Legislature(2023 - 2024)ADAMS 519
04/30/2024 01:30 PM House FINANCE
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB259 | |
| HB11 | |
| HB68 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | SB 187 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 259 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | HB 11 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | HB 68 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
HOUSE BILL NO. 259
"An Act establishing the Council on Human and Sex
Trafficking; and relating to the Council on Domestic
Violence and Sexual Assault."
6:14:44 PM
REPRESENTATIVE SARAH VANCE, SPONSOR, explained that the
bill would establish the Council on Human and Sex
Trafficking in statute and would provide planning and
coordination programs specific to victim services,
education, public awareness, data collection and
dissemination, and reducing demand for human and sex
trafficking. The bill would develop standardized data for
the annual reports, award grants and provide audits, and
increase education and public awareness. She spoke to the
reason for establishing the council in statute versus
continuing the council established under an executive order
by the governor. The bill would enable the council to award
grants and provide audits, a function the current council
under administrative order could not do. The council would
also have the ability to pursue federal grants that would
bring more money and services to the state. The bill would
mean providing longevity for the work. She believed
continuing the council in statute would be money well spent
and it would be a significant step to the state's long-term
commitment to eradicate human trafficking in Alaska.
Co-Chair Foster OPENED public testimony.
6:17:10 PM
LAUREE MORTON, SELF, JUNEAU, shared that she had joined the
battered women's movement in 1984 in rural Alaska. She
moved to Bethel in 1989 and led Tundra Women's Coalition
for five winters. She moved to Juneau in 1994 and served as
the director of the Network on Domestic Violence and Sexual
Assault. She elaborated further on her work history. She
had been the Council on Domestic Violence and Sexual
Assault (CDVSA) director under former Governor Sean Parnell
and into the former Walker administration.
Ms. Morton stated that Sections 1 and 2 of HB 259 were not
practical. She stressed that each council needed its own
director. She explained that their critical natures
demanded separate, undivided attention. She detailed that
CDVSA had 14 statutory responsibilities. She expounded that
choosing a chair and hiring the executive were critical
steps for the full council, not merely two members. She
relayed that the application of the remaining 12
responsibilities fell to the director, which was a full-
time job. She knew what it was like to fund victim
services, batterers' intervention, and prevention programs.
She understood what it was like to support an intensive
statewide campaign Choose Respect. The director was
responsible for interacting with school districts, health
facilities, training academies, Department of Public
Safety, Department of Health, Department of Corrections,
Department of Law, Department of Education and Early
Development, the supreme court, and the Alaska Court
System. She noted that she would submit the statutory
responsibilities along with her written testimony.
Ms. Morton hoped committee members would take time to think
about how they would be able to coordinate getting it all
done and done well, much less adding another council's work
into the mix. She stated, "I'm saying to you, I could not
do it." She stated that it was not fair to any of the
issues to think that anyone could combine the councils. She
thanked the committee for its time.
6:20:00 PM
Representative Josephson asked if Ms. Morton had brought
her concerns to the bill sponsor earlier in the session.
Ms. Morton responded affirmatively.
Representative Coulombe asked if Ms. Morton supported the
idea of a commission. She asked for verification that Ms.
Morton's concern was that one director would be doing both
jobs.
Ms. Morton responded in the affirmative. She believed both
were important, critical issues in Alaska and they deserved
to have focus and attention. She stated that one person
could not do both.
6:20:48 PM
BRENDA STANFILL, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ALASKA NETWORK ON
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND SEXUAL ASSAULT, shared that she was
representing the 24 member programs across the state that
provided direct services, batterer intervention programs,
and prevention programming to communities and outlying
areas. She considered the bill to be a situation where two
things were true. She supported the creation of a council
on human sex trafficking. She had participated as a co-
chair. She relayed that the council had big plans and a lot
of work was needed in the state. She stressed that it was a
big job and it needed someone whose sole attention was
focused on the issue of sex trafficking and labor
trafficking. She explained that between the councils there
was four major issues including domestic violence, sexual
assault, sex trafficking, and labor trafficking. She
elaborated that while there may be some overlap between sex
trafficking and sexual assault, there was not a lot. She
shared that when she had been the director of the Fairbanks
program for 25 years, they had received a sex
trafficking/human trafficking grant and they had discovered
that programming was very different than the services
provided for sexual assault and domestic violence victims.
Ms. Stanfill relayed that CDVSA wanted to ensure the issues
were not overlooked. She detailed that the executive
director of CDVSA was hired to supervise a staff of 11,
oversaw more than 100 grants from multiple funding sources,
and coordinated the work of an 11-person staff and 11-
person council. She highlighted that the council would be
undertaking the Alaska Victimization Survey in the current
year, and it needed to begin the process of a new strategic
plan. She relayed that there was no additional capacity in
the position [for other work]. Under the legislation, two
members of each council would be making the decision to
hire the executive director along with the Department of
Public Safety (DPS) commissioner or designee. She explained
that it ignored the careful work that had been done with
the creation of the seats on CDVSA. There were six state
seats and five public seats. She noted the five public
seats were very specific to rural Alaska representing
Alaska Native members and three public members. She
explained that under the bill, there was not a guarantee
that a public member would sit on the hiring committee of
the new executive director.
Ms. Stanfill urged the legislature to create the council on
human and sex trafficking with its own executive director
and support person, using the newly created victim services
division within DPS. Additionally, she supported ensuring
the new council had the knowledge, focus, and attention it
deserved by removing all connection to CDVSA. She thanked
the committee.
6:24:28 PM
TERRA BURNS, ADVOCATE, COMMUNITY UNITED FOR SAFETY AND
PROTECTION, FAIRBANKS (via teleconference), testified in
opposition to the bill. She shared that she was a victim of
sex trafficking as a child. As an adult she had spent over
20 years working in almost every aspect of Alaska's sex
industry. She stated that according to what Representative
Vance told the committee in the last hearing on the bill,
it meant Ms. Burns had lived over 20 years longer than
expected. In 2015, she successfully defended her masters
research at the University of Alaska Fairbanks on the lived
experiences and policy recommendations of people in
Alaska's sex industry. The research was replicated at Brown
University and later across the U.S. The research was
instrumental in Alaska in 2016 in the changes in the
prostitution and sex trafficking law included in SB 91
[omnibus crime legislation passed in 2016]. She believed
she was the only one who had done academic research on sex
trafficking in Alaska.
Ms. Burns shared that she traveled nationally and
internationally to consult and present on the issues at
institutions such as the Cambridge Union, the Freedom
Network Conference, universities, nonprofits, and community
groups. She currently worked as the research and policy
director of Coyote Rhode Island where she did participatory
action research with sex workers and sex trafficking
survivors about how they were impacted by different laws.
She had reported the Alex Asino case, which at the time was
the second case in ten years of sex trafficking of a non-
fictitious minor in Alaska's sex industry to be charged at
the state or federal level. She stated it was despite the
fact that for several of the years the Alaska Bureau of
Investigations operated an investigative unit with the
focus of locating and rescuing minor sex trafficking
victims.
Ms. Burns relayed that she had emailed the committee
details about the difficulty the Community United for
Safety and Protection had accessing the council meetings
and the ombudsman complaints the organization had made
about the difficulties. She stated that at the last House
Finance Committee hearing on the bill, Representative Vance
had stated the average life expectancy of a sex worker was
seven years. She elaborated that it was a common claim
about 15 years back, but it had been debunked numerous
times. She highlighted a 2004 study in the Journal of
Epidemiology that followed 2,000 sex workers over 33 years
and only found an 8 percent mortality rate during that
timeframe. She stated that if anyone on the council had
searched online, they would have discovered the "supposed
fact" was completely false; rather, they were comfortable
in presenting easily discredited facts as reality to the
legislature.
Ms. Burns pointed out that on page 15 of the council's 2022
report, "Do John Schools Really Decrease Recidivism? A
methodological critique of an evaluation of the San
Francisco First Offender Prostitution Program" in support
of their claim that John schools reduced recidivism. She
elaborated that at the 2024 Alaska Data Summit, council
member and assistant attorney general Chris Darnall again
referenced the study as showing that John schools were
effective at reducing recidivism. She emphasized that the
study found that John schools did not reduce recidivism.
She stated that it was a fact the council members would
have known if they would have read the study. She
underscored that lies and misrepresentation of the truth
had no place in good government or policy. She stressed
that it was impossible to create good evidence-based policy
with misinformation.
Ms. Burns stated it was concerning to think of CDVSA
hosting the sex trafficking council because the CDVSA
definition of sex trafficking, located in the most recent
report of the trafficking council, included all commercial
sex as well as seduction. She underscored that it was not
possible to talk about sex trafficking in a way that made
sense if seduction and all sex work was considered sex
trafficking. She stated it was not a way to make evidence-
based policy serving all Alaskans. She detailed that the
council was composed primarily of people whose jobs benefit
from the criminalization of sex workers and sex trafficking
survivors. She elaborated that it was evident in policy
promoted in HB 68, which would further felonize sex
trafficking survivors and sex workers. She believed it
would be a nightmare to legitimize the council and give it
more power in awarding and receiving funding or creating
policy in Alaska. She suggested that a proper council would
be led by sex trafficking survivors and would only promote
evidence-based policy. She asked the committee to vote
against HB 259.
6:31:03 PM
MAXINE DOOGAN, COMMUNITY UNITED FOR SAFETY AND PROTECTION,
FAIRBANKS (via teleconference), was a currently working
prostitute of 35 years and planned to work as a prostitute
for another 35 years. She testified in opposition to the
bill. She reported that the organization found limited
opportunities for public participation while witnessing
excessive governmental and faith-based participation as
well as numerous issues while trying to gain access to the
public meetings and minutes. She urged the committee to not
fund "this bad government body." She emphasized the
importance of inclusivity of survivor advocates and robust
public engagement in the establishment and function of a
council on human and sex trafficking. She stated that a
more collaborative and transparent approach was essential
in addressing challenges posed by human and sex
trafficking. She reported that the council had only
demonstrated it wanted to profit off of the criminalization
of prostitution. She stressed that if legislators really
wanted to prevent sex trafficking in Alaska, they should
fully fund education. She underscored that having access to
proper, fully funded education and housing prevented forced
labor in the sex industry. She urged members to vote
against the legislation. She thanked the committee.
6:33:28 PM
Co-Chair Foster CLOSED public testimony.
Representative Vance noted that the governor's council on
sex trafficking through DPS had issued a letter of support
for HB 259 with the idea of sharing a director. The council
believed it was possible to share a director. She
understood there had been numerous concerns about the
specific issue. She relayed that the bill was based on the
guidance of the governor's council through DPS. She was
open to amending the bill for the council to have its own
director in order to establish the council in statute. She
wanted to ensure the success of the council and CDVSA. She
stated she was not ignoring the concerns, but she had tried
to continue moving forward with the will of the governor's
council in DPS. She had a prepared amendment that any
committee member could pick up, which would give each
council its own director. Overall, she believed
establishing a council in statute would help the state
continue to do the work for the benefit of Alaskans.
Representative Ortiz asked if there had been discussion
about adopting the potential amendment in a previous
committee.
Representative Vance responded that there were concerns
shared in the House State Affairs Committee, but an
amendment was not considered at the time. The conversation
had been more about flushing out the possibility of sharing
a director. She relayed that DPS had spoken with the new
CDVSA director. She elaborated that at the time of hiring
the new director the department talked about the
possibility of establishing the council and providing
oversight. She explained that the bill had a delayed start
date of March 2025 to give the current director time to get
settled with the new staff. She stated that if there was
consternation about the issue, she was open to the
direction everyone felt was best for success.
Representative Ortiz asked the model where one director
oversaw both councils was primarily a financial
consideration or about what would be most effective.
Representative Vance responded that it was a financial
consideration. She explained that the previous year when
there had been discussion about an original goal to have
the council in statute, the conversation had included
looking at the state's financial situation and concern
about adding more positions in government. She expounded
that the discussion had considered how to make the idea
successful. She described the council and CDVSA as cousins
and the idea had been to have a director overseeing both
bodies. She stated that the idea had worked in other areas
and the overall goal was for the work to continue.
6:38:03 PM
Representative Cronk asked if there was someone available
from DPS to answer a question.
Co-Chair Foster highlighted individuals available from DPS.
Representative Cronk asked if prostitution was legal in
Alaska.
LISA PURINTON, ACTING LEGISLATIVE LIAISON AND SPECIAL
ASSISTANT, DIRECTOR, DIVISION OF STATEWIDE SERVICES,
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY, responded, "To the best of my
knowledge it was not legal in Alaska."
Co-Chair Johnson asked if any of the fiscal notes showed
what it would cost if the council had its own executive
director.
Representative Vance deferred the question to her staff.
6:40:14 PM
ROBERT BALLINGER, STAFF, REPRESENTATIVE SARAH VANCE,
replied that the original fiscal note was $320,000 for the
council. He explained that there would be two employees
including an executive director. The increase would be
$24,000 if the position was located in Juneau. He stated it
could be less if the position was located in Anchorage or
somewhere else. He detailed that originally the bill showed
the position located in Juneau because it proposed sharing
the director with CDVSA and the CDVSA director was located
in Juneau.
Co-Chair Johnson asked how much extra it would be for the
council [Council on Human and Sex Trafficking] to have its
own executive director.
Mr. Ballinger responded, "$24,000."
Co-Chair Johnson asked for verification that the $24,000
was if the position was located in Juneau.
Mr. Ballinger replied affirmatively.
Co-Chair Johnson considered that it would require an office
location. She asked how much extra it would cost to have an
office for the individual. She wondered whether it would be
located within DPS.
Representative Vance deferred the question to Ms. Purinton
with DPS.
Ms. Purinton responded that the department's current fiscal
note included funding for two positions including a program
coordinator 2 and an administrative assistant. The first-
year cost for the two positions was just over $333,000. She
noted that first-year costs were typically higher because
they reflected startup costs for things like a desk, chair,
workstation, and access to any licensing. The annual cost
in FY 26 going forward was $296,900. If the program
coordinator 2 position changed to an executive director
position, the cost would go up by just under $25,000. She
noted that managing the 17-member council would be a lot in
terms of coordinating schedules. The first year cost would
be a total of $358,000 and future years shown in the fiscal
note would increase by $24,000 annually.
6:44:02 PM
Co-Chair Johnson noted that she had looked at some of the
minutes from previous meetings and thought it sounded like
Representative Vance would prefer for the council to have
its own executive director.
Representative Vance responded in the affirmative. She
stated that having a focused mindset was helpful. Overall,
she supported doing whatever possible to get the council
established [in statute]. She was amenable to the idea of
sharing [an executive director] with someone already
working on the issues of sexual violence if it meant being
able to move forward. She agreeable with the will of the
committee.
Co-Chair Johnson remarked that she likely shared some
similarities with Representative Vance's perspective. She
believed it was an important topic and council. She did not
want to see CDVSA's own work negatively impacted. She was
mulling over how to possibly fund the council and make it
work.
6:46:11 PM
AT EASE
6:46:28 PM
RECONVENED
Representative Ortiz asked for verification that the reason
the cost would only be an additional $24,000 was because
the assistant position would be reclassified as the
executive director position.
Representative Vance agreed.
Representative Coulombe asked how the bill was getting
funded going forward. She wondered if the funding was UGF
[unrestricted general fund].
Representative Vance responded that the fund source was
UGF. Her long-term goal was to see grants supplant UGF. She
did not know what the future funding possibility may be.
Representative Coulombe remarked on the funding struggles
CDVSA was having to operate and provide grants.
Co-Chair Foster asked the sponsor if she had any additional
comments.
Representative Vance thought that the crime bill on sex and
human trafficking would provide a broader understanding of
the issue and the importance of the council to further its
work. She thanked the committee.
Co-Chair Foster asked for a review of the fiscal notes
beginning with the Department of Corrections (DOC).
6:49:07 PM
TERI WEST, ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES DIRECTOR, DEPARTMENT OF
CORRECTIONS (via teleconference), relayed that the
department had not submitted a fiscal note for the bill.
Co-Chair Foster asked for a review of the fiscal note from
the Department of Education and Early Development (DEED).
KELLY MANNING, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, DIVISION OF INNOVATION AND
EDUCATION EXCELLENCE, DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND EARLY
DEVELOPMENT (via teleconference), reviewed the zero fiscal
note, OMB component 2796. She explained that DEED's
submitted a zero fiscal note because DEED would sit as a
member of the council and provide support, but there were
not currently any components of the bill that had a fiscal
impact on DEED.
Co-Chair Foster asked for a review of the fiscal note from
the Department of Health [note: there was no one from
Department of Health present or online]. He asked for a
review of the fiscal note from the Department of Law (DOL).
6:51:45 PM
ANGIE KEMP, DIRECTOR, CRIMINAL DIVISION, DEPARTMENT OF LAW,
relayed that the fiscal note, OMB component 2202 showed no
funding request for DOL.
Co-Chair Foster clarified that it was a zero fiscal note.
He asked Ms. Purinton to review the DPS fiscal note.
Ms. Purinton reviewed the DPS fiscal note, OMB component
521 for CDVSA. The first year cost for FY 25 was $333,700
to fund a program coordinator 2 and administrative
assistant to help manage the council. She noted that the
first-year cost was slightly higher than outyears due to
the initial startup costs for a new position including
workstations, computers, and other services needed for the
positions. The cost in the outyears was $296,900 annually
to continue funding the positions.
Representative Hannan asked if Ms. Purinton knew of any
federal grant programs that could potentially fund the
council.
Ms. Purinton answered that there were federal grants that
could help support the objectives of the Council on Human
and Sex Trafficking whether it was a marketing campaign or
victim support and services. She did not know if there
would be federal grants to fund the positions for the
council. She would have to do more research to provide a
definitive answer.
Representative Hannan asked for verification that the
department anticipated the funding would come from UGF
through FY 30.
Ms. Purinton replied that without additional resources, it
was the department's expectation.
Co-Chair Johnson referenced the operating budget and
believed CDVSA had a $3.7 million budget request [for FY
25]. She directed a question to a committee member and
asked for verification there had been an amendment to
include the funding in the base budget. She recalled there
had been another amendment to add funding to the request,
but it had not been adopted. She asked for the total
amount.
Representative Josephson believed the amount was $3
million. He noted there was a separate amendment for
$500,000 to help with utilities expenses.
6:56:25 PM
Co-Chair Foster asked for a review of the DOH fiscal note.
RENEE GAYHART, DIRECTOR, HEALTH CARE SERVICES, DEPARTMENT
OF HEALTH (via teleconference), reviewed the DOH fiscal
note, OMB component 242. The fiscal note was zero as the
impact to DOH was limited to the commissioner or designee
being a member of the council in addition to public health
and public information staff coordinating the awareness and
materials development.
Co-Chair Foster noted there was no one available from DOC
to review their fiscal note. He asked his staff to provide
a review of the DOC note.
6:57:42 PM
BRODIE ANDERSON, STAFF, REPRESENTATIVE NEAL FOSTER,
reviewed the DOC fiscal note, OMB component 694. The fiscal
note was zero. The department had submitted a fiscal note
because the commissioner or their designee would serve on
the council; however, there was no anticipated fiscal
impact.
Representative Galvin directed a question to Representative
Vance. She remarked that the council was very large and
included many commissioners. She remarked on the zero
fiscal notes and highlighted that all of the council
members were doing work, which took time away from their
department work. She noted that the council was assembling
frequently. She asked for comment from the bill sponsor.
Representative Vance recognized it was a large council for
a large issue. She stated that the council had been
functioning for several years with the participation of
most of the same commissioners or their designee. She was
very impressed with the work and enthusiasm by all of the
members involved on the commission. She added that other
commissioners requested to be involved in the council such
as the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities
(DOT) pertaining to labor trafficking and human smuggling.
She agreed that commissioners had a substantial amount
demanded of them, but they had significant assets in their
designees to participate on their behalf. She believed if
it had been burdensome, the council would have heard about
it and seen a lack of participation; however, in her short
experience she had been impressed by the commissioners'
engagement.
Representative Galvin asked if Representative Vance had
council successes to share or examples of how having "this
many" assemble has moved the ball in terms of changing
outcomes.
Representative Vance responded with an example in the area
of education. She explained that the council was doing work
on providing e-learning modules for first responders,
troopers, medical professionals, and hopefully teachers to
have an introduction into human and sex trafficking through
DPS. She elaborated that DEED had been involved in order to
make the module a usable resource for a variety of
professionals. The idea was for first responders to
understand how to handle the particular kind of trauma.
7:02:58 PM
Representative Galvin stated her understanding that the
council was putting together a program where responders
would know how to identify and respond appropriately to
victims. She asked if Representative Vance was aware of any
change in population outcomes.
Representative Vance responded that it may be too early to
see a change in outcomes because the work was new. She
elaborated it was a part of existing duties the council had
been working on. The goal was to offer continuing education
credits. She stated it was not as widespread yet because it
was still a work in progress. The council was tasked with
providing the data to see any changes in order to determine
the impact of the council's work throughout Alaska over
time.
Co-Chair Foster asked Representative Vance for any closing
comments.
Representative Vance thanked the committee for its
consideration of the bill. She stated that ending
trafficking began with awareness and the ability to
identify it.
Co-Chair Foster set an amendment deadline for Thursday, May
2 at 5:00 p.m.
Representative Hannan asked if the bill sponsor was running
any amendments that changed the council's intersection with
CDVSA. Alternatively, she wondered if the committee would
need to create the amendment.
Co-Chair Foster replied that the sponsor had indicated she
had an amendment drafted and that she was open to splitting
the duties between two people instead of one.
Representative Hannan remarked that the issue pertained to
several places in the bill. She wondered if there was a
committee substitute (CS) in the works. She noted there
were several places CDVSA was referenced related to a
transition, hiring, and responsibilities.
Co-Chair Foster responded that there was no CS in the
works, but the sponsor had indicated she had an amendment
available. He suggested Representative Hannan may want to
touch base with Representative Vance to determine whether
it was to the extent Representative Hannan was describing.
HB 259 was HEARD and HELD for further consideration.
7:06:41 PM
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| HB 11 Assault in the Presence of a Child Presentation.pptx |
HFIN 4/30/2024 1:30:00 PM |
HB 11 |
| HB 11 Alaska Family Services Letter of Support.pdf |
HFIN 4/30/2024 1:30:00 PM |
HB 11 |
| HB 11 Sectional Analysis.pdf |
HFIN 4/30/2024 1:30:00 PM |
HB 11 |
| HB 11 Sponsor Statement.pdf |
HFIN 4/30/2024 1:30:00 PM |
HB 11 |
| HB 11 WISH Letter of Support.pdf |
HFIN 4/30/2024 1:30:00 PM |
HB 11 |
| HB 68 Sex and Human Trafficking Sectional 5.3.23.pdf |
HFIN 4/30/2024 1:30:00 PM |
HB 68 |
| HB 68 Transmittal Letter.pdf |
HFIN 4/30/2024 1:30:00 PM |
HB 68 |
| HB 68 Summary of Changes 5.5.23.pdf |
HFIN 4/30/2024 1:30:00 PM |
HB 68 |
| HB068 - Public Testimony Letters of Support (submitted 03-23-23).pdf |
HFIN 4/30/2024 1:30:00 PM |
HB 68 |
| HB068 -Public Testimony Letters of Opposition (submitted 03-23-23).pdf |
HFIN 4/30/2024 1:30:00 PM |
HB 68 |
| HB 259 Public Testimony Rec'd by 042924.pdf |
HFIN 4/30/2024 1:30:00 PM |
HB 259 |
| HB 68 Public Testimony Rec'd by 042924.pdf |
HFIN 4/30/2024 1:30:00 PM |
HB 68 |