Legislature(1993 - 1994)
02/01/1993 03:00 PM House HES
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
HOUSE HEALTH, EDUCATION AND SOCIAL SERVICES
STANDING COMMITTEE
February 1, 1993
3:00 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Rep. Cynthia Toohey, Co-Chair
Rep. Con Bunde, Co-Chair
Rep. Gary Davis, Vice Chair
Rep. Al Vezey
Rep. Pete Kott
Rep. Harley Olberg
Rep. Bettye Davis
Rep. Irene Nicholia
Rep. Tom Brice
MEMBERS ABSENT
None
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
EO 84: Consolidating the duties and functions of the
Alaska Women's Commission and the Alaska
Commission on Children and Youth into a new Alaska
Human Relations Commission in the Governor's
Office.
HELD OVER TO TIME UNCERTAIN
WITNESS REGISTER
Kristie Leaf, Executive Director
Boards and Commissions
Office of the Governor
P.O. Box 110001
Juneau, Alaska 99811
Phone: (907) 465-3500
Position Statement: Supported EO 84
Nancy Kuhn
6080 Amy-Dyan Road
Fairbanks, Alaska 99712
Phone: (907) 488-0329
Position Statement: Opposed EO 84
Meg Gaydosik, Board Member
American Association of University Women
1024 Fifth Ave.
Fairbanks, Alaska 99701
Phone: (907) 456-8389
Position Statement: Opposed EO 84
Tom Schell, Director
Parent and Family Center
427 W. 12th St
Juneau, Alaska 99801
Phone: (907) 586-5993
Position Statement: Opposed EO 84, Represented Catholic
Social Services
Carol Huntington
American Association of School Boards
Galena, Alaska 99741
Phone: (907) 656-1312
Position Statement: Opposed EO 84
Virginia Phillips, Member
Alaska Women's Commission
404 Lake St. 2-D
Sitka, Alaska 99835
Phone: (907) 747-8024
Position Statement: Supported EO 84
Carmen Lowry, Program Director
Tundra Women's Coalition
P.O. Box 2316
Bethel, Alaska 99559
Phone: (907) 543-3455
Position Statement: Opposed EO 84
Bryan Davidson
Tundra Women's Coalition
P.O. Box 1765
Bethel, Alaska 99559
Phone: (907) 543-3444
Position Statement: Opposed EO 84
Ruth Lister, Member
Fairbanks Alaska Women's Political Caucus
and the Alaska Women's Lobby
1290 Jones Road
Fairbanks, Alaska 99709
Phone: (907) 455-6886
Position Statement: Opposed EO 84
Bonnie Jack
1063 W. 20th Ave.
Anchorage, Alaska 99503
Phone: (907) 279-4836
Position Statement: Opposed EO 84; Supported HSCR 1
Lauree Hugonin
P.O. Box 1537
Bethel, Alaska 99559
Phone: (907) 543-3455
Position Statement: Opposed EO 84
Valerie Davidson
P.O. Box 22899
Juneau, Alaska 99802
Phone: (907) 463-1899
Position Statement: Opposed EO 84; Former member of
the Alaska Commission on Children
and Youth
Sherrie Goll, Lobbyist
Alaska Women's Lobby; KIDPAC
P.O. Box 22156
Juneau, Alaska 99802
Phone: (907) 463-6744
Position Statement: Opposed EO 84
PREVIOUS ACTION
EO 84: Was heard previously in the House State Affairs
Committee on 1-19-93.
ACTION NARRATIVE
TAPE 93-8A, SIDE A
Number 000
CHAIR TOOHEY called the meeting to order at 3:03 p.m. and
noted members present. She announced that the committee
would hear Executive Order 84, Establishing the Alaska Human
Relations Commission. She noted that the meeting was being
teleconferenced to Anchorage, Fairbanks, Sitka, and Galena.
Number 037
KRISTIE LEAF, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS
IN THE OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR, introduced herself and
announced she would testify in support of EO 84. She
presented the committee with an outline of her testimony and
proceeded to read it to the committee. (The document,
identified as Attachment 1, is incorporated herein and is on
file in the HESS committee room.)
MS. LEAF described how the Governor's Task Force on Boards
and Commissions studied the question of merging some
commissions to consider saving money; received public
testimony more than 2-1 in support of a merger; and then
unanimously recommended merging the Alaska Commission on
Children and Youth (ACCY) and the Alaska Women's Commission
(AWC) into a Human Relations Commission (HRC). She said the
duties of each commission would remain the same in the
combined commission, but the membership would drop to nine
from 21 in the two commissions. The new commission budget
would have to be higher, she said, and the governor would
later this session ask for more money than the combined
$60,700 the ACCY and AWC now receive. Having completed her
prepared testimony, Ms. Leaf asked for questions.
(Rep. Nicholia arrived at 3:09 p.m.)
Number 128
REP. B. DAVIS asked Ms. Leaf how combining the two
commissions would strengthen them.
MS. LEAF answered that combining the two commissions'
budget, adding more money, and decreasing the number of
commissioners would strengthen the ability of the single
commission to perform both commissions' functions as defined
in statute.
REP. B. DAVIS asked how much money the HRC would receive.
MS. LEAF said it had not been determined.
REP. B. DAVIS asked whether the two commissions were able to
carry out their duties in the two years they had each
received about $30,000 in funding, and whether they had been
successful.
MS. LEAF said she did not have a list of those
accomplishments and could not comment on their success.
REP. BUNDE asked Ms. Leaf to reconcile the zero fiscal note
with the governor's intention to seek more funding for the
HRC.
MS. LEAF answered that the commissions' past combined
budgets had been as high as $344,000 in previous years, and
a merged committee would require the $60,000 and more.
"Relatively speaking, funds would be (unintelligible) when
we look at the history of the two commissions' budgets," she
said.
Number 178
CHAIR TOOHEY expressed her opposition to EO 84, as a Human
Relations Commission would actually be a Family Commission
addressing women's and children's issues, but not men's
issues. She suggested achieving the governor's intent to
save money by reducing the Alaska Women's Commission and the
Alaska Commission on Children and Youth to five members
each, retaining funding at current levels, and possibly
creating a Men's Commission.
Number 208
CHAIR TOOHEY called for testimony from teleconference sites.
Number 210
NANCY KUHN, representing herself, testified from Fairbanks
in opposition to EO 84, saying that women have separate
issues and deserve a separate commission and should not be
equated with children or other dependents.
Number 233
CHAIR TOOHEY called an at-ease at 3:15 p.m. She called the
meeting back to order a few minutes later and called the
next teleconference witness.
Number 246
MEG GAYDOSIK, speaking for the Alaska members of the
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY WOMEN, testified from
Fairbanks in opposition to EO 84 and in support of HSCR 1.
She said the association supports having a separate
commission for women to address concerns such as physical
violence, rape, equal compensation, and poverty. She cited
the allegations against State Senator George Jacko of sexual
harassment as proof of women's needs for a separate
commission.
Number 279
TOM SCHELL, of the ALASKA PARENT AND FAMILY CENTER in
Juneau, and speaking for CATHOLIC SOCIAL SERVICES for the
SOUTHEAST ALASKA DIOCESE, testified in opposition to EO 84.
He said he believed the commissions should be kept separate
because joining them would dilute the services necessary to
help youth. He cited his background as a retiree with 32
years in teaching and as director of pupil services in West
Virginia, including 26 years working with at-risk students.
He read statistics listing Alaska youth's problems with teen
pregnancy, substance abuse, low scholastic achievement,
abuse, suicide, and more. (His written remarks are herein
incorporated as Attachment 2, and are on file in the
committee room.)
Number 365
CAROL HUNTINGTON, of the ALASKA ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOL
BOARDS, testified from Galena that her association did not
want to see the focus on children diluted, but she did not
take a position opposing or supporting EO 84.
Number 392
VIRGINIA PHILLIPS, a member of the ALASKA WOMEN'S
COMMISSION, testified from Sitka in support of EO 84. She
said most of the testimony she heard on the issue
recommended combining commissions, and the commission voted
unanimously last spring to combine. She recommended adding
a men's branch to the combined commission. She said help
for children was best delivered through families. She
recommended fighting mailed pornography as one cause of
women's and children's problems. (She submitted additional
written testimony, incorporated herein as Attachment 6.)
Number 441
REP. BRICE asked Ms. Phillips for the most compelling
arguments she had heard in testimony supporting combining
commissions, other than administrative efficiency.
MS. PHILLIPS answered that children do not live in isolation
from their parents - children and parents work together, and
a joint commission would cut duplication of services and
save money.
CHAIR TOOHEY mentioned that written testimony to the Alaska
Women's Commission included 10 letters supporting
combination, five against.
Number 478
REP. NICHOLIA mentioned the 111-page, 1988 annual report,
and a one-page 1991 annual report, for the Alaska Women's
Commission and asked the reason for the differences.
MS. PHILLIPS answered that the 1991 report was produced
while the Alaska Women's Commission and the Alaska
Commission on Children and Youth were merging office space
and moving to Juneau, which created a crisis-like atmosphere
and confusion that limited their ability to do a full
report.
Number 499
REP. B. DAVIS asked Ms. Phillips whether the cuts to the two
commissions' budgets created a crisis, and if that prevented
them from accomplishing much.
MS. PHILLIPS answered that there was a crisis, but the
commissions did the best they could with the resources they
had, and they did accomplish some things by stretching
themselves.
REP. B. DAVIS mentioned the commissions' difficulties
resulting from smaller budgets recommended against combining
them, as the earlier budget cuts and efforts at efficiency
had degraded their effectiveness. She also questioned
whether a Family Commission or a Human Relations Commission
would address children's issues, which she said sometimes
supercede a family's concerns. She voiced opposition to any
combination.
Number 538
CARMEN LOWRY, PROGRAM DIRECTOR, TUNDRA WOMEN'S COALITION, a
domestic violence and sexual assault center in Bethel,
testified from Bethel in opposition to EO 84 as a dilution
of the two commissions' distinct functions. She questioned
how the combination would save money if the governor planned
to make supplementary appropriations to a combined
commission.
(Rep. Pete Kott arrived at 3:20 p.m.)
BRYAN DAVIDSON, a volunteer worker at the TUNDRA WOMEN'S
CENTER, testified from Bethel in opposition to EO 84. He
said women and children sometimes have mutually exclusive
concerns, such as in child abuse cases.
Number 575
RUTH LISTER of the FAIRBANKS ALASKA WOMEN'S POLITICAL CAUCUS
and the ALASKA WOMEN'S LOBBY, and former director of the
ALASKA WOMEN'S COMMISSION, testified from Fairbanks in
opposition to EO 84. She said that, with its prior funding,
the Alaska Women's Commission did a good job. The
commission had to deal more with women's survival issues
than with women's equity issues. She said women's and
children's issues need thorough research and adequate
funding.
TAPE 93-8A, SIDE B
Number 000
REP. BUNDE asked Ms. Lister what she considered adequate
funding for the Alaska Women's Commission.
MS. LISTER replied that the $239,000 for the Alaska Women's
Commission, and $104,000 in FY91, was not much money, but
was buttressed by some private funds, grants and in-kind
services.
Number 020
BONNIE JACK, a divorced mother representing herself,
testified from Anchorage in opposition to EO 84, saying that
a combined commission would exclude the concerns of men and
issues of families and human relations. She suggested
reducing the ACCY from four executive and seven public
members to one executive and four public members. She
suggested cutting the AWC from nine public members to four
public members, and retaining a single executive member.
She also suggested cutting costs by limiting in-person
meetings. She complained of difficulties of contacting the
children's commission by telephone and in obtaining
commissions' annual reports.
Number 169
LAUREE HUGONIN, a single working woman from Bethel,
representing herself, testified in Juneau in opposition to
EO 84, saying Alaska women need a separate commission. (Her
written testimony, herein incorporated and identified as
Attachment 3, is on file in the committee room.)
Number 222
VALERIE DAVIDSON, a Southwest Alaska Native and former
member of the ALASKA COMMISSION ON CHILDREN AND YOUTH,
representing herself, testified in Juneau in opposition to
EO 84. (Her testimony is herein incorporated and identified
as Attachment 4, and is on file in the HESS committee room.)
She said she opposes the combination because it would dilute
the attention paid to children who cannot speak for
themselves. She also cited a June 21, 1991, meeting of the
ACCY in which Cheri Jacobus, a representative from the
Department of law, said the two commissions could not be
statutorily combined. She encouraged more funding for the
Alaska Commission on Children and Youth. She stated it
would be more important to fund the children's commission
than the Older Alaskans Commission. She added that the
efficiency in merging would come from doing less work.
Number 353
CHAIR TOOHEY asked about a 1990 annual report from the ACCY,
which mentioned a Children's Trust Fund which distributed
$21 million to community-based prevention efforts in 43
states in 1988. She asked how much Alaska had received, how
it was spent, and whether the state could continue to
receive such money if the commissions were merged.
MS. LEAF replied that, according to the Department of
Revenue's administrative services director, the Alaska
Children's Trust Fund was established in 1989 or 1990, but
has never received any money and has none now, though
provisions were made for it to be administered by the Alaska
Commission on Children and Youth, with the commissioner of
Revenue serving as treasurer. She said EO 84 would make no
changes in the trust fund's administration.
MS. DAVIDSON stated the national Children's Trust Fund only
issues matching grants to state funds, and the legislature
has failed to appropriate money for matching grants, which
would have granted the ACCY up to $150,000 for
administrative costs. The Alaska Women's Commission said
they would work out a memorandum of agreement with the ACCY,
although only the women's commission did not get such
grants.
Number 390
REP. BRICE said that the language outlining the Human
Relations Commission is closely based on that outlining the
Alaska Women's Commission, and therefore made little mention
of how children's issues would be addressed. He asked Ms.
Davidson to describe the children's commissions membership
and asked for her previous testimony to be included in the
record.
MS. DAVIDSON said there were five public members, one
student under 21, and a representative each from the
Departments of Education, Public Safety, Law, Health and
Social Services, plus invited members from Public Safety and
CDBFA (sic), and Community and Regional Affairs. She also
encouraged the committee members read "Our Greatest Natural
Resources," The Governor's Interim Commission Report on
Children and Youth.
Number 435
SHERRIE GOLL, a lobbyist representing the ALASKA WOMEN'S
LOBBY and KIDPAC, testified in Juneau in opposition to
EO 84. (Ms. Goll's written testimony, identified as
Attachment 5, is on file in the HESS committee room.) She
said there were efforts before the debilitating budget cuts
of 1991 to develop a state-wide plan for children to respond
to the children's commission, which led to increases in
community based programs for children, and in general,
attention to children's problems. She lamented the decline
in interest and funding for children's programs since 1991.
She said children's trust funds were created to help fund
community based child abuse and neglect prevention. The
Alaska Children's Trust Fund was created several years ago,
but the Permanent Fund Dividend check-off funding mechanism
did not pass the legislature, leaving it the only non-funded
trust fund in the nation. The fund now receives only
several thousand dollars a year from the sale of ornate
birth certificates, she said. Administration of the trust
fund has been moved from a now defunct board to the Alaska
Commission on Children and Youth.
Number 481
MS. GOLL continued, saying that when the Alaska Children's
Trust Fund was established, the Health and Social Services
department had room in its budget for prevention of child
abuse, including abuse prevention grants, but that money has
dried up. She said a question remains whether, if the
legislature appropriates money to HSS for child abuse
prevention, it would be proper for the money to be
administered by the commission into which the ACCY was
merged by executive order, or by a separate board.
REP. BRICE asked whether there had been talk of
incorporating the Children's Trust Fund into the Alaska
Women's Commission.
MS. GOLL answered no.
Number 520
CHAIR TOOHEY closed off public testimony and asked the will
of the committee.
REP. BUNDE said the $340,000 for the two commissions was not
an insignificant amount of money. He expressed concern that
the governor had not yet decided how much money a combined
commission would receive. He moved passage of EO 84 from
the HESS Committee with individual recommendations.
REP. BRICE objected.
Number 536
REP. G. DAVIS said the committee must consider whether the
executive order was recommending changes in statute, which
would be illegal.
MS. LEAF answered that EO 84 transferred powers of the two
commissions and did not delete them, and as such fell within
the power of an executive order.
Number 556
REP. B. DAVIS asked that no action be taken until she could
study testimony from the House State Affairs Committee,
which was not in her bill packet.
CHAIR TOOHEY expressed her agreement and said the committee
should hold the order for further consideration.
REP. BRICE expressed a desire to have legal opinions on the
authority of an executive order come from Legislative Legal
Services and not Ms. Leaf.
REP. NICHOLIA echoed Rep. Brice's request.
CHAIR TOOHEY noted Rep. Nicholia's request, then ADJOURNED
the meeting at approximately 4:20 p.m.
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