HB 319-STUDY HEALTH EFFECTS OF AIRPORT SCREENING  3:44:11 PM CHAIR KELLER announced that the final order of business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 319, "An Act requiring a study of the health effects of airport security screening." 3:45:00 PM ANNA WHITE, Staff, Representative Sharon Cissna, Alaska State Legislature, paraphrased from the sponsor statement: HB 319 requires the Department of Health and Social Services to conduct a study to determine the health consequences of the federal Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) procedures in Alaska. The study will indicate the physical, mental health and emotional impacts on Alaskans who are traveling through locations that require TSA procedures. Many Alaskans who have traveled outside Alaska since October 2010 have experienced full-body scanners and invasive physical exams given by TSA in larger airports throughout the United States. However, starting in December of last year, body scanners were installed at the international airports in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau and Ketchikan. The software in these machines makes the image less personal that those of older machines, but the scanner's millimeter wavelength technology has drawn health concern from some passengers, and there is insufficient independent scientific verification to be assured of their safety. If a scanner detects anything irregular in the person's body, or if a passenger refuses to be scanned, TSA procedures call for a hands-on exam by a TSA employee. People who have previously been subjected to events, either from work, environmental, medical treatment or physical assault related can be re-traumatized by this type of touching. Unfortunately, trauma is pervasive in Alaska. Increase in physically invasive touch on a population leading the nation in trauma of many kinds requires study to assess the mental health impacts on Alaska's population. The cost of those impacts also needs to be examined. In addition to emotional reactions, there is concern for protecting the public health. Among these concerns is the need for advanced health training of TSA workers who touch private and possibly surgically or otherwise injured body parts that may also have communicable diseases. These issues are critical to travel in Alaska. Alaskans not only travel eight times more than the national average, and a study is needed to critically assess the possible impacts of TSA procedures on the mental, emotional and physical health of Alaskans. 3:47:11 PM REPRESENTATIVE SHARON CISSNA, Alaska State Legislature, declared that Alaska had high levels of trauma, behavioral problems, and domestic violence, and consequently, that many Alaskans were more sensitive to being touched in an inappropriate way. Reporting that the "pat downs" started in October 2010, she declared these to be "a physical exam by someone who did not know what they were doing, and it was beyond invasive." She relayed that, after she had gone public with her reactions to the use of a body scanner a few months later, she had received about 1000 e-mails. Since that time, she stated that she had received an additional 1000 e-mails, calls, and letters relating personal stories of airport experiences. She said the vast majority of the respondents had not reported their experiences to TSA. She explained that the proposed bill would have the Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) conduct a study of the impacts that occur [from airport screenings], and review "health in a broader way than some people would." She professed that this would identify the psychological trauma, especially to those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, from the airport screening. She explained that this re-traumatization from the screenings could reverse any prior therapies for trauma. She offered a personal experience. She declared that the proposed study would clarify many questions. She spoke about the confusion for children when watching their parents being touched at the airport screenings "in the very way their parents told them not to let anybody touch them." She declared that Alaska already had to spend a large amount of money on mental and physical health issues, and that airport screenings brought up many of these issues. She described a physical contact during an airport screening that was a health concern. She offered her belief that the study [described in proposed HB 319] was necessary. 3:58:05 PM REPRESENTATIVE DICK asked about her discussions with DHSS and if there was a fiscal note for the proposed bill. REPRESENTATIVE CISSNA directed attention to the attached fiscal note [Included in members' packets]. She agreed that although it was not a small amount, DHSS had forecast the need for three studies. 3:59:15 PM REPRESENTATIVE SEATON pointed out that the fiscal note was for $640,000 in each of FY13 and FY 14. REPRESENTATIVE CISSNA said that the proposed bill would also address some of the governor's concerns. She shared that when she had asked TSA for a study, they had instead responded to the governor with an "outline [of] the job they're doing, but with no numbers or any real study." 4:00:25 PM REPRESENTATIVE DICK asked if there had been a nationwide study. REPRESENTATIVE CISSNA, in response, said that she had not found any of this information. She declared that there was no oversight on TSA, and that states did not have the power to change TSA, as it was a federal entity. She expressed her concern that the State of Alaska would be financially accountable for the outcome of these airport screenings, especially for any problems related to re-traumatization. 4:02:13 PM REPRESENTATIVE SEATON asked whether the proposed study should concentrate on the newer screening systems, instead of including the older systems. REPRESENTATIVE CISSNA suggested that there would be different effects from each type of technology, and she questioned the safety and consequences from each type. She shared the TSA claim that the scanner was safer than the flight, and she reported that her next study would be on the dangers of flight. She offered her belief that the new scanners were more X-ray like, and could be more damaging to anyone with potential cancers on body surfaces. She expressed her desire to find that other studies were available. She opined that studies were not conducted because of "what feels like political issues." 4:06:31 PM REPRESENTATIVE SEATON, directing attention to page 1, line 7, of the proposed bill, asked to clarify the intent of the study; whether the bill was attempting to establish a percentage of traumatized people, or to find out if these traumas did exist. REPRESENTATIVE CISSNA replied that she wanted to ensure that Alaska airports were given the freedom to change the security process which was "inflicted on our passengers," so that passengers were touched in ways that were respectful and safe. She declared that the State of Alaska needed to be responsible for the money spent on health care, "to fight to make sure that we bring the cost down," and to demand to be reimbursed for the costs that arise from federal decisions. 4:10:10 PM REPRESENTATIVE KERTTULA, offering her belief that the federal government should do this study, opined that the proposed fiscal note would not allow the proposed bill to pass. She suggested inserting "(E) post-traumatic stress disorder" on page 1, after line 13. 4:11:37 PM MARILYN GUTTENBERG declared that there was physical and psychological harm from repeated use of the screening machines, as the machines were not calibrated. She described a personal experience. DIANE SCHENKER, Co-Director, Alaskans' Freedom to Travel USA, said that she had spent at least one day each week at the Anchorage Airport interviewing travelers since the scanners were installed in December 2011. She declared that the scanners had many false alarms; hence, the screeners would pat down and touch the passengers. She relayed some of the passenger stories of invasive pat downs by screeners. She commented on the possible health consequences from searches of luggage, as passengers no longer had any control over their luggage. She stated that, as some people would no longer travel by plane, there were unintended health consequences. 4:18:49 PM PATRICIA ANDERSON, Co-Director, Alaskans' Freedom to Travel USA, stated that she had been groped 5 times in the last 16 months, and she had cancelled two other flights because she did not want to be touched again. She declared that she now refused to go through the scanners, as she was not assured to the safety of these scanners. She discussed some of her personal experiences with TSA and her concerns with her perceived lack of sanitation by TSA, revealing that she did want to do anything that could compromise her well-being. She stated that flying was very stressful. She expressed her concern for the well-being of her daughter, and that she had attempted to limit both of their exposures to x-rays. She declared the need for an immediate, independent, published study. 4:23:17 PM JOE MCLAUGHLIN, MD, MPH, Chief and State Epidemiologist, Section of Epidemiology, Division of Public Health, Department of Health and Social Services, stated that the administration had no position on the proposed bill. He declared that proposed HB 319 would require DHSS to investigate the varied health effects of airport screening in general. He noted that it would be necessary to evaluate the potential for psychological trauma and physical effect from airport screening to travelers. He declared that passage of HB 319 would necessitate that DHSS contract with one or more outside agencies to perform the studies. He offered his belief that this would require several separate studies, including behavioral health, radiologic, and toxicologic studies. Each of these studies would require the development of a study protocol, review by an institutional review board, and two years for the implementation and write up. He declared that the studies would be very expensive, a challenge to successfully implement, and a substantial increase to the current DHSS workload. 4:25:54 PM CHAIR KELLER closed public testimony. 4:26:20 PM REPRESENTATIVE DICK asked Representative Cissna if the proposed bill would be a good investment of the funds and effective in repealing the actions of TSA. 4:27:18 PM REPRESENTATIVE CISSNA offered her belief that many actions had occurred without a full study to the consequences. She opined that the screenings at airports would change our culture. She shared that officials from TSA had suggested a curricula for children to better understand the pat downs at airports. She declared that federal and state constitutional rights had been lost. She suggested that the federal government should be sued. She declared that proposed HB 319 was an effort to gather the information. 4:31:36 PM CHAIR KELLER declared that HB 319 would be held over.