SB 69-COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN  CHAIR MENARD announced the consideration of SB 69. 9:02:47 AM SENATOR BETTYE DAVIS, Alaska State Legislature, sponsor, said the Commission on the Status of Women functioned well for quite awhile, but it went away once it was combined with another commission that never really got funded. Many women asked her to reestablish it. CHAIR MENARD asked what commission it was combined with. 9:03:44 AM LYNDA ZAUGG, Staff to Senator Davis, Alaska State Legislature, said it was the Alaska Human Relations Commission. She read the following sponsor statement: It is time to once again acknowledge the contributions of women across Alaska. It is time to re-establish the Commission on the Status of Women. In 1976 the legislature established the first Commission on the Status of Women to address the unique needs of Alaska's women and children. The Commission was tasked with implementing the recommendations contained in the preliminary study on the status of women. The Commission was to improve the status of women in Alaska through research and making and implementing additional recommendations on the opportunities, needs, problems, and contributions of women. The improvements made by the commission were to include, but not limited to, the areas of education, homemaking, civil & legal rights, labor, and employment. The Women's Commission was merged with Alaska Human Relations Commission in 1993, which continues to exist in state statute but has never been funded and was declared inactive in 1996. Since 1993, the problems identified by the Commission on the Status of Women have continued to exist with minimal change and with ongoing negative impacts for Alaskan women and their families. Women represent half of our state, half of our work force, and consequently half of our ability. In order for us to continue to explore and develop our state to its full potential we must improve the opportunities for all citizens, including women. In Alaska, women in government still earn only 80 percent of the income of men, while in the private sector women earn 62.4 percent of men. Women and children continue to be the most common victims of domestic abuse. Women in Alaska lead the nation as victims of sexual assaults. We have a struggling foster child system. Our high school students, both male and female, drop out at alarming rates. We have one of the lowest percentages of students entering and completing higher education programs. We have a significant economic divide between our urban and rural communities which negatively impacts all of us. These are just a few of the issues facing women and children in our state that need to be addressed. Reestablishing the Commission on the Status of Women is an excellent way to focus attention on the major issues that impact women and children. The purpose of the commission would be to improve the status of women by conducting research, as well as serve as a referral service for information and education to help women avail themselves of existing resources to meet their needs. Additionally, the commission would make and implement recommendations on the opportunities, needs, problems, and contributions of women in the areas of education, homemaking, civil and legal rights, and labor and employment. Alaska, with its unique culture, history, and challenges combined with its large size and small population, calls for innovative forward thinking to deal with many of the difficult issues facing Alaskan women and their families. The creation of a Commission on the Status of Women will once again focus the attention of Alaskans on these critical issues. 9:07:13 AM ARLISS STURGULEWSKI, Former Alaska State Senator, Anchorage, said she is affiliated with many groups. She was a senator in the 1980s when the commission was very active, and she was sad to see its demise. It is critical that it be reestablished. This is an important time. Research is needed in domestic violence, single head of household families, shelter, the increasing and shameful dropout rates, the need for quality foster care, and the need for referral services to assist women in gaining information and education. The non-profit YWCA worked with the University of Alaska Anchorage to provide scholarships for 10 women who were the single heads of household. It was a major cooperative effort and showed what can be done when people work together. The commission is needed to help women, children, and families. It is a crime that the commission disintegrated. 9:10:24 AM CHAIR MENARD thanked Ms. Sturgulewski for her endless hard work. CAREN ROBINSON, Lobbyist, Alaska Women's Lobby, Juneau, said the women's lobby is a statewide steering committee in Fairbanks, Anchorage, and Juneau. Its mission is to defend and advance the rights and the needs of women, children, and families in Alaska. The lobby fully supports re-establishing the women's commission. It is Alaska's 50-year anniversary, and re- establishing the commission is a wise investment that can move us forward in the next 50 years. Women have made significant economic, political, and social advances, but women are far from enjoying gender equity. Women earn less then men, are seriously underrepresented in political offices, and make up a disproportionate share of people in poverty. Even in areas that have seen significant advances in women's status, rates of progress are very slow. At the rate of progress of the past 10 years, women will not meet wage parity for more than 50 years. It women represented in Congress changes at the rate it did in the 1990s, it will take more than a century to achieve equity in political representation. To make significant progress, policy researchers and advocates need reliable data about women. 9:13:01 AM MS. ROBINSON said the first Alaska Women's Commission initiated a series of reports on the status of women in Alaska. It was one of the most valuable things it did in advancing the rights of women. The work of the commission addressed domestic violence, welfare reform, and other issues. The reports are needed today to inform citizens about the progress of women in Alaska related to women in other states, to men, and to the whole nation. The commission can analyze and disseminate information, provide baseline measures, and most importantly, identify measures and solutions to equality barriers. "We've come a long way." Women in Alaska and the U.S. have seen important changes in their lives and their access to political, economic, and social rights. There is still more to do. Alaska women could benefit from stronger enforcement of equal opportunity laws, better political representation, adequate and affordable childcare, stronger poverty reduction programs, and other policies. A women's commission would provide the focus and direction to achieve these goals. She noted her collection of historical booklets from the commission. Joan Katz wrote the first status report. Later work was done by the last commissioner and director Ruth Lister. She understood women's problems. She wrote a report about young women dropping out of school, and her recommendations likely have not been followed. 9:15:45 AM MS. ROBINSON said she also wrote about teen pregnancy and how to educate young men. The Women's Legal Rights Handbook was used the most, and it needs to be updated. 9:16:26 AM HATTIE GARDNER, President, Alaska Federation of Business and Professional Women, Anchorage, said the federation was founded in 1919 and chartered in Alaska in 1945. There are three local chapters in Alaska. The national federation concentrates on fair pay and getting veteran women back into work. It works with AARP on divided-we-fall health issues and the American Heart Association on reporting heart health. The local federation concentrates on scholarships for young women and sometimes men, global warming, individual development for women, and training for young women and women who head the household. Reinstituting this commission is important to the federation. The statistics will be used to plan programs to supply information to the national group. The group wants a place to draw statistics from for things like domestic violence and children in need. 9:19:02 AM ANNABELLE STEVENS, Member, Federation of Business and Professional Women, Anchorage, said she has been coming to Juneau for over 35 years on different issues, but reestablishing the women's commission is one of the most important. It is "vital to the civil rights, the labor, the employment, equal pay of women, and I hesitate to say homemaking because 100 years ago women were homemakers." Now they are bread winners, and it is important to show how much women do. "Behind every successful man is a woman that has given him a hand up." 9:20:22 AM RAMONA DUBY, Member, Federation of Business and Professional Women, Anchorage, said she supports the re-establishment of the women's commission and she echoes every comment made by Ms. Sturgulewski. She got involved in public policy at the women's commission in the 1980s. It assisted her with a legal issue against a state nonprofit. She wants more meat in the commission and have it report to the legislature or governor. It is one thing to get this vitally needed information, but she would like to see the information put to use. 9:22:13 AM JANE ANGVIK, Member, Alaska Girl Scouts, Alaska Women's Political Caucus, Anchorage, said she has been involved in women's issues for many years. She supports SB 69 because it will do research to assist women in economic situations. Alaska women are underpaid relative to men. It is important to focus on women's capacity to be able to support themselves and their families, and the women's commission can do research and make recommendations on that. The previous commission developed a body of research that informed citizens and legislators. 9:23:54 AM BRITTANY GOODNIGHT, Member, Alaska Women's Political Caucus board, Anchorage, said she is a young professional, and she is in Juneau for the Women's Summit. She was born and raised in Chugiak. As a young woman, she is shocked that this commission doesn't exist. It could guide the legislature and governor in the advancement for women in all kinds of realms. It is important to the state, her future, and her children's future. LATANYA SEMONES, Fairbanks, said she is in Juneau for the Women's Summit, and she echoes what everyone has said. She is a young Native woman. Re-establishing the commission would offer a huge opportunity for her aunts, sisters, brothers, grandmothers, and all her family in rural Alaska. KATHERINE FOREST, Anchorage, said she was born and raised in Anchorage and is from a big Hispanic family. She agrees with all the previous testimony. 9:26:17 AM CLOVER SIMON, Alaska Vice President, Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest, Anchorage, said her organization serves women and children and employs mostly women. Her staff are often single mothers. "Having the information out there to legislators about the importance of bringing women up, I think is paramount to the future of our state." Improving the lives of women improves the lives of everyone in the community, especially children. She wants the bill to move forward. 9:27:27 AM SENATOR MEYER said a witness said that the commission should be implemented by the governor or legislator. Page 4 has the commission preparing a report and will provide the governor with copies of the report. He asked that the legislature be included. SENATOR DAVIS said the last commission reported directly to the governor. It can report to the legislature, but the closer to the legislature and the governor the better. She will consider any recommendation that makes the bill stronger. SENATOR MEYER said it is fine for the report to go to the governor, as long as the legislature is kept informed. SENATOR DAVIS said that can be addressed in the bill if the committee wants. SENATOR MEYER said a simple amendment can do that. 9:29:21 AM CHAIR MENARD noted the fiscal note of $505,000. SENATOR DAVIS said that is what came back to her, and it establishes the same positions from the old commission, including executive director and staff. The human relations commission was never funded. The commission went away in 1993. CHAIR MENARD asked if other states have similar commissions. SENATOR DAVIS said all other states have them in various forms. SENATOR FRENCH said Senator Meyer made a good suggestion, so he moved Amendment 1, as follows: Page 4, line 5, after "governor" insert "and the legislature", and strike all of the words on line 6. Hearing no objection, Amendment 1 was adopted. SENATOR FRENCH moved to report SB 69, as amended, from committee with individual recommendations and attached fiscal note(s). There being no objection, CSSB 69 (STA) passed out of committee.