Legislature(2017 - 2018)SENATE FINANCE 532
05/10/2018 09:30 AM Senate FINANCE
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB331 | |
| HB260 | |
| HB214 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| += | HB 331 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 214 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 260 | TELECONFERENCED | |
HOUSE BILL NO. 214
"An Act renaming a portion of the Alaska Safe
Children's Act as Bree's Law; relating to Bree's Law
programs and Bree's Law activities; relating to dating
violence and abuse policy, training, awareness,
prevention, and notices; and providing for an
effective date."
10:00:34 AM
Co-Chair MacKinnon informed that HB 214 was heard in
committee on April 20, 2018. The public hearing had been
opened and closed.
10:01:18 AM
AT EASE
10:01:30 AM
RECONVENED
Vice-Chair Bishop MOVED to ADOPT proposed committee
substitute for HB 214, Work Draft 30-LS0781\N
(Radford/Laffen, 5/9/18).
Co-Chair MacKinnon OBJECTED for discussion.
JULI LUCKY, STAFF, SENATOR ANNA MACKINNON, discussed the
changes to the bill. She informed that the bill was shorter
when it was referred to committee and had retroactively
named a law "Bree's Law." There had been a great deal of
feedback from various stakeholders, including members of
the public and school district employees, as to how to
implement the program.
Ms. Lucky continued explaining the changes to the bill. She
shared that there had been some concern over the lack of a
nationally adopted curriculum. There was also concern
regarding an unfunded mandate for school districts to
develop the curriculum. There were a few other concerns
regarding ongoing training costs, time for teachers to be
out of classrooms, lack of training, and confusion about
disclosures. Additionally, consistency across districts and
ensuring best practices were considered.
10:04:10 AM
Ms. Lucky conveyed that the co-chair's office had worked
with the department to craft a bill that allowed for
flexibility within school districts, but also for provision
of basic assurance that all programs were meeting best
practices.
Ms. Lucky discussed an Explanation of Changes document
(copy on file):
Repeals and reenacts AS 14.30.356(a) to require the
department to work with school districts to develop
and approve a "teen dating violence and abuse
awareness program" with the same requirements as are
in current law. This would remove the "unfunded
mandate" to school districts to develop the program
and provide consistency across the state, while still
allowing for local control and cultural differences to
be respected. Page 1, lines 6-10.
Adds an additional requirement that the program be
periodically reviewed by a qualified individual or
committee, which mirrors language in the suicide
awareness and prevention training statute - AS
14.30.362. This ensures that best practices are
followed. Page 1, lines 11-13.
Designates February as "Teen Dating Violence Awareness
and Prevention Month" to align with national efforts
to bring attention to this important issue. Page 2,
lines 13-21.
Names the program the "Bree Moore Teen Dating Violence
Awareness and Prevention Program" to align the title
with federal and other states' efforts to enact and
promote similar programs. Page 2, lines 22-27.
Ms. Lucky elaborated on the many resources connected to the
title of the program as proposed in the committee
substitute (CS).
10:07:26 AM
Ms. Lucky discussed changes to Section 4 of the bill. The
intent of the section was to honor Ms. Moore's legacy as
well as tie in the program with the same effort on a
national scale.
Ms. Lucky stated that there was a new fiscal note from the
Department of Education and Early Development (DEED) for
consideration.
Ms. Lucky described that there had been initial concern
over the fiscal note, after which there was discussion with
the department. She discussed options for savings including
reducing updates for training and other features. She
relayed that instead of reducing the fiscal note, in the
interest of having a full program she would be presenting
the full fiscal note requested by the department.
Ms. Lucky detailed that the fiscal note would require
$263,300 in FY 19; $119,300 in FY 20; and an ongoing cost
of $75,000 per year. She stated that the fiscal note was an
estimate and the numbers needed more refining by the
department. She pointed out that adopting the CS required
taking on the cost of the unfunded mandate that was passed
with Bree's Law.
10:10:33 AM
REPRESENTATIVE HARRIET DRUMMOND, SPONSOR, supported the
changes to the bill. She thought the committee substitute
contained a needed change to the program and focused
resources on teenagers that would benefit from the
knowledge.
Co-Chair MacKinnon asked if the sponsor was in favor of the
CS.
Representative Drummond was amenable to the curriculum that
was being worked on by DEED. She thought the parents of
Bree Moore would appreciate seeing mention of "Bree's Law"
through a simple amendment. She thought the change would
acknowledge the large amount of work put in labelling the
program.
Senator von Imhof thanked Ms. Lucky for her work on the CS
and her presentation. She thought the CS was an improvement
upon the original bill. She understood that the common name
of Bree's Law was preferable by Bree's parents and possibly
others but thought a more standardized name was connected
to a greater amount of national resources. She thought that
it was important to guide teenagers to appropriate
resources as readily as possible.
10:13:56 AM
Senator Stevens considered the Explanation of Changes
document and questioned the use of the term "cultural
differences." He understood allowing for local control.
Co-Chair MacKinnon suggested that the department could
enlighten as to how cultural differences might appear
within development of educational curriculum.
Representative Drummond referenced cultural differences in
Alaska Native villages, and stated she was not an expert on
the topic.
Senator Stevens thought that dating violence was a cross-
cultural concept.
Co-Chair MacKinnon WITHDREW her OBJECTION. There being NO
further OBJECTION, it was so ordered.
10:15:35 AM
AT EASE
10:15:44 AM
RECONVENED
Co-Chair MacKinnon asked for a discussion of the fiscal
note and curriculum development as proposed in the bill.
MARCY HERMAN, LEGISLATIVE LIAISON, DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
AND EARLY DEVELOPMENT, introduced herself.
TODD BROCIOUS, HEALTH AND SAFETY ADMINISTRATOR, DEPARTMENT
OF EDUCATION AND EARLY DEVELOPMENT, addressed the question
of cultural relevance in curriculum development. He
recognized that there was tremendous variety in the state
regarding language, rural versus urban areas, and content
delivered in different communities. He emphasized the
importance of ensuring that the curriculum was relevant to
all audiences as well as working with partners during
development.
Mr. Brocious continued discussing the curriculum
development. He informed that the proposed curriculum would
be delivered to seventh-grade students as well as twelfth-
grade students, who had tremendous developmental
differences. He suggested that the department would seek to
put together a curriculum development team to put together
three age-appropriate curriculum strands.
10:18:39 AM
Senator Stevens asked if Mr. Brocious was not implying that
there was a cultural difference in the perception of teen
violence, but rather was considering making students and
parents comfortable with the curriculum materials.
Mr. Brocious stressed that violence was impermissible
everywhere, and the department sought to tailor the message
to account for cultural differences in the state.
Co-Chair MacKinnon stated that the CS attempted to provide
a vehicle for collaboration with districts, so the same
message could be heard by all in a way that was culturally
appropriate. She discussed cultural differences and her
experience living in Unalaska. She thought that the CS
provided an opportunity to correct some aspects of the bill
that had not been contemplated earlier.
10:21:23 AM
Co-Chair MacKinnon continued her remarks. She emphasized
that process was important. She mentioned harassment, name-
calling, intimidation, and other tactics. She stated that
for the reasons listed, the bill was returned to the
committee. She committee had taken three weeks to work on
the bill. She stressed that no one in the committee had
tried to block conversation about the bill.
Co-Chair MacKinnon asserted that as chair of the committee
it was necessary to set aside personal feelings and do what
was best for society. She discussed the diversity of the
state. She lamented the inappropriate behaviors around the
issue.
Co-Chair MacKinnon stated that the actions of some members
that had advocated for the bill could questionably be
bullying and harassment versus advocacy. She relayed that
she had spoken with many individuals and agencies. She
wondered if the bill should be brought up at a different
time when it could be considered with robust debate.
10:26:13 AM
Senator Olson echoed the concern voiced by Co-Chair
MacKinnon regarding public postings and expressions of
opinion that he considered contrary. He thought Co-Chair
MacKinnon had articulated the shared concerns well. He did
not want personal attacks to cloud the minds of policy-
makers.
Senator Micciche thought the CS had struck a balance that
would deliver the most effective teen dating violence
programs to the people of Alaska. He shared that he had
four daughters and pondered the loss of a child due to
dating violence. He thought that Co-Chair MacKinnon had
balanced an emotional issue in trying to produce a product
that would guide young people in avoiding a violent
situation.
Senator Micciche continued his remarks. He discussed the
variety of emotional issues faced by legislators. He
discussed the importance of the respectful exchange of
ideas. He reiterated that the CS was balanced. He
appreciated the naming of the Bree Moore Teen Dating
Violence Awareness and Prevention Program. He thought the
state should provide a standard curriculum. He supported
moving the bill forward.
10:30:07 AM
Senator Stevens expressed a desire to hear from DEED as to
how Section 1 of the bill would be implemented. He asked
about reviewing the program on a statewide versus district
level.
Mr. Brocious stated that program review would be an
amalgam. During the initial work of the Alaska Safe
Children's Act Task Force, a committee review had convened
and a number of evidenced-based national dating violence
curricula were identified and pushed forward for district
consideration. One of the recommendations to come out of
the task force was an identified scarcity of curricula
available for grades 10 through 12; and that more curricula
needed to be developed or identified. The department's
vision was that a curriculum review committee would convene
and further the consideration of nationally available best-
practice curricula. In addition, a collection of state and
federal experts would convene to help develop an Alaska-
specific program for grade 7 through 12.
Senator Micciche stated that he had sticker shock from the
fiscal note. He considered the social and personal cost of
domestic violence, and thought the fiscal note was small in
comparison. He thought an effective program was more
important than saving pennies.
Vice-Chair Bishop supported Co-Chair MacKinnon. He had
engaged in curriculum development in a previous job. He was
not perturbed by the fiscal note. He estimated that it took
about 40 hours to develop an effective 25-question multiple
choice test and pondered the associated cost. He concurred
with Senator Micciche that the program was the right thing
to do.
Vice-Chair Bishop MOVED to report SCS HB 214(FIN) out of
Committee with individual recommendations and the
accompanying fiscal note. There being NO OBJECTION, it was
so ordered.
SCS HB 214(FIN) was REPORTED out of committee with a "do
pass" recommendation and with one new fiscal impact note
from the Department of Education and Early Development.
10:34:47 AM
Co-Chair MacKinnon thanked Ms. Herman and the commissioner
for working with staff on the bill. She discussed
supporters of the bill. She hoped that the department would
reach out to the family of Bree Moore. She hoped the
administration would include the family in the statewide
effort as proposed in the bill. She discussed culturally
relevant education. She discussed the nature of grief.
Ms. Herman stated that she would carry Co-Chair MacKinnon's
remarks back to the department. She expressed appreciation
for working with the co-chair and staff.
10:37:54 AM
AT EASE
10:38:29 AM
RECONVENED
Co-Chair MacKinnon stated that the committee was trying to
conclude its business and had moved up bills planned for
the afternoon. She anticipated that the afternoon meeting
would be cancelled.
Co-Chair MacKinnon discussed the agenda for the following
day.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| HB214 SCS FIN work draft version. N.pdf |
SFIN 5/10/2018 9:30:00 AM |
HB 214 |
| HB 214 SCS FIN v. N Explanation.pdf |
SFIN 5/10/2018 9:30:00 AM |
HB 214 |