Legislature(1997 - 1998)
03/24/1997 09:03 AM Senate HES
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SENATE HEALTH, EDUCATION AND SOCIAL SERVICES COMMITTEE
March 24, 1997
9:03 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Gary Wilken, Chairman
Senator Loren Leman, Vice-Chairman
Senator Lyda Green
Senator Jerry Ward
Senator Johnny Ellis
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
SENATE BILL NO. 58
"An Act relating to the privilege to drive of minors and to the
penalty for the consumption or possession of alcoholic beverages by
persons under 21 years of age."
- MOVED CSSB 58 (HES) OUT OF COMMITTEE
SENATE BILL NO. 11
"An Act relating to state aid for school construction debt; and
providing for an effective date."
- MOVED CSSB 11 (HES) OUT OF COMMITTEE
SENATE BILL NO. 132
"An Act relating to registration of sex offenders and central
registry of sex offenders; relating to access to, release of, and
use of criminal justice information and systems; relating to
notices concerning sex offender registrants; and providing for an
effective date."
- HEARD AND HELD
SENATE BILL NO. 146
"An Act relating to the public school funding program; relating to
the definition of a school district, to the transportation of
students, to school district layoff plans, to the special education
service agency, to the child care grant program; imposing a school
tax in the unorganized borough; and providing for an effective
date."
- SCHEDULED BUT NOT HEARD
PREVIOUS SENATE COMMITTEE ACTION
SB 58 - See Senate Health, Education & Social Services minutes
dated 3/10/97, 3/21/97.
SB 11 - See Senate Health, Education & Social Services minutes
dated 2/26/97, 3/21/97.
SB 132 - No previous Senate action to record.
SB 146 - No previous Senate action to record.
WITNESS REGISTER
Joe Ambrose, Staff
Senator Robin Taylor
State Capitol Bldg.
Juneau, AK 99801-1182
POSITION STATEMENT: Staff to sponsor of SB 58.
Loren Jones, Director
Division of Alcohol and Drug Programs
P.O. Box 110607
Juneau, AK 99811-0607
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported CSSB 58(HES).
Juanita Hensley, Chief
Driver Services
Division of Motor Vehicles
P.O. Box 20020
Juneau, AK 99811-0020
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported CSSB 58(HES).
Brett Huber, Staff
Senator Halford
State Capitol Bldg.
Juneau, AK 99801-1182
POSITION STATEMENT: Staff to sponsor of SB 11.
Anne Carpeneti, Assistant Attorney General
Criminal Division
Department of Law
P.O. Box 110300
Juneau, AK 99811-0300
POSITION STATEMENT: Discussed SB 132.
ACTION NARRATIVE
TAPE 97-33, SIDE A
Number 001
SB 58 MINOR CONSUMING ALCOHOL: PENALTY
CHAIRMAN WILKEN called the Senate Health, Education and Social
Services (HESS) Committee to order at 9:03 a.m. and announced SB 58
to be up for consideration.
SENATOR GREEN moved to adopt CSSB 58(HES). There were no
objections and it was so ordered.
JOE AMBROSE, Staff to Senator Taylor, sponsor, said as per Chairman
Wilken's request he met with representatives of the court system,
Department of Law, Department of Health and Social Services, and
the Department of Public Safety who all had something to do with
the CS to SB 58 and Senator Taylor is very comfortable with this
bill.
Mr. Ambrose said it is surprising how little lee-way district court
judges have when dealing with minors consuming alcohol. In 1995
minor consuming was moved from the juvenile justice system to
district court. SB 58 was introduced to correct some problems that
occurred with that move. Some kids thought the $100 fine was a
joke and there continued to be repeat offenders. One of the
punishments a judge had available was to revoke the driver's
license which entitle the defendant to a jury trial and a public
defender. So SB 58 removes the driver's license revocation from
the purview of the court and makes it an administrative action by
the Division of Motor Vehicles. Mr. Ambrose then reviewed the
sections of the bill.
Mr. Ambrose said there is startling data about the rate of minors
consuming in Alaska, especially repeat offenders. These are the
offenders Senator Taylor is concerned with - the teenagers who are
on their 12th, 13th, and 14th offense.
CHAIRMAN WILKEN asked how the success of this bill could be
measured over time. JOE AMBROSE responded that question was asked
about the effectiveness of alcohol treatment programs in Alaska.
There was a study commissioned by the legislature at that time
which came back with the result that alcohol treatment programs in
Alaska are a lot more effective than some people think they were.
The Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse will be providing the
curriculum for the classes. He said they would hopefully see a
drastic reduction in the numbers of repeat offenders.
LOREN JONES, Director, Division of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, said
the sections that moved into the CS from SB 71 transfer the
approval process for alcohol information schools, for both adults
and minors, from the DMV to Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse so
they can set up age appropriate curriculum for minors and improve
upon the current curriculum for adult services. It also gives
authority to the division for that purpose. This allows them to
also monitor kids who are being processed through this. The
division will also use the funds available to grant to local
agencies throughout the state the ability to operate the youth
assessment programs. He said the grants have specific evaluative
criteria to measure the reduction in number of repeat offenders.
The division hopes to get the message out that there are
consequences that are certain and will be monitored, that teenagers
will not be able to simply walk away and do nothing about it.
Mr. Ambrose said the state is in the third year that the "use it or
lose it" has been in effect and between the first and second year
there was not a significant increase in the number of first time
offenders; there was an increase in the second and third time
offenders and these are the targets of this legislation.
LOREN JONES said success would be measured by the number of
offenders going down in a five-year period.
Number 270
SENATOR WARD asked if he knew what questions were asked of a person
applying for a driver's permit. LOREN JONES replied that he did
not. SENATOR WARD did not know if young citizens taking the test
are currently required to actually know the answer.
JOE AMBROSE pointed out that there is other information up-front
that this kind of activity would place the young person's license
at risk. He clarified that this bill does not propose any kind of
study. It is a bill to divert kids into actual treatment programs.
SENATOR GREEN asked if there was a current component in the adult
ASAP program requiring those people to stay in touch even after
going through the program. LOREN JONES explained that currently an
individual stays until the individual has successfully completed
the assignment, whether it be alcohol education or treatment. Once
that process is over the ASAP function is closed. Most persons get
a year probation with the court. If for some reason the individual
has not completed the program, the program managers try to monitor
the participants through the process until they do.
Number 302
JUANITA HENSLEY, Division of Motor Vehicles, said there are several
ways to educate students regarding the consequences of using
alcohol. A brochure is available to all the students in all the
schools and two driver improvement specialists, one in Anchorage
and one in Juneau, who speak in schools. She said there is a
section in the driver's manual that deals strictly with drugs
and alcohol and driving. The driver's test also has specific
questions that deal with alcohol. She mentioned that students
usually know about the "use it or lose it" because a friend or
acquaintance has been in contact with police and had his/her
license revoked. The information is out there.
SENATOR WARD suggested the test ask the question of how many under
age young citizens have lost their license due to having alcohol in
the car. He thought that would make the issue even more prominent
and would not cost any money. JUANITA HENSLEY responded that she
would be more than happy to work with him on developing questions
on that issue; the department is in the process of revising the
driver's manual.
SENATOR LEMAN related an incident of a constituent of his whose
driver's license was suspended for something like 10-years and he
would be 30 before he could legally drive. He said he supported
the law, but wanted to know if this law was really working and if
there was something the division could do to be flexible in cases
like this. JUANITA HENSLEY clarified that the fiscal note on whic
estimated the number of students caught with alcohol to be 2,500
was in error and there are 3,900 plus now. The law went into
effect July 1, 1994 and the division does not know whether it is
working at this point, because at the same time in 1995 it was
taken out of the criminal justice system and put into violations
where the judges have no control to mandate that the person go to
alcohol treatment. This bill will mandate the person be screened
and go to alcohol treatment before the person's license is returned
which would help them determine whether it is working or not.
SENATOR WARD said the reason the 1983 drunk driving bill was as
successful as it was is because it made mandatory penalties. There
has to be the deterrent of penalties rather than alcohol treatment
programs to make the number go down. Senator Ward did not think
this message was clear enough to the youngsters now. Senator Ward
asked Mr. Ambrose to let Senator Taylor know of his concern about
the testing and see if it could be worked into the bill somewhere
in the process. Senator Ward moved to pass CSSB 58(HES) from
committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying
fiscal notes. There were no objections and it was so ordered.
SB 11 SCHOOL DEBT REIMBURSEMENT
CHAIRMAN WILKEN announced SB 11 to be up for consideration.
SENATOR WARD moved to adopt the CS to SB 11. There were no
objections and it was so ordered.
BRETT HUBER, Staff to Senator Halford, sponsor, explained the
changes in the CS which addressed the concerns of the committee.
SENATOR LEMAN noted the language referring to 75 rather than 70
percent on page 4, line 13 that he did not recall from last week's
amendment. CHAIRMAN WILKEN explained that it is personal
preference; he liked 75 percent better because it is a fixed number
and it becomes rooted in people's minds that the state pays three
quarters. He noted that Senator Leman was not in the room when it
was discussed before the committee.
SENATOR GREEN moved to pass CSSB 11(HES) from committee with
individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal notes.
There were no objections and it was so ordered.
SB 132 CRIMINAL JUSTICE INFO, INCL. SEX OFFENDER
CHAIRMAN WILKEN announced SB 132 to be up for consideration.
ANNE CARPENETI, Department of Law, explained that this bill has two
parts dealing with criminal background information. The first part
amends AS 12.62 which is the criminal justice information systems
and the security statutes in two general ways; first by clarifying
procedures for a person to get background information held by the
FBI. Secondly, it eliminates the historical time limitation on
prior convictions and the ability to obtain information on prior
convictions for State records.
Ms. Carpeneti said the second part of the bill brings the state in
compliance with the Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and
Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act. In order to stay
eligible for 100 percent funding from the Burn formula funding
grants the legislation is necessary. It requires the state to
adopt a two-tier sex offender registration program - one for
certain offenses against children and sexually violent crimes and
requires registration for at least 10 years. The other second part
of the Wetterling Act provides more stringent registration
requirements for sexually violent predators. Ms. Carpeneti
informed the committee that Alaska already has a two-step sex
offender registration procedure. The first is for 15-years for
first time sex offenders and the second requires recidivist sex
offenders to register for life. Ms. Carpeneti explained that the
Wetterling Act requires the state to appoint panels of experts in
behavior and the treatment of sex offenders which would examine a
person who has been convicted of a sex offense and make a
recommendation to the sentencing court whether or not that person
should be classified as a sexually violent predator. If a person
is classified as a sexually violent predator, he or she would
remain there until the board examined the person at a later date
and made the recommendation that the person is no longer sexually
violent. The recommendation would have to go back to the original
sentencing court and the court would make the determination if that
person has ceased to be a sexually violent predator.
Ms. Carpeneti said there are several problems with that approach.
The cost of establishing a statewide board of experts would be
significant and the second and more significant cost would be to
litigate whether or not the individual is a sexually violent
predator and remains one. The potential for litigation is for the
life of the person. For these reasons, the department has been
working with the federal government on an alternate approach which
the department expects will be accepted. The legislation proposes
in addition to the life-time registration of recidivist offenders,
to add to that category persons who are convicted for the first
time of the most serious sexual offenses, sexual assault in the
first degree (an unclassified felony) and sexual abuse of a minor
in the first degree (also an unclassified felony). Ms. Carpeneti
said the Wetterling Act also requires verification of the addresses
of sexually violent predators through registration every 90 days.
SENATOR WARD asked for a copy of the Wetterling Act for all
committee members and asked if the state is receiving the grant
money now. ANNE CARPENETI replied yes. SENATOR WARD asked if
there is a document saying that our laws are out of compliance and
the state will not receive it this year. Senator Ward requested a
copy of that also. ANNE CARPENETI noted that the department has
had communications with the Department of Justice setting forth the
requirements of what the state must do. At this point, the
department knows that the state is not in compliance. The federal
government has not formally said that the federal money will be cut
off. SENATOR WARD asked her to get a letter stating that to the
committee. ANNE CARPENETI replied that she would do her best.
SENATOR GREEN asked if there was a timing sequence that other
things might happen at the federal level.
TAPE 97-33, SIDE B
Number 580
SENATOR GREEN said that might make it easier for the state to
comport to what they have done afterwards. ANNE CARPENETI replied
that two other pieces of law have been passed since the Wetterling
Act. One is Megan's Law which addresses notification of the
location of sex offenders and that is addressed in this bill by
allowing the Department of Public Safety to adopt regulations
addressing notification. The second is a bill requiring some time
in the future the FBI to establish a tracking system of sex
offenders. That is provided in this bill by requiring the
Department of Public Safety to notify the State and FBI whenever a
sex offender moves out of State and notify the state they are
moving to.
Ms. Carpeneti explained that other states are trying to find
creative alternatives for the board of experts, but some of the
provisions of the Wetterling Act can't be changed. The state has
adopted guidelines, which she will provide the committee, which
gives them a lot more freedom in certain areas.
SENATOR GREEN did not think the current sex offender registration
system in Alaska went far enough. ANNE CARPENETI pointed out that
Alaska is more stringent than federal statutes, in that first
offenses must register for 15 years. The Wetterling Act starts
with 10 years as a floor rather than a ceiling. Alaska also has
the life-time registration for recidivists which is more serious
that federal requirements.
SENATOR GREEN was concerned that the state would be pulling people
into the system who have only been charged, but not convicted.
Number 556
ANNE CARPENETI thought that was a reading mistake because you only
have to register after conviction.
SENATOR GREEN asked her to explain page 2, section 4. ANNE
CARPENETI explained that section addresses the criminal justice
information security system which is different than the Wetterling
Act.
CHAIRMAN WILKEN asked what was challenged in court and then came
back in State law over the last couple of years. ANNE CARPENETI
replied that the ex-post facto issue, which means adopting a
punishment that was not in affect when the act was committed was
challenged. She found that no state or federal court has upheld
the challenge based and our case in Alaska has been dismissed.
CHAIRMAN WILKEN said that SB 132 would be held for further
discussion and adjourned the meeting at 9:56 a.m.
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