HB 76-GOV COUNCIL ON DISABILITIES/SPECIAL ED
1:45:32 PM
SENATOR STEDMAN announced the consideration of HB 76.
1:45:58 PM
REPRESENTATIVE CHARISSE MILLETT, Alaska State Legislature,
sponsor of HB 76, noted that she is a member the Governor's
Council on Disabilities and Special Education and is
representing them today. She related that HB 76 removes the word
"gifted" from the Council's enabling statutes. Since 1978, the
Council has advocated for housing, employment, independent
living, health, transportation, and community inclusion for
Alaskans with disabilities.
She explained that, previously, "gifted" were included in the
statues. Since then, legislation has been enacted that will
allow gifted students to be empowered and supported within their
school districts. None of the new legislation included the
Council's participation or oversight. Also, the Council receives
no funding and has no resources to address gifted education;
they are strictly federally funded for the purpose of assisting
disabled Alaskans. HB 76 aims to reconcile the Council-enabling
statutes with the mission to best reflect the valuable service
the Council provides, and clean up confusing language. This bill
will support the current Council and also provide a clear road
map for future councils and their memberships.
REPRESENTATIVE MILLETT noted the only additional changes to the
Alaska statutes included in this bill are updates to citations
to the U.S. Code to reflect a rewrite law relating to the State
Council on Developmental Disabilities. She noted that several
committee members have advocated for disability legislation.
1:48:06 PM
GRACE ABBOTT, Staff, Representative Charisse Millet, Alaska
State Legislature, presented the sectional analysis of HB 76 on
behalf of the sponsor. She explained that Section 1 removes
"gifted" from the Governor's Council on Disabilities and Special
Education's enabling statue. Section 2 further clarifies that
process and updates references to reflect current U.S. Code. She
shared that the U.S. Code citations are: 42 U.S.C 15025 -
referring to state councils on developmental disabilities and
designated state agencies, 42 U.S.C 15024 - referring to state
plan prescribing programs, 20 U.S.C 1471-1428 - referring to
national activities to improve education of children with
disabilities, and 42 U.S.C. 15001 - 15083 - referring to
programs for individuals with developmental disabilities.
1:49:44 PM
SENATOR STOLTZE commented favorably on the Council. He asked
what process was used to make the change and what priority it
was given.
MS. ABBOTT said the process was that the Council's legislative
committee took the task on, as an important priority, to clean
up their mission statement and provide guidance for future
councils. The Council voted to maintain this issue as a priority
for the last, and current, legislative sessions.
1:51:07 PM
SENATOR STEDMAN opened public testimony and, seeing no
testifiers, closed it again.
SENATOR STEDMAN held HB 76 in committee.