Legislature(2001 - 2002)
03/08/2001 03:40 PM Senate STA
| Audio | Topic |
|---|
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE STATE AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
March 8, 2001
3:40 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Gene Therriault, Chair
Senator Randy Phillips, Vice Chair
Senator Bettye Davis
MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator Rick Halford
Senator Drue Pearce
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
HOUSE BILL NO. 100
"An Act establishing the third Saturday of each June as Juneteenth
Day."
MOVED SCS HB 100 (STA) OUT OF COMMITTEE
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 6
Relating to proclaiming April 2001 as Sexual Assault Awareness
Month.
MOVED CSSCR 6 (STA) OUT OF COMMITTEE
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
HB 100 - No previous action recorded.
SCR 6 - No previous action recorded.
WITNESS REGISTER
Representative Lesil McGuire
Alaska State Capitol, Room 418
Juneau, AK 99811-2995
POSITION STATEMENT: Prime sponsor for HB 100
Dino Allen
Anchorage, AK 99513
POSITION STATEMENT: Supports HB 100
John Joeright
Staff for Senator Leman
Alaska State Capitol, Room 516
Juneau, AK 99801-182
POSITION STATEMENT: Explained SCR 6
Trisha Gentle
Council on Domestic Violence & Sexual Abuse
No address provided
POSITION STATEMENT: Supports SCR 6
Lauree Hugonin
Alaska Network Domestic Violence Sexual Assault
130 Seward, Room 209
Juneau, AK 99801
POSITION STATEMENT: Supports SCR 6
Annette Kreitzer
Staff to Senator Leman
Alaska Capitol Building Room 516
Juneau, AK 99801-1182
POSITION STATEMENT: Answered questions on SCR 6
ACTION NARRATIVE
TAPE 01-11, SIDE A
Number 001
CHAIRMAN GENE THERRIAULT called the Senate State Affairs Committee
meeting to order at 3:40 p.m. Present were Senators Phillips, Davis
and Chairman Therriault.
The first order of business was HB 100.
HB 100-JUNETEENTH DAY
C
REPRESENTATIVE MGUIRE, prime sponsor of HB 100, said that
Juneteenth Day is the oldest known celebration commemorating the
end of slavery and is observed in Alaska on the third Saturday of
each June.
Juneteenth Day has been celebrated in Anchorage and the Park Strip
for many years and HB 100 is an effort to have the State of Alaska
give it the recognition it is due. HB 100 respectfully requests the
Governor to issue a proclamation commemorating the day and
providing Alaskans a time to gather in celebration of the end of
slavery.
c
CHAIRMAN THERRIAULT asked Representative MGuire to remain at the
witness table while teleconference testimony was taken.
DINO ALLEN, from Anchorage, said he had organized Juneteenth Day
celebrations on the Park Strip since 1993 and he heartily supports
the celebration and the legislation. It is a wonderful opportunity
to educate Alaskans on the long and difficult history of African
Americans.
CHAIRMAN THERRIAULT said that he spoke with Representative McGuire
just before the meeting and she said the legislation started as a
resolution. He asked whether the drafter recommended a change from
the resolution to a section of statute.
C
REPRESENTATIVE MGUIRE said that initially, she thought a
resolution was sufficient, but decided that it was important enough
to deserve a place in statute. Because resolutions carry
distinction through just one legislative session, a resolution
would need to be passed each session for yearly recognition so she
decided it was best to put it into law.
CHAIRMAN THERRIAULT observed that language for bills is much more
concise than that for resolutions and that language in the statute
needs to clearly explain that Juneteenth Day celebrates an end of
slavery in the United States and its territories in 1865 and
requests that the Governor make a proclamation for the day. He
recommended that on page 1, line 6, the sentence end after "1865".
The second sentence would read, "The Governor shall issue the
proclamation to commemorate the day." The third sentence would say
"On Juneteenth Day, the citizens of the state are urged to reflect
on the plight of early African Americans and appreciate the unique
freedom and equality enjoyed by all state citizens today."
He asked for Representative McGuire's response to the more concise
wording.
C
REPRESENTATIVE MGUIRE thought the comments were constructive but
wanted assurance that if she agreed to the changes, the amendment
would be passed as a conceptual amendment so passage wouldn't be
delayed. She objected to removing "suffering and sacrifice" and
changing it with "the plight" because it doesn't capture the
essence of what she intended. However, her primary goal is to get
the measure passed from committee so she would acquiesce. Other
changes seemed to be technical and clean up.
CHAIRMAN THERRIAULT said that passing a conceptual amendment would
allow opportunity to work with the language.
C
REPRESENTATIVE MGUIRE agreed but said that "plight" is a nebulous
concept and she would prefer specifics.
CHAIRMAN THERRIAULT said they would work on the wording to reflect
her desire to use "suffering and sacrifice."
He asked for questions or objections from committee members. There
were none so amendment 1 was adopted. He noted that there was a
zero fiscal note for the bill.
He asked for the will of the committee.
SENATOR DAVIS made a motion that SCS HB 100 (STA) and its fiscal
note move out of committee with individual recommendations.
There being no objection, SCS HB 100 (STA) moved from committee
with individual recommendations.
SCR 6-APRIL 2001 SEXUAL ASSAULT AWARENESS MONTH
JOHN JOERIGHT, staff to Senator Leman, introduced the resolution as
legislative desire to increase public awareness of the prevalence
of sexual assault and abuse in Alaska by proclaiming April 2001
Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
Sexual assault crimes in Alaska are the highest, per capita, in the
nation at 2.4 times the national average. It is estimated that one
in four Alaska women will be an assault or abuse victim in her
lifetime. Greater awareness is needed because unreported incidents
are about eight times higher than the documented occurrences.
Thirty-six other states have declared April Sexual Assault
Awareness Month to better coordinate national efforts in
preventing, educating and promoting a better understanding of
sexual assault. The Statewide Sexual Violence Prevention
Conference, to be held September 5-7, 2001, will undoubtedly have a
greater impact with the passage of SCR 6.
He pointed out the need to delete the word "first" on page 2, line
10, because this isn't the first conference to be held.
TRISHA GENTLE, Director of the Council on Domestic Violence and
Sexual Assault, expressed support for the resolution and thanked
the sponsor and the committee for their efforts in heightening the
public awareness of domestic violence and sexual assault problems
in Alaska.
LAUREE HUGONIN, Director of Alaska Network on Domestic Violence and
Sexual Assault, also thanked the sponsor and committee. She
explained that activities are usually planned throughout the month;
communities plan marches and candle light ceremonies and provide
time and place for victims to speak out about crimes perpetrated
against them. The recognition that the resolution would provide
would be appreciated.
CHAIRMAN THERRIAULT asked for questions. There were none.
He proposed deleting the word "first" from page 2, line 10, as
amendment 1 because this isn't the first conference. There was no
objection.
He spoke with Senator Leman's staff about rewording lines 6 and 7
on page 1 and they agreed that it could be improved. He asked
Senator Phillips for his input.
SENATOR PHILLIPS said it was a formal resolution and the word "our"
on line 6 was informal.
CHAIRMAN THERRIAULT suggested substituting "Alaska" for "our."
SENATOR DAVIS asked whether "one in four" referred to Alaskan or
national statistics.
LAUREE HUGONIN said she thought it was a national statistic that
one in four women and one in six men will be sexually abused by the
time they are eighteen.
ANNETTE KREITZER, staff to Senator Leman, clarified that it is a
national, not Alaskan, statistic.
CHAIRMAN THERRIAULT proposed amendment 2, page 1, line 6, to read,
"Whereas one in four women in America are likely," thereby dropping
the specific reference to mothers, daughters, sisters or wives and
making it a collective.
ANNETTE KREITZER said that they struggled with the word "will,"
just as Chairman Therriault had, when rewording line 6. Since they
were quoting a national statistic, the word "will" is more accurate
because one in four women will experience sexual assault. This is
very different than one in four women are likely to experience
sexual assault.
CHAIRMAN THERRIAULT said he had no objection to that being an
amendment to amendment 2. There were no objections and the
amendment was adopted.
He asked for other amendments and noted that there was a zero
fiscal note. There were no other amendments.
SENATOR DAVIS moved CSSCR 6(STA) and zero fiscal note from
committee with individual recommendations. There were no
objections.
The meeting was adjourned at 4:00 p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|