03/19/2009 09:00 AM Senate STATE AFFAIRS
| Audio | Topic |
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| Start | |
| SB69 | |
| SB78 | |
| HB63 | |
| Adjourn |
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| = | SB 69 | ||
| = | SB 78 | ||
| = | HB 63 | ||
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE STATE AFFAIRS STANDING COMMITTEE
March 19, 2009
9:01 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Linda Menard, Chair
Senator Kevin Meyer, Vice Chair
Senator Hollis French
Senator Joe Paskvan
MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator Albert Kookesh
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
SENATE BILL NO. 69
"An Act reestablishing the Alaska Commission on the Status of
Women; and relating to the purpose and powers of the Alaska
Human Relations Commission."
MOVED CSSB 69(STA) OUT OF COMMITTEE
SENATE BILL NO. 78
"An Act relating to the powers and duties of the legislative
audit division."
MOVED CSSB 78(STA) OUT OF COMMITTEE
CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 63(FIN)
"An Act relating to the Council on Domestic Violence and Sexual
Assault."
MOVED SCS CSHB 63(STA) OUT OF COMMITTEE
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: SB 69
SHORT TITLE: COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN
SPONSOR(S): SENATOR(S) DAVIS
01/21/09 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
01/21/09 (S) STA, FIN
03/17/09 (S) STA AT 9:00 AM BELTZ 211
03/17/09 (S) Bill Postponed To 3/19/09
BILL: SB 78
SHORT TITLE: LEGISLATIVE AUDIT DIVISION POWERS
SPONSOR(S): SENATOR(S) DYSON
01/26/09 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
01/26/09 (S) STA, FIN
03/17/09 (S) STA AT 9:00 AM BELTZ 211
03/17/09 (S) Heard & Held
03/17/09 (S) MINUTE(STA)
BILL: HB 63
SHORT TITLE: COUNCIL DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: MEMBERS, STAFF
SPONSOR(S): REPRESENTATIVE(S) FAIRCLOUGH, HOLMES, COGHILL,
WILSON
01/20/09 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
01/20/09 (H) STA, FIN
01/20/09 (H) PREFILE RELEASED 1/16/09
02/12/09 (H) STA AT 8:00 AM CAPITOL 106
02/12/09 (H) Moved CSHB 63(STA) Out of Committee
02/12/09 (H) MINUTE(STA)
02/13/09 (H) DP: JOHNSON, GATTO, SEATON, GRUENBERG,
WILSON, PETERSEN, LYNN
02/13/09 (H) STA RPT CS(STA) 7DP
02/26/09 (H) FIN AT 1:30 PM HOUSE FINANCE 519
02/26/09 (H) Moved CSHB 63(FIN) Out of Committee
02/26/09 (H) MINUTE(FIN)
02/27/09 (H) DP: THOMAS, GARA, CRAWFORD, JOULE,
AUSTERMAN, KELLY, FAIRCLOUGH, SALMON,
02/27/09 (H) STOLTZE
02/27/09 (H) FIN RPT CS(FIN) 9DP
03/02/09 (H) VERSION: CSHB 63(FIN)
03/02/09 (H) TRANSMITTED TO (S)
03/09/09 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
03/09/09 (S) STA, FIN
03/17/09 (S) STA AT 9:00 AM BELTZ 211
03/17/09 (S) Heard & Held
03/17/09 (S) MINUTE(STA)
WITNESS REGISTER
SENATOR BETTYE DAVIS
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented SB 69 as sponsor.
LYNDA ZAUGG, Staff
to Senator Davis
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented SB 69.
ARLISS STURGULEWSKI, Former Alaska State Senator
Anchorage AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Spoke in support of SB 69.
CAREN ROBINSON, Lobbyist
Alaska Women's Lobby
Juneau AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Spoke in support of SB 69.
HATTIE GARDNER, President
Alaska Federation of Business and Professional Women
Anchorage AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Spoke in support of SB 69.
ANNABELLE STEVENS, Member
Alaska Federation of Business and Professional Women
Anchorage AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Spoke in support of SB 69.
RAMONA DUBY, Member
Alaska Federation of Business and Professional Women
Anchorage AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Spoke in support of SB 69.
JANE ANGVIK, Board Member
Alaska Girl Scouts and Alaska Women's Political Caucus
Anchorage AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Spoke in support of SB 69.
BRITTANY GOODNIGHT, Board Member
Alaska Women's Political Caucus
Anchorage AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Spoke in support of SB 69.
LATANYA SEMONES
Fairbanks AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Spoke in support of SB 69.
KATHERINE FOREST
Anchorage AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Spoke in support of SB 69.
CLOVER SIMON, Alaska Vice President
Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest
Anchorage AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Spoke in support of SB 69.
SENATOR FRED DYSON
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented SB 78.
PAT DAVIDSON, Auditor
Division of Legislative Audit
Juneau AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Answered questions about SB 78.
REPRESENTATIVE ANNA FAIRCLOUGH
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented HB 63.
FATE PUTMAN, Assistant Business Manager
Alaska State Employees Association
Juneau AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Spoke in support of HB 63.
CHRIS ASHENBRENNER, Executive Director
Council on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault
Juneau AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Spoke in support of HB 63.
ACTION NARRATIVE
9:01:11 AM
CHAIR LINDA MENARD called the Senate State Affairs Standing
Committee meeting to order at 9:01 a.m. Senators Paskvan,
French, and Menard were present at the call to order. Senator
Meyer arrived shortly thereafter.
SB 69-COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN
CHAIR MENARD announced the consideration of SB 69.
9:02:47 AM
SENATOR BETTYE DAVIS, Alaska State Legislature, sponsor, said
the Commission on the Status of Women functioned well for quite
awhile, but it went away once it was combined with another
commission that never really got funded. Many women asked her to
reestablish it.
CHAIR MENARD asked what commission it was combined with.
9:03:44 AM
LYNDA ZAUGG, Staff to Senator Davis, Alaska State Legislature,
said it was the Alaska Human Relations Commission. She read the
following sponsor statement:
It is time to once again acknowledge the
contributions of women across Alaska. It is time to
re-establish the Commission on the Status of Women.
In 1976 the legislature established the first
Commission on the Status of Women to address the
unique needs of Alaska's women and children. The
Commission was tasked with implementing the
recommendations contained in the preliminary study on
the status of women. The Commission was to improve the
status of women in Alaska through research and making
and implementing additional recommendations on the
opportunities, needs, problems, and contributions of
women. The improvements made by the commission were to
include, but not limited to, the areas of education,
homemaking, civil & legal rights, labor, and
employment. The Women's Commission was merged with
Alaska Human Relations Commission in 1993, which
continues to exist in state statute but has never been
funded and was declared inactive in 1996.
Since 1993, the problems identified by the
Commission on the Status of Women have continued to
exist with minimal change and with ongoing negative
impacts for Alaskan women and their families. Women
represent half of our state, half of our work force,
and consequently half of our ability. In order for us
to continue to explore and develop our state to its
full potential we must improve the opportunities for
all citizens, including women.
In Alaska, women in government still earn only 80
percent of the income of men, while in the private
sector women earn 62.4 percent of men. Women and
children continue to be the most common victims of
domestic abuse. Women in Alaska lead the nation as
victims of sexual assaults. We have a struggling
foster child system. Our high school students, both
male and female, drop out at alarming rates. We have
one of the lowest percentages of students entering and
completing higher education programs. We have a
significant economic divide between our urban and
rural communities which negatively impacts all of us.
These are just a few of the issues facing women and
children in our state that need to be addressed.
Reestablishing the Commission on the Status of
Women is an excellent way to focus attention on the
major issues that impact women and children.
The purpose of the commission would be to improve
the status of women by conducting research, as well as
serve as a referral service for information and
education to help women avail themselves of existing
resources to meet their needs. Additionally, the
commission would make and implement recommendations on
the opportunities, needs, problems, and contributions
of women in the areas of education, homemaking, civil
and legal rights, and labor and employment.
Alaska, with its unique culture, history, and
challenges combined with its large size and small
population, calls for innovative forward thinking to
deal with many of the difficult issues facing Alaskan
women and their families. The creation of a Commission
on the Status of Women will once again focus the
attention of Alaskans on these critical issues.
9:07:13 AM
ARLISS STURGULEWSKI, Former Alaska State Senator, Anchorage,
said she is affiliated with many groups. She was a senator in
the 1980s when the commission was very active, and she was sad
to see its demise. It is critical that it be reestablished. This
is an important time. Research is needed in domestic violence,
single head of household families, shelter, the increasing and
shameful dropout rates, the need for quality foster care, and
the need for referral services to assist women in gaining
information and education. The non-profit YWCA worked with the
University of Alaska Anchorage to provide scholarships for 10
women who were the single heads of household. It was a major
cooperative effort and showed what can be done when people work
together. The commission is needed to help women, children, and
families. It is a crime that the commission disintegrated.
9:10:24 AM
CHAIR MENARD thanked Ms. Sturgulewski for her endless hard work.
CAREN ROBINSON, Lobbyist, Alaska Women's Lobby, Juneau, said
the women's lobby is a statewide steering committee in
Fairbanks, Anchorage, and Juneau. Its mission is to defend and
advance the rights and the needs of women, children, and
families in Alaska. The lobby fully supports re-establishing the
women's commission. It is Alaska's 50-year anniversary, and re-
establishing the commission is a wise investment that can move
us forward in the next 50 years. Women have made significant
economic, political, and social advances, but women are far from
enjoying gender equity. Women earn less then men, are seriously
underrepresented in political offices, and make up a
disproportionate share of people in poverty. Even in areas that
have seen significant advances in women's status, rates of
progress are very slow. At the rate of progress of the past 10
years, women will not meet wage parity for more than 50 years.
It women represented in Congress changes at the rate it did in
the 1990s, it will take more than a century to achieve equity in
political representation. To make significant progress, policy
researchers and advocates need reliable data about women.
9:13:01 AM
MS. ROBINSON said the first Alaska Women's Commission initiated
a series of reports on the status of women in Alaska. It was one
of the most valuable things it did in advancing the rights of
women. The work of the commission addressed domestic violence,
welfare reform, and other issues. The reports are needed today
to inform citizens about the progress of women in Alaska related
to women in other states, to men, and to the whole nation. The
commission can analyze and disseminate information, provide
baseline measures, and most importantly, identify measures and
solutions to equality barriers. "We've come a long way." Women
in Alaska and the U.S. have seen important changes in their
lives and their access to political, economic, and social
rights. There is still more to do. Alaska women could benefit
from stronger enforcement of equal opportunity laws, better
political representation, adequate and affordable childcare,
stronger poverty reduction programs, and other policies. A
women's commission would provide the focus and direction to
achieve these goals. She noted her collection of historical
booklets from the commission. Joan Katz wrote the first status
report. Later work was done by the last commissioner and
director Ruth Lister. She understood women's problems. She wrote
a report about young women dropping out of school, and her
recommendations likely have not been followed.
9:15:45 AM
MS. ROBINSON said she also wrote about teen pregnancy and how to
educate young men. The Women's Legal Rights Handbook was used
the most, and it needs to be updated.
9:16:26 AM
HATTIE GARDNER, President, Alaska Federation of Business and
Professional Women, Anchorage, said the federation was founded
in 1919 and chartered in Alaska in 1945. There are three local
chapters in Alaska. The national federation concentrates on fair
pay and getting veteran women back into work. It works with AARP
on divided-we-fall health issues and the American Heart
Association on reporting heart health. The local federation
concentrates on scholarships for young women and sometimes men,
global warming, individual development for women, and training
for young women and women who head the household. Reinstituting
this commission is important to the federation. The statistics
will be used to plan programs to supply information to the
national group. The group wants a place to draw statistics from
for things like domestic violence and children in need.
9:19:02 AM
ANNABELLE STEVENS, Member, Federation of Business and
Professional Women, Anchorage, said she has been coming to
Juneau for over 35 years on different issues, but reestablishing
the women's commission is one of the most important. It is
"vital to the civil rights, the labor, the employment, equal pay
of women, and I hesitate to say homemaking because 100 years ago
women were homemakers." Now they are bread winners, and it is
important to show how much women do. "Behind every successful
man is a woman that has given him a hand up."
9:20:22 AM
RAMONA DUBY, Member, Federation of Business and Professional
Women, Anchorage, said she supports the re-establishment of the
women's commission and she echoes every comment made by Ms.
Sturgulewski. She got involved in public policy at the women's
commission in the 1980s. It assisted her with a legal issue
against a state nonprofit. She wants more meat in the commission
and have it report to the legislature or governor. It is one
thing to get this vitally needed information, but she would like
to see the information put to use.
9:22:13 AM
JANE ANGVIK, Member, Alaska Girl Scouts, Alaska Women's
Political Caucus, Anchorage, said she has been involved in
women's issues for many years. She supports SB 69 because it
will do research to assist women in economic situations. Alaska
women are underpaid relative to men. It is important to focus on
women's capacity to be able to support themselves and their
families, and the women's commission can do research and make
recommendations on that. The previous commission developed a
body of research that informed citizens and legislators.
9:23:54 AM
BRITTANY GOODNIGHT, Member, Alaska Women's Political Caucus
board, Anchorage, said she is a young professional, and she is
in Juneau for the Women's Summit. She was born and raised in
Chugiak. As a young woman, she is shocked that this commission
doesn't exist. It could guide the legislature and governor in
the advancement for women in all kinds of realms. It is
important to the state, her future, and her children's future.
LATANYA SEMONES, Fairbanks, said she is in Juneau for the
Women's Summit, and she echoes what everyone has said. She is a
young Native woman. Re-establishing the commission would offer a
huge opportunity for her aunts, sisters, brothers, grandmothers,
and all her family in rural Alaska.
KATHERINE FOREST, Anchorage, said she was born and raised in
Anchorage and is from a big Hispanic family. She agrees with all
the previous testimony.
9:26:17 AM
CLOVER SIMON, Alaska Vice President, Planned Parenthood of the
Great Northwest, Anchorage, said her organization serves women
and children and employs mostly women. Her staff are often
single mothers. "Having the information out there to legislators
about the importance of bringing women up, I think is paramount
to the future of our state." Improving the lives of women
improves the lives of everyone in the community, especially
children. She wants the bill to move forward.
9:27:27 AM
SENATOR MEYER said a witness said that the commission should be
implemented by the governor or legislator. Page 4 has the
commission preparing a report and will provide the governor with
copies of the report. He asked that the legislature be included.
SENATOR DAVIS said the last commission reported directly to the
governor. It can report to the legislature, but the closer to
the legislature and the governor the better. She will consider
any recommendation that makes the bill stronger.
SENATOR MEYER said it is fine for the report to go to the
governor, as long as the legislature is kept informed.
SENATOR DAVIS said that can be addressed in the bill if the
committee wants.
SENATOR MEYER said a simple amendment can do that.
9:29:21 AM
CHAIR MENARD noted the fiscal note of $505,000.
SENATOR DAVIS said that is what came back to her, and it
establishes the same positions from the old commission,
including executive director and staff. The human relations
commission was never funded. The commission went away in 1993.
CHAIR MENARD asked if other states have similar commissions.
SENATOR DAVIS said all other states have them in various forms.
SENATOR FRENCH said Senator Meyer made a good suggestion, so he
moved Amendment 1, as follows: Page 4, line 5, after "governor"
insert "and the legislature", and strike all of the words on
line 6. Hearing no objection, Amendment 1 was adopted.
SENATOR FRENCH moved to report SB 69, as amended, from committee
with individual recommendations and attached fiscal note(s).
There being no objection, CSSB 69 (STA) passed out of committee.
SB 78-LEGISLATIVE AUDIT DIVISION POWERS
9:34:10 AM
CHAIR MENARD announced the consideration of SB 78.
SENATOR FRENCH moved to adopt the committee substitute (CS) to
SB 78, labeled 26-LS0194\S, as a working document. Hearing no
objection, version S was before the committee.
9:35:16 AM
SENATOR FRED DYSON, Alaska State Legislature, said he is the
prime sponsor of SB 78. He said Senator French has done some
good work, but he would like to suggest minor changes in the CS.
He can put them all together next week or in the next committee.
CHAIR MENARD said she would like to move the bill.
SENATOR MEYER asked if the auditor supports the changes.
PAT DAVIDSON, Auditor, Division of Legislative Audit, Juneau,
said the last clause in the new section 11 limits the audit to
only the financial records of an organization. It will constrain
legislators to only ask for financial audits. They won't be able
to ask for performance-oriented audits. For example, the state
runs a training program through the Department of Labor and
gives money to various organizations. If the legislature wanted
to know how successful those programs were, the auditors would
not be able to measure that by looking at financial records. "To
get the broadest type of information to the legislature, you may
want to consider taking that portion out." That would give
auditors access to records that were generated through the use
of state money or federal money flowing through the state and
perform a wider breadth of audits.
9:37:59 AM
SENATOR MEYER said he agrees. He asked about "may" instead of
"shall" on number 11.
MS. DAVIDSON said she is not sure. "It's the second time the
word 'may' has shown up." She hasn't spoken to the drafter on
why it is there. Is it giving the authority to her to say no to
a committee audit request?
SENATOR FRENCH suggested dropping the second clause in
subsection 11. He moved Amendment 1 as follows: Page 2, line 27,
after the word "committee", add a period and strike the rest.
Hearing no objection, Amendment 1 passed.
9:39:36 AM
SENATOR MEYER moved to report the CS to SB 78 labeled, 26-
LS0194\S, as amended, from committee with individual
recommendations and attached fiscal note(s). There being no
objection, CSSB 78(STA) moved out of committee.
9:40:39 AM
The committee took a brief at-ease.
HB 63-COUNCIL DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: MEMBERS, STAFF
9:42:55 AM
CHAIR MENARD announced the consideration of CSHB 63(FIN).
REPRESENTATIVE ANNA FAIRCLOUGH, Alaska State Legislature,
sponsor of HB 63, said several issues were raised at the last
committee meeting regarding taking personnel from an exempt
status to a nonexempt status with union representation.
Representative Fairclough didn't know if the change in health
insurance would require duplicate deductibles and she didn't
know if they would lose money, but she was told that there would
be a pay reduction by moving to the nonexempt status. There were
a variety of other issues. She has been assured by the
administration that all of the issues have been taken care of
through an amendment.
9:44:27 AM
REPRESENTATIVE FAIRCLOUGH said if this amendment is adopted, the
pay of the six staff would stay the same as they cross over into
the classified position. It would happen immediately on the
effective date, which will be simultaneous with when health care
coverage changes, so there is no issue of past deductibles or a
pre-exemption problem.
SENATOR MEYER moved Amendment 1, labeled: 26-LS0138\T.1, as
follows:
Page 2, lines 29 - 30:
Delete "is [AND STAFF ARE] in the exempt service
under AS 39.25.110 and staff members are in the
classified service under AS 39.25.100"
Insert "and staff are in the exempt service under
AS 39.25.110"
Page 4, lines 11 - 13:
Delete all material.
Renumber the following bill section accordingly.
Hearing no objection, Amendment 1 was adopted.
9:45:39 AM
FATE PUTMAN, Assistant Business Manager, Alaska State Employees
Association (ASEA), Juneau, said his union will represent these
employees once they return to classified service. The union is
not the health insurer; the health trust is a stand-alone
entity. He was told that as employees move from select benefits
to the health trust, they will receive a COBRA notice and a
certificate of credible coverage. The certificate will eliminate
the waiting period for a pre-existing condition. They will
immediately get health coverage without any loss of deductibles
or co-pay, since they will transfer on July 1, which is the end
of the plan year. ASEA has no objection to moving employees from
exempt status to classified status. It has no objection to not
using the recruitment process in this one case.
SENATOR FRENCH said the certificate is very important. It covers
pre-existing conditions. It is a great solution.
CHAIR MENARD said the sponsor has worked hard on this.
9:48:08 AM
CHRIS ASHENBRENNER, Executive Director, Council on Domestic
Violence and Sexual Assault, Juneau, said the council strongly
supports this bill. It will strengthen the council. "The
addition of corrections, the addition of a rural public member,
the extension of terms they serve will make it stronger and
enhance their ability to fight these crimes." She is grateful to
the sponsor. This is a group of dedicated hardworking staff, and
this gives them some protection.
9:49:13 AM
The committee took a brief at-ease.
SENATOR FRENCH moved to report CSHB 63(FIN), as amended, from
committee with individual recommendations and attached fiscal
note(s). There being no objection, SCS CSHB 63(STA) moved out of
committee.
9:50:29 AM
CHAIR MENARD adjourned the Senate State Affairs meeting at 9:50
a.m.
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