HCR - 26 PUBLIC INEBRIATE TASK FORCE Number 0954 CO-CHAIR BUNDE said the next item on the agenda was HCR 26, relating to creation of the Public Inebriate Task Force. REPRESENTATIVE IVAN said changes were made to HCR 26. He said on page one, line six of the CSHCR 26, language was added that mirrors that of HB 523: State Policy on Sobriety. He said the additional language comes after the word "treatment" and states, "that can introduce them to, and help them learn new life skills and social skills that would be useful to them in attaining and maintaining normal lives as productive members of society." REPRESENTATIVE IVAN referred to page two, line 28 and line 30, and said CSHCR deletes one member from the Senate and one member from the House of Representatives. He referred to page two, line 31, and said instead of 13 members to be appointed by the Speaker of the House and the president of the Senate, the number of appointees will now total nine members. REPRESENTATIVE IVAN referred to page three, line two, and said a member from the Division of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse was deleted and a member from the Deparment of Health and Social Services was added at the request of the department. REPRESENTATIVE IVAN said on page three, to bring the task force membership to 11 members, in addition to the reduction to two legislators, four at large members were eliminated including one member of the Alaska Federation of Natives, one member of the Alaska Association of Chiefs of Police, one village public safety officer and one member representing practicing physicians. Number 1054 CO-CHAIR TOOHEY made a motion to adopt CSHCR 26, version 9- LS1666\C, dated March 12, 1996. Hearing no objections CSHCR 26 was now before the House Standing Committee on Health, Education and Social Services. Number 1076 REPRESENTATIVE ROKEBERG asked if there was only one fiscal note from the Department of Public Safety. CO-CHAIR BUNDE said there is another fiscal note from LAA Services for $62,700. Number 1097 REPRESENTATIVE IVAN said the fiscal note from Administrative Services was for support staff. Number 1107 MR. WRIGHT said the fiscal note reflects support staff as well as travel expenses. He said the fiscal note would be decreased as a result of the reduction of task force members. CO-CHAIR TOOHEY asked that language regarding the use of teleconference be included in CSHCR 26. MR. WRIGHT said it was in CSHCR 26. Number 1120 REPRESENTATIVE ROBINSON asked if the intent was to hire one staff person. Number 1126 MR. WRIGHT said he could not say for sure, it would be up to Representative Ivan and the Speaker of the House. Number 1139 REPRESENTATIVE ROBINSON said she believed that existing staff should be able to perform those duties and mentioned that there was travel money in CSHCR 26. Number 1168 DON DAPCEVICH, Executive Director, Governor's Advisory Board on Alcoholism and Drug Addiction, said he supported CSHCR 26 and that the advisory board wants to take part in this task force. He said the board recognizes the extent of the process, in regards to community needs, other agencies and departments. He said the advisory board is one small part of this process, but an important one. Number 1221 MR. DAPCEVICH said the debilitating effect that the public inebriate has had on communities across the state is being felt more. He said it is becoming more of a crisis as less money is available for municipalities to deal with this problem. He said communities are having to allocate their scarce resources to deal with this problem. He said the Public Inebriate Task Force is not going to develop expensive solutions, but may rethink the way in which the state does business with many of the involved agencies. He said CSHCR 26 is a way in which the legislature can get the involved agencies together to work in a collaborative manner to solve these problems. Number 1261 CO-CHAIR TOOHEY asked the reason why $15,000 is being spent on travel when the state has the ability to utilize the teleconference system. MR. DAPCEVICH said he could foresee some travel expense to gather input from across the state, but said that he could not list specific details related to that. Number 1295 CO-CHAIR TOOHEY said she could understand the need for gathering input, but pointed out that three of the meetings are scheduled in Anchorage where the teleconference system can be used. She then referred to the $42,700 for a legislative administrative assistant, Range 19A, and asked if there was someone in the department who could provide that assistance, as the assistant would only be needed for those three meetings. MR. DAPCEVICH said he could not speak for the department and added that the advisory board only has two staff. Number 1313 CO-CHAIR BUNDE asked if Co-Chair Toohey wanted to rewrite a fiscal note to which she replied in the affirmative. Number 1074 JULIE KRAFT, Director, Member Service, Alaska Municipal League, was next to testify. She read from a sponsor statement, "The Alaska Municipal League supports passage of HCR 26. Many communities lack the financial resources to deal with the problem of public inebriates. Communities are required to detain these people with extremely limited financial assistance, while faced with ever increasing costs. The public inebriate problem is a public safety problem, a medical care problem, and a drug alcohol treatment problem. This issue will not be resolved from any one single entity, but everyone must take responsibility to develop a solution. A comprehensive plan needs to be developed by those people who have to deal directly with the issue of treatment and services for intoxicated persons. HCR 26 will provide the mechanism to do just that." Number 1372 NELSON PAGE, Chair, Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority, was next to testify. He said he is in support of the proposed task group as this is an important one for the beneficiaries of the trust as well as the communities that serve those beneficiaries. He concluded by stating his support of the resolution. Number 1424 CO-CHAIR TOOHEY made a motion to move CSHCR 26 (HES) with an amended fiscal note of $15,000 and individual recommendations. Number 1449 REPRESENTATIVE ROBINSON objected to the motion. She agreed that the fiscal note seemed large, but suggested that the finance committee be the committee to address the fiscal note. Number 1469 CO-CHAIR BUNDE said it was a committee's prerogative to write a fiscal note. Number 1530 CO-CHAIR TOOHEY said the finance committee could choose to put the old fiscal note back into CSHCR 26. A discussion ensued regarding whether or not the committee should vote on amending the fiscal note, when it was decided not to take a roll call vote on this issue, Representative Robinson withdrew her objection to the motion. Hearing no further objection CSHCR 26 (HES) was moved from the House Standing Committee on Health, Education and Social Services.