Legislature(1995 - 1996)
03/19/1996 02:09 PM House HES
| Audio | Topic |
|---|
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
HCR - 26 PUBLIC INEBRIATE TASK FORCE
Number 0954
CO-CHAIR BUNDE said the next item on the agenda was HCR 26,
relating to creation of the Public Inebriate Task Force.
REPRESENTATIVE IVAN said changes were made to HCR 26. He said on
page one, line six of the CSHCR 26, language was added that mirrors
that of HB 523: State Policy on Sobriety. He said the additional
language comes after the word "treatment" and states, "that can
introduce them to, and help them learn new life skills and social
skills that would be useful to them in attaining and maintaining
normal lives as productive members of society."
REPRESENTATIVE IVAN referred to page two, line 28 and line 30, and
said CSHCR deletes one member from the Senate and one member from
the House of Representatives. He referred to page two, line 31,
and said instead of 13 members to be appointed by the Speaker of
the House and the president of the Senate, the number of appointees
will now total nine members.
REPRESENTATIVE IVAN referred to page three, line two, and said a
member from the Division of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse was deleted
and a member from the Deparment of Health and Social Services was
added at the request of the department.
REPRESENTATIVE IVAN said on page three, to bring the task force
membership to 11 members, in addition to the reduction to two
legislators, four at large members were eliminated including one
member of the Alaska Federation of Natives, one member of the
Alaska Association of Chiefs of Police, one village public safety
officer and one member representing practicing physicians.
Number 1054
CO-CHAIR TOOHEY made a motion to adopt CSHCR 26, version 9-
LS1666\C, dated March 12, 1996. Hearing no objections CSHCR 26 was
now before the House Standing Committee on Health, Education and
Social Services.
Number 1076
REPRESENTATIVE ROKEBERG asked if there was only one fiscal note
from the Department of Public Safety.
CO-CHAIR BUNDE said there is another fiscal note from LAA Services
for $62,700.
Number 1097
REPRESENTATIVE IVAN said the fiscal note from Administrative
Services was for support staff.
Number 1107
MR. WRIGHT said the fiscal note reflects support staff as well as
travel expenses. He said the fiscal note would be decreased as a
result of the reduction of task force members.
CO-CHAIR TOOHEY asked that language regarding the use of
teleconference be included in CSHCR 26.
MR. WRIGHT said it was in CSHCR 26.
Number 1120
REPRESENTATIVE ROBINSON asked if the intent was to hire one staff
person.
Number 1126
MR. WRIGHT said he could not say for sure, it would be up to
Representative Ivan and the Speaker of the House.
Number 1139
REPRESENTATIVE ROBINSON said she believed that existing staff
should be able to perform those duties and mentioned that there was
travel money in CSHCR 26.
Number 1168
DON DAPCEVICH, Executive Director, Governor's Advisory Board on
Alcoholism and Drug Addiction, said he supported CSHCR 26 and that
the advisory board wants to take part in this task force. He said
the board recognizes the extent of the process, in regards to
community needs, other agencies and departments. He said the
advisory board is one small part of this process, but an important
one.
Number 1221
MR. DAPCEVICH said the debilitating effect that the public
inebriate has had on communities across the state is being felt
more. He said it is becoming more of a crisis as less money is
available for municipalities to deal with this problem. He said
communities are having to allocate their scarce resources to deal
with this problem. He said the Public Inebriate Task Force is not
going to develop expensive solutions, but may rethink the way in
which the state does business with many of the involved agencies.
He said CSHCR 26 is a way in which the legislature can get the
involved agencies together to work in a collaborative manner to
solve these problems.
Number 1261
CO-CHAIR TOOHEY asked the reason why $15,000 is being spent on
travel when the state has the ability to utilize the teleconference
system.
MR. DAPCEVICH said he could foresee some travel expense to gather
input from across the state, but said that he could not list
specific details related to that.
Number 1295
CO-CHAIR TOOHEY said she could understand the need for gathering
input, but pointed out that three of the meetings are scheduled in
Anchorage where the teleconference system can be used. She then
referred to the $42,700 for a legislative administrative assistant,
Range 19A, and asked if there was someone in the department who
could provide that assistance, as the assistant would only be
needed for those three meetings.
MR. DAPCEVICH said he could not speak for the department and added
that the advisory board only has two staff.
Number 1313
CO-CHAIR BUNDE asked if Co-Chair Toohey wanted to rewrite a fiscal
note to which she replied in the affirmative.
Number 1074
JULIE KRAFT, Director, Member Service, Alaska Municipal League, was
next to testify. She read from a sponsor statement, "The Alaska
Municipal League supports passage of HCR 26. Many communities lack
the financial resources to deal with the problem of public
inebriates. Communities are required to detain these people with
extremely limited financial assistance, while faced with ever
increasing costs. The public inebriate problem is a public safety
problem, a medical care problem, and a drug alcohol treatment
problem. This issue will not be resolved from any one single
entity, but everyone must take responsibility to develop a
solution.
A comprehensive plan needs to be developed by those people who have
to deal directly with the issue of treatment and services for
intoxicated persons. HCR 26 will provide the mechanism to do just
that."
Number 1372
NELSON PAGE, Chair, Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority, was next
to testify. He said he is in support of the proposed task group as
this is an important one for the beneficiaries of the trust as well
as the communities that serve those beneficiaries. He concluded by
stating his support of the resolution.
Number 1424
CO-CHAIR TOOHEY made a motion to move CSHCR 26 (HES) with an
amended fiscal note of $15,000 and individual recommendations.
Number 1449
REPRESENTATIVE ROBINSON objected to the motion. She agreed that
the fiscal note seemed large, but suggested that the finance
committee be the committee to address the fiscal note.
Number 1469
CO-CHAIR BUNDE said it was a committee's prerogative to write a
fiscal note.
Number 1530
CO-CHAIR TOOHEY said the finance committee could choose to put the
old fiscal note back into CSHCR 26. A discussion ensued regarding
whether or not the committee should vote on amending the fiscal
note, when it was decided not to take a roll call vote on this
issue, Representative Robinson withdrew her objection to the
motion. Hearing no further objection CSHCR 26 (HES) was moved from
the House Standing Committee on Health, Education and Social
Services.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|