Legislature(2015 - 2016)Anch LIO Rm. A,B,C
06/11/2015 08:00 AM Senate FINANCE
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB44 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | HB 44 | TELECONFERENCED | |
SENATE FINANCE COMMITTEE
SECOND SPECIAL SESSION
June 11, 2015
8:25 a.m.
[Note: The meeting was held in Anchorage, Alaska at the
Anchorage Legislative Information Office]
8:25:50 AM
CALL TO ORDER
Co-Chair MacKinnon called the Senate Finance Committee
meeting to order at 8:25 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Anna MacKinnon, Co-Chair
Senator Pete Kelly, Co-Chair
Senator Peter Micciche, Vice-Chair
Senator Click Bishop
Senator Mike Dunleavy
Senator Lyman Hoffman
Senator Donny Olson
MEMBERS ABSENT
None
SUMMARY
CSHB 44(FIN)
SEX ABUSE/ASSAULT/DATING VIOL PREV. PROGS
There being NO OBJECTION, SCS CSHB 44(FIN) was
REPORTED out of committee with a "do pass"
recommendation and with one new fiscal note from
the Senate Finance Committee for the Department
of Education and Early Development; one new
fiscal impact note from Department of Education
and Early Development; one previously published
zero fiscal note: FN 3(DHS).
CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 44(FIN)
"An Act relating to sexual abuse and sexual assault
awareness and prevention efforts in public schools;
and relating to dating violence and abuse awareness
and prevention efforts in public schools."
8:26:08 AM
Co-Chair MacKinnon noted that three amendments had been
incorporated into the bill during the previous meeting. She
noted the intent to address additional amendments. She
highlighted Amendment 4 that would delete Section 14 of the
bill [Note: Amendment 4 was offered and held at the end of
the Senate Finance Committee meeting on 6/10/15, 1:11
p.m.]:
Page 1, lines 6 - 7:
Delete "relating to physical examinations for
teachers;"
Page 2, line 6:
Delete "Section 15"
Insert "Section 14"
Page 7, lines 21 - 27:
Delete all material.
Renumber the following bill sections accordingly.
Page 12, line 10:
Delete "sec. 15"
Insert "sec. 14"
Page 12, line 12:
Delete "sec. 15"
Insert "sec. 14"
Page 13, line 20:
Delete "15"
Insert "14"
8:26:47 AM
AT EASE
8:26:54 AM
RECONVENED
Senator Olson addressed Amendment 4. He explained that the
section would require a second physical exam for teachers.
He detailed that the amendment would eliminate confusion by
requiring only one physical exam.
Co-Chair MacKinnon OBJECTED.
A roll call vote was taken on the motion.
IN FAVOR: Hoffman, Micciche, Olson, Bishop, Dunleavy
OPPOSED: MacKinnon, Kelly
The MOTION PASSED (5/2). Amendment 4 was ADOPTED.
8:28:14 AM
AT EASE
8:28:39 AM
RECONVENED
Vice-Chair Micciche MOVED to ADOPT conceptual Amendment 5.
He explained that the amendment would add an effective date
of June 30, 2017 to Sections 4 related to student surveys,
Sections 20 and 22, and Sections 21 and 23 as adopted in
Amendment 3.
Co-Chair MacKinnon OBJECTED.
Vice-Chair Micciche explained that there were some concerns
from districts on understanding the impact of the student
survey documentation and on the volunteer training and
mandatory reporting. He reasoned that the two-year time
period would provide time to evaluate the potential
impacts.
Co-Chair MacKinnon discussed that Section 22 related to
volunteers, was language she had added to the bill. She
emphasized that the bill was important to many people
across the state. However, there were other families
struggling with issues they had faced as well. She shared a
story about a family; their child had been raped on a
school field trip and the coach did not report the
incident. She relayed that the family did not find out and
their child subsequently had committed suicide 15 years
later. She encouraged a yes vote on the amendment and
WITHDREW her OBJECTION.
There being NO further OBJECTION, Amendment 5 was ADOPTED.
8:31:14 AM
Vice-Chair Micciche MOVED to ADOPT conceptual Amendment 6.
The amendment would change the implementation of Section 23
for one year to June 30, 2016.
Co-Chair MacKinnon OBJECTED for discussion.
Vice-Chair Micciche explained that the amendment would
delay implementation of Section 23 for one year; it would
continue to allow access to the Alaska Performance
Scholarship so rural Alaskans could take the required SAT,
ACT, or WorkKeys tests until the impacts of the change were
fully understood.
Senator Olson supported the conceptual amendment. He
believed that it was prudent to continue to provide rural
students with access to the college entrance exams;
otherwise the students would need to travel to hub
communities to take the tests, which was a disadvantage.
Co-Chair MacKinnon WITHDREW her OBJECTION to Amendment 6.
Senator Dunleavy commented that the section reflected a
bill that had passed the House sponsored by Representative
Lynn Gattis. He explained that a new law had been
implemented the previous year [under HB 178, an omnibus
education bill]; under the law approximately $500,000 had
been designated for the purpose of taking the SAT, ACT, or
WorkKeys as a condition for graduation. He agreed with
Representative Gattis that because the program was new, it
was an appropriate place to cut; the money would be
reallocated to help with training and to support the main
component of HB 44.
There being NO further OBJECTION, Amendment 6 was ADOPTED.
8:33:56 AM
Co-Chair MacKinnon MOVED to ADOPT conceptual Amendment 7,
which would delete lines 8 through 10 on page 13.
Vice-Chair Micciche OBJECTED for discussion.
Co-Chair MacKinnon explained that she had received an email
from Department of Education and Early Development (DEED)
Commissioner Mike Hanley advising that the task force would
cost money. She detailed that it had not been the intent
for per diem costs to be incurred for the meetings, which
would focus on curriculum development and recommendations
for curriculum standardization. She stated that people
could participate by telephone; the state did not believe
it was necessary to pay for travel associated with the
meetings. She did not believe the absence of a per diem
payment would deter people from participating. She stated
that if it was a challenge for someone to participate they
could speak with her office. She did not want to burden
DEED with travel or per diem costs.
Vice-Chair Micciche WITHDREW his OBJECTION. There being NO
further OBJECTION, conceptual Amendment 7 was ADOPTED.
Vice-Chair Micciche discussed the fiscal notes. Fiscal Note
1 was from DEED related to student and school achievement;
the note had zero fiscal impact from FY 16 to FY 21 with no
supplemental costs.
8:36:53 AM
AT EASE
8:37:30 AM
RECONVENED
Vice-Chair Micciche noted that any costs associated with
activities listed in Fiscal Note 1 would be incurred by
school districts; the legislature hoped any cost would be
minor. He added that there was sponsorship by child
advocacy organizations to help cover the costs. Fiscal Note
2 from DEED addressed the elimination of testing; it had a
negative fiscal impact from FY 16 through FY 21 of
approximately $525,000. He detailed that the costs would
change as a result in the delay of the implementation date
by one year. Fiscal Note 3 from the Department of Health
and Social Services had zero fiscal impact from FY 16 to FY
21 and zero supplemental.
Co-Chair MacKinnon asked support for a fiscal note that
contained $10,000 as a good faith effort to communities
that had pledged to provide additional funds to help
implement the curriculum related to sexual assault and
domestic violence training and dating violence training.
There was currently a $25,000 proposal moving through the
Alaska Children's Trust and additional donations may occur.
She believed the state had been able to create electronic
training modules (at a cost of $30,000) for suicide
prevention. She noted that $10,000 was below the needed
amount, but sufficient funds had been pledged to fill the
remaining gap.
8:39:54 AM
Co-Chair MacKinnon noted that there had not been a fiscal
note allowed out of the committee using significant general
fund dollars.
Senator Dunleavy referred to Fiscal Note 1. He believed the
last sentence on page 2 was critical to discussions about
locating mandates to remove from school districts. He
explained that the legislature and federal government were
responsible for creating mandates for districts. He
believed some of the mandates were very good, but costs
were borne on the backs of school districts. He spoke to
significant financial cuts to school districts given the
state's current budget deficit. He was concerned that a
lack in financial resources could mean that a law's
implementation would come up short. He stated that school
districts would have to locate the resources internally. He
noted that as a result of conversations there were groups
coming forward to assist with the costs. He was confident
that the message was clear and that the state would assist
where it could to ensure curriculum implementation was done
in a way that would assure the desired outcomes.
8:43:39 AM
Vice-Chair Micciche requested that bill sponsors help
spread the word to communities that "Erin's Law and Bree's
Law" were intact in their entirety in the bill. There were
other items that were helpful to the cause. He underscored
that impediments to the laws that occurred in an earlier
bill version had been removed. The committee had made
instruction to keep children safe a priority. He thanked
Co-Chair MacKinnon for a compromise that kept important
pieces in place and focused the priority on the delivery of
the sexual assault/domestic violence instruction. He
believed the issue was the number one social issue in
Alaska. He was looking forward to the results and noted
committee members' commitment to continue securing outside
funding that would keep costs down for the state and would
hopefully eliminate costs to school districts.
Senator Dunleavy concurred with the remarks of Vice-Chair
Micciche. However, he noted that what may be viewed as
impediments by some could be viewed as enhancements by
others. He remarked that some of the items could have held
up the passage of the bill, which he did not want.
8:46:39 AM
Co-Chair MacKinnon added that the purpose of the task force
was to work to avoid passing costs on to school districts
and to provide the curriculum in a way that would give
teachers and parents easy access. She believed it was
important to have transparency in the efforts moving
forward to eliminate sexual assault, dating and domestic
violence, suicide prevention, and drug and alcohol abuse.
She stressed that Alaska ranked first in the nation on some
significant negative social issues. She underscored the
importance of decreasing the numbers. She expressed
appreciation for the committee's support in reaching a
compromise. Additionally, she appreciated the participation
of other legislators and advocates.
Senator Olson commented from his perspective of a father on
the importance of the bill.
Senator Dunleavy asserted that the bill did not only apply
to females. He discussed that males were molested and
abused as well. He stated that some abuse began when a
child was an infant. He believed the training would have a
positive outcome and applied to people of all ages.
Co-Chair MacKinnon remarked that she did not know the real
statistics for boys.
Co-Chair Kelly MOVED to REPORT SCS CSHB 44(FIN) out of
committee with individual recommendations and the
accompanying fiscal notes.
There being NO OBJECTION, SCS CSHB 44(FIN) was REPORTED out
of committee with a "do pass" recommendation and with one
new fiscal note from the Senate Finance Committee for the
Department of Education and Early Development; one new
fiscal impact note from Department of Education and Early
Development; one previously published zero fiscal note: FN
3(DHS).
ADJOURNMENT
8:50:07 AM
[Note: the committee rescinded its action to adjourn the
meeting and then recessed; however, the meeting did not
reconvene. The meeting officially adjourned at 3:39 p.m.]
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