Legislature(1997 - 1998)
05/07/1998 09:09 AM Senate FIN
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
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= bill was previously heard/scheduled
MINUTES
SENATE FINANCE COMMITTEE
7 May 1998
9:09 A.M.
TAPES
SFC-98, Tape 160, Sides A and B
CALL TO ORDER
Senator Bert Sharp, Co-chair, convened the meeting at
approximately 9:09 a.m.
PRESENT
In addition to Co-chair Sharp, Senators Pearce, Phillips,
Donley, Torgerson, and Parnell were present at the meeting.
Also present: Gail Fenumiai, Director, Division of
Elections, Office of the Governor; Jim Baldwin, Office of
the Attorney General, Department of Law; Senator Mike
Miller; Robert Briggs, Attorney, Disability Law Center of
Alaska; Nancy Weller, Chief Medical Assistant, Division of
Medical Assistance, Department of Health and Social
Services; Representative Jerry Sanders; Representative Fred
Dyson, Sponsor; Jayne Andreen, Council on Domestic Violence
and Sexual Assault; Laurie Hugenin, Director, Alaska
Network on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault; Anne
Carpeneti, Criminal Division, Department of Law.
SUMMARY INFORMATION
HB 245 DOM.VIOL; ASSAULT; VICTIM/WITNESS CONTACT
SCS CSHB 245(HES) was REPORTED out of committee
with a "do pass" recommendation and two
indeterminate fiscal notes by the Department of
Administration and the Department of Corrections
and two zero notes by the Department of
Administration and the Department of Public
Safety.
CSHB 257(FIN) am
VOTING & ELECTIONS
SCS CSHB 257(FIN) was REPORTED out of committee
with a "do pass" recommendation and attached
fiscal note by the Office of the Governor.
HB 303 EXTEND COUNCIL ON DOM.VIOL. & SEX.ASSAULT
HB 303 was REPORTED out of committee with a "do
pass" recommendation and zero notes by the House
State Affairs Committee.
CSHB 459(FIN)am
MEDICAL ASSISTANCE: DISABLED & OTHERS
SCS CSHB 459(FIN) was REPORTED out of committee
with a "do pass" recommendation and fiscal notes by
the Department of Health and Social Services.
HB 488am ROYALTY OIL & GAS DEVEL. ADV. BOARD
CSHB 488(FIN) was REPORTED out of committee with a
"do pass" recommendation and attached fiscal note
by the Department of Natural Resources.
HOUSE BILL 257
"An Act relating to elections, to election officials
and election workers, to voter registration, and to
candidates for election; and providing for an
effective date."
Co-chair Sharp provided history of the bill, including
changes made to meet federal guidelines on purging voting
lists.
GAIL FENUMIAI, DIRECTOR, DIVISION OF ELECTIONS, OFFICE OF
THE GOVERNOR, provided an overview of the House version of
the legislation. She reported that Sections 1 through 4
dealt with maintenance procedures for voter lists, which
the Senate Finance Committee had heard and passed earlier
in the session. The provision would bring the state into
compliance with federal law and would eventually reduce the
size of Alaska's voter lists as well as get them more
accurate. She noted that the division was not currently
able to remove people from the list unless asked to do so
by the voter; the division had to follow the precise
details outlined in the federal National Voter Registration
Act.
Ms. Fenumiai continued that Sections 5 and 8 of the bill
would provide authority for the division to conduct
elections using optical scanning ballot tabulation
equipment, the new system the state would purchase in the
current year. The division would then have authority to use
the equipment and should thereby avoid legal challenges for
using it.
Ms. Fenumiai turned to Section 6 of HB 257, addressing
absentee voting by personal representative. The process
would streamline the absentee vote by personal
representative, making it easier for both the
representative and the voter. It would also add safeguards;
the personal representative would be required to show
identification and sign a register when using it for the
first time.
Co-chair Sharp queried the process. Ms. Fenumiai clarified
that before the representative would be issued a ballot for
the first time they would have to show identification and
sign a register.
Ms. Fenumiai noted that Section 7 of the bill would deal
with absentee voting by facsimile; the division was
proposing to extend the application deadline to 5 p.m. the
day before the election. Currently, the deadline was four
days before the election; after implementing that deadline
into statute, the division had found there were many people
who were not able to participate because of extenuating
circumstances. The division felt the measure would better
serve the needs of the voters.
Senator Torgerson asked how municipal elections would be
affected by the facsimile section. Ms. Fenumiai replied
that local municipal ordinance would determine whether
voting by facsimile was allowed.
Ms. Fenumiai explained that Sections 9 through 12 of the
bill would make technical changes to the official election
pamphlet. Section 13 would add federal language from the
Balanced Budget Act of 1997, which would eliminate the
state's requirement to pay unemployment taxes for election
workers who made less than $1,000 in one calendar year
(approximately 2,500 workers); there would be a cost
savings of $10,000 to the division every election year
(reflected in the fiscal note).
Ms. Fenumiai added that the fiscal note attached to the
bill was strictly for the list maintenance procedures.
Co-chair Sharp asked whether the division was expecting to
have the electronic voting devices available for the
primary and general elections. Ms. Fenumiai responded that
the devices would be available for both elections.
Co-chair Sharp asked whether the devices were the ones that
had been on display on the second floor. Ms. Fenumiai
responded in the affirmative.
Co-chair Sharp noted that completing the item was a
priority for the lieutenant governor.
Senator Torgerson MOVED to ADOPT Work Draft SCS CSHB
257(FIN) (Version "R" dated 5/6/98) as a working document
before the committee. There being no objection, it was so
ordered.
JIM BALDWIN, OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL, DEPARTMENT OF
LAW, spoke to the CS. He thought there were two sections
that needed to be addressed on the record because the
department expected litigation. He stated that the CS could
prevent litigation in the next election cycle.
Mr. Baldwin detailed that Sections 14 and 15 of the bill
would retroactively forgive failure to file a legislative
financial disclosure (LFD), a filing required for a
candidate for office. Section 16 would have the effect of
excusing the failure to file by an incumbent candidate. He
referred to a situation in which a filing was not made by
April 15 (as required by law); it was made six days late.
Section 16 would make a retroactive change in the law that
would apply to the particular candidate, make the filing
timely, and remove any necessity for the Alaska Public
Offices Commission (APOC) from going forward and acting on
the late filing.
SENATOR MIKE MILLER reported that the CS had been
introduced at his request to provide clear intent for the
record. Currently, the deadline for filing conflict of
interest statements was April 15. The section would move
the date back one month; the conflict of interest
statements would have to be filed on March 15. There would
be a grace period of up to 30 days after March 15 as well,
which was not allowed under current law. The intent was
that APOC would immediately realize when someone failed to
file and would notify the individual right away that the
form was not on file. The individual would then have until
April 15 to file the form. Currently, the form had to be
filed by April 15; the new section would provide an earlier
filing date and a grace period if there was a failure to
file. He stressed that the net effect was that everything
still had to be filed by April 15 under both the old and
new laws.
Senator Miller reported that he sat on the Conference
Committee that had drafted the piece of legislation when it
became law in 1992. He stated that it was not the intent of
the Conference Committee that there would be the same
penalty for willful failure to file as there was for late
filing. The current law stipulated the same penalty for
refusal to file as late filing, which was an oversight. He
believed that someone could file a blank statement, with
only their name, and comply with the current law, while
someone filing on April 16 with a full statement suffered a
drastic penalty. He added that Section 15 was a retroactive
clause for the current year.
Senator Phillips asked whether the lists would be purged
for the current year under the bill. Ms. Fenumiai replied
that the division would not be able to start working on the
list until January 1999.
Senator Pearce MOVED to REPORT SCS CSHB 257(FIN) out of
committee with individual recommendations and the attached
fiscal note.
Co-chair Sharp pointed out that the fiscal note was about
the same for the Division of Elections as the fiscal note
seen previously.
There being no objection, it was so ordered.
SCS CSHB 257(FIN) was REPORTED out of committee with a "do
pass" recommendation and attached fiscal note by the Office
of the Governor.
HOUSE BILL 459
"An Act establishing new eligibility for medical
assistance for certain disabled persons and giving
their eligibility for services the highest priority
among optional services and groups under the medical
assistance program; amending the definition of
'personal care services in a recipient's home' as used
in the medical assistance program; moving midwife
services from being the first to being the seventh
service eliminated under the medical assistance
program when there is insufficient funding; adjusting
the priority of optional services and optional
eligible groups under the medical assistance program
in order to reflect the new priorities given to the
newly-eligible disabled persons and to midwife
services but without otherwise changing the relative
order of the other optional services and optional
groups; relating to catastrophic illness assistance;
establishing a medical assistance program for chronic
and acute medical conditions; and providing for an
effective date."
Co-chair Sharp provided history of the bill in committee,
including concerns about the midwife section. He noted that
the sponsor was indifferent to whether the section was in
the legislation or not.
Senator Phillips MOVED Amendment 1.
ROBERT BRIGGS, ATTORNEY, DISABILITY LAW CENTER OF ALASKA,
informed the committee that the center was neutral on the
position of whether the midwives section should be changed.
He opined that the midwifery provisions of the bill should
be deleted if the committee was inclined to not act on the
bill because of the mix of the two different subjects in
the bill.
Mr. Briggs maintained that the bill was very important to
the disability community and that the proposed amendment
would accomplish what was needed.
Senator Pearce OBJECTED to the amendment.
Senator Donley commented that the amendment would change
the title of the bill. There was a discussion about
procedure related to changing the title.
Senator Donley stated that there had been compelling
testimony the day before about the position of the Health,
Education, and Social Services Committee related to midwife
services; there could be a large potential savings for the
program, which would free up funds to provide the services
listed.
Co-chair Sharp queried whether the amount of Medicaid
appropriated by the state had failed to reach the whole
list.
NANCY WELLER, CHIEF MEDICAL ASSISTANT, DIVISION OF MEDICAL
ASSISTANCE, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES
(DHSS), responded that the first five services on the list
were not covered (midwives, clinical social workers,
psychologists, chiropractors, and advanced nurse
practitioners). She added that there were three types of
advanced nurse practitioners that were mandatory under
federal law and covered under the Medicaid program: nurse
midwives, pediatric nurse practitioners, and family
practice nurse practitioners.
Senator Phillips questioned coverage for chiropractors. Ms.
Weller responded that chiropractors were only funded for
children.
Co-chair Sharp asked whether a fiscal note had been
prepared by DHSS that at least projected the savings. He
noted the additional cost for disabled premiums. Ms. Weller
replied that when the amendment was proposed in the House
Finance Committee, DHSS reported that it did not have
experience with certified direct-entry midwives, though it
anticipated there could be some cost savings. There were
very few such midwives in Alaska. However, DHSS supported
the inclusion of direct-entry midwives in the Medicaid
program and had proposed a different way of including
direct-entry midwives in the program in the governor's
child health insurance program bill, but the change was
acceptable to the department.
Co-chair Sharp noted that he had kept hearing that there
would be savings using the midwives rather than doctors. He
asked whether the amounts could be estimated or projected
on a per-person basis. He wanted to see the numbers on a
fiscal note. Ms. Weller replied that it was possible there
could be savings; the department had not received
information from the midwives association of how many
clients it projected seeing. She stated the issue was more
about access to the types of services the clients wanted
for maternity and delivery care. She added that certified
direct-entry midwives could provide home deliveries.
Senator Parnell thought the department should be able to
get numbers related to the projected savings. He wanted
DHSS to estimate the possible savings.
Co-chair Sharp agreed and wanted to see something in
writing, at least an estimate in the narrative. He wanted a
fiscal note backing up a claim for savings.
Senator Parnell asked whether the department could provide
the information if the bill moved out of committee. Ms.
Weller replied that she would do her best.
Co-chair Sharp spoke to expected meetings and possible
delays. He requested that a fiscal note be supplied to the
committee with projected estimates of how many people would
be affected so that the committee could have something to
base a decision on. He was concerned that people who would
be moved down the list would be upset.
Senator Donley agreed that the department should provide
the information. He noted that birthing services would be
an alternative to doctor services; he did not think
expenses would increase, but only decrease.
Co-chair Sharp also wanted the total amount paid out to
adult dental services, which would be dropped off the list.
Senator Parnell thought that would miss the point because
people who were eligible could go to a doctor and get
reimbursed under the list already for pregnancy-related
services; they would go to a midwife instead and get the
service provided at less expense. He thought those were the
numbers needed from the department. He hoped the department
could also say that no other services would be lost as a
result of the savings.
Co-chair Sharp wanted to see the total cost paid out for
adult dental with a comparison with total anticipated
savings. He was concerned that people would be upset
because they did not qualify for adult dental expenses
because the list was changed; he wanted to be able to say
that DHSS had assured the committee in a fiscal note.
Ms. Weller pointed out that the projected number for adult
dental was $4 million per year, limited to emergency
treatment of pain and acute infection. She anticipated the
services would continue. She recalled intent language in
the budget the year prior to restore services 6 through 19;
the services were restored with program savings October 12,
1997.
Co-chair Sharp suggested moving midwives to position 6
instead of 15, if there was money available.
Senator Donley thought the suggestion might be reasonable;
however, the title specifically said 1 to 14; the other
suggestion would require a title amendment as well.
Co-chair Sharp assumed a simple title change could be
approved as long as the schedule was adjusted to qualify.
He did not think midwife services had gone up to $4 million
(the cost of the adult dental).
Co-chair Sharp SET ASIDE HB 459 until later in the meeting
(pending receipt of the new fiscal note by DHSS).
HOUSE BILL 488
"An Act relating to the Alaska Royalty Oil and Gas
Development Advisory Board."
REPRESENTATIVE JERRY SANDERS explained that the bill was an
attempt to change the Alaska Royalty Oil and Gas
Development Advisory Board in favor of public
representation. He reported that the board was currently
composed of three commissioners and three public members
who had to have a petroleum background. He believed that
replacing the commissioner of the Department of Revenue
with the commissioner of the Department of Community and
Regional Affairs, and the addition of public members with
little or no ties with the petroleum industry would result
in the board taking more of an interest in the up-front
negotiation of crude contracts for local refining and
encourage price and supply benefits for Alaskans.
Senator Donley MOVED to REPORT HB 488 am out of committee
with individual recommendations and attached fiscal note.
There being no objection, it was so ordered.
CSHB 488(FIN) was REPORTED out of committee with a "do pass"
recommendation and attached fiscal note by the Department of
Natural Resources.
HOUSE BILL 303
"An Act extending the termination date of the Council
on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault; and providing
for an effective date."
Senator Parnell noted that the bill requested extension of
the council to the year 2002. He believed the extension was
necessary because of the way federal grants were
structured.
Senator Pearce MOVED to REPORT HB 303 out of committee with
individual recommendations and attached fiscal notes. There
being no objection, it was so ordered.
HB 303 was REPORTED out of committee with a "do pass"
recommendation and zero notes by the House State Affairs
Committee.
HOUSE BILL 245
"An Act relating to assault in the fourth degree;
relating to the definition of 'crime involving
domestic violence' in AS 11; relating to unlawful
contact with a victim or witness; relating to
rehabilitation programs for perpetrators of domestic
violence; amending Rule 5(b), Alaska Rules of Criminal
Procedure and Rule 404(b), Alaska Rules of Evidence;
and providing for an effective date."
REPRESENTATIVE FRED DYSON, SPONSOR, explained that the bill
would accomplish four things related to domestic violence.
First, it would prohibit domestic violence perpetrators
from using their one allowed phone call to call the victim
or witnesses in order to intimidate them between the time
of arrest and arraignment. He pointed out that the problem
had been a significant one.
Representative Dyson continued that second, the bill would
provide for progressively stiffer presumptive sentences for
repeat offenders. Third, it would set standards for the
batterers and anger management programs that judges often
assigned for perpetrators. Fourth, it would allow (under
carefully controlled circumstances) that prior related acts
were admissible. The prosecution could ask the judge to
admit prior acts (out of the presence of the jury) if there
had been a pattern of abuse by the perpetrator that the
prosecution wanted to bring forward.
Jayne Andreen, Council on Domestic Violence and Sexual
Assault, testified in support of HB 245. The council
believed the four things defined by Representative Dyson
were important to strengthen the protection of victims of
domestic violence. The first issue (preventing the
perpetrator from having phone contact with the victim) had
been brought to the council's attention by a police officer
who believed there was a problem. She noted that often two
officers would be called to a scene. When the officers
determined there was probable cause and made an arrest, one
officer would take the alleged offender back to be booked
and to make a phone call. Sometimes the other officer was
at the scene taking the statement of the victim and
collecting evidence. In current statute, within 12 hours
after an arrest, the alleged offender must be arraigned; at
that point the court would decide whether or not there
should be contact with the victim. The council believed the
12 hours was important to protect the victim from further
intimidation or coercion.
Ms. Andreen continued that the item related to minimum
prison terms for offenders would apply to fourth-degree
assault. The council believed the item was important in
terms of giving offenders the information that the crime
was serious and had further consequences if it was
repeated. The part of the bill addressing the court's
ability to approve programs such as anger-management would
strengthen language already in statute so that the courts
would only used approved programs.
LAURIE HUGENIN, DIRECTOR, ALASKA NETWORK ON DOMESTIC
VIOLENCE AND SEXUAL ASSAULT, voiced support for the bill
and noted written testimony submitted.
Senator Donley pointed to page 4, lines 2 through 4,
related to prohibiting the defendant from indirect contact
with the witness. He asked about the constitutional right
to contact witnesses to find out what they would say.
ANNE CARPENETI, CRIMINAL DIVISION, DEPARTMENT OF LAW,
replied that the provision on page 4, lines 4 through 7,
gave authority to the judge in sentencing a defendant.
After the defendant was convicted, the court would be
allowed, although not mandated, under certain circumstances
[interruption by tape ending].
[SFC-98, Tape 160, Side B]
Senator Parnell MOVED to REPORT SCS CSHB 245(HES) out of
committee with individual recommendations and attached
fiscal notes. There being no objection, it was so ordered.
SCS CSHB 245(HES) was REPORTED out of committee with a "do
pass" recommendation and two indeterminate fiscal notes by
the Department of Administration and the Department of
Corrections and two zero notes by the Department of
Administration and the Department of Public Safety.
RECESSED 10:10 AM.
ADJOURNMENT
Co-chair Sharp adjourned the meeting at 11:10 p.m.
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