HB 48-HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION ANNUAL REPORT  3:04:45 PM CHAIR SHAW announced that the first order of business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 48, "An Act relating to reports from the State Commission for Human Rights." 3:05:10 PM The committee took a brief at-ease. 3:05:20 PM [Due to technical difficulties, sound was lost briefly.] 3:06:15 PM The committee took a brief at-ease. 3:07:12 PM BARBARA HANEY, Staff, Representative Mike Prax, Alaska State Legislature, provided a PowerPoint presentation, titled "Alaska State Commission for Human Rights House Bill 48" [hard copy included in the committee packet]. She began on slide 2, revealing that the request for the statute change in HB 48 came as a result of a unanimous vote by the Alaska State Commission for Human Rights (ASCHR) in their meeting on December 13, 2022. On slide 3, she cited current statute pertaining to annual reports from the commission, which read as follows [original punctuation provided]: Article 3. Commission Reports and Publications. Sec. 18.80.150. Annual report. The commission shall report annually to the governor on civil rights problems it has encountered in the preceding year and may recommend legislative action. The commission shall provide the Legislative Affairs Agency with 40copies of the report during the week  preceding the convening of the annual legislative  session for library distribution. The commission shall make copies of the report available to the public and notify the legislature that the report is available. Annual Report Archives https://humanrights.alaska.gov/human-rights- commission-annual-reports/ 3:08:52 PM MS. HANEY outlined the number of required copies of the report on slide 4, which read as follows [original punctuation provided]: The current legal number of copies leaves sufficient copies for the Alaska State House. However, there are then no copies available for the Alaska State Senate. Increasing the number of copies makes the report available to the Senate. House Bill 48 ensures that there are copies for each member of the Alaska Senate. 3:09:17 PM MS. HANEY addressed the limited time for completion of analysis on slide 5, which read as follows [original punctuation provided]: The Report Due Date in Statute limits the Commissions ability to perform analysis or find a printer to create the current number of reports. House Bill 48 ensures the Human Rights Commission has sufficient time to meet statutory requirements for the Annual Report and the 3-year Assessment. 3:09:49 PM MS. HANEY proceeded to slide 6, which displayed a calendar of January 2023. She indicated that the statutory due date of the report left little time for analysis of the data. The data set ended on January 1, she said, noting that session began on th January 17, 2023. The report would have been due on January 7. She turned to slide 7, which read as follows [original punctuation provided]: Under current statute, the ASCHR had only 4 days to complete the report, find a printer, and distribute the reports. MS. HANEY continued to slide 8, stating that under HB 48, the th due date of the annual report would be on the 30 day of the legislative session. 3:11:37 PM MS. HANEY conveyed that HB 48 would also provide additional time for the three-year assessment. Slide 9 highlighted current statutory language pertaining to the three-year assessment, which read as follows [original punctuation provided]: Sec. 18.80.060. Powers and duties of the commission. (6) make an overall assessment, at least once every three years, of the progress made toward equal employment opportunity by every department of state  government; results of the assessment shall be included in the annual report made under AS 18.80.150. MS. HANEY opined that HB 48 would improve the assessment process. She directed attention to slide 10, which read as follows [original punctuation provided]: The reality is that the 3-year assessment with state agencies competes with the agency budget cycles. It takes two months to complete the scheduling process. This leaves the Commission competing with budget, holidays, and other agency requests to do their review. It leads to a rushed qualitative analysis and publication. The Commission records indicate that since1980, these reports are typically printed in February or March, and the 3-yearassessment reports have been published in April. House Bill 48AnImprovement in the Assessment Process MS. HANEY concluded on slide 11 by outlining the following benefits of HB 48: more time for the commission to complete its work; allow time for improved qualitative results in the three- year assessment; allow for improved statistical analysis in the annual report; put into statute the practical reality of the commission's work. CHAIR SHAW invited questions from committee members. 3:14:00 PM REPRESENTATIVE CARPENTER asked why the number of copies would be increased from 40 to 60. MS. HANEY said increasing the number from 40 to 60 would provide enough copies for all 60 members of the Alaska State Legislature. REPRESENTATIVE CARPENTER pointed out that current practices were transitioning largely from print media to digital. He inquired about the need for printing hard copies. MS. HANEY agreed; however, she shared her understanding that some people still prefer paper copies. REPRESENTATIVE CARPENTER inquired about the size of the annual report. MS. HANEY approximated 20-30 pages. 3:15:47 PM REPRESENTATIVE ALLARD expressed her preference that the report be emailed to the legislature. She asked whether the commission had discussed that option. She suggested that electronic copies could be printed by the recipients. MS. HANEY shared her belief that the bill sponsor would be amenable to those suggestions. 3:17:22 PM CHAIR SHAW asked how long it took to produce the report referenced in the proposed legislation. ROB CORBISIER, Executive Director, ASCHR, stated that this year, most of the vignettes for the report were completed prior to January 1. The edits were finalized by January 19, he added. He shared that the proof was received one week later, and the subsequent revisions were submitted shortly after. REPRESENTATIVE ALLARD asked how much it cost to publish the report. She suggested that digital distribution would be a cost-saving measure. MR. CORBISIER estimated $1,500. He speculated that transitioning to digital distribution methods would save around $1,000. Nonetheless, he clarified that the commission had not considered switching to a different method of distribution. REPRESENTATIVE ALLARD expressed concern that the state was in dire straights with the fiscal budget. MR. CORBISIER noted that the commission offered a digital version of the report, which was published on the [ASCHR] website. He explained that the commission received a price break for printing a minimum of 200 copies, of which 60-80 were sent to the legislature as a matter of routine. REPRESENTATIVE ALLARD inquired about the hours of labor that went into creating the report. MR. CORBISIER said a lot of time was spent producing the materials. 3:21:22 PM REPRESENTATIVE CARPENTER asked which agencies were on the distribution list aside from the governor and the legislature. MR. CORBISIER explained that, per statute, the governor and the legislature were the only two entities on the distribution list. 3:22:29 PM CHAIR SHAW opened public testimony on HB 48. 3:22:38 PM The committee took a brief at-ease. 3:23:14 PM CHAIR SHAW closed public testimony on HB 48 after ascertaining that no one online or in person wished to testify. He announced that HB 48 would be held over.