Legislature(1993 - 1994)
03/04/1993 03:00 PM House HES
| Audio | Topic |
|---|
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
HOUSE HEALTH, EDUCATION AND SOCIAL SERVICES
STANDING COMMITTEE
March 4, 1993
3:00 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Rep. Cynthia Toohey, Co-Chair
Rep. Con Bunde, Co-Chair
Rep. Gary Davis, Vice Chair
Rep. Al Vezey
Rep. Pete Kott
Rep. Irene Nicholia
Rep. Tom Brice
MEMBERS ABSENT
Rep. Harley Olberg
Rep. Bettye Davis
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
*HB 28: "An Act relating to the penalty for providing
alcoholic beverages to a person under the age of
21; and providing for an effective date."
PASSED WITH INDIVIDUAL RECOMMENDATIONS
*HB 3: "An Act relating to public home care providers;
and providing for an effective date."
NOT HEARD - HELD TO TIME CERTAIN
*HB 4: "An Act adding as an aggravating factor at
sentencing that a victim was elderly or disabled;
and relating to failure to report harm or assaults
of the elderly or disabled."
NOT HEARD - HELD TO TIME CERTAIN
*HCR 7: Relating to Alcohol-related Birth Defects
Awareness Week.
NOT HEARD - HELD TO TIME CERTAIN
(* First public hearing.)
WITNESS REGISTER
REP. BILL WILLIAMS
Alaska State Legislature
State Capitol Building
Juneau, Alaska 99801-1182
Phone: (907) 465-3424
Position Statement: Sponsor of HB 28
CHERI DAVIS
P.O. Box 5723
Ketchikan, Alaska 99901
Phone: (907) 225-6304
Position Statement: Supported HB 28
PETER JENSEN, President
Alaskans for Drug-Free Youth-Ketchikan
P.O. Box 7032
Ketchikan, Alaska 99901
Phone: (907) 225-2277
Position Statement: Supported HB 28
JEANNEANE HENRY
2428 Dunton St.
Ketchikan, Alaska 99901
Phone: (907) 225-2428
Position Statement: Supported HB 28
LYNDA ADAMS
P.O. Box 7171
Ketchikan, Alaska 99901
Phone: (907) 225-6227
Position Statement: Supported HB 28
GIGI PILCHER, Director
Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Program
P.O. Box 6552
Ketchikan, Alaska 99901
Phone: (907) 225-0202
Position Statement: Supported HB 28
JOHN SALEMI, Director
Public Defender Agency
900 W. Fifth Ave.
Anchorage, Alaska 99501
Phone: (907) 279-7541
Position Statement: Questioned benefit of HB 28;
discussed enforcement costs
RANDALL MADIGAN
P.O. Box 2051
Nome, Alaska 99762
Phone: (907) 443-5103
Position Statement: Supported HB 28
THEO SMELCER
Substance Abuse Program coordinator
Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association
401 E. Fireweed
Anchorage, Alaska 99503
Phone: (907) 276-2700 work
Phone: (907) 349-1212 home
Position Statement: Supported HB 28
FRANCIS YOUNG
537 Tower Rd.
Ketchikan, Alaska 99901
Phone: (907) 225-3528
Position Statement: Supported HB 28
PREVIOUS ACTION
BILL: HB 28
SHORT TITLE: PENALTY FOR PROVIDING ALCOHOL TO A MINOR
SPONSOR(S): REPRESENTATIVE(S) WILLIAMS,Phillips,B.Davis,
Nicholia,Olberg,Bunde,Kott
TITLE: "An Act relating to the penalty for providing
alcoholic beverages to a person under the age of 21; and
providing for an effective date."
JRN-DATE JRN-PG ACTION
01/04/93 31 (H) PREFILE RELEASED
01/11/93 31 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME/REFERRAL(S)
01/11/93 31 (H) HES, JUDICIARY, FINANCE
01/13/93 54 (H) COSPONSOR(S): OLBERG
01/14/93 62 (H) COSPONSOR(S): BUNDE
02/10/93 312 (H) COSPONSOR(S): KOTT
03/04/93 (H) HES AT 03:00 PM CAPITOL 106
BILL: HB 3
SHORT TITLE: REGULATION OF HOME CARE PROVIDERS
SPONSOR(S): REPRESENTATIVE(S) MACKIE,Ulmer
TITLE: "An Act relating to public home care providers; and
providing for an effective date."
JRN-DATE JRN-PG ACTION
01/04/93 25 (H) PREFILE RELEASED
01/11/93 25 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME/REFERRAL(S)
01/11/93 25 (H) HES, JUDICIARY, FINANCE
03/04/93 (H) HES AT 03:00 PM CAPITOL 106
BILL: HB 4
SHORT TITLE: PROTECT ELDERLY AND DISABLED ADULTS
SPONSOR(S): REPRESENTATIVE(S) MACKIE
TITLE: "An Act adding as an aggravating factor at sentencing
that a victim was elderly or disabled; and relating to
failure to report harm or assaults of the elderly or
disabled."
JRN-DATE JRN-PG ACTION
01/04/93 25 (H) PREFILE RELEASED
01/11/93 25 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME/REFERRAL(S)
01/11/93 25 (H) HES, JUDICIARY, FINANCE
03/04/93 (H) HES AT 03:00 PM CAPITOL 106
BILL: HCR 7
SHORT TITLE: ALCOHOL-RELATED BIRTH DEFECTS AWARENESS
BILL VERSION:
SPONSOR(S): REPRESENTATIVE(S) NICHOLIA,Brice,Nordlund,
Finkelstein,Parnell,James,Navarre,Menard,Ulmer,
Brown,B.Davis,Sitton,Toohey
TITLE: Relating to Alcohol-Related Birth Defects Awareness
Week.
JRN-DATE JRN-PG ACTION
02/19/93 389 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME/REFERRAL(S)
02/19/93 390 (H) HEALTH, EDUCATION & SOCIAL
SERVICES
02/22/93 421 (H) COSPONSOR(S): B.DAVIS, SITTON
03/04/93 (H) HES AT 03:00 PM CAPITOL 106
ACTION NARRATIVE
TAPE 93-29, SIDE A
Number 000
CHAIR TOOHEY called the meeting to order at 3:12 p.m. and
noted members present. She announced the committee would
hear HB 28, but that HB 3, HB 4, and HCR 7, would be heard
Monday, March 8, at the sponsors' request.
HB 28: PROVIDING ALCOHOL TO A MINOR
Number 032
REP. BILL WILLIAMS testified in Juneau as PRIME SPONSOR in
support of HB 28. He read a sponsor statement, which is on
file in the committee room. In summary, the statement said
that the bill was similar to legislation introduced in the
previous session by Rep. Cheri Davis, which would attempt to
deter people from providing alcohol to minors by changing
the offense from a misdemeanor to a Class "C" felony
punishable by up to five years' imprisonment and $50,000 in
fines as a deterrent.
Number 063
REP. VEZEY said the Department of Corrections already faces
problems with prison crowding, and wondered whether
imprisonment was an appropriate sanction for providing
liquor to minors.
REP. WILLIAMS said he wanted to make the law stringent
enough to serve as a deterrent to providing alcohol to
children, who lack adult judgement in the use of alcohol.
Number 096
REP. VEZEY said those convicted of misdemeanors in Alaska
face insignificant fines, while federal misdemeanors carry
fines of up to $250,000 and therefore carry significant
economic motivation for compliance. He questioned whether
the bill, which fiscal notes indicated would cost $670,000 a
year, was worthwhile enough to justify cutting other state
programs by $670,000.
Number 118
REP. WILLIAMS said that legislators had to consider the cost
of seeing a minor die from consuming alcohol, and asked how
it was possible to put a price tag on such an occurrence.
(Rep. Kott arrived at 3:22 p.m.)
Number 140
REP. BUNDE said he favors the principle of the bill, as he
believes that alcohol is chronically abused and that there
is a problem with minors drinking. He questioned the
accuracy of the fiscal notes and asked if a representative
from the Department of Corrections could comment on them.
He also asked whether the bill would apply to parents who
provided alcohol to their minor children.
REP. WILLIAMS answered that the bill as written did apply to
parents.
Number 162
REP. G. DAVIS expressed agreement with the bill's content,
but concern with its fiscal notes. He said that any bill
carrying a cost would be weighed by the Finance Committee,
and he would be giving closer examination to bills submitted
later in the session.
REP. WILLIAMS offered to return to the committee later with
a representative from the Department of Corrections.
Number 195
REP. BUNDE said he did not mean to imply that Rep. Williams
had to have a representative from the Department of
Corrections appear before the House Health, Education and
Social Services Committee but he did encourage Rep. Williams
to have such people defend the fiscal note for HB 28 in the
next committee of referral (Judiciary).
CHERI DAVIS, A FORMER STATE REPRESENTATIVE FROM KETCHIKAN,
testified via teleconference from Ketchikan in support of
HB 28. She said she had introduced the bill in the previous
session (1992) but it had died as time ran out in the last
days of the session when the bill encountered some
opposition. She thanked Rep. Williams for reintroducing the
bill. She said the fiscal notes were based on a worst-case
scenario, not accounting for any possible deterrent effect
of increasing the penalty. She said the bill was aimed at
the serious problems experienced in Ketchikan with adults
providing alcohol to minors without due regard for the
possible consequences. She said the overall system of
dealing with alcohol-related crimes needs overhauling, and
said the Alaska Sentencing Commission was studying mandatory
sentences.
Number 242
REP. G. DAVIS asked Ms. Davis what the fiscal note was for
her original bill.
MS. DAVIS answered that she could not recall, but $600,000
was far higher than the fiscal note of under $70,000 per
year that she recalled. She said HB 28 requires conviction
of a person for acting with criminal negligence, a serious
charge requiring much effort to prove in court and unlikely
to arise on a casual basis.
CHAIR TOOHEY noted that an examination of the fiscal note
for Ms. Davis' bill showed a fiscal note of $54,000.
Number 265
REP. BRICE asked what concerns were raised at the end of the
previous year's legislative session that impeded the bill's
progress.
Number 270
MS. DAVIS said a few legislators felt that providing alcohol
to minors was acceptable and that they themselves had
provided alcohol to minors when they were barely past the
age of majority. She said most people understand that
alcohol affects minors differently than it does adults, and
that minors lack the ability to treat alcohol responsibly.
Ms. Davis also said that politics played a part in the death
of her bill, as she had angered the chair of a committee,
who had then held the bill from passage.
Number 295
PETER JENSEN, PRESIDENT OF ALASKANS FOR DRUG-FREE YOUTH-
KETCHIKAN, testified via teleconference from Ketchikan in
support of HB 28.
Number 300
JEANNEANE HENRY testified via teleconference from Ketchikan
in support of HB 28. She told the story of how her 17 year
old son, Joshua, and a friend of his were struck by a car
and killed while riding a motorbike 14 months ago after an
adult had furnished the boys and three other minors with a
gallon bottle of vodka. She said none of the teens had fake
identification cards or had tried to buy alcohol, and they
would have lived if not for the adult's actions. She said
there were economic and civil rights concerns with the bill.
Number 326
MS. HENRY said there were eight teen deaths in Ketchikan in
1992, four of them alcohol-related. She announced her plans
to send to all state legislators information showing why
adolescents are unable to deal with alcohol or other drugs.
She read a 1988 statement from the state office of Alcohol
and Drug Abuse regarding the fiscal impact of alcohol abuse
in the state, saying that for each dollar of alcohol tax
revenue, the government pays out $13.42. She said that the
state collects $15 million in alcohol taxes in a year, but
alcohol costs the state and its people about $300 million
per year. She said the state subsidizes the alcohol
industry.
(Rep. Brice departed at 3:30 p.m.)
(Rep. Bunde departed at 3:35 p.m.)
Number 372
LYNDA ADAMS testified via teleconference from Ketchikan in
support of HB 28 as an effective enforcement effort to
reduce minor consumption of alcohol. She mentioned the
Healthy People 2000, a federal health promotion and disease
prevention objective, which includes aims to have states
reduce minors' access to alcohol. She said laws barring
access are not sufficient, and other methods are needed.
She recalled provisions under consideration for addition to
the bill last year and asked that they be included in HB 28,
including a requirement that signs be posted at liquor
stores warning of the legal penalties for providing alcohol
to minors and making it a misdemeanor for minors to solicit
adults to provide them with alcohol.
(Rep. G. Davis departed at 3:44 p.m.)
GIGI PILCHER, DIRECTOR OF THE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND SEXUAL
ASSAULT PROGRAM IN KETCHIKAN, testified via teleconference
from Ketchikan in support of HB 28. She said most sexual
assault and sexual abuse of teenagers in Ketchikan have
involved alcohol, with adults luring the minors with drugs
or alcohol before assaulting them. She said the community
is organizing against that abuse. She said she recently
ended service on the Alaska Sentencing Commission and she
understands the need to consider alternatives to
incarceration. She asked the committee to consider the
value of children and the message sent by minimizing adult
abuse of children.
REP. BUNDE noted that HB 28 would punish those who provide
alcohol to minors, but lacked provisions that might prevent
such action in the first place. He asked Rep. Williams if
he would support changing the bill to require signs at
liquor stores or other education efforts.
REP. WILLIAMS said he believed that would help and that
anything to stop the practice would help.
REP. BUNDE asked Rep. Williams if the signage requirement
should be included in statute.
REP. WILLIAMS answered that Ms. Davis might be better able
to answer the question.
Number 466
MS. DAVIS, testifying via teleconference from Ketchikan,
said it would be a worthwhile goal and that was why it had
been included in amendments to her bill in 1992. She
recommended that Rep. Williams, rather than delay the bill
by amending it in the HESS Committee, should submit such
amendments in the next committee of referral, the House
Judiciary Committee.
Number 475
REP. BUNDE asked Rep. Williams if that was his intention.
REP. WILLIAMS said yes.
(Rep. Vezey and Rep. Kott returned at 3:45 p.m.)
Number 482
JOHN SALEMI, DIRECTOR OF THE ALASKA PUBLIC DEFENDERS AGENCY,
and a former member of the ALASKA SENTENCING COMMISSION,
testified via teleconference from Anchorage concerning
HB 28. While he did not oppose the bill, he said problems
with alcohol are not due to lax laws; Alaska has some of the
strictest alcohol laws in the nation. His 13 years as an
Alaska public defender convinced him prohibition of alcohol
would cut state police, prison and legal costs by half and
ensure a safer state. He said current law grants judges the
ability to sentence misdemeanants to up to a year in prison,
which is sufficient. He added that those who commit
felonies seldom think through the consequences, and for some
people, imprisonment is not a deterrent. Given finite state
resources, he suggested that alternatives to tougher laws
might be appropriate, such as posting signs outlining
current penalties for providing alcohol to minors.
Number 542
MR. SALEMI said he would rather put the proposed $600,000
cost of enforcement of the bill into alcohol education. He
said some social problems cannot be fixed by passing laws.
He said it was hard to estimate on a fiscal note the costs
of enforcing a law, but he has 54 attorneys serving 17,000
cases in FY92 and cannot take on more cases.
Number 577
REP. BUNDE said that while education about alcohol was
important, children sometimes contribute to their own
victimization. He commented on sentencing, saying that
judges frequently give out only a fraction of the maximum
sentences available to them. He said he believed that
imprisonment was the best way to treat some incorrigible
offenders and he was willing to pay the costs.
TAPE 93-29, SIDE B
Number 000
RANDALL MADIGAN, A SUBSTANCE ABUSE COUNSELOR FROM NOME,
representing himself, testified in support of HB 28. He
said the stiffer sentences possible through the bill would
deter adults and youth alike. He said he was tired of
seeing the same people repeatedly arrested for providing
alcohol to minors in the Nome area, but receiving little
punishment. While he spoke in favor of prevention, he said
youths and adults alike would fear two years in jail more
than a $50 fine.
Number 033
REP. BUNDE noted that it was currently legal for parents to
provide alcohol to their children. He asked whether the
tougher sanctions allowed under HB 28 would have any impact
on bootleggers in the Bush.
MR. MADIGAN said he was not sure, but it might be possible.
Number 062
REP. KOTT asked whether tougher, longer sentences would make
any difference in the cases of those arrested repeatedly for
providing alcohol to minors in the Nome area.
MR. MADIGAN said HB 28 might deter some people from starting
to provide alcohol to minors.
Number 090
REP. KOTT commented that repeated violations might indicate
a judicial problem in the Nome area.
MR. MADIGAN repeated that HB 28 might serve as a deterrent.
Number 102
THEO SMELCER, SUBSTANCE ABUSE PROGRAM COORDINATOR FOR THE
ALEUTIAN PRIBILOF ISLANDS ASSOCIATION, testified in support
of HB 28. She said many people in St. Paul go to jail for
providing alcohol to minors, but the offense usually results
in probation problems and does not serve as much of a
deterrent. She said association officials would like the
assistance of the courts in fighting the alcohol problems.
Number 141
FRANCIS YOUNG, REPRESENTING HERSELF, testified via
teleconference from Ketchikan in support of HB 28, saying
that laws against providing alcohol to minors are part of
the educational and prevention effort. She supported an
amendment that would require charging minors with
misdemeanors for soliciting alcohol from adults as a way to
hold minors responsible for their actions. She said longer
sentences would serve as a deterrent.
Number 161
CHAIR TOOHEY invited those testifying in Ketchikan to send
written testimony to the committee for inclusion into the
record. She closed public hearing of HB 28 and invited
discussion by the committee.
REP. KOTT said that the committee would have to look at
other state laws concerning alcohol, as the bill would
establish stringent penalties for contributing to the
delinquency of minors through alcohol, penalties which might
be out of balance with those for driving while under the
influence of alcohol.
REP. BUNDE moved passage of HB 28 from the committee with
individual recommendations and asked unanimous consent.
CHAIR TOOHEY asked for objections, and, hearing none,
declared HB 28 PASSED FROM THE COMMITTEE WITH INDIVIDUAL
RECOMMENDATIONS. She then ADJOURNED the meeting at 4:07
p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|