Legislature(2015 - 2016)SENATE FINANCE 532
04/12/2016 09:00 AM Senate FINANCE
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB100 | |
| HB77 | |
| HB155 | |
| HB143 | |
| HB41 | |
| HB137 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | HB 100 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | HB 77 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| HB 155 | |||
| + | HB 143 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 41 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 137 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 155(FIN)
"An Act repealing an exploration incentive credit;
amending the calculation of adjusted gross income for
purposes of the tax on gambling activities aboard
large passenger vessels; repealing the amount that may
be deducted from the motor fuel tax to cover the
expense of accounting and filing for the monthly tax
return; repealing a provision allowing an
investigation expense under the Alaska Small Loans Act
to be in place of a fee required under the Alaska
Business License Act; repealing the amount that may be
deducted from the tobacco excise tax to cover the
expense of accounting and filing for the monthly tax
return; repealing the discount on cigarette tax stamps
provided as compensation for affixing the stamps to
packages; and providing for an effective date."
9:53:54 AM
AT EASE
9:55:27 AM
RECONVENED
REPRESENTATIVE STEVE THOMPSON, SPONSOR; discussed the bill:
With increasing technology, DNA exonerations have been
on the rise. There have been 325 post-conviction DNA
exonerations with the vast majority coming since 2000.
Each of these individuals spent time behind bars, an
average of 13.6 years, and was released into a changed
world. House Bill 55 gives these wrongfully imprisoned
victims a chance to start a new life and integrate
back into society.
Specifically, HB 55 creates an administrative process
whereby victims of overturned criminal convictions can
request compensation from the state for time served.
They can be compensated up to $50,000 per year with a
cap at two million dollars. In order to qualify for
the compensation, the claimant must have served time
in prison and then have been exonerated via retrial,
dismissed charges, or executive pardon because of
innocence.
While there is no price on the emotional and personal
suffering of those who were wrongfully imprisoned, HB
55 would bring Alaska up to the federal compensation
standard to help right the state's wrong. Financial
compensation would help victims of wrongful
imprisonment repair their lives by covering costs of
education, healthcare, housing and transportation.
This legislation will right the state's wrongs. Every
innocent person, regardless of how they became
incarcerated, deserves just compensation for the time
they wrongly served. HB 55 is a stepping stone in a
long process towards protecting all Alaskans.
9:57:18 AM
BRODIE ANDERSON, STAFF, REPRESENTATIVE STEVE THOMPSON,
discussed the sectional analysis:
Section 1of the bill adds wrongful conviction and
imprisonment to AS 44.77.010(a) which provides for the
presentation of money claims against the state to the
Department of Administration.
Section 2 sets out the circumstances under which a
person will be eligible for compensation for wrongful
conviction and imprisonment:
AS 44.77.018(a) requires that for a person to obtain
compensation, the person must first present the claim
to the attorney general and show that the person was
convicted of one or more offenses, was sentenced to a
term of imprisonment, served part or all of the
sentence, and:
(1) That the conviction was vacated or reversed
because the person was not guilty; or a pardon
was granted on account of innocence and wrongful
conviction
(2) The person did not commit any of the crimes
charged in the criminal action in which the
person was convicted, and did not cause the
conviction by committing perjury or induce
another to commit perjury. A false confession or
guilty plea to a crime the person did not commit
is not considered a cause of conviction in this
section.
AS 44.77.018(b) provides that a person is not entitled
to compensation for a period of imprisonment that is
served concurrently with a sentence for another
offense.
AS 44.77.018(c) sets the requirement of the section at
$50,000 times the number of years of wrongful
imprisonment, including fractions representing partial
year, up to a maximum of $2 million.
AS 44.77.018(d) prohibits a person who receives
compensation under the section from bringing an action
on the same subject matter involving the person's
arrest, conviction, or length of confinement.
AS 44.77.018(e) requires that a claim must be filed
within two years after the dismissal, not guilty
verdict, or pardon on which the claim is based, except
that the attorney general can authorize payment for a
late-filed claim if the person shows good cause for
the delay.
Section 3 a person making a claim from wrongful
conviction and imprisonment may appeal the denial of
the claim under the Administrative Procedures Act, but
may not, unlike other claimants under AS 44.77.010,
bring an action under AS 09.50.250 - 09.50.300 (claims
against the state) if the Department of Administration
fails to act under AS 44.77.
Section 4 provides that for claims for wrongful
conviction and imprisonment, the claims process in AS
44.77.010 - 44.77.060 applies even if the agency to
which the person applies (which in this case would be
the Department of Law) has a mandatory claims
procedure.
Co-Chair MacKinnon CLOSED public testimony.
HB 155 was HEARD and HELD in committee for further
consideration.
10:01:37 AM
AT EASE
10:02:00 AM
RECONVENED