SB 53-COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN  9:46:50 AM VICE CHAIR KELLER announced that the final order of business was CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 53(FIN), "An Act reestablishing the Alaska Commission on the Status of Women; and relating to the purpose and powers of the Alaska Human Relations Commission." 9:46:54 AM SENATOR BETTYE DAVIS, Alaska State Legislature, introduced SB 53 as sponsor. 9:47:36 AM CELESTE HODGE, Staff, Senator Bettye Davis, Alaska State Legislature, presented SB 53 on behalf of Senator Davis, sponsor. In reference to her more in-depth presentation of SB 53 given to the House State Affairs Standing Committee [on 4/3/12], Ms. Hodge summarized that staggering statistics regarding the high rate of female victims of sexual assault and domestic violence in Alaska support the need to reestablish the Alaska Women's Commission. 9:48:24 AM REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG emphasized his support of SB 53. 9:48:53 AM ARLISS STURGULEWSKI noted that she served in the Alaska State Legislature just shortly after the original legislation was passed in 1978, and was there for its reactivation. She said she was sorry to see the bill [sunset]. She stated that there are real issues in foster child care and in the number of high school students that are dropping out. She said there is a strong economic divide between rural and urban Alaska, and she opined there is a real need for a commission that can do special studies, consider major issues, and distribute information to people. She asked the committee to support the proposed legislation, and she emphasized the need for funding so that people can do outreach throughout the state. 9:51:47 AM BARBARA BELKNAP, Vision 2020, said she was present as one of two delegates to Vision 2020, which is a Drexel University College of Medicine program seeking to achieve equality for women by 2020 in the following specific areas: to increase the number of women in senior leadership positions in American life; to achieve pay equity; to educate employers about the value of policies and practices that enable men and women to share fairly their family responsibilities; to educate new generations of girls and boys to respect their differences; and to mobilize women to vote. MS. BELKNAP said she remembers that a couple months after the Alaska Commission on the Status of Women shut its doors during the administration of former governor Walter J. Hickel, women from around the state gathered during a conference at Centennial Hall and stayed afterwards to discuss the governor's decision. From that meeting came two ideas: a web site that connects women across the state, called the Alaska Women's Network (AWN), and a writers' journal for Alaska Women, called Alaska Women Speak. She said she was one of the co-founders for the network, as well as its president for many years, and she is a contributor to the journal. She said that while both were good vehicles for communicating across the vast state, they could not replace an official women's commission with staff and resources. She said AWN has many resources, but does not generate new resources for the women of Alaska. She said women have found a way to "make it work" until someone in a position of power could bring the commission back. MS. BELKNAP said Governor Sean Parnell has made reducing violence against women one of his top priorities. She said the Alaska Commission on the Status of Women printed a handbook regarding criminal law and violence against women, which also covered adoption, name changes, and other legal matters that might surface for a woman in Alaska. She mentioned another report by the former commission that was a statewide study showing why girls dropped out of school, which she said is still a timely issue. Ms. Belknap said in addition to updating old studies, the commission could look at the wage gap between men and women in Alaska. She said even though it is against federal law to pay a woman less than a man for the same job, discrimination occurs in Alaska and impacts the women, their families, their communities, and the state. She said the Juneau Economic Development Council's 2011 report on Juneau and Southeast economic indicators related the wage disparity in every civilian job and education level. The report stated that nationally men earned 29 percent more than their female counterparts in 2009. In Alaska, men earned 37 percent more for full-time, year-round employment. In Juneau, where one would expect wage parity, she said, men earned 42 percent more than their female counterparts. She related that in 1946, Representative Munoz' grandmother, Thelma Engstrom, introduced legislation in the Alaska Territorial Legislature for pay equity between men and women. Ms. Belknap said, "That was 66 years ago, and we aren't there." 9:56:06 AM MS. BELKNAP expressed the following as facts: far too many women get paid less than men for the same jobs, which is illegal, unfair, and [adversely] impacts the economy; Alaska leads the country in violence of men against women; and because the cost of living in Alaska is high, women with low incomes can get stuck in dangerous relationships, because they cannot afford to take care of themselves and their children. Ms. Belknap said pay equity and prevention of violence against women are two of her interests, and SB 53 encompasses a wide range of women's issues that need to be addressed. She said there are approximately 200 state and city women's commissions in the U.S. She said she is struck by the volunteer work women do in the state to make Alaska a better place. She stated that the governor and the legislature can send all Alaskans the message that the women are valued for the contributions they make in Alaska. She urged the committee to support SB 53. She concluded, "No non-profit can do the caliber of work an official women's commission can do if it is fully funded, nonpartisan, and supported by the governor and the legislature." 9:58:03 AM CAREN ROBINSON, Lobbyist, Alaska Women's Lobby (AWL), testified in support of SB 53. She stated that a women's commission could provide relevant materials to policy makers in both the executive and legislative branches of government geared toward improving the lives of women. Furthermore, a commission could provide a forum for women across the state to exchange ideas and strategies for improving their lives. She listed the following that a women's commission could address going forward: issues that would bring women voters to the polls and involve them in the political process; jobs in which young women, ages 16-20, would be interested and education and skill-building opportunities for those women; pay equity between men and women; the reduction of barriers to women's access to health care; and the economic status of older women. She said AWL would appreciate the committee's moving forward SB 53. [SB 53 was held over.]