03/26/1996 08:05 AM House STA

 HB 383 - REIMBURSE FOR LOCAL SERVICE TO INEBRIATES                          
                                                                               
 The next order of business to come before the House State Affairs             
 Committee was HB 383.                                                         
                                                                               
 CHAIR JAMES called on Representative Ivan Ivan, sponsor of the                
 bill.                                                                         
                                                                               
 Number 2240                                                                   
                                                                               
 REPRESENTATIVE IVAN read the following sponsor statement into the             
 record.                                                                       
                                                                               
 "Widespread alcohol abuse not only damages Alaska's families and              
 society, but also drains public coffers at an alarming rate.  Local           
 governments constantly struggle under the financial burden of their           
 efforts to cope with alcohol problems.                                        
                                                                               
 "Those problems include the many public inebriates evident in our             
 municipalities.                                                               
                                                                               
 "Under AS 47.37.170, local police take into protective custody a              
 person who appears to be intoxicated and incapacitated in a public            
 place and place that person in an approved public treatment or                
 detention facility.  A licensed physician or other qualified health           
 practitioner must then examine the inebriate as soon as possible.             
 If the person if found to be incapacitated by alcohol, he or she is           
 detained for no more than 48 hours in a health facility or for no             
 more than 12 hours in a detention facility.  Tremendous costs                 
 accrue to municipalities and public health facilities due to this             
 program.                                                                      
                                                                               
 "By two methods, House Bill 383 will reduce or eliminate the                  
 financial burden that local governments and public health                     
 facilities bear each year fulfilling this unfunded mandate.                   
                                                                               
 "First, the bill provides for direct state grants to municipalities           
 and traditional village councils to reimburse them for the cost of            
 dealing with inebriates.                                                      
                                                                               
 "Second, the bill gives local governments the power to set taxes on           
 alcoholic beverages at whatever rate they want, regardless of                 
 whether or not they tax other sales.                                          
                                                                               
 "To help defray the state's granting cost as well as closing the              
 fiscal gap, reducing alcohol consumption and fighting crime, the              
 bill raises the alcohol excise tax for the first time since 1983."            
                                                                               
 REPRESENTATIVE IVAN further stated the bills that allowed for the             
 increase in alcohol tax were originally sponsored by Representative           
 Kay Brown, HB 96 and HB 97.  He explained they had been                       
 incorporated into HB 383 to reimburse the municipalities.  He                 
 reiterated the bill was trying to address the problems faced by               
 municipalities when taking care of inebriates.  It was a direct               
 result of an argument between the community of Dillingham and                 
 Bristol Bay in his district of who should take care of the                    
 inebriates.                                                                   
                                                                               
 Number 2397                                                                   
                                                                               
 CHAIR JAMES announced the House State Affairs Committee would only            
 hear testimony today.  There would not be any action taken on the             
 bill, however.                                                                
                                                                               
 CHAIR JAMES called on the first witness via teleconference in                 
 Homer, Lois Irvin.                                                            
                                                                               
 Number 2397                                                                   
                                                                               
 LOIS IRVIN explained Homer had been trying to address this issue              
 for the past year.  There was a problem surrounding the use of a              
 facility to hold the inebriates.  Moreover, according to the bill             
 there was also a funding issue involved.  She expressed her support           
 of HB 383.                                                                    
                                                                               
 TAPE 96-40, SIDE B                                                            
 Number 0010                                                                   
                                                                               
 REPRESENTATIVE OGAN said alcohol was probably the single biggest              
 problem for municipalities.  He had mixed feelings about the bill,            
 however.  He did not really want to raise a tax.  He wanted to hear           
 from Representative Porter, as the former police chief, and the               
 committee members further.  He had been a member of a task force              
 that tried to address this issue in the past.  One suggestion was             
 to abolish alcohol.  He said that was not going to happen, but it             
 was a strong suggestion indicating a strong problem.                          
                                                                               
 Number 0062                                                                   
                                                                               
 CHAIR JAMES said she was concerned because the symptom was being              
 addressed and not the problem.  This was a reoccurring issue in the           
 United States.  The proportion of alcohol was probably the best               
 thing to adjust.  Moreover, the problems of society were based on             
 despair, unemployment, and hopelessness.  Therefore, until a                  
 sufficient economic base and jobs were available, the problem would           
 not be addressed.  Therein lied the problem of government spending.           
 She wondered if money should be appropriated to the core of the               
 problems, or to the programs to help the symptoms.  She said she              
 did not have a solution, only a direction, and she was not sure if            
 HB 383 was going in the same direction.                                       
                                                                               
 Number 0128                                                                   
                                                                               
 REPRESENTATIVE ROBINSON said she supported HB 383, 100 percent.               
 She explained Juneau increased the sales tax on alcohol, and the              
 tax money went directly to the social service programs.  She felt             
 that every other community in the state should have the same option           
 without having to fight it in court.                                          
                                                                               
 Number 0152                                                                   
 REPRESENTATIVE PORTER said he had spent more time in his life                 
 considering the solutions to this problem compared to anybody else            
 here.  The unfortunate truth, however, was that the drinking                  
 problem in Juneau was not any different compared to any other                 
 community.  If Juneau did not have a drinking problem, he would               
 "sign up on this bill in a heartbeat."  However, that was not the             
 case.  The only way to solve the problem was to create an attitude            
 that made people want to stop drinking.  The sobriety program aimed           
 at the bush addressed this attitude.  He explained he was sponsor             
 of a bill that incorporated the sobriety program as part of state             
 policy.  There were a multitude of approaches - prohibition,                  
 increased taxation - but he was concerned about repeating history.            
 He was reluctant to go down those roads again.  Therefore, he would           
 not greatly support HB 383.                                                   
                                                                               
 Number 0250                                                                   
                                                                               
 REPRESENTATIVE GREEN wondered what ever happened to the antabuse              
 program?  He asked if it was rendered unconstitutional?                       
                                                                               
 Number 0266                                                                   
                                                                               
 REPRESENTATIVE PORTER replied it was being used more frequently in            
 sentencing practices now.                                                     
                                                                               
 Number 0279                                                                   
                                                                               
 REPRESENTATIVE IVAN said society was just scratching the surface of           
 this problem.  He explained, there were two other bills in the                
 process, and a resolution, to look at establishing a statewide task           
 force to address the issue further.                                           
                                                                               
 CHAIR JAMES announced the bill would be held for a while in the               
 committee.