot of the
household duties. A benefit of the "National Guard" is that
there is always support for the families, such as help with the
kids. For example, prior to his wife returning from her first
deployment in Afghanistan, he and his children participated in a
reintegration seminar about how to react and how a family
changes when people come back from overseas. He expressed that
as November is Military Family Month, recognizing Alaska by
designating November 1 [as Military Family Day, under HB 175,]
would be "awesome."
VICE CHAIR KELLER thanked Mr. Dean for coming in to testify.
8:40:11 AM
VICE CHAIR KELLER closed public testimony on HB 175, except, in
the event further questions come up on the bill.
8:40:32 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG offered his understanding that there is
a current effort to provide a waiver to admission to the Alaska
Bar Association for spouses of military folks, so a person
coming in Alaska with his/her active duty spouse would not have
to be admitted to the Alaska Bar during the time that he/she is
in Alaska. He further offered his understanding that there have
been efforts to extend waivers for other types of licenses, such
as for a welder for example. He inquired how this is coming
along.
ADJUTANT GENERAL HUMMEL replied she does not have an answer now,
but would get a comprehensive list of the efforts that have been
made for certification and licensure waivers or adjustments for
military spouses and would provide that information to the
committee.
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG added that it is important for the
state to get the benefit of the services of skilled spouses as
well as skilled military personnel.
8:42:33 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG moved to report HB 175 out of committee
with individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal
notes. There being no objection, HB 175 was reported from the
House State Affairs Standing Committee.
[VICE CHAIR KELLER returned the gavel to Chair Lynn.]
8:43:53 AM
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
State Affairs Standing Committee meeting was adjourned at 8:44
a.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| 1 HB231 ver A.pdf |
HSTA 1/21/2016 8:00:00 AM |
HB 231 |
| 2 HB231 Sponsor Statement.pdf |
HSTA 1/21/2016 8:00:00 AM |
HB 231 |
| 3 HB231 Supporting Documents-Audit of Board of Parole.pdf |
HSTA 1/21/2016 8:00:00 AM |
HB 231 |
| 4 HB231 Fiscal Note.pdf |
HSTA 1/21/2016 8:00:00 AM |
HB 231 |
| 1 HB0175A.PDF |
HSTA 1/21/2016 8:00:00 AM |
HB 175 |
| 2 Sponsor Statement HB175 v.A.pdf |
HSTA 1/21/2016 8:00:00 AM |
HB 175 |
| 3 HB175 Fiscal Note-HB175-LEG-SESS-1-18-2016.pdf |
HSTA 1/21/2016 8:00:00 AM |
HB 175 |