04/30/2007 01:30 PM Senate JUDICIARY
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB128 | |
| SB8 | |
| SB145 | |
| Adjourn |
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | SB 8 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | SB 157 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | SB 145 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| = | SB 128 | ||
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE JUDICIARY STANDING COMMITTEE
April 30, 2007
1:57 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Hollis French, Chair
Senator Charlie Huggins, Vice Chair
Senator Bill Wielechowski
Senator Lesil McGuire
Senator Gene Therriault
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
SENATE BILL NO. 128
"An Act relating to the sale, distribution, and purchase of
alcoholic beverages; relating to a state database for records of
certain alcoholic purchases of alcoholic beverages; relating to
procedures for local option elections for control of alcoholic
beverages; and providing for an effective date."
MOVED CSSB 128(JUD) OUT OF COMMITTEE
SENATE BILL NO. 8
"An Act relating to a mental health patient's right to choose
the gender of hospital staff providing intimate care to the
mental health patient and to the duties of hospital staff in
caring for patients receiving mental health treatment."
MOVED CSSB 8((JUD) OUT OF COMMITTEE
SENATE BILL NO. 145
"An Act relating to municipal impoundment and forfeiture."
HEARD AND HELD
SENATE BILL NO. 157
"An Act relating to human trafficking and prostitution."
SCHEDULED BUT NOT HEARD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: SB 128
SHORT TITLE: ALCOHOL LOCAL OPTION PROVISIONS
SPONSOR(s): SENATOR(s) OLSON
03/19/07 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
03/19/07 (S) CRA, JUD, FIN
03/27/07 (S) CRA AT 3:30 PM BELTZ 211
03/27/07 (S) Moved CSSB 128(CRA) Out of Committee
03/27/07 (S) MINUTE(CRA)
03/28/07 (S) CRA RPT CS 3DP NEW TITLE
03/28/07 (S) DP: OLSON, THOMAS, KOOKESH
04/23/07 (S) JUD AT 1:30 PM BELTZ 211
04/23/07 (S) Heard & Held
04/23/07 (S) MINUTE(JUD)
BILL: SB 8
SHORT TITLE: MENTAL HEALTH PATIENT RIGHTS: STAFF GENDER
SPONSOR(s): SENATOR(s) DAVIS
01/16/07 (S) PREFILE RELEASED 1/5/07
01/16/07 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
01/16/07 (S) HES, JUD, FIN
04/18/07 (S) HES AT 2:00 PM BELTZ 211
04/18/07 (S) Heard & Held
04/18/07 (S) MINUTE(HES)
04/23/07 (S) HES AT 1:30 PM BUTROVICH 205
04/23/07 (S) Moved SB 8 Out of Committee
04/23/07 (S) MINUTE(HES)
04/25/07 (S) HES RPT 4DP 1NR
04/25/07 (S) DP: DAVIS, ELTON, THOMAS, DYSON
04/25/07 (S) NR: COWDERY
04/30/07 (S) JUD AT 1:30 PM BELTZ 211
BILL: SB 145
SHORT TITLE: MUNIS IMPOUND/FORFEIT MOTOR VEHICLE
SPONSOR(s): SENATOR(s) MCGUIRE
03/28/07 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
03/28/07 (S) CRA, JUD
04/24/07 (S) CRA AT 3:30 PM BELTZ 211
04/24/07 (S) Moved CSSB 145(CRA) Out of Committee
04/24/07 (S) MINUTE(CRA)
04/25/07 (S) CRA RPT CS 4DP NEW TITLE
04/25/07 (S) DP: OLSON, WAGONER, STEVENS, KOOKESH
04/30/07 (S) JUD AT 1:30 PM BELTZ 211
WITNESS REGISTER
GINNY AUSTERMAN, Staff to Senator Donny Olson
Alaska State Capitol
Juneau, AK 99801-1182
POSITION STATEMENT: Reintroduced SB 128 for the sponsor.
ANNIE CARPENETI, Assistant Attorney General
Department of Law
Juneau, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Responded to questions related to SB 128.
TOM OBERMEYER, Staff to Senator Bettye Davis
Alaska State Capitol
Juneau, AK 99801-1182
POSITION STATEMENT: Introduced SB 8 for the sponsor.
RON ADLER, CEO
Alaska Psychiatric Institute
Division of Behavioral Health
Department of Health and Social Services
Anchorage, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Responded to questions related to SB 8.
FAITH MEYERS, Mental Health Advocate
Anchorage, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Stated support for SB 8 as written.
DORRANCE COLLINS, Mental Health Advocate
Anchorage, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Stated support for SB 8 as written.
JIM GOTTSTEIN, President and CEO
Law Project for Psychiatric Rights
Anchorage, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Stated support for SB 8.
ANDREA SCHMOOK, Chair
Alaska Mental Health Board
Division of Behavioral Health
Department of Health and Social Services
Anchorage, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Voiced support for SB 8.
PAULA SCAVERA, Special Assistant
Office of the Commissioner
Department of Labor & Workforce Development
Juneau, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Responded to questions related to SB 145.
LARRY MCKINSTRY, Assistant Attorney General
Department of Law
Anchorage, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Responded to legal questions related to SB
145.
ACTION NARRATIVE
CHAIR HOLLIS FRENCH called the Senate Judiciary Standing
Committee meeting to order at 1:57:41 PM. Present at the call to
order were Senator Therriault, Senator McGuire, and Chair
French. Senator Wielechowski arrived shortly thereafter.
SB 128-ALCOHOL LOCAL OPTION PROVISIONS
CHAIR FRENCH announced the consideration of SB 128. He asked Ms.
Austerman to refresh members' recollections about the bill.
1:58:11 PM
GINNY AUSTERMAN, Staff to Senator Donny Olson, recapped that the
bill came about at the request of the Rural Justice Commission.
It is an integral part of the effort to regulate the sale,
distribution, purchase, and shipment of alcoholic beverages into
damp local option communities within Alaska. The Alcohol
Beverage Control Board (ABC) Board would be required to create
and maintain a database of timely information related to written
orders for alcohol that is shipped to individuals. The package
store licensee or its agent must consult the database prior to
filling each order. Immediately after filling the order, the
date and the amount of the new order must be add to the
database. This will adversely impact bootleggers, she said. The
information in the database will be accessible only to package
stores and law enforcement. SB 128 also contains a provision to
correct an omission in state law so that organized boroughs
would be able to transfer borough liquor licenses to communities
within that borough.
MS. AUSTERMAN noted a proposed amendment and said the sponsor is
happy to accept that amendment. In response to a question, she
relayed that Sections 4 and 5 relate to the transfer of liquor
licenses.
CHAIR FRENCH asked if anything in those sections requires that
the transfers be done at fair market value.
MS. AUSTERMAN replied she's not aware of anything that spells
that out.
CHAIR FRENCH asked if the sponsor or the Department of Law would
object to adding a provision along those lines.
MS. AUSTERMAN said the sponsor would not object.
2:00:51 PM
ANNE CARPENETI, Assistant Attorney General, Department of Law,
said she would like to check with the head of the ABC Board
before adding that provision because Title 4 really doesn't
address commercial value of liquor licenses.
CHAIR FRENCH noted that the bill has a finance referral and said
that may be the place to take care of that point.
2:01:26 PM
CHAIR FRENCH offered Amendment 1 as the sponsor.
AMENDMENT 1
OFFERED IN THE SENATE
TO: CSSB 128(CRA)
Page 2, line 22:
Following "purchaser."
Insert:
"Failure by a package store licensee, agent
or employee to enter into the database the date
and the amount of alcoholic beverages shipped to
the purchaser is a class B misdemeanor."
Page 5, following line 30:
Insert:
"*Sec. 11 AS 04.16.180(a) is amended to
read:
(a) Except as provided in AS 04.11.015, AS
04.16.025, 04.16.050, 04.16.051, 04.11.150(g),
04.16.200-04.16.210, and AS 04.21.065, a person
who violates a provision of this title or a
regulation adopted by the board is guilty, upon
conviction, of a class A misdemeanor. Each
violation is a separate offense."
Renumber the following bill sections accordingly.
SENATOR McGUIRE objected for discussion purposes.
CHAIR FRENCH explained that the amendment is the result of
discussion during the previous hearing. The bill imposes new
duties on liquor store clerks and there was some question about
the level of the violation should a clerk not comport with those
new duties. Before the hearing Ms. Carpeneti said that
unauthorized release of information that will be gathered into
the database will be a class A misdemeanor.
MS. CARPENETI said, "The default penalty for Title 8 violations
is a class A misdemeanor unless it's specifically excepted and
another penalty is provided."
SENATOR McGUIRE offered her interpretation, which is that the
class A misdemeanor would apply throughout Section 1 so that
anybody who is authorized to have access to the database and
uses the information in an unauthorized manor would be subject
to that penalty. I want it to be interpreted broadly in terms of
preserving the confidentiality of the database, she stated.
MS. CARPENETI said she interprets the language that way as well.
2:03:30 PM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI joined the meeting.
CHAIR FRENCH thanked Senator McGuire for highlighting that
point. He read the amendment and said he believes that in this
instance a class B misdemeanor would include a maximum of 90
days and a maximum $1,000 fine for not entering the data as
required by the statute.
2:04:02 PM
SENATOR McGUIRE removed her objection.
CHAIR FRENCH, finding no further objection, announced that
Amendment 1 is adopted.
SENATOR McGUIRE motioned to report CSSB 128, as amended, from
committee with individual recommendations and attached fiscal
note(s).
CHAIR FRENCH announced that without objection CSSB 128(JUD)
moves from committee.
At ease 2:05:37 PM.
SB 8-MENTAL HEALTH PATIENT RIGHTS: STAFF GENDER
CHAIR FRENCH announced the consideration of SB 8, by Senators
Davis, Ellis, and Elton.
2:05:53 PM
TOM OBERMEYER, Staff to Senator Davis, explained that the bill
will give mental health hospital patients who are 18 years of
age or older the right to request intimate care by a nurse of a
specific gender. Many such patients have had traumatic sexual or
physical experiences that would be aggravated if they were to
receive treatment by a nurse of a specific gender. The
supervisor of the facility will be required to post notice of
the right in a conspicuous place so the patients will know that
they may exercise the right. While the bill recognizes that such
requests can not always be fulfilled, any non-compliance to the
request must be documented in the patient's file. This will
prevent the information from being ignored or lost and will
provide a record in case of resulting trauma. Also, the bill
will preserve information for inquiry into grievance procedures
at mental health facilities under Title 47.
MR. OBERMEYER referred to written testimony from the Disability
Law Center of Alaska, which says that the bill would codify an
existing constitutional right that is not being acknowledged and
protected and that the Alaska constitution clearly recognizes
that the right to privacy is important under Article 1, Section
22. Case law indicates that by necessity there will be a
relinquishment of privacy when someone is admitted to a mental
health facility, but that doesn't mean that all rights to
privacy are relinquished. Furthermore, it is noted that the
privacy protections provided in SB 8 are already available to
people who are incarcerated. Mental health patients are not
convicted criminals and their right to privacy may not be
abrogated by virtue of their confinement.
MR. OBERMEYER highlighted written testimony from Andrea Schmook,
Chair of the Alaska Mental Health Board. She indicates that the
board supports the notion that psychiatric patients should have
the right to choose the gender of a person who provides intimate
care. She notes that although the board was instrumental in
convincing Alaska Psychiatric Institute to promote this policy,
it believes that an isolated policy is not sufficient to
safeguard the rights of all psychiatric patients. Placing this
provision in statute will ensure that all mental health patients
will be afforded this basic right. Ms. Schmook says that AMHB is
sensitive to the issue of creating a financial burden on
psychiatric hospitals, but language in the bill provides a
method for dealing with this issue. "If the patient can not be
served by someone of the gender they choose, the hospital must
simply document that a request was made and that it was not able
to be honored." SB 8 has a zero fiscal note, he said.
MR. OBERMEYER relayed that the bill offers a balance between the
right of a patient for privacy and choice and the physician's
duty to provide responsible care. If the treating psychiatrist
determines that the choice the patient made is not in the best
interest of the patient's treatment, he or she may override that
choice.
2:12:17 PM
SENATOR McGUIRE described the provision as important and said
she supports the bill. Referring to page 1, line 7, which
describes "a patient 18 years of age or older" she asked how
minors are treated. "I just wouldn't want to exclude them," she
said.
MR. OBERMEYER said he doesn't know, but people on-line probably
have the answer.
SENATOR THERRIAULT asked if this would afford mental health
patients a higher privacy right than someone who is in a
hospital for medical care.
MR. OBERMEYER said yes, but only because these rights can be
abrogated in an involuntary commitment. This has been an issue
many times, most recently in two Anchorage cases brought by
attorney James Gottstein.
2:14:23 PM
SENATOR THERRIAULT questioned a situation where a male patient
requests a female caregiver.
MR. OBERMEYER explained that there could be the situation where
a person was abused by a person of the same sex. In that
circumstance the patient might feel comfortable receiving
intimate care from a person of the opposite sex. "There are
unusual circumstances particularly relating to mental health
patients that cause additional concern in this regard that you
wouldn't find in normal hospital settings," he stated. That's
why the bill was drafted in this fashion.
CHAIR FRENCH asked if anything in the bill requires a nurse of
either gender to put him or herself in a potentially harmful
situation by providing care.
MR. OBERMEYER said he anticipates that the mental health
facility would be familiar with a patient's particular problems
before acknowledging and accommodating his or her request.
CHAIR FRENCH asked Mr. Adler to give his perspective.
2:16:39 PM
RON ADLER, CEO, Alaska Psychiatric Institute (API), Division of
Behavioral Health, Department of Health and Social Services,
explained that generally in the assessment phase of an acute
care stay, the treating psychiatrist would become aware of any
issues related to intimate care. The bill makes it very clear
that if the patient's choice is to his or her detriment in any
way, the treating psychiatrist would override the choice with a
doctor's order.
CHAIR FRENCH added that in that situation the bill simply
requires the doctor to document the decision.
MR. ADLER agreed.
SENATOR THERRIAULT referred to the circumstance of a patient who
derives perverse pleasure from receiving intimate care from a
particular gender. He asked if that would be detrimental to the
patient by feeding that potential perversion.
MR. ADLER said absolutely. He explained that the admissions
process includes a screening, which is the beginning of a
comprehensive psychiatric evaluation. After the person is
admitted to a unit, a nursing assessment usually follows. Within
probably 24-hours a nurse practitioner or medical doctor does a
medical history and physical, which is followed by an evaluation
by both a psychiatrist and a social worker. Any
contraindications related to intimate care usually come out in
that evaluation period. A psychiatrist would absolutely pick up
on that and do what is in the patient's best therapeutic
interest, he stated.
2:19:40 PM
FAITH MEYERS, Mental Health Advocate from Anchorage, stated
support for SB 8 as written. She said she has had experience as
a patient in mental health care facilities in Alaska,
Washington, and Nevada. As an advocate she has spoken with
hospital administrators in a number of states including Alaska
looking for best practices. Unnecessary trauma is a reality in
health care facilities, and gender choice needs to be provided
when the patient is reasonably cooperative. The percentage of
women in acute care psychiatric facilities with a sexual abuse
past is very high; people can feel re-victimized when treated
intimately by a person of a certain gender. Change needs to be
made in state statute rather than in individual hospital policy.
She cited several letters from people and institutions
supporting gender choice in intimate psychiatric care. [Copies
may be found in the bill file.]
MS. MEYERS said, "SB 8 only requires psychiatric institutions to
make a good faith effort at giving gender choice of staff." She
asked the committee to pass the bill.
2:24:15 PM
DORRANCE COLLINS, Mental Health Advocate from Anchorage, stated
support for SB 8 as written. Not providing gender choice in
psychiatric in-patient settings can be traumatizing to the
patient and add to their illness. Many other states require such
a choice in their hospitals and psychiatric treatment
facilities. He cited a recent court decision that says that
there is a clear unavoidable tension between hospital economics
and patient rights. This can manifest itself in patient abuse.
The court saw that without regulation this would deny
psychiatric patients their rights. The court and the legislature
will force psychiatric hospitals to do the right thing, he said.
Many psychiatric patients have been sexually or physically
abused, and being denied gender choice in intimate care creates
trauma all over again. Passing SB 8 will return to the patient a
small amount of dignity and control that was lost when entering
a psychiatric facility.
MR. COLLINS said "SB 8 only requires psychiatric institutions to
make a good faith effort at providing gender choice of staff for
intimate care." He asked the committee to pass the bill as
written.
2:27:29 PM
JIM GOTTSTEIN, President and CEO, Law Project for Psychiatric
Rights (Psych Rights), said its mission is to launch litigation
against forced psychiatric drugging. He said he couldn't add
much to what has already been said, but he wants to add his
supporting voice. It's a case of basic human dignity to allow
gender choice for intimate care. Causing a person to relive a
previous trauma is counter-therapeutic. There isn't a good
reason for not accommodating a request when possible, he said.
He asked members to pass SB 8 from committee.
2:29:21 PM
ANDREA SCHMOOK, Chair, Alaska Mental Health Board, Division of
Behavioral Health, Department of Health and Social Services,
voiced support for SB 8. She relayed her personal experience as
a mental patient and her previous work experience as the
Illinois director of consumer affairs for the division of mental
health. Drawing on her experience, she said that mental patients
need to have the right to make gender choices for intimate care
when they are in an in-patient setting. Flashbacks are
detrimental to a patient's mental health and may cause a
relapse. I am here to support this bill personally and as chair
of the board, she concluded.
MR. OBERMEYER suggested that Mr. Adler might be able to answer
Senator McGuire's question about patient age.
SENATOR McGUIRE referred to page 1, line 7, and asked how minors
would be treated as a result of being excluded under this bill.
2:32:41 PM
MR. ADLER explained that a minor who is admitted to an in-
patient unit generally has a parent or guardian who would
resolve the issue.
SENATOR McGUIRE asked if simply referring to "a patient" rather
than specifying "a patient 18 years of age or older" would raise
age of majority issues.
MR. ADLER said he believes that when this issue came up last
year, Northstar Behavioral Health Hospital argued that state
statute does not override parental consent. He suggested that
the sponsor would need to consult the Department of Law to
verify that point.
2:34:15 PM
SENATOR McGUIRE asked Mr. Obermeyer to look into that because a
minor who is abused by a parent wouldn't really have an advocate
in this sort of situation. She said she would be more
comfortable not specifying an age.
2:35:08 PM
CHAIR FRENCH said his thinking is along the same lines. He asked
if changing the age to 16, the age of consent in Alaska, would
create any problems for API.
MR. ADLER said he would need to research that with the
Department of Law.
2:35:47 PM
CHAIR FRENCH moved Amendment 1.
AMENDMENT 1
Page 1, line 7
Delete "18"
Insert "16"
CHAIR FRENCH, finding no objection, announced that Amendment 1
is adopted.
MR. ADLER stated that his only concern with the bill is that the
patient record should not be used to document anything related
to a compliance issue. Mr. Gottstein said that the mission of
Psych Rights is to reform the mental health care system through
litigation and when noncompliance is documented in the patient
record, it opens door to potential litigation. He suggested that
there should be an alternative such as the unusual occurrence
report that API uses.
2:37:55 PM
CHAIR FRENCH said that sounds reasonable and if he were to offer
language to a subsequent committee, it would be given a thorough
vetting.
2:38:24 PM
MR. OBERMEYER said the sponsor statement anticipated this
request. It indicates that the information is useful for
confirming the good-faith effort to comply with the patient's
request as well as for medical purposes. The real issue is the
fact that patient records are permanent, he said. In some
instances the record will be used for litigation purposes, but
it will also be used medically in terms of the patient's
outcome.
SENATOR McGUIRE referred to Senator Therriault's question about
patient rights and said she respectfully disagrees. Mental
patients don't choose that path and it's the state's
responsibility to provide protection, she said. Intimate care is
a very personal issue and she believes that the recurrence of
this bill and the mental health advocates who go out on a limb
to testify are responsible for forcing API to change its
policies. This is a healthy and important public process
focusing on the rights of the mentally ill, she stated.
CHAIR FRENCH, finding no further questions or debate, closed
public testimony.
2:41:36 PM
SENATOR THERRIAULT asked about the penalty for inadequate
documentation of a patient's request.
MR. OBERMEYER said there is no penalty. It's a matter of
documentation and patient protection comes from the
documentation. Documenting the request in the permanent record
will encourage facilities to give patients the right to chose
gender for intimate care.
SENATOR THERRIAULT asked if improper documentation would
establish the potential for a civil claim against the
institution.
MR. OBERMEYER said it would be a matter of evidence that an
attorney could look into that might otherwise be unavailable.
SENATOR McGUIRE motioned to report CSSB 8 as amended from
committee with individual recommendations and attached fiscal
note(s).
CHAIR FRENCH announced that without objection CSSB 8(JUD) moves
from committee.
At ease at 2:43:56 PM.
CSSB 145(CRA)-MUNIS IMPOUND/FORFEIT MOTOR VEHICLE
2:44:58 PM
CHAIR FRENCH announced the consideration of SB 145. [Before the
committee was CSSB 145(CRA.)
SENATOR McGUIRE, sponsor of SB 145, explained that the bill
would implement an option for municipalities to set up
procedures to impound and forfeit vehicles of individuals who
have amassed $1,000 or more in delinquent traffic fines. She
said the Municipality of Anchorage brought the idea forward,
because 1,017 of its individuals have a total of over $7.57
million in unpaid traffic fines. One person in the community has
43 different citations totaling almost $10,000 and another has
70 traffic citations totaling nearly $8,000. She said that this
law is meant to target the habitual, repeat offenders who
blatantly disregard public safety and refuse to pay their
citation fines. Many refuse to pay the fines because they know
the municipality has no recourse.
The Anchorage Assembly unanimously passed an ordinance on this
same issue making it a misdemeanor for anyone to drive if they
have at least 3 unpaid traffic tickets. SB 145 does not do that;
it is simply a tool that municipalities may use and it has no
fiscal impact to the state. Individuals stopped by a police
officer under these circumstances would lose their vehicle for
30 days. To get it back, the individual would have to pay $390
in administration fees plus towing and storage fees. This is
meant to be a deterrent and a reminder to encourage people to
pay their traffic fines in a timely manner.
2:48:35 PM
SENATOR McGUIRE referred to a proposed amendment to allow the
department of labor to help a municipal attorney track down
individuals who have civil or criminal fines or penalties.
Currently the municipality has had difficulty getting that
cooperation, she said. The idea is for the municipality and the
department to have a written agreement specifying: the purpose
of the information; a description of the information provided;
the procedure for transmitting, securing, using or disposing of
the information; and the method of reimbursement of the cost for
providing the information.
SENATOR McGUIRE opined that this will be a useful tool because
people who amass these fines might skip around in terms of
employment and might be difficult to track down. The department
of labor is most likely to have that information, and this is an
effort to ask it to cooperate and help the municipality locate
those individuals. The bill does two things; one is mandatory
and the other is optional, she said.
2:50:13 PM
SENATOR THERRIAULT calculated the average per person amount of
the unpaid traffic fines and expressed amazement. He asked if
the municipality has any information about the value of the
vehicles that these individuals are driving.
SENATOR McGUIRE replied the point of the bill isn't value-for-
value; the idea is to get people's attention by taking their
vehicle.
SENATOR THERRIAULT asked if he has to think about lending his
car to his neighbor if he/she one of the individuals who has
amassed large traffic fines.
SENATOR McGUIRE said yes; hopefully people will become more
careful about lending their vehicle. We're trying to set up a
situation where it's a deterrent, but clearly the local
governing authority will have to establish a procedure of notice
before taking someone's vehicle, she said.
2:53:26 PM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI, referring to subsection (r) in bill
section 1, asked if this applies only to municipalities and not
other legally designated forms of government.
SENATOR McGUIRE replied this bill only applies to municipalities
as defined by statute.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked if the department of labor supports
this provision.
CHAIR FRENCH said representatives from the Department of Labor &
Workforce Development, the Office of the Attorney General, and
the Municipality of Anchorage have signed up to testify.
2:54:18 PM
PAULA SCAVERA, Special Assistant, Office of the Commissioner,
Department of Labor & Workforce Development (DOLWD), said some
of the questions are more applicable to Larry McKinstry, the
attorney who represents the department of this issue. She is
available to answer questions.
2:55:00 PM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked if the fiscal note applies to the new
subsection (r).
MR. SCAVERA said yes. The first two years will come from the
general fund because there won't be receipts, but the bill is
written such that any costs will be paid for by the
municipality.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked if there are any legal hurtles to
overcome to provide this information to a municipal government.
MS. SCAVERA, referring to a proposed amendment, said the
department has worked with the sponsor to accommodate new
federal regulations related to trading information. She deferred
to Mr. McKinstry for further explanation.
2:56:21 PM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked if the department of labor provides
information to other non-state agencies or organizations.
MS. SCAVERA explained that by federal and state law the
department is required to provide information to certain
entities. Child support is one example.
2:57:04 PM
CHAIR FRENCH asked Mr. McKinstry to respond to the legal
question.
LARRY MCKINSTRY, Assistant Attorney General, Department of Law,
explained that disclosure of this type of information is
governed by both state statute and federal regulation. In
general, wage and unemployment information is confidential and
is held by the department solely for the administration of the
unemployment insurance benefit program. There are a number of
exceptions, but anything that the state gives up pursuant to the
state statute must also comply with the federal regulations.
"It's a somewhat complex problem of trying to figure out whether
or not a specific request or a specific type of information
falls within one of those written exceptions," he said.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI referenced Chapter 20 of the Alaska
Employment Security Act and said the first sentence defines the
purpose, which is to promote employment security. He questioned
whether adding the provision does in fact do that.
MR. MCKINSTRY expressed uncertainty about the thrust of the
question. He explained that the statute would typically hold
this type of information confidential unless it's used for
unemployment purposes. This provision would create a new
exception for the collection of fines and any civil judgments.
The provision broadens the scope of the purpose for using the
information, he added.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI, referring to subsection (r), asked what
kind of information the department would provide to the
municipal attorney.
MR. MCKINSTRY said specifically the information would include
the name and address of the employee as well as the identifying
information of the employer. That would make it easier for the
municipality to locate the person who has the outstanding
tickets or judgment.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked if just the name and address of the
employee would be included.
MR. MCKINSTRY said that's his understanding.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked how quickly the information would
have to be provided and if the state might be liable to a
municipality if it failed to provide the information.
MR. MCKINSTRY said he understands that the requests would be
ongoing and that the information would be exchanged through a
database that's set up by the municipality and the state. With
regard to liability exposure, there will have to be a written
agreement between the entities that complies with all the
restrictions that come with the federal regulation. "That should
in fact protect the state from any potential liabilities," he
said. If the information is denied the municipality would need
to litigate, but once the database is established the exchange
of information will be quite straightforward.
3:03:16 PM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI noted that paragraph (4) on page 2, says
that within the agreement there must be a "method of
reimbursement for the cost of providing the information."
Presumably the fiscal note should be zero, he said.
MR. MCKINSTRY said his understanding is that there will be
significant up-front costs to set up the database exchange, but
after that the long-term costs should be covered. Federal
regulations make it very clear that it's a state cost if the
information is provided for purposes other than unemployment, he
said.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked if he's saying that the state would
be fully reimbursed for the general fund expenditures through FY
2013.
MR. MCKINSTRY said his understanding is that those costs are for
accounting, staffing to maintain the database, and to ensure
that the information exchange occurs when it should.
MS. SCAVERA added that the fiscal note is designed to use
general funds the first two years and after that statutory
designated receipts will be used. Federal dollars can not be
used.
3:06:11 PM
SENATOR THERRIAULT asked why it's not possible to start out
using statutory designated program receipts.
MS. SCAVERA said the work has to be started before entering into
an agreement with the municipalities. Doing the disclosures will
require two fulltime positions and one for about one month per
year. More municipalities will want to come on board over time
and each will require a separate memorandum of agreement, she
said.
CHAIR FRENCH held SB 145 in committee.
The meeting was adjourned at 3:08:14 PM.
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