SB 65-CORRECTIONAL FACILITY EXPANSION    CHAIR GARY STEVENS announced he did not intend to move SB 65 from committee that day. Senator Green introduced the bill during a previous hearing and he asked if she had additional comments. SENATOR LYDA GREEN, bill sponsor, restated the need for additional prison facilities in the state. The proposed plan offers the opportunity to add to existing facilities, which would consolidate services without adding new administration. She noted the amounts referred to in the letter from the Department of Revenue and the figures shown on the Department of Correction fiscal note have caused confusion. She added, "Revenue feels that the state might aught to be the person doing the actual bonding; whereas the communities feel like they are perfectly capable of doing that." There were no questions for Senator Green. CHAIR GARY STEVENS noted there were a number of people waiting to testify. MARY BOWERY testified via teleconference. She has extensive first hand knowledge of private prisons in the state of Tennessee. Following are points regarding a comparative study of private and state prisons in Tennessee: · As per contract, only healthy inmates were assigned to the private prison · $4,000 medical cap per inmate per year in private prison · Only medium custody or lower inmates assigned to private prison · State prison required to have an emergency response team · Private prison was able to fill empty beds with inmates from other states · If Tennessee inmates were injured by inmates from other states, Tennessee was liable for the medical and legal costs · The state was required to handle an escape from the private prison because the private prison had no legal jurisdiction to handle the escape. State taxpayers were not reimbursed for the expense · The private prison had a turnover rate of 100 percent in two years with 62.9 percent in the first six months · The private prison had more idle inmates because there were fewer jobs for inmates and fewer educational or rehabilitation opportunities and programs · The private prison had increased incident reports of violent acts CHAIR GARY STEVENS asked what position she held with the Tennessee prison system. MS. BOWERY replied she was a correctional counselor III with a wide range of jobs including parole work in a 400 inmate housing unit. There were no further questions for Ms. Bowery. MR. FRANK SMITH testified via teleconference in support of SB 65. He has worked in substance abuse programs, has visited prisons the world over and is familiar with the facilities Senator Green envisions. He advised he sent the Chair a copy of his recently published chapter on Native Americans in private prisons. The prison proposed in SB 65 is superior to the Whittier option because Sutton has far better access, it addresses the desperately needed expansions to the Bethel and Fairbanks prison, and it would present a great savings to the state. Having been involved in prison research for the last 30 years, he felt qualified to advise members of the importance of bringing prisoners closer to home. In fact, "That connection with family and support systems in the community is absolutely the most important thing in keeping Native Alaskans from going back to jail." The Tennessee study referred to in earlier testimony indicated that the state saved just 38 cents per prisoner per day. Guards in the private prisons were making very poor wages compared to state correctional officers while the CEO's in private prisons were making about two thirds of a million dollars. CHAIR GARY STEVENS announced individual testimony would be limited to five minutes. SENATOR COWDERY asked if the cost of housing prisoners was important. MR. SMITH replied it is important. SENATOR COWDERY asked whether the State could build competitively and why exporting prisoners rather than building in Alaska wasn't an acceptable alternative. MR. SMITH reiterated the importance of proximity to families for inmates. Also, training and staff stability help in the rehabilitative process and private prisons have greater than 50 percent annual staff turnover compared to less than 15 percent staff turnover in public prisons. Admittedly it may be cheaper to house inmates in private prisons outside Alaska, but the conditions in some private prisons are deplorable and some private contracts have been rescinded due to poor conditions. It's been suggested that moving prisons to Mexico would be even cheaper, but you get what you pay for. SENATOR COWDERY asked about safety and how many escapees the Arizona prison has had. MR. SMITH cited the example in which the court found that six Alaskan inmates were justified in escaping from the Arizona facility to get away from bad conditions. The court also found the private prison had no legal authority to confine Alaskans in Arizona. SENATOR COWDERY said his informal inmate poll indicated most inmates preferred to remain in Arizona. MR. SMITH spoke to an article in the Anchorage Daily News that tracked visiting rates in Arizona. It found just four of 825 Alaskan inmates were getting regular visits. Also, he has 150 pages of affidavits from Alaskan prisoners who were confined to the Central Arizona Detention Facility in Florence describing two unimaginable guard riots. SENATOR COWDERY said, "Well I guess it's our role to get the best bang for the buck and it's not our role to coddle our prisoners necessarily, but they got to be treated humane. I don't want to waste any more time on this, thank you." There were no further questions of Mr. Smith. MR. DAVID KATZEEK gave testimony in both Tlingit and English. This particular bill, whether it's private or whether it's public-I would strongly encourage the legislators to take a look at what you have in your hands and ask yourselves a question. What will history say of me when I served in the Legislature and the majority of the people that have been placed in prison are my people? Building prisons doesn't really solve the major problem. Prisons with rehabilitative programs and projects are the type of things that can turn things around. You're talking about money. If you're talking about money then I would encourage you to take a look at the recidivism rate and find out how much you're getting double dipped by one particular prisoner over and over and over again. The other question I would ask is, Are we living in an addictive society where we continue to do the same thing over and over and over and over and over.... and over again expecting different results and yet getting the same kind of results over again? And then somebody comes and says, "Let's build another prison." Have you heard a little baby crying whose daddy is incarcerated and who maybe started off in getting into trouble by drinking? Put yourself in the position of that individual. Have you heard the kid crying in prison whose grandmother passed away whose grandfather passed away that they can't go and see? I am not in favor of the state building facilities where you're going to have a state run program where you're listening to a special interest group and believe me when I'm saying this, that special interest group will be following me and looking at me because I'm saying something that's contrary to what the general rule is. I'm here to plead with you noble people. You are noble people just like I am and just like those individuals that are placed in prison. I ran a brief demonstration that I would call a beta-tested program using our Tlingit culture and how we interacted with one another. I called the prisoners that I met with-and I was doing this voluntarily with respect to the Alaska Native Brotherhood Camp II-and I called them Aan Yuxu Saani. I called them noble people. Those individuals that were incarcerated went back to their counselors and other people and said, "You know what this guy called us? Noble." They were white guys. They were saying, "Nobody had ever called us noble before." Tears running down their face. Some of these guys are now out providing for their families and doing good work. The point I'm making to you is building prisons is not necessarily the solution. Building prisons with respect to institutions that will allow us to develop the kind of programs-Why do I say us? I'm saying Native people. When we become responsible, as Native people, for our own people, we are beginning to get healed. So what will history say of you? That you built a big prison over in Fairbanks that didn't do anything? MR. KATZEEK said this is the third year he has come to ask legislators to look beyond the bars and cement to the human beings. Although it is difficult to talk about prisons for his people, he came to testify because he loves his people. He can see and feel and understand the rage of his or any people whose traditional lifestyle is so changed, but building bigger prisons isn't the answer. "Look for prisons that will be able to meet the need that history will record that you had compassion and mercy on your fellow man." CHAIR GARY STEVENS thanked Mr. Katzeek for his testimony and asked if there were any questions. SENATOR COWDERY commented that about one third of the Alaska Native inmates he met in Arizona had committed crimes against Caucasians and about two thirds had committed crimes against other Alaska Natives. He said, "A crime is a crime and you can have compassion but I, you got to have compassion for the victims and the victims families too." MR. KATZEEK replied he was pleased Senator Cowdery said that because it "documents the frustration with respect to an individual in their community who can't provide with dignity for their families." SENATOR COWDERY responded, "Whose fault is that now?" MR. KATZEEK replied there are a variety of issues such as subsistence and limited entry that make it difficult for individuals to provide. To solve that he would say, "You are a human being and the most important thing in being a human being is to be able to listen attentively to your spirit, to your heart, to your sole, to your mind. And work from being who we are as people. That doesn't forgive the person for doing something that's wrong. That's acknowledging a human being, like you acknowledged me today. I really appreciate it because you recognized me, you acknowledged me and you accepted me. It doesn't mean that you agree with what I'm saying, but the honor of letting me sit here regardless of where I come from or my background is a principle in any human relationship and interaction." There were no further questions for Mr. Katzeek. CHAIR GARY STEVENS called Ron Swanson to testify. MR. RON SWANSON, community development director for the Mat-Su Borough, testified the borough assembly passed a resolution supporting municipal owner state operated prisons on February 18, 2003. The development of newer and expanded prisons in Alaska municipalities would benefit Alaskans by providing construction and permanent year around prison jobs. Also, housing prisoners in the state would allow prisoners to be closer to their families and culture and would enhance rehabilitation. The Mat-Su Borough has three correctional facilities with a total of 585 beds. The Palmer Correction Facility at Sutton, the Mat-Su Pretrial Facility in Palmer, and the Point MacKenzie Facility have provided stable and well paying jobs for Alaskans. The Sutton Facility would be expanded to 1,200 beds and was originally planned and constructed with enough land for the expansion. The combination of the prison expansion, an increased recreation and tourism base at Hatcher Pass, and a new regional hospital and mental health facility would diversify the borough economy. The Department of Corrections would operate the facilities under long-term lease agreements with local boroughs and cities. Tax- exempt revenue bonds would be used to finance the facilities and would be secured by assignment of lease payments payable to the boroughs and cities. Bond proceeds would be used to finance construction and expense to issue the bonds. The state would have responsibility for design and construction of the facilities through construction management agreements. As owners of the facilities, cities and boroughs would accept liability not covered by insurance. There were no questions asked of Mr. Swanson. MR. RONALD WILSON stated he has been a state employee and corrections officer for over 19 years, but he was representing himself. He said private prisons have not proven they can provide correctional services more cheaply than their public counterpart and any private prison cost savings comes through reduced staff expenses. Public employees have background checks, psychological evaluations, attend and pass the correctional officer academy, and meet Alaska Pay Standard Council requirements. He asked, "If your going to place twice as many inmates in one facility as you have ever done before, why wouldn't you want the staff in that facility to meet the requirements that [correction] officers now have to meet?" SIDE B 4:25 pm He quoted findings from several studies that indicated private prisons did not measure favorably compared to state run facilities and outlined specific examples of private failures in Alaska. There were no questions asked of Mr. Wilson. MR. DANIEL COLANG expressed support for SB 65. He said he has been employed by Department of Corrections for eleven years, but the views expressed were his own. His father, a World War II veteran, always encouraged him to vote because thousands of Americans died on the battlefield to safeguard that right. Because Alaskans have voted against private prisons two times, he asked the committee to honor that request. There were no questions asked of Mr. Colang. MR. DEAN RAND, long term Whittier resident, testified via teleconference that he was not in favor of locating a private prison in Whittier. CHAIR GARY STEVENS advised the committee was hearing SB 65. MR. RAND said he realized that and he just wanted members to have a more accurate picture regarding the amount of community support for a private prison in Whittier because, Cornell Company has "steamrolled into and over the citizens of Whittier." Community support for a private prison in Whittier is "questionable at best." There was no further testimony on SB 65. CHAIR GARY STEVENS announced he would hold SB 65 in committee until Thursday. If members agreed, it was his intention to move the bill from committee at that time. SENATOR GUESS asked whether public testimony was closed or would it be taken on Thursday. CHAIR GARY STEVENS advised public testimony could be given on Thursday.