Legislature(2023 - 2024)ADAMS 519
05/05/2023 01:30 PM House FINANCE
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB154 | |
| SB81 | |
| SB77 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | HB 154 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | SB 81 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | SB 77 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
SENATE BILL NO. 81
"An Act relating to the office of victims' rights; and
providing for an effective date."
3:12:59 PM
SENATOR ELVI GRAY-JACKSON, SPONSOR, relayed that the bill
was introduced by the Senate Rules Committee at the request
of the Legislative Council and as chair of the committee it
was her honor to carry the bill. She spoke to the reason
for the bill and read from a prepared statement:
In the Thirty-Second Legislature, legislation was
passed that created a new salary schedule for state
attorneys, which inadvertently excluded the four
attorneys in the Office of Victims' Rights or OVR,
as it is known.
For your convenience, I have included an excerpt from
the minutes of the August 18, 2022, meeting of the
Legislative Council in your bill packet. The
discussion during that Leg Council meeting describes
the reason this bill is necessary.
To summarize those minutes, as a temporary solution to
the problem, Legislative Council unanimously approved
paying OVR attorneys according to the new salary
schedule, created by last year's HB 226, and funded
the increase with a one-time transfer for fiscal year
2023; however, the legislation before you today is
required to place the OVR attorneys on the state
attorney salary schedule permanently.
Senator Gray Jackson continued by explaining the reason for
the amendment, which she supported. She continued to read
from a prepared statement:
Senator Wilson, who is a co-chair of the Victims'
Advocate Selection Committee along with co-chair
Representative Carpenter approached Senate President
Stevens with a problem.
The Victims' Advocate Selection Committee had been
appointed on March 1, 2023, because the director of
the OVR, Taylor Winston, resigned and a new director
needs to be selected. However, working with the
Personnel Office, the co-chairs of the selection
committee determined that it was too late in the
session to advertise, screen, interview, score,
consider, make an offer to, and nominate a candidate
by the time our Joint Confirmation Session takes
place.
At that time, SB 81 was identified as a vehicle to
assist the joint Victims' Advocate Selection Committee
with their task of hiring a permanent victims'
advocate. Senator Wilson, on behalf of the selection
committee, proposed an amendment that made two
substantive changes to the OVR statutes.
The first substantive change is to AS 24.65.070(a)
which relates to "Staff and delegation," and says, in
part:
"The victims' advocate shall appoint a person to serve
as acting victims' advocate in the absence of the
victims' advocate."
New language was added in the amendment which is on
Page 2, Lines 3 6 of Version B.A which says,
"If the victims' advocate is not available to appoint
a person to serve as acting Section 3 adds a provision
that gives the President of the Senate and the Speaker
of the House the authority to jointly appoint an
acting victims' advocate if the victims' advocate is
not available to appoint an acting victims' advocate
or if the legislature is unable to ratify one during
the legislative session.
Senator Gray-Jackson continued as follows:
The amendment that modified this section of statute
contemplates a situation where the victims' advocate
appoints an acting victims' advocate and for some
reason that acting victims' advocate leaves the job
before a permanent victims' advocate has been hired,
leaving a vacancy in this important leadership
position. In this scenario, which we think is unlikely
to happen but possible, the amendment added a
provision that says the presiding officers can jointly
appoint an acting victims' advocate.
It would also allow the presiding officers to jointly
appoint a new acting victims' advocate to serve until
being ratified. Without this change, a successful
candidate for Victims' Advocate who is nominated by
the Selection Committee, for example, during the
summer or fall, could not begin working until being
ratified during the following legislative session.
The second substantive change is to AS 24.65.020(b)
which relates to the "Appointment of the victims'
advocate," which currently says, in part:
"The appointment is effective if the nomination is
approved by a roll call vote of two-thirds of the
members of the legislature in joint session."
New language was added in the amendment that modified
this sentence, so it reads in the current version of
the bill on Page 2, Lines 7 and 8:
"The appointment is effective if the nomination is
ratified by two-thirds of the full membership of the
senate and two-thirds of the full membership of the
house of representatives."
Therefore, this version of the bill removes the
requirement that the Legislature confirm the victims'
advocate by a roll call vote in a joint session. The
maker of the amendment proposed that this would be a
more efficient process while still requiring
ratification by 2/3 of our membership and I agree,
Mr. Chairman.
With these changes to the original version of the
bill, the selection committee can be more deliberative
in the hiring process.
Finally, a quick word of support for the Office of
Victims' Rights.
As noted in a letter in your packet that was written
by Acting Director Kathy Hansen:
"OVR attorneys work directly with prosecutors, law
enforcement officers, and lay victim advocates when
advocating for crime victims. OVR attorneys regularly
advocate for victims throughout the entire State of
Alaska. They handle the most serious and high-profile
felony criminal prosecutions in our state - including
homicides, sexual assaults involving adult and minor
victims, felony property crimes, and felony thefts -
as well as both felony and misdemeanor domestic
violence crimes ?"
Supporting the important work of the Office of
Victims' Rights is the goal of this legislation and
I encourage support of SB 81, Version B.A.
3:19:53 PM
Representative Josephson asked whether there was a
provision that allowed the exempt and partially exempt
staff salaries track the Alaska Public Employees
Associations (APEA) pay increases, so the OVR attorneys
would not slip behind as they had previously. He asked if
the victims' rights attorneys would be part of the
provision.
3:20:47 PM
JESSICA GEARY, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS
AGENCY, was unsure and deferred the answer to Legislative
Legal Services.
3:21:13 PM
MEGAN WALLACE, CHIEF COUNSEL, LEGISLATIVE LEGAL SERVICES,
JUNEAU (via teleconference), answered that a provision in
HB 226 ensured that the legislature shall increase the
salary schedule at the same time and rate as the
supervisory bargaining unit. However, the language required
further legislative action before the salary schedule could
be increased. She furthered that the salary increase
provision was separate from the subsection of HB 226 that
provided the initial increase for state attorneys.
Representative Josephson asked if the attorneys could be
accidentally left out again. Ms. Wallace responded that the
employees that were paid on the basic legislative salary
schedule and would tag along with all other future
increases however, since the OVR attorneys were omitted
from AS 39.27.011 subsection (l) without the proposed
amendment, the attorneys would not be eligible for the
additional increase.
3:23:59 PM
Co-Chair Foster asked for wrap-up comments.
Senator Gray-Jackson thanked the committee.
SB 81 was HEARD and HELD in committee for further
consideration.