Legislature(2007 - 2008)HOUSE FINANCE 519
02/28/2008 01:30 PM House FINANCE
Audio | Topic |
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Start | |
HB351 | |
HB193 | |
HB307 | |
Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+= | HB 310 | TELECONFERENCED | |
+= | HB 312 | TELECONFERENCED | |
+ | TELECONFERENCED | ||
+= | HB 307 | TELECONFERENCED | |
+= | HB 193 | TELECONFERENCED | |
+= | HB 351 | TELECONFERENCED | |
HOUSE BILL NO. 193 An Act relating to the composition of the Alaska Police Standards Council; and providing for an effective date. REPRESENTATIVE BOB ROSES, SPONSOR, explained that the bill would add two certified police officers with at least five years experience to the Alaska Police Standards Council (APSC). By doing that, those who are charged with daily law enforcement to the training and standards as State board participating members, certifying police officers. At present, APSC is the only board with no representation from the group most affected by its decisions. APSC has assigned seats for the police chiefs, the department commissioners and to members of the public, there are no line officers on board. He maintained that APSC has done a good job, but could benefit from the presence of line officers that bring experience and perspective to the board. 1:58:53 PM Co-Chair Meyer MOVED to ADOPT Amendment 1 to Page 2, Line 8, deleting "and correctional". Vice-Chair Stoltze OBJECTED for discussion purposes. Vice-Chair Stoltze stated that he wanted to guarantee the position of all correctional officers. Co-Chair Meyer inquired if that language had been added during another committee process. CRYSTAL KOENEMAN, STAFF, REPRESENTATIVE BOB ROSES, replied the language was added in the House State Affairs (STA) Committee. She said that adding the correctional officers makes the language more complicated, hence Legislative Legal Services suggested leaving it out. Vice-Chair Stoltze noted for the record that they (LAA) should not be in the "business" of providing policy direction. 2:00:54 PM Representative Roses recalled the discussion, noting that LAA was not attempting to make policy, but rather, it was a part of an argument previously made. He agreed with the comments made by Vice-Chair Stoltze. Representative Joule inquired the percentage of correctional officers that would be eligible to serve. Representative Roses did not know. Representative Joule hoped that the legislation would not remove a certain class of employee. Vice-Chair Stoltze commented that within the law enforcement and public safety community, the correctional officers are underappreciated; he emphasized the importance of that group of employees. He maintained his opposition to the amendment on behalf of the correctional officers. Representative Roses responded that he would support the Committee's decision. Representative Kelly asked if the amendment would change the opposition voiced by the police chiefs & the commissioners. Representative Roses noted that he had discussed the legislation extensively with six police chiefs, acknowledging he did not know their position on the amendment. 2:04:20 PM Co-Chair Meyer pointed out that the police chiefs do not like the bill; he thought that amendment would not matter either way. Representative Roses agreed. Representative Kelly asked Co-Chair Meyer's intent for offering the amendment. Co-Chair Meyer hoped the language would keep it strictly for the police officers, acknowledging the fine line between that group and the correctional officers. For the record, Vice-Chair Stoltze advised that correctional officers are accredited by the Alaska Police Standards Council and are all law enforcement professionals. Representative Roses referenced language on Page 1, Line 9, which allows the Governor to appoint a correctional administrative officer. He did not want to see the correctional officers eliminated. Co-Chair Meyer asked if the sponsor supports the amendment. Representative Roses explained, the language had been added during another committee process. He thought the intent was cleaner without the amendment, reiterating he would support the will of the Committee. 2:07:51 PM Co-Chair Meyer WITHDREW Amendment 1. There being NO OBJECTION, it was withdrawn. Representative Crawford agreed that passage of the bill is the "right thing to do", noting that all other professional standard councils have membership to represent the members doing that work. He reiterated his support for the bill. Representative Hawker noted for the record, he agrees it is correct thing to do, however, recognize that the law enforcement community does not favor the bill. He added his support. Representative Kelly realized it was clear that the leadership of that community is not in favor of the proposed change. He recommended that current law be maintained, urging the bill not be moved out of Committee. Vice-Chair Stoltze agreed with the statements submitted by the police officers. Representative Roses referenced the language of the bill indicating that the Governor may pick from that group. He stated that it is important that those names brought forward are recommended by the council & their criterion checked. He wanted to see "line guys" on the council. Vice-Chair Stoltze asked if a police union could select someone not represented by their organizational fraternity and if so, could it become an exclusive placement. He mentioned the political pressures that happen when appointments occur. He maintained his support of the correctional officers being included on the council. Representative Roses agreed, understanding the conflict. 2:15:37 PM Representative Gara advised that the bill does not address the concerns of the Committee. The bill does not adopt pro or anti labor positions. The bill adopts positions only on police officers conduct and standards. He pointed out the division of the Committee of those who are pro-labor or not. He believed that either position would have little impact on how the council accomplishes their work. He stated there is nothing the council can do that would favor either pro or con labor issues. He agreed that there are legitimate arguments on labor concerns but thought they would not happen under the context of HB 351. 2:17:15 PM Vice-Chair Stoltze interjected that no one on the Committee was speaking about pro or anti labor, pointing out there is no language addressing that. He discussed the concern of eligibility. The work of a professional organization is to protect jobs when someone is challenged. He reiterated his concern with the eligibility pool and who might be excluded. 2:18:37 PM Representative Gara stood corrected on his observation. 2:20:50 PM Vice-Chair Stoltze MOVED to REPORT CS HB 193 (STA) out of Committee with individual recommendations and with the accompanying fiscal notes. There being NO OBJECTION, it was so ordered. CS HB 193 (STA) was reported out of Committee with "no recommendation" and with new zero notes by the Department of Corrections and Department of Public Safety. 2:21:32 PM Co-Chair Chenault apologized for the record that he had made comments to Representative Nelson regarding charter school funding. He understood that there had been $100 thousand dollars put in, and last year during Conference Committee, it was reduced to $50 thousand dollars. He pointed out that zero dollars had been placed in by the House & $200 thousand dollars was placed in by the Senate. The Conference Committee did settle at $100 thousand dollars.
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