Legislature(2023 - 2024)ADAMS 519
05/03/2024 01:30 PM House FINANCE
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB149 | |
| SB187 | |
| HB307 | |
| SB74 || SB75 | |
| HB232 | |
| SB104 | |
| SB118 | |
| HB122 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | SB 187 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 307 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | SB 118 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | HB 177 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| + | SB 74 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | SB 75 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 232 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | SB 104 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 149 | TELECONFERENCED | |
SENATE BILL NO. 104
"An Act relating to appropriations to the civil legal
services fund."
7:31:42 PM
SENATOR FORREST DUNBAR, SPONSOR, introduced himself.
JAMES HOLZENBERG, STAFF, SENATOR FORREST DUNBAR, introduced
himself.
Senator Dunbar thanked the committee for hearing the bill.
He explained that SB 104 increased the court filing fees
that could go to the Alaska Legal Services Fund from 10
percent to 25 percent. He shared that when he had been in
law school, he had an internship where he worked with a
young attorney on a child custody case where a father had
abused and neglected a little girl to the point where she
almost died. The attorney he interned with had been trying
to win custody for an aunt and uncle. The organization was
the Alaska Legal Services Corporation (ALSC) and the
attorney was Maggie Humm, who was now the interim director
of the agency. He relayed that Ms. Humm would provide
testimony on how the fund worked and the work performed by
ALSC. He detailed that ALSC did critical housing work,
veterans benefits, elder abuse and elder care cases, and
was the largest provider of free legal services to
survivors of domestic violence in the state. Demands on
ALSC had increased dramatically in the past few decades and
their state funding was decreasing. He relayed that the
bill had passed the other body unanimously. He expressed
gratitude to the committee for hearing the bill.
Co-Chair Foster moved to invited testimony.
Senator Dunbar noted that in addition to Ms. Humm there had
been a second invited testifier, Nicole Borromeo with the
Alaska Federation of Natives; however, Ms. Borromeo was in
D.C. and was currently unavailable.
7:34:45 PM
MAGGIE HUMM, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ALASKA LEGAL SERVICES
CORPORATION, thanked the committee for hearing the bill.
She thanked Senator Dunbar for carrying the legislation in
the Senate and Representative Stanley Wright carrying the
companion bill in the House. She explained that ALSC was a
nonprofit law firm that provided free critical civil legal
aid to lower income Alaskans across the state for close to
60 years. The services helped protect Alaskans from
domestic violence and other forms abuse, protected Alaskans
livelihoods and benefits to which they are legally
entitled, and helped Alaskans gain access to healthcare and
maintain safe housing. In the previous state fiscal year,
ALSC provided legal assistance in over 5,000 cases across
its 15 locations throughout the state, impacting over
13,000 Alaskans and 196 communities. The organization's
services focused on helping the most vulnerable Alaskans.
In the past year, nearly one-third of ALSC's clients were
impacted by domestic violence, nearly one-third of ALSC's
clients were seniors, and over one-third were living with
one or more disabilities. She relayed that ALSC's work was
preventative and solved problems upstream and its outcomes
were measurable.
Ms. Humm shared that a study commissioned by the Alaska
Mental Health Trust Authority (AMHTA) found that Alaska had
a five to one return on investment, which brought cost
savings to communities and dollars to Alaskan households.
Despite the hard work, Alaska continued to face a crisis
when it came to Alaskans being able to identify help for
their civil legal problems. The past year, ALSC had to turn
away hundreds of families who sought assistance with
compelling needs. Due to a lack of resources the
organization turned away approximately one family for every
family it helped. Unaddressed legal problems resulted in a
cascade of issues for families, further destabilizing them
and putting the most vulnerable (i.e., children and elders)
at risk. The client population continued to grow annually
and funding had not kept pace. She elaborated that ALSC's
state funding was roughly 58 percent of its appropriation
40 years back for triple the eligible population.
Ms. Humm continued that in the current state fiscal year,
ALSC's total state appropriation was $700,001, including
$400,000 from the general fund and the remainder from the
Alaska Legal Services Fund. She explained that the money
from the fund varied greatly over the years from zero to
$360,000. The amount appropriated in the current state
fiscal year was $301,000 and the funds for FY 25 were
slated to drop slightly to $296,000. The fund was
established as a special account in the general fund in
2007 to provide additional money for civil legal aid. She
relayed that the fund was last amended in 2018 with near
unanimous support after widespread bipartisan
acknowledgement that ALSC was severely underfunded. At the
discretion of the legislature, the fund was funded by a
total of 10 percent of the court system's filing fees and
the state's share of any punitive damage awards. She
explained that SB 104 sought to increase the amount of the
court system filing fees from 10 percent to 25 percent.
Ms. Humm relayed that ALSC was doing as much as possible
with its current resources. Every dollar was extremely
important and the organization was incredibly efficient.
She detailed that 80 percent of its cases were resolved
without going to court, which saved the state money. She
reported that an average case cost ALSC less than $600. The
organization leveraged its funding with thousands of
dedicated volunteer hours and in some regions there were
things like donated office space. The organization also
made numerous resources available to the public to increase
their access to the justice system by conducting outreach
and education events. The organization was implementing
innovative ways to address the justice crisis, such as
through its Community Justice Worker Program, which had
garnered national attention.
Ms. Humm shared a story about a young woman with an infant
son who came to ALSC for help. Her boyfriend had started
abusing her when she was 16 and the abuse had been
escalating and taking place in front of the baby and
causing injuries. The organization helped the young woman
get a one-year protective order, custody of the baby, child
support, and supervised visitation for the father. She
stressed that civil legal aid was critical to those who
needed it, often the lifeline; however, the cost and demand
was increasing. She relayed that civil legal services help
to ensure fairness and equal justice guaranteed by state
and federal constitutions. She stated that if the
organization's funding did not keep pace, it would be
forced to turn away hundreds of individuals. She emphasized
that SB 104 was critical to adequately fund civil legal
services, ensuring a fair and equal system, and addressing
the justice crisis in Alaska. She thanked the committee for
its time and consideration.
7:41:09 PM
Co-Chair Foster thanked Ms. Humm for her testimony.
Representative Coulombe asked if ALSC received money from
nonprofits.
Ms. Humm responded that ALSC received money from many
sources including state, federal, local boroughs and
municipalities, tribal, private foundation funding, and
private donations, but not necessarily from other
nonprofits.
Representative Coulombe asked how lawyers got into the
field as it was not something that was highly paid. She
asked if it was through internships or lawyers coming
directly out of law school.
Mr. Humm responded that lawyers came to ALSC in a variety
of ways including starting out as an intern and coming off
of judicial clerkships. The organization's pay was
significantly lower than what the state or the private
sector paid, which meant attracting lawyers could be
difficult. She relayed that lawyers coming to work from the
agency often came from out of state because Alaska did not
have a law school.
Representative Coulombe shared that she had been involved
with the Council on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault
(CDVSA) and had attended one of its meetings in Cordova.
She had learned at the town hall meeting that one thing
that everyone wanted was legal services pertaining to
domestic violence. She relayed that there was a lot of
conversation about CDVSA providing more money for that
area. She asked what the criteria were for ALSC to accept a
case.
Ms. Humm responded that ALSC was required to screen for
income and asset eligibility. The organization was also
required to screen for citizenship and could only represent
someone without proper documentation if they were a victim
of domestic violence or human trafficking and the case
would have to be a priority for ALSC offices.
Representative Coulombe asked what she meant by a priority.
Ms. Humm responded that the ALSC board of directors set the
case priorities, which were reviewed annually.
7:44:53 PM
Representative Tomaszewski asked for ALSC's overall budget.
Ms. Humm replied that ALSC's annual budget was
approximately $9.5 million in the current year.
Representative Stapp asked who was getting legal services
from ALSC. He asked if the individuals were women suffering
from domestic violence and looking for recourse or
individuals dealing drugs or squatters in homes. He asked
about the typical profile of individuals receiving
services.
Ms. Humm responded that the people receiving services
varied, but there were criteria that had to be met. The
individuals had to meet certain low income and asset
guidelines. She detailed that at least one-third of ALSC's
clients were impacted by domestic violence and those
individuals sought help with a variety of things including
protective orders, divorce, custody, problems with an
employment issue, income, and other things. She did not
believe the organization was representing squatters. The
organization did landlord/tenant work, but the law in
Alaska did not support squatting and was very favorable to
landlords. She detailed that only 3 to 4 percent of ALSC's
landlord/tenant cases made it to the point of a contested
court decision. She elaborated that approximately 96
percent of the landlord/tenant cases involved giving
someone advice free of service or negotiating with
landlords. She remarked that the cases were not long and
drawn out. One-third of ALSC's clients were seniors and
were assisted with a wide variety of things including elder
abuse, end of life planning, and advanced directives. She
noted that over one-third (close to 40 percent) of the
organization's clients were living with one or more
disabilities. The individuals were not necessarily coming
to see ALSC in connection with their disabilities, but
disabilities could also be impacting their ability to
address a legal problem. Often individuals may come to ALSC
for help with benefits they were legally entitled to but
were for some reason facing a challenge receiving.
7:48:19 PM
Representative Josephson thanked Ms. Humm for her work. He
shared that he had an externship in law school in
Pennsylvania and had done some legal services work on
social security disability claims. He surmised that ALSC
did some of that type of work.
Ms. Humm confirmed that ALSC worked with social security
disability or supplemental security issues.
Representative Josephson assumed that ALSC would not refer
to a holdover tenant as a squatter.
Ms. Humm agreed. She believed the term "squatters" had been
sensationalized through out of state stories. It was not
the issue in Alaska that may be seen in other states that
were highly favorable to tenants. Alaska was not seeing
situations where people were holding over for weeks,
months, or years because eviction proceedings in Alaska
were very quick. She reiterated her earlier testimony that
only 3 percent of the landlord/tenant cases seen by ALSC
went to a contested court decision. Most of the
landlord/tenant work performed by the organization was
quick and included advice, letters, and negotiation.
Co-Chair Foster asked if Ms. Humm had stated that ALSC
assisted people with supplemental security income (SSI)
issues.
Ms. Humm responded affirmatively.
Co-Chair Foster shared that he had been in Gambell, Alaska
the previous week and had spoken with a low income
constituent in need of help. He now knew exactly who to
reach out to.
Representative Coulombe asked if ALSC was the only one
taking money from the civil legal services fund. She
wondered if funding went to other organizations as well.
Senator Dunbar replied that he did not know. He deferred
the question to Ms. Humm.
Ms. Humm responded that she was not aware of other
organizations. She believed ALSC was the sole beneficiary
of the civil legal services fund.
7:51:28 PM
Representative Hannan asked for verification that ALSC did
not represent people in criminal cases or class action
litigation.
Ms. Humm responded in the affirmative. The organization was
prohibited by federal regulation from participating in
certain types of cases including but not limited to
criminal work and class actions.
Co-Chair Foster asked Senator Dunbar for any closing
remarks.
Senator Dunbar clarified his earlier statement that Ms.
Borromeo was an ALSC board member. Ms. Borromeo was not a
member of the board. Additionally, he spoke to an earlier
question from Representative Coulombe about why lawyers
chose to work at ALSC. He believed Ms. Humm was being
humble in her response. He relayed that almost every lawyer
working at ALSC would make substantially more money working
elsewhere. He relayed that ALSC tried to pay a good living
wage, but people remained because they loved the work and
helping people.
SB 104 was HEARD and HELD in committee for further
consideration.
th
Co-Chair Foster announced the amendment deadline for May 8
at 5:00 p.m.
7:53:45 PM
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| HB 307 Amendments 1 - 8 050324 (2).pdf |
HFIN 5/3/2024 1:30:00 PM |
HB 307 |
| SB 118 Sponsor Statement.pdf |
HFIN 5/3/2024 1:30:00 PM |
SB 118 |
| SB 118 cs Summary of Changes.pdf |
HFIN 5/3/2024 1:30:00 PM |
SB 118 |
| SB118 Sectional.pdf |
HFIN 5/3/2024 1:30:00 PM |
SB 118 |
| SB 187 HCS FIN Amendment Pkt 1-14 050324.pdf |
HFIN 5/3/2024 1:30:00 PM |
SB 187 |
| HB307 Amendment 3 Backup 050324.pdf |
HFIN 5/3/2024 1:30:00 PM |
HB 307 |
| HB 232 Public Testimony Rec'd by 050324.pdf |
HFIN 5/3/2024 1:30:00 PM |
HB 232 |