Legislature(2007 - 2008)SENATE FINANCE 532
04/08/2008 04:00 PM Senate FINANCE
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB 289 | |
| HB 307 | |
| HB 406 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| += | HB 289 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 307 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 406 | TELECONFERENCED | |
SENATE FINANCE COMMITTEE
April 8, 2008
4:27 p.m.
CALL TO ORDER
Co-Chair Stedman called the Senate Finance Committee meeting
to order at 4:27:25 PM.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Bert Stedman, Co-Chair
Senator Charlie Huggins, Vice-Chair
Senator Kim Elton
Senator Donny Olson
Senator Joe Thomas
MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator Lyman Hoffman, Co-Chair
Senator Fred Dyson
ALSO PRESENT
Representative Lindsey Holmes; Representative Anna
Fairclough; Katie Shows, Staff, Representative Paul Seaton;
Chris Ashenbrenner, Executive Director, Council on Domestic
Violence and Sexual Assault; Gail Fenumiai, Director,
Division of Elections, Office of the Lieutenant Governor
PRESENT VIA TELECONFERENCE
SUMMARY
CSHB 289(FSH)
"An Act exempting employers from paying
unemployment tax for temporary services provided
by fishing vessel crewmembers and related to
emergency oil spill training and response
activities; and providing for an effective date."
CSHB 289 (FSH) was REPORTED out of Committee with
no recommendations and an accompanying previously
published fiscal note from the Department of Labor
and Workforce Development.
CSHB 307(FIN)
"An Act relating to penalizing certain misdemeanor
domestic violence assaults as felonies."
SCS CSHB 307 (JUD) was REPORTED out of Committee
with a "do pass" recommendation and accompanying
new fiscal notes from the Department of Law, the
Department of Administration, the Senate Finance
Committee, the Alaska Court System and a
previously published zero fiscal note from the
Department of Public Safety.
CSHB 406(STA)
"An Act relating to contracts for the preparation
of election ballots."
CSHB 406 (STA) was REPORTED out of Committee with
a "do pass" recommendation and a previously
published zero fiscal note from the Office of the
Governor.
4:27:38 PM
CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 289(FSH)
"An Act exempting employers from paying unemployment
tax for temporary services provided by fishing vessel
crewmembers and related to emergency oil spill training
and response activities; and providing for an effective
date."
4:28:43 PM
KATIE SHOWS, STAFF, REPRESENTATIVE PAUL SEATON presented an
overview of the bill by referring to the Sponsor Statement:
HB 289 encourages participation in the state's oil
spill response program by exempting fishing vessel
owners and crew who participate from having to pay
unemployment taxes while they are performing oil spill
response duties.
Vessel owners and crew members undergo oil spill
response training to be prepared to respond to state
disasters as a service to the state on a voluntary
basis. Training for the program and responding to small
spills only takes a few days at a time, filing
paperwork and paying unemployment taxes for such a
short period of service is unreasonably burdensome.
Because commercial fisherman are not covered by
unemployment insurance when they engage in commercial
fishing, most will not be in a position to have enough
service time accrued to collect unemployment after
having only worked a handful of qualified days in the
oil spill response program.
In the unfortunate event of a large spill (such as the
Exxon Valdez), if vessels spend seven or more
continuous days responding to an oil spill vessel
owners would be required to participate in the
unemployment system and their crew would be covered.
In summary, HB 289 encourages fisherman to continue to
participate in the state's oil spill response program
by removing burdensome unemployment requirements. The
state needs more vessels willing and able to respond to
such disasters and must work to remove barriers to
their participation.
Ms. Shows remarked that commercial fishermen are exempt from
paying and filing unemployment taxes as they are paid on a
percentage of catch bases. She explained that the response
training program is only for a few days a year therefore it
would be unreasonable to expect fishermen to file the paper
work for unemployment benefits they probably would not be
eligible to receive. Many commercial fishermen have
threatened to quit the program when they were made aware of
the requirement to file unemployment insurance. She
referenced letters of support for the bill (Copies on file).
Senator Thomas expressed his understanding regarding the
situation but was curious about the definition of
"temporary" being less than seven continuous days.
Ms. Shows responded that "temporary" would be seven
continuous days regardless of when it takes place within the
year. This number was arrived at after consultation with the
Department of Commerce and boat captains.
4:32:37 PM
Senator Olson inquired how many oil spills there had been in
the last five years.
Ms. Shows responded she did not have those numbers.
Senator Olson questioned how many fishermen have quit
participating in the oil spill response program because this
bill was not in place.
Ms. Shows responded that no one has quit at this time but
letters have been received from fishermen threatening to
quit.
4:33:32 PM
Senator Olson asked if there had been any opposition to
bill. Ms. Shows responded there was no opposition.
Senator Olson MOVED to REPORT CSHB 289 (FSH) out of
Committee with individual recommendations and accompanying
fiscal note. There being NO OBJECTION, it was so ordered.
CSHB 289 (FSH) was REPORTED out of Committee with no
recommendations and an accompanying previously published
fiscal note from the Department of Labor and Workforce
Development.
4:34:52 PM
CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 307(FIN)
"An Act relating to penalizing certain misdemeanor
domestic violence assaults as felonies."
4:34:54 PM
REPRESENTATIVE LINDSEY HOLMES, the bill sponsor, presented
an overview the bill. She stressed the intent behind the
bill was to target the critical problem of domestic violence
in Alaska. He noted that in 2005 there were six thousand
reported cases of domestic violence in this state. Ms.
Holmes referred to the Sponsor Statement:
Alaska's domestic violence rates are one of the highest
in the country. Alaska currently has the highest per
capita rate of female homicide death by a make
perpetrator. This violence becomes a vicious cycle -
according to the National Coalition against Domestic
Violence, boys who witness domestic violence are twice
as likely to abuse when they become adults. This cycle
of violence needs to stop.
House Bill 307 seeks increased penalties for repeat
domestic violence offenders. The bill provides that a
domestic violence misdemeanor assault is treated as a
felony if the offender has two prior convictions for
domestic violence felonies or for domestic violence
misdemeanor assault. The bill is narrowly tailored. It
applies prospectively only, so all three offenses would
need to occur after the effective date of the bill. It
contains a 10 year look back, so all three offenses
would need to occur within 10 years of each other.
As of 2005, at least 18 other states had enacted
enhanced penalties for repeat domestic violence
offenders. With this bill, Alaska will join these other
states in sending a strong message that serial
battering will not be tolerated.
Alaskans need to feel safe in their homes and in their
relationships. Domestic violence harms everyone in a
community, not just the victims. Increasing penalties
to repeat offenses is just one part of the solution to
this complex problem.
Representative Holmes declared that many domestic violence
perpetrators have a dozen or more misdemeanor assaults on
their record. She stressed that this bill is not similar to
the California "three strikes" where after three strikes the
person is locked up for life. She noted that the bill has
changed through the Committee process and now provides the
best opportunity of actually convicting repeat domestic
violence offenders. She referred to letters of support on
file.
4:38:28 PM
Senator Olson inquired about the changes made by the various
committees.
Representative Holmes responded that the bill was originally
retrospective but now is a prospective bill. Originally
there was not a ten year "look back." She revealed the most
drastic change is originally it would have required the
prosecutors to actually prove the element of domestic
violence.
4:40:07 PM
Senator Huggins asked what prison time the felony conviction
carried.
Representative Holmes replied a felony conviction for a
first time felon ranges from zero to two years; for those
with prior felonies it would be two to five years.
4:40:30 PM
Co-Chair Stedman reported that the public defenders in the
Office of Public Advocacy are requesting a new employee
position. He inquired if the Department of Law would be
absorbing an extra work load.
Representative Holmes responded that the Department of Law
should address that question.
Co-Chair Stedman referred to the fiscal notes attached to
the bill.
4:42:22 PM
CHRIS ASHENBRENNER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, COUNCIL ON DOMESTIC
VIOLENCE AND SEXUAL ASSAULT spoke in support of the bill and
referred to the letters of support available on file. She
believed that repeat assailants should be held accountable
by moving their repeat crimes from misdemeanors to felonies.
4:44:17 PM
Senator Olson inquired if there was any documentation that
the implementation this bill would cut down on the number of
repeat offenders.
Ms. Ashenbrenner responded that many states carry this
progressive penalty but she was not aware of any studies to
measure the effect.
4:45:03 PM
Senator Huggins MOVED to REPORT SCS CSHB 307 (JUD) out of
Committee with individual recommendations and attached
fiscal notes.
Senator Elton OBJECTED for discussion.
Senator Elton warned the Department of Corrections that in
the future he many not support legislation that does not
reflect the true cost component in the fiscal note. He
believed that prisons often were just warehousing prisoners
who were then released to commit the same crimes again.
4:47:56 PM
Senator Elton WITHDREW his OBJECTION. There being NO further
OBJECTION, it was so ordered.
SCS CSHB 307 (JUD) REPORTED out of Committee with a "do
pass" recommendation and accompanying new fiscal notes from
the Department of Law, the Department of Administration, the
Senate Finance Committee, the Alaska Court System and a
previously published zero fiscal note from the Department of
Public Safety.
4:48:42 PM
CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 406(STA)
"An Act relating to contracts for the preparation of
election ballots."
4:48:53 PM
REPRESENTATIVE ANNA FAIRCLOUGH provided an overview of bill.
She explained that the bill addresses ballot printing.
Currently the state does not use the procurement code, only
a sole source method, to supply printed ballots for Alaska's
election system. This bill proposes a process that is
competitive but with quality assurance and timeliness. She
noted that quality ballots are essential to good election
processes in the state. She referred to letters and
departments who supported the bill.
Representative Fairclough explained the changes in the bill.
On page 1, line 14, the word "may" has been substituted for
"shall." In Section 1515.031, page 4, it lays out the
ability for the Division of Elections to look at preparing a
contract for bid with the procurement process. Inside the
bid process, it is the intention to provide an Alaska bidder
preference as referred to on line 10, with the outline
definition of an "Alaska offeror." On page 4, line 28 there
is a definition of an "Alaska product" preference.
Co-Chair Stedman questioned if this would have any effect on
the upcoming fall 2008 elections.
Representative Fairclough responded it will not effect the
upcoming elections since the bill will take effect in
January 2009.
4:52:09 PM
Senator Elton asked about the timelines and mechanics
related to this change. He wondered if the time lines were
being moved up to a point where it might be difficult for
the division to obtain requests for proposals.
4:53:19 PM
GAIL FENUMIAI, DIRECTOR, DIVISION OF ELECTIONS, OFFICE OF
THE LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR reported that since the bill would
start during an "off" election year the division plans to
send out requests for proposals in the early part of 2009.
The Division feels that starting on smaller locals elections
will give them an opportunity to test contractors and not
have to search for competitive contracts during a primary or
election year.
Senator Elton questioned how the "cost" terms would be
negotiated.
Ms. Fenumiai replied that the Division had not settled on a
final decision but it would probably be on a "market basket"
approach involving different pricing specs based on needed
sizes and numbers.
Senator Elton questioned the difficulty of the process when
candidates may not be known until the last minute.
4:55:48 PM
Ms. Fenumiai responded that there would be flexibility for
vendors and bid solicitors.
4:56:18 PM
Senator Thomas MOVED to REPORT CSHB 406 (STA) out of
Committee with individual recommendations and attached
fiscal note. There being NO OBJECTION, it was so ordered.
CSHB 406 (STA) was REPORTED out of Committee with a "do
pass" recommendation and an accompanying previously
published zero fiscal note from the Office of the Governor.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 4:57 PM
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