04/13/2009 01:30 PM Senate HEALTH & SOCIAL SERVICES
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Ocs Child & Family Services Review | |
| SB105 | |
| HB35 | |
| Adjourn |
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| = | SB 179 | ||
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| + | SB 105 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 35 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES STANDING COMMITTEE
April 13, 2009
1:33 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Bettye Davis, Chair
Senator Joe Paskvan, Vice Chair
Senator Johnny Ellis
Senator Joe Thomas
Senator Fred Dyson
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
OTHER LEGISLATORS PRESENT
Representative Les Gara
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
Final Report: Alaska Child and Family Services Review
HEARD
SENATE BILL NO. 105
"An Act relating to continuing the secondary public education of
a homeless student; relating to the purpose of certain laws as
they relate to children; relating to tuition waivers, loans, and
medical assistance for a child placed in out-of-home care by the
state; relating to foster care; relating to children in need of
aid; relating to foster care transition to independent living;
and relating to juvenile programs and institutions."
MOVED CSSB 105 (HSS) OUT OF COMMITTEE
CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 35(FIN)(ct rule fld)(efd fld)
"An Act relating to notice and consent for a minor's abortion;
relating to penalties for performing an abortion; relating to a
judicial bypass procedure for an abortion; relating to coercion
of a minor to have an abortion; and relating to reporting of
abortions performed on minors."
HEARD AND HELD
SENATE BILL NO. 179
"An Act relating to notice of a minor's abortion; relating to
judicial bypass of notice for a minor's abortion; relating to
coercion of a minor to have an abortion; relating to reporting
of abortions performed on minors; and amending Rule 220, Alaska
Rules of Appellate Procedure, and Rule 20, Alaska Probate Rules,
relating to judicial bypass for an abortion."
SCHEDULED BUT NOT HEARD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: SB 105
SHORT TITLE: FOSTER CARE/CINA/EDUCATION OF HOMELESS
SPONSOR(s): SENATOR(s) DAVIS
02/11/09 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
02/11/09 (S) EDC, HSS, FIN
03/25/09 (S) EDC AT 8:00 AM BELTZ 211
03/25/09 (S) Heard & Held
03/25/09 (S) MINUTE(EDC)
04/03/09 (S) EDC AT 8:00 AM BELTZ 211
04/06/09 (S) EDC RPT CS 1DP 2NR 1AM NEW TITLE
04/06/09 (S) DP: DAVIS
04/06/09 (S) NR: OLSON, STEVENS
04/06/09 (S) AM: HUGGINS
04/06/09 (S) EDC AT 8:00 AM BELTZ 211
04/06/09 (S) Moved CSSB 105(EDC) Out of Committee
04/06/09 (S) MINUTE(EDC)
04/13/09 (S) HSS AT 1:30 PM BELTZ 211
BILL: HB 35
SHORT TITLE: NOTICE & CONSENT FOR MINOR'S ABORTION
SPONSOR(s): REPRESENTATIVE(s) COGHILL
01/20/09 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
01/20/09 (H) JUD, FIN
01/20/09 (H) PREFILE RELEASED 1/9/09
03/09/09 (H) JUD AT 1:00 PM CAPITOL 120
03/09/09 (H) Heard & Held
03/09/09 (H) MINUTE(JUD)
03/11/09 (H) JUD AT 1:00 PM CAPITOL 120
03/11/09 (H) Heard & Held
03/11/09 (H) MINUTE(JUD)
03/13/09 (H) JUD AT 1:00 PM CAPITOL 120
03/13/09 (H) Moved Out of Committee
03/13/09 (H) MINUTE(JUD)
03/16/09 (H) DP: LYNN, COGHILL, GATTO, DAHLSTROM,
RAMRAS
03/16/09 (H) JUD RPT 5DP 2DNP
03/16/09 (H) DNP: GRUENBERG, HOLMES
03/16/09 (H) JUD AT 1:00 PM CAPITOL 120
03/16/09 (H) <Bill Hearing Canceled>
03/25/09 (H) FIN AT 1:30 PM HOUSE FINANCE 519
03/25/09 (H) Heard & Held
03/25/09 (H) MINUTE(FIN)
03/25/09 (H) FIN AT 6:30 PM HOUSE FINANCE 519
03/25/09 (H) Heard & Held
03/25/09 (H) MINUTE(FIN)
03/26/09 (H) FIN AT 5:00 PM HOUSE FINANCE 519
03/26/09 (H) Heard & Held
03/26/09 (H) MINUTE(FIN)
03/27/09 (H) FIN AT 1:30 PM HOUSE FINANCE 519
03/27/09 (H) Moved CSHB 35(FIN) Out of Committee
03/27/09 (H) MINUTE(FIN)
03/30/09 (H) DP: FOSTER, KELLY, STOLTZE
03/30/09 (H) FIN RPT CS(FIN) 3DP 4NR 4AM
03/30/09 (H) AM: GARA, SALMON, CRAWFORD, FAIRCLOUGH
03/30/09 (H) NR: THOMAS, JOULE, AUSTERMAN, HAWKER
04/02/09 (H) VERSION: CSHB 35(FIN)(CT RULE FLD)(EFD
FLD)
04/02/09 (H) TRANSMITTED TO (S)
04/03/09 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
04/03/09 (S) HSS, JUD, FIN
04/13/09 (S) HSS AT 1:30 PM BELTZ 211
WITNESS REGISTER
TAMMY SANDOVAL, Director
Office of Children's Services (OCS)
Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS)
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented the Alaska Child and Family
Services Review overview.
TOM OBERMEYER, staff to Senator Davis
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Commented on SB 105 for the sponsor.
MIKE LESMAN, Community Relations Manager
Office of Children's Services (OCS)
Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS)
POSITION STATEMENT: Neutral position on SB 105.
LAURA HEYWOOD
CASA Volunteer
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported SB 105.
KARL ECKSTROM, representing himself
Change Point, AK.
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported SB 105.
AMANDA METIVIER, Statewide Coordinator
Facing Foster Care in Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported SB 105.
REBECCA SHIRE, Statewide Representative
Facing Foster Care in Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported SB 105.
REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Sponsor of HB 35.
JEAN MISCHEL
Legislative Legal Services
Legislative Affairs Agency
Alaska State Capital
Juneau, AK.
POSITION STATEMENT: Answered questions on HB 35.
ACTION NARRATIVE
1:33:05 PM
CHAIR BETTYE DAVIS called the Senate Health and Social Services
Standing Committee meeting to order at 1:33 p.m. Present at the
call to order were Senators Dyson, Paskvan and Davis.
^OCS Child & Family Services Review
Final Report: Alaska Child and Family Services Review
1:33:19 PM
CHAIR DAVIS announced the Alaska Child and Family Services
Review presentation by the Office of Children's Services (OCS).
TAMMY SANDOVAL, Director, Office of Children's Services (OCS),
Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS), presented the
overview. She said the Child and Family Services Review is a
process that the federal Administration for Children and
Families does in every state. The first one in Alaska was done
in 2002, and the second was done in September of last year. It
is difficult to make direct comparisons between 2002 and now,
because the standards changed; but their work is the same.
They were asked to do a statewide assessment and turn it in to
the federal government, and the good news is that their
assessments were almost identical, which means that their report
to her wasn't big news. Unfortunately, the OCS did not pass.
Twenty-three items were reviewed regarding the families they
serve, and seven systemic factors were evaluated. OCS passed one
systemic factor - their data information system, called ORCA.
That is great, because ORCA is key in allowing them to get
reports out in order to improve their practices.
She explained that the federal government gives feedback in
specific areas. Some of their strengths are: maintaining
children in their own communities, providing relative placement
resources when needed, insuring that relationships with their
parents and siblings are maintained and meeting the national
standard for data indicators pertaining to achieving permanency
for children in foster care for extended periods of time.
Other areas they didn't do so well in are: safety - protecting
children from abuse or neglect, maintaining children in their
own homes whenever possible and appropriate, and children having
permanency and stability in their living situation. The federal
government feels they need to "front end load" the system so
that a family's outcomes have been successfully achieved by the
time they move through the system, and the OCS has already shown
improvement. For instance, the federal government says if case
worker visits are done regularly, 17 of the other outcomes that
need to be met will come along with it. That is a key component.
1:37:47 PM
SENATOR OLSON joined the committee.
CHAIR DAVIS asked what made it possible for them to see such
prompt improvement.
MS. SANDOVAL replied that one manager told her they were really
focusing on having regular meetings and were holding supervisors
accountable.
CHAIR DAVIS asked her what was happening with the things that
aren't getting done because more emphasis is being placed on
that one issue. She was looking for a more rounded approach.
1:41:30 PM
MS. SANDOVAL replied that they would be watching that closely.
Other states have found putting emphasis on one area of the
review caused them to lose traction in another. However, they
know that when home visits are being done, families are being
helped, and other outcomes come along with them. Anchorage got
its home visit compliance up to 77 percent in March.
1:42:35 PM
MS. SANDOVAL mentioned that no state has passed all of their
outcomes in the first or second reviews; so, although it is
their goal to meet all of these standards, Alaska isn't
completely worse than the others.
She noted that their employee vacancy rate is down, but the
turnover rate is still a concern that they are working on. They
have been on a continuum of systemic change and she believes
when they enter into this performance improvement plan, with
ORCA being able to provide such detailed information, they are
poised to be able to affect the things they most need to do -
safety and permanence.
1:45:59 PM
MS. SANDOVAL said safety needs to be effected most urgently.
They have to get out on all their investigations timely
especially when maltreatment has already occurred. This is one
of their areas of weakness. An in-home services program needs to
be built within the OCS to be able to keep kids safely in their
homes. For a long time it has been the practice of child welfare
agencies around the country to remove them, thinking that was
the best way to serve children and their families. But now they
know that level of intrusion is not always necessary, and they
have built a system of service delivery focused on taking care
of kids once they have been removed. So they need to realign
their current resources to provide services in the home in the
effort to keep families together.
1:48:11 PM
CHAIR DAVIS asked if she has information on any of the grantees
who provide those services.
MS. SANDOVAL answered that the federal government has give them
a little money. The department has put out RFPs to provide those
services for one year, until the performance improvement plan is
written and approved by the feds, and then plans on going for
another grant.
CHAIR DAVIS asked if the state is putting any money into that.
MS. SANDOVAL said she wasn't sure.
1:49:33 PM
MS. SANDOVAL explained that there are 23 items, each with a
specific measure like proximity of foster care placement,
placement with visit with siblings, and relationship of child
and care with their parents. The OCS gets measured on each item,
so it is important to maintain balance.
She noted that they also have a systemic factor related to the
case review system that is work with the court system
specifically. So they are working actively and successfully with
the court improvement project that is also funded by the federal
government, but is housed within the court system. Protocol for
visitation between children and their parents has been developed
and modeled according to the specific family issues.
Another systemic factor needing improvement is quality
assurance. Staff and provider training have already improved
enough to pass, and OCS is working with other services to
provide a stronger array. She was really disappointed to not
have passed agency responsiveness to the community because they
have worked on that extremely hard in the past four years. The
specific measure has to do with inviting stakeholders and
community partners in to develop the federal plan - and they are
going to do it right this time.
The last systemic factor has to do with foster adoptive
parenting, licensing, recruitment and retention, which they are
continually working on. She thinks they have a plan and will
approach this as a systemic reform rather than a "to do" list
with service delivery from the time the phone rings until the
case is closed.
1:54:45 PM
CHAIR DAVIS said she appreciated her information, and said she
wanted a document from OCS listing the areas they are working on
and what they are doing to improve them - maybe by the time the
session reconvenes.
MS. SANDOVAL said their federal PIP is due May 4th so she should
be able to provide something to the legislature at least in
draft form this summer.
CHAIR DAVIS asked how often this review occurs.
MS. SANDOVAL didn't know for sure, but the last two were six
years apart, and they have two years to make the necessary
improvements; the time starts from when they submit the process
improvement plan, which she would forward to Senator Davis's
office.
1:57:21 PM
SENATOR DYSON said he understands OCS has made significant
improvements on staff turnover, but it still is an issue. He
asked why.
MS. SANDOVAL said exist surveys have indicated that one reason
people leave has to do with supervision issues; so supervisory
training has been put in place to improve that. They are also
working hard to improve recognition for the work that they do.
Adding staff has helped because they reduce the work load.
SENATOR DYSON said one thing Alaska failed six years ago and
again this time is meeting the federal guidelines of permanent
placement within 12-18 month time frame. He asked what things
were beyond her control that were making placement difficult.
1:59:28 PM
MS. SANDOVAL answered that she knows there are things beyond her
control, but she also knows it is her responsibility to try to
affect each of those things. So, they are working much more
collaboratively with the court system, which she believes will
help.
SENATOR DYSON said when you take custody of a child you have to
appear before a magistrate to confirm that it was the right
decision, and he asked how long it takes to get to that hearing.
And once they have decided to go for termination of parental
rights, how long does it take to get into court.
2:01:12 PM
MS. SANDOVAL said she knows it takes too long. Sometimes the
reasons for delay have to do with the attorney, sometimes with
the fact that the OCS worker just vacated.
SENATOR DYSON said lawmakers would like to know if barriers
exist or if things need to be changed.
SENATOR PASKVAN asked where Alaska is on the list relative to
other states.
2:04:08 PM
MS. SANDOVAL replied that she has heard Alaska is near the
bottom.
SENATOR PASKVAN asked if other systems could be looked at in our
most deficient areas.
MS. SANDOVAL replied yes; the federal government has 11 national
resource centers that provide free technical assistance to
states, and four of them are getting ready to help the
department now. The last PIP had a bunch of successful pilot
programs, "and now the goal is to standardize the good practice
and let go of the bad."
2:06:02 PM
SENATOR PASKVAN asked what the potential consequences of failing
to make the corrections in two years are, and what different
things Alaska would face relative to other states.
MS. SANDOVAL responded there will be a penalty of a minimum of
almost $269,000 for FY/2008, which would amount to paying back
the federal funding for running the state's foster care program.
SENATOR PASKVAN remarked if they spent that much more money to
make this work, they would be revenue neutral as opposed to
being revenue deficient for failing.
MS. SANDOVAL thanked him for making that point.
2:07:36 PM
CHAIR DAVIS said thanks for the report and recognized that
Senator Ellis had joined the meeting.
SB 105-FOSTER CARE/CINA/EDUCATION OF HOMELESS
CHAIR DAVIS announced consideration of SB 105 [Version E CSSB
105(EDC) was before the committee].
2:07:52 PM
TOM OBERMEYER, staff to Senator Davis, sponsor of SB 105,
presented the sponsor statement and overview of changes in the
proposed committee substitute (CS) labeled 26-LS0556\C. He
explained that the word "commission" was changed to
"institution" on page 3 in order to recognize that schools and
institutions should be making the decision as to what is needed
for the student rather than the Alaska Commission on
Postsecondary Education.
The other main change is that the stipend was reduced on pages
11-12 not to exceed nine months with different age parameters.
The person has to be 18 or older, has to be participating in a
services program and has contact with a social worker involved
in the program. The stipend must be what is necessary to meet
the individual's living expenses as determined by the department
and it shall not exceed the daily rate provided for a licensed
foster parent for the first six months of eligibility; and if it
goes beyond that, it's not to exceed more than one half that
amount for an additional three months. It also indicates that
the department shall pay the stipend until the date that the
individual reaches 21 years of age or has left out-of-home care
for six months. He did not have a new fiscal note.
2:12:14 PM
MIKE LESMAN, Community Relations Manager, Office of Children's
Services (OCS), Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS),
said SB 105 has good language, but the department has a neutral
position. He agreed with Ms. Sandoval's explanation. The front
end work is the most urgent and OCS intends to initiate
investigations, assess safety and risk to children, and prevent
removing them from their homes if at all possible in the hopes
that this will reduce the problems on the back end of the
system.
SENATOR ELLIS asked about the Child In Need Of Aid (CHINA)
provisions.
MR. LESMAN responded that those statutes have been cleaned up a
great deal, like replacing the words "foster care" with "out-of-
home care". Another is that this bill would allow the State of
Alaska to maintain custody up to age 21 whereas currently with a
couple of court orders they can only maintain custody up to age
20.
2:17:18 PM
LAURA HEYWOOD, CASA Volunteer (court appointed special
advocate), explained that they are appointed by the court to
advocate for children who are in state custody for CHINA cases.
They work with lots of professionals, but one difference is that
they have very small case loads (one or two cases at a time).
They are not professionals, but are trained by the program that
is administered by the Office of Public Advocacy and supervised
by their guardian ad litem. Ms. Heywood said she is also the
vice president of Friends of Alaska CASA, which is the non-
profit that raises money to support the CASA program. They do
things like meet kids' needs that aren't covered elsewhere and
support volunteers.
MS. HEYWOOD said SB 105 promotes education to a higher level
than before and has learned during her work just how important
that is. Education is the only thing that can't be taken away
from some of those children.
2:19:55 PM
SENATOR THOMAS joined the meeting.
MS. HEYWOOD said that in the five years she has worked with CASA
she has advocated for six children. These children spent a lot
of time in residential treatment because of the issues related
to foster care. When those kids age out of care, they return to
their communities where they may have no family so they don't
have any connections to help them. She wanted to make a special
pitch for this bill to help them with this transition.
2:21:28 PM
KARL ECKSTROM, representing himself, Change Point, AK, supported
SB 105. He said the Change Point has The Downtown Soup Kitchen
that serves about 500 homeless people a day and the population
of kids they serve who are in foster care is increasing.
2:22:34 PM
AMANDA METIVIER, Statewide Coordinator, Facing Foster Care in
Alaska, supported SB 105. She said she is also an alumni of the
Alaska's foster care system and is currently a foster parent.
She said the 38 percent of the young people who "age out" of
foster care end up homeless; about 30 percent become
incarcerated at some point and they have a high rate of teen
pregnancy. They also have a high rate of utilization of public
assistance.
She said currently the state provides 10 tuition waivers
annually for young people who age out. Statewide 28 youths are
attending college on those waivers and 10 more youth are
attending college without assistance from the tuition waiver.
Anecdotally she said she came into foster care as a teenager,
and by the time she came into state custody she was so far
behind in school that she dropped out and had to deal with the
stress and trauma of not only what happened in her home, but
with having been removed from her home and being placed in a new
family. She was lucky enough to have a social worker who helped
her get a waiver and encouraged her to continue her education.
At the time the state was offering five tuition waivers a year.
Without that waiver she would not have finished her education,
and she graduated last year with a Bachelor's Degree in social
work. A lot of people who age out have no help. So if they don't
get into a program right away, they don't wait around to try
again because they have to make a living. They end up on the
street.
2:25:16 PM
REBECCA SHIRE, Statewide Representative, Facing Foster Care in
Alaska, said she is currently in foster care. She supported SB
105. During her six years in custody she has attended seven
different schools, four were in her first year of foster care.
Throughout the year she switched between those first schools
several times - as well as being home schooled. She was in and
out of treatment that year as well. She had trouble making
friends and had no lasting relationships.
She said according to the U.S. Department of Education, students
fall behind 4-6 months in their education with each placement
change. She finally graduated late. She is now a social work
major at UAA because of the tuition waiver. If she had not
gotten it, she would probably not have continued her education.
2:27:37 PM
REPRESENTATIVE GARA said the provisions in this legislation will
make a huge difference in the lives of foster youth. The aim of
the bill is to come up with feasible things that will make a
difference in the lives of youth. The things that he feels are
most important in this bill are:
· Keeping youth in the same school - federal law says
homeless youth should be able to stay in the same school as
they move around. It has previously covered only youth
awaiting foster care. This expands that protection.
Obviously it's only in the same district; if it's feasible
they do it.
· Having provisions aimed at fixing the statistic that
roughly 38 percent of youth coming out of foster care end
up homeless. So this extends the assistance that was
previously available to only that small number to all
foster youth. It includes tuition waivers and ETV
(employment training vouchers). These are not terribly
expensive provisions.
· Trying to solve the homeless problem. There is now one
month of full rental help and a couple of other months with
half of that. This extends it for up to six months rental
help and then three months at half level.
· Allowing foster youth to stay in foster care and on
Medicaid until age 21. Not all youth are ready to leave
foster care at 18.
· Having an advisory provision. This bill provides for a
monthly face-to-face visit.
He said that these are fairly inexpensive fixes.
2:35:06 PM
SENATOR ELLIS asked where Alaska stacks up compared to other
states and how would that would change if this passes.
REPRESENTATIVE GARA said he couldn't answer that question.
SENATOR DYSON asked if keeping foster kids in the same school is
currently financed through the school budget.
REPRESENTATIVE GARA answered yes.
SENATOR DYSON observed that they seem to be moving toward a
model that requires the schools to fix a lot of the problems of
non-functional families, and he wondered if it doesn't make more
sense for the foster care system to do that.
REPRESENTATIVE GARA replied that all of the provisions in the
bill say "subject to funding from the state".
CHAIR DAVIS said this bill prefers the money go directly to
them, not through OCS, because that delays things.
SENATOR DYSON said he agrees that it would be best for the money
to go to the foster parents who would then provide
transportation.
2:38:47 PM
REPRESENTATIVE GARA responded that you can't force foster
parents to be prefect; so if the parent isn't going to try to
keep a kid in the same school, you have to work through OCS.
SENATOR DYSON disagreed with that scenario.
SENATOR THOMAS asked what the reason was for changing "out-of-
home care" to "foster care".
REPRESENTATIVE GARA answered that "foster care" is when a child
is with an unrelated foster parent and "out-of-home care" is
when a child is with a relative. Together they are supposed to
encompass all kids who are in foster care.
2:40:20 PM
SENATOR PASKVAN moved to adopt the proposed committee substitute
for SB 105, labeled 26-LS0556\C, as the working document. There
being no objection, version C was before the committee.
SENATOR DYSON asked what the department's position is.
MR. LESMAN responded that the department's position is neutral
for the reasons stated previously.
SENATOR DYSON asked if anything could be done to make it more
palatable.
MR. LESMAN said the biggest challenge in the bill has to do with
the monetary living stipend. Existing language leaves a lot to
be worked out.
2:43:22 PM
SENATOR PASKVAN moved to report CS for SB 105 from committee
with individual recommendations and attached fiscal note(s).
There being no objection, CSSB 105(HSS) moved from committee.
At ease from 2:44 p.m. to 2:46 p.m.
HB 35-NOTICE & CONSENT FOR MINOR'S ABORTION
2:46:19 PM
CHAIR DAVIS announced consideration of HB 35. [CSHB 35(FIN) (CT
RULE FLD)(EFD FLD) was before the committee.]
REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL, sponsor of HB 35, said it deals with a
supreme court ruling that came down two years ago saying that
parental consent and notification had failed. He looked for a
balance between the constitutional right of a young minor child
under freedom of choice and the right of parents to guide them.
2:48:02 PM
The state has agreed that parents have the responsibility to
guide immature youngsters' choices and even veto them. His bill
says the minor must obtain consent of the parents and have a 48-
hour notice if the parents were fit and loving. Parental consent
is not required if the youngsters are married, legally
emancipated, self-subsisting and employed, or in the military.
If they chose not to include the parents, they could go to court
and demonstrate their own maturity and get consent to have an
abortion. If the court doesn't act, that would be de-facto
consent. Everywhere "consent" is used, "notification" is
inserted.
2:51:14 PM
For sexual or physical abuse of the child, parents would have to
be notified; if not the parents, the bill requires an adult
sibling, a grandparent, a police officer or officer of the court
that has knowledge of the sexual abuse. The reason is that you
don't want a youngster being further intimidated to sign a sworn
statement without somebody protecting them.
CHAIR DAVIS stated that the Senate committee substitute (SCS)
had not been adopted and clarified that the sponsor asked her to
roll the notification provision from the Senate bill into his
bill.
REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL added that it became clear that the only
way to get this bill through this legislative session was to go
with parental notification rather than consent.
2:53:39 PM
CHAIR DAVIS asked if the Senate sponsor agreed with using his
language.
REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL answered yes. The SCS is the same basic
outline of HB 35 without the consent language.
SENATOR ELLIS said he wanted to understand more about the SCS
before adopting it. He asked if they are talking about parental
notification, why doesn't the title say "An Act Relating to
Notice for a Minor's Abortion."
2:56:58 PM
JEAN MISCHEL, Legislative Legal Services, explained that the
House title was retained because it still adequately described
the bill. The Senate bill has a shortened title and the other
difference is the existence of the court rules and an effective
date that failed on the House side. The Senate bill also
retained the medical emergency exception that was in the "A"
version of the House bill that didn't pass House Finance.
SENATOR ELLIS said he was troubled by the title having the word
"consent" in it.
MS. MISCHEL explained that "consent" is in the current version
only to the extent that it is being repealed from existing law
in this SCS and that there is not title problem.
SENATOR ELLIS remarked, "Well, it is for me."
CHAIR DAVIS said it appears that the court language has been
removed from the CS.
MS. MISCHEL agreed that the court rules were not in the proposed
CS, version E.
3:00:03 PM
CHAIR DAVIS said she still intends to hear SB 179.
REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL said he would be willing to accept a
title amendment to the SCS.
3:05:27 PM
SENATOR PASKVAN moved to adopt SCS CSHB 35, labeled 26-LS0192\E,
as the working document.
SENATOR DYSON objected, saying he preferred the original
version.
A roll call vote was taken: Senators Thomas, Paskvan, Davis,
Ellis voted yea; Senator Dyson voted nay. Therefore, SCS CSHB
35, version E, was adopted.
CHAIR DAVIS held HB 35 in committee.
3:09:28 PM
There being no further business to come before the committee,
Chair Davis adjourned the meeting at 3:09 p.m.
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