HB 106-VILLAGE & REGIONAL PUB.SAFETY OFFICERS 10:05:57 AM CHAIR LYNN announced that the final order of business was HOUSE BILL NO. 106, "An Act relating to village public safety officers and regional public safety officers." [Before the committee was CSHB 106(CRA).] 10:06:09 AM REPRESENTATIVE SEATON moved to adopt the committee substitute (CS) for HB 106, Version 26-LS0402\W, Luckhaupt, 4/9/09, as a work draft. 10:06:20 AM REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG objected for discussion purposes. REPRESENTATIVE SEATON explained that Version W incorporates an amendment adopted at the last committee hearing, which changed the word "and" to "or" between "corporations" and "municipalities", on page 1, line 6. 10:06:38 AM REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG removed his objection. There being no further objection, Version W was before the committee as a work draft. 10:06:54 AM REPRESENTATIVE REGGIE JOULE, Alaska State Legislature, indicated that he would like a member of the committee to offer an amendment to Version W. 10:07:11 AM REPRESENTATIVE SEATON moved to adopt Amendment 1, labeled 26- LS0402\W.6, Luckhaupt, 4/10/09, which read as follows: Page 1, line 12, through page 2, line 6: Delete all material and insert:  "* Sec. 2. AS 18.65.670(b) is amended to read: (b) With funds appropriated for that purpose, the commissioner of public safety shall provide grants to nonprofit regional corporations for village public safety officers. If a nonprofit regional corporation  for a rural area declines a grant under this  subsection, the commissioner may provide the grant to  a municipality with a population of less than 10,000  willing to administer the grant for the rural area.  Before awarding a grant to a municipality, the  commissioner shall consult with the nonprofit regional  corporation that declined the grant. The commissioner of public safety shall coordinate with the commissioner of corrections when providing grants under this section, and the commissioners shall jointly execute an agreement with the nonprofit regional corporations or municipalities, as  appropriate." Page 2, following line 13: Insert a new bill section to read:  "* Sec. 4. AS 18.65.670 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: (d) In this section, "rural area" means a community with a population of less than 1,000 within (1) the unorganized borough; or (2) a borough, if the community is not connected by road to Anchorage or Fairbanks." Renumber the following bill section accordingly. 10:07:24 AM CHAIR LYNN objected for discussion purposes. 10:07:31 AM REPRESENTATIVE SEATON said Amendment 1 is a response to concern that HB 106 should benefit all communities in the state. He said he worked with the bill sponsor to formulate the language. He said it would allow municipalities to administer grants for the Village Public Safety Officer (VPSO) program when it is more efficient for them to do so. Amendment 1 also provides a definition of "rural area". He noted that the definition includes all the communities that have had VPSOs. REPRESENTATIVE JOULE said he supports Amendment 1. 10:09:14 AM REPRESENTATIVE JOULE, in response to Representative Gruenberg, said there is no VPSO in Eklutna. Furthermore, he indicated that there would be no possibility [for Eklutna to have VPSOs]. 10:10:16 AM ELIZABETH SAGALAQ HENSLEY, Intern, Representative Reggie Joule, Alaska State Legislature, in response to Representative Wilson, confirmed that in the Northwest Arctic Region, there is a nonprofit [corporation] that does not wish to administer the [VPSO] program, whereas the borough in that region does. 10:10:54 AM REPRESENTATIVE JOHNSON questioned if Chitna, which is connected by road, would be eligible for a VPSO under [Amendment 1]. He noted that that community's population is less than 1,000. AN UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER indicated that [Chitna] is an unorganized borough. REPRESENTATIVE JOHNSON asked, "So, they would be eligible?" [There was no audible answer.] 10:11:52 AM REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG removed his objection to Amendment 1. There being no further objection, Amendment 1 was adopted. 10:12:14 AM REPRESENTATIVE JOHNSON expressed concern that [Version W, as amended] is inclusive rather than exclusive. 10:12:41 AM MS. HENSLEY offered her belief that any eligible community that wishes to [administer a VPSO program] would not be excluded. 10:13:07 AM REPRESENTATIVE WILSON moved to report the proposed committee substitute (CS) for HB 106, Version 26-LS0402\W, Luckhaupt, 4/9/09, as amended, out of committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal notes. There being no objection, CSHB 106(STA) was reported out of the House State Affairs Standing Committee.