HB 4 - PROTECT ELDERLY AND DISABLED ADULTS Number 202 REP. JERRY MACKIE testified as PRIME SPONSOR of HB 4. He read a sponsor statement, which is on file in the committee room. In summation, he said the bill is a companion bill to HB 3. It would place in state law deterrents to attacks on elderly and disabled adults. It would establish as an aggravating factor in sentencing the fact that such attacks were made on those who more easily victimized by crime and who were less able to defend themselves. He said the state's senior citizen population is growing, with about 200 reported cases of elderly abuse made each year in the state. He noted that 28 other states have similar laws. Number 236 REP. MACKIE said that the House Judiciary Committee did a lot of work on a similar bill in 1992, creating the aggravating factor rather than establishing a new crime. He also noted the penalties for failing to report abuse, which were included in the bill. (Rep. Olberg departed at 4:07 p.m.) REP. BUNDE asked who was the intended target of the bill's provisions for penalties for those who failed to report abuse. Number 272 REP. MACKIE said the bill could apply to anyone who failed to report such abuse, including a doctor, social worker, friend or neighbor. He said his intention was to provide a deterrent for failure to report known abuse to the authorities. REP. BUNDE noted the significant fiscal note from the Division of Occupational Licensing and the Department of Corrections, and invited the sponsor's comment. REP. MACKIE said the Department of Corrections' fiscal note showed no additional expenditure in FY94, and a $48,800 fiscal note for FY95. He said the possibility of putting more people in jail leads to the anticipation of increased incarceration costs. Number 301 REP. BUNDE said it appeared that the Department of Corrections anticipated charging more people under the bill than he did. He asked why the fiscal note from Occupational Licensing assumed the need for a new investigator. REP. MACKIE said it would be up to the Department of Commerce to answer the question. He said he did not see why the bill would require an additional investigator. Number 324 REP. BUNDE questioned the need for an additional investigator to deal with professionals who failed to report elderly abuse. REP. MACKIE said he had experienced problems with fiscal notes in the past as well. Number 330 REP. G. DAVIS said it appeared to him that the fiscal note referred to HB 3 and the need to investigate abuse by licensed home care providers. Number 337 CHAIR TOOHEY agreed, but said she had a problem with the fiscal note as well. She asked what would happen to money in the Department of Commerce fiscal note if it was not spent it for the purpose indicated. REP. MACKIE said the fiscal note was an estimate of the cost to fulfill the directives of the bill, not an appropriation. Number 355 ELMER LINDSTROM, SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO THE COMMISSIONER DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES, said that one of the last actions at the end of the 1993 legislative session, as at the end of previous sessions, would likely be that the Finance Committee would tally all the fiscal impacts for FY94 for all bills likely to pass at the end of that session. Each of the amounts listed in each fiscal note would likely then be incorporated into the appropriations bill, he said. In subsequent years, those amounts would likely be included in each department's appropriations, and it would be difficult to differentiate as to what bills each appropriation was funding. REP. G. DAVIS moved passage of HB 4 with individual recommendations. CHAIR TOOHEY, hearing no objections, declared HB 4 passed with individual recommendations. There being no further business before the committee, she ADJOURNED the meeting at 4:16 p.m.