Senate Bill 58  "An Act relating to the privilege to drive of minors and to the penalty for the consumption or possession of alcoholic beverages by persons under 21 years of age." JOE AMBROSE, STAFF, SENATOR ROBIN TAYLOR, read the following Sponsor Statement into the record: In 1995, the Legislature passed, and the Governor signed, Senate Bill 46. The bill moved underage drinking offenses out of the juvenile justice system and into adult court. The new law also changed minor consuming from a class A misdemeanor to that of a violation with a fine of not less than $100. Senate Bill 46 was intended to toughen enforcement of underage drinking laws by getting the offenders and their parents or guardians into adult court. Two problems have arisen since the passage of SB 46 which require that the issue be revisited. Parents in several communities have complained that the new law is not having the intended effect. The $100 fine seems to have little impact on young people who receive $1000+ in the form of permanent fund dividend payments each year. And, District Court Judge Patricia Collins has ruled that minors charged under the MCA statute are entitled to a jury trial and a public defender, if they qualify, because their driver's licenses are subject to revocation upon conviction. The Court of Appeals upheld that ruling on December 6, 1996. Senate Bill 58 seeks to restore legislative intent to the process. It would make minor consuming a violation, subject to a fine of $250 on the first offense. The offense would revert to class B misdemeanor status for the second and subsequent offenses. Senate Bill 58 would also divorce minor consuming from penalties against driver's licenses, at least as far as the courts are concerned. Minors who consume alcohol would still lose their licenses through administrative action under the "Use It and Lose It" law, but it would no longer be a court action. The $250 fine imposed by SB 58 would also strengthen the message that underage drinking is against the law, while falling below the threshold of fines which establish a "criminal" prosecution. More importantly, the increased fine would allow the establishment of a screening and referral program. The Senate HESS version would reduce the second and subsequent offenses to class B misdemeanor status if they occur within two years of the first offense. That two-year window will give ample opportunity to target problem drinkers. It should also serve to reduce the fiscal impact projected by the Public Defender Agency. The second provision adopted in Senate HESS would incorporate the "Junior" Alcohol Safety Action Program suggested in Senate Bill 71. It would allow the Legislature to appropriate the $250 fines imposed by SB 58 to pay for this screening and referral program. Mr. Ambrose questioned the validity of the fiscal notes, stating that both the Department of Law and the Public Defender Agency had submitted fairly substantial fiscal notes that assumed that 1,200 of annual minor consuming cases would be repeat offenders. Both agencies acknowledged that only about 60 of the cases would go to trial. He questioned the assumption that all 1,200 of the repeat offenders would reoffend within the two-year window provided by the bill. He questioned the assumption that all 1,200 would qualify for a public defender, and asked how many of the repeat offenders would be between the ages of 18 and 21 and gainfully employed. He asserted that combined, the fiscal notes assumed a $416,000 cost to handle 1,200 misdemeanor cases in Alaska and take 60 of them to trial. In response to a question by Senator Adams, Mr. Ambrose observed that the second offense would be a misdemeanor if it occurred within the two-year window. Co-chair Sharp noted that different departments were making widely different assumptions, as reflected in the fiscal notes. DON DAPCEVICH, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE GOVERNOR'S ADVISORY BOARD ON ALCOHOLISM AND DRUG ABUSE, stated that the board strongly endorsed SB 58. The board was particularly interested in the youth assessment and referral process in the provision. He noted that in the prior year in Alaska, there had been about 4,000 incidents of minor consuming; only 400 of the youth received an assessment, education, or treatment. Nearly all of the 400 were Juneau residents. He observed that as a director of similar services in Juneau, he was able to set up a successful youth assessment and referral process independent of any regulatory system. LOREN JONES, DIRECTOR, DIVISION OF ALCOHOLISM AND DRUG ABUSE, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES, spoke in support of the legislation. He noted that the bill would transfer the approval process for alcohol information schools from the Division of Motor Vehicles to the Division of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse and allow for quality assurance for alcohol information schools. He stressed that the provision would be especially critical for young people, as the schools were currently geared towards adult drunk drivers. The division felt that a curriculum more accessible to young people needed to be established. Mr. Jones added that the bill would allow the division to make significant improvements for adult drunk drivers as well, and to work with community-based and locally-organized programs to both assess and refer youth who lost driver's licenses due to minor consuming or minor in possession. He hoped the number of repeat offenders would be lessened. He noted that the division would target repeat offenders. Senator Sharp queried the fiscal notes. Mr. Jones observed that there were two fiscal notes because they addressed separate components in the department's budget. He further explained that the $400,000 fiscal note would fund a grant program within a statutory-authorized prevention program and establish youth assessment as one of the functions that could be funded under the program. The $100,000 fiscal note would establish staff in the division's administrative component to set the curriculum, monitor the alcohol information school, and work with the communities to develop the youth-assessment program. Senator Sharp expressed concern regarding the cost of the fiscal notes. SB 58 was HEARD and HELD in committee for further consideration.