HB 332 - EXTENDING COUNCIL ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE Number 0074 CHAIR ROKEBERG announced that the last order of business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 332, "An Act extending the termination date of the Council on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault; and providing for an effective date." He noted that the committee has received a proposed committee substitute (CS) that addresses a concern discussed at the prior hearing on HB 332. Number 0116 PATTI SWENSON, Staff to Representative Con Bunde, Alaska State Legislature, sponsor, on behalf of the sponsor, confirmed that the proposed CS does address that concern, and asked the committee to also consider amending the proposed CS to say "may" instead of "shall" on page 1, line 6. She explained that such a change would give the executive director flexibility with regard to hiring staff; for example, if there are ten authorized positions, the executive director would not have to fill all of those positions if budget constraints prevailed. She also suggested deleting from page 1, lines 7-8, "that is authorized  by the legislature in the budget documents relating to the  council". She opined that this change would give the executive director the flexibility "to change the office around"; for example, if a grant writer was needed, the executive director could fill that need instead of hiring two clerical staff. Number 0240 REPRESENTATIVE BERKOWITZ moved to adopt the proposed committee substitute (CS) for HB 332, version 22-LS1290\C, Lauterbach, 2/8/02, as a work draft. There being no objection, Version C was before the committee. Number 0297 REPRESENTATIVE BERKOWITZ made a motion to adopt Amendment 1, which would replace "shall" with "may" on page 1, line 6. There being no objection, Amendment 1 was adopted. Number 0324 REPRESENTATIVE BERKOWITZ made a motion to adopt Amendment 2, which would delete "that is authorized by the legislature in the  budget documents relating to the council" from page 1, lines 7- 8. REPRESENTATIVES JAMES and OGAN objected. REPRESENTATIVE JAMES opined that the executive director should only hire staff as authorized by the legislature, adding that this may mean that the council might still have empty positions. REPRESENTATIVE BERKOWITZ said that according to his understanding of Ms. Swenson's testimony, "if we require hiring and staff decisions to be made according to budget documents, it precludes hiring decisions being made, say, if there's a grant or other source [of funds] that comes to the council." MS. SWENSON clarified that that is not exactly what she said although it is also true. She said that by taking out that language, it would give the executive director the flexibility to change the office makeup around, and still hire what is authorized within the budget; authorized funds for two clerical staff, for example, could be used instead for one grant writer. CHAIR ROKEBERG called an at-ease from 2:49 p.m. to 2:50 p.m. MS. SWENSON, in an effort to alleviate concerns, suggested that instead of the change proposed by Amendment 2, the language could be altered to say: "the executive director may hire staff not to exceed the budget authorization". REPRESENTATIVE BERKOWITZ objected. REPRESENTATIVE JAMES also objected, and said that "that assumes that everyone's going to go out and exceed the [budget authorization]." CHAIR ROKEBERG proposed leaving the language on page 1, lines 7- 8, as is, and suggested that if the sponsor wants to propose a further change to the authorization language, he could do so before the House Finance Committee. REPRESENTATIVE BERKOWITZ withdrew Amendment 2. Number 0609 REPRESENTATIVE BERKOWITZ moved to report the proposed committee substitute (CS) for HB 332, version 22-LS1290\C, Lauterbach, 2/8/02, as amended, out of committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal notes. There being no objection, CSHB 332(JUD) was reported from the House Judiciary Standing Committee.