HOUSE FINANCE COMMITTEE February 27, 1998 8:15 A.M. TAPE HFC 98 - 45, Side 1 TAPE HFC 98 - 45, Side 2 CALL TO ORDER Co-Chair Mark Hanley called the House Finance Committee meeting to order at 8:15 a.m. PRESENT Co-Chair Hanley Representative Grussendorf Co-Chair Therriault Representative Kelly Representative Davies Representative Martin Representative Foster Representatives Davis, Moses, Mulder and Kohring were absent from the meeting. ALSO PRESENT Doug Griffin, Alcohol Beverage Control Board, testified via teleconference from Anchorage; Glenn Flothe, Captain, Commander, Village Public Safety Officers Program, Department of Public Safety; Robin Lown, Coordinator, Village Public Safety Officers Program, Tlingit and Haida Native Corporation; Barbara Miklos, Director, Child Support Enforcement Division, Department of Health and Social Services; Julie Tauriainen, Staff, Representative Davis. SUMMARY HB 325 "An Act making appropriations for the operating and loan program expenses of state government, for certain programs, and to capitalize funds; making appropriations under art. IX, sec. 17(c), Constitution of the State of Alaska, from the constitutional budget reserve fund; and providing for an effective date." Results Based Government Alcohol Beverage Control Board Village Public Safety Officers Child Support Enforcement Division HOUSE BILL NO. 325 "An Act making appropriations for the operating and loan program expenses of state government, for certain programs, and to capitalize funds; making appropriations under art. IX, sec. 17(c), Constitution of the State of Alaska, from the constitutional budget reserve fund; and providing for an effective date." ALCOHOL BEVERAGE CONTROL BOARD Co-Chair Hanley provided members with a proposed mission statement and performance measures for the Alcohol Beverage Control Board, Attachment 1 (copy on file). DOUG GRIFFIN, ALCOHOL BEVERAGE CONTROL BOARD (ABC), testified via teleconference from Anchorage. He spoke in support of the proposed mission statement and performance measures for the Alcohol Beverage Control Board. Representative Davies noted that there was no mention of keeping dry areas dry. Mr. Griffin observed that the mission statement is broad. He stressed that keeping dry areas dry would be included if the statement was broken down into activities. The ABC Board keeps a list of dry areas and the option each community has adopted. This information is made available to any package store engaged in filling written orders. A register is kept on stores that engage in written orders. This information is passed on to the appropriate law enforcement branches. In response to a question by Co-Chair Hanley, Mr. Griffin clarified that Title 4 governs alcoholic beverages. Co- Chair Hanley suggested that the reference to Title 4 be replaced with specific language. He emphasized that the intent is to make the mission statement and performance measures easy to understand. The adoption of the mission statement and performance measures is meant to give a broad idea of the basic intent. Further backup will eventually be available on all of the activities. Mr. Griffin noted that "Title 4" could be replaced with "notices of violations of alcoholic beverage laws." Co-Chair Therriault MOVED to ADOPT the mission statement and performance measures for the Alcohol Beverage Control Board as contained in Attachment 1. There being NO OBJECTION, it was so ordered. VILLAGE PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICERS Members were provided with a copy of the proposed mission statement and performance measures for the Village Public Safety Officers Program, Attachment 2 (copy on file). GLENN FLOTHE, CAPTAIN, COMMANDER, VILLAGE PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICERS PROGRAM (VPSO), DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY reviewed Attachment 2. He observed that the mission to provide first response and basic public safety in rural communities is accurate. He observed that village public safety officers have broad responsibilities. He stated that the mission statement broadly address the activities of village public safety officers in the villages. Captain Flothe reviewed the proposed performance measures. He observed that Alaska State Troopers (AST) criminal responses should be reduced, over time, when a VPSO officer is placed in a community. He expressed concern with the performance measure: "Average VPSO time to respond, in a community over time". He questioned if this performance measure would demonstrate a significant change with the addition of a VPSO in a village. A VPSO's response time could be affected by an increase in criminal activity. Captain Flothe anticipated that the need for repeat calls in domestic violence cases would be reduced, over time, through VPSO intervention. He also observed that VPSO's are trained emergency trauma technicians (ETT). They are one of the first responders in an emergency medical situation. The presence of a VPSO should reduce injuries in a community. Captain Flothe referred to the performance measure: "Lives saved compared to lives lost in search and rescue, in a community over time". He noted that VPSO have a significant role in responding to search and rescues. He added that the presence of a VPSO should result in a reduction in the amount of stolen or damaged property. Representative Davies expressed concern that the performance measures should be normalized by population. He suggested that "over time" should be identified by a specific amount of time. Co-Chair Hanley agreed that the performance measures should be normalized for population. He explained that "over time" is included to acknowledge that there may be an increase in reported activity during the first year a VPSO is placed in a community. JULIE TAURIAINEN, STAFF, REPRESENTATIVE DAVIS explained that "over time" was added to clarify that villages would not be compared with each other. Each village would be measured against itself over a number of years. Co-Chair Hanley noted that an increase in criminal responses could be the result of an increase in a village's population. Representative Davies acknowledged that the intent is not to compare one village to another village. He added that it might be good to discuss discrepancies between villages. Representative Foster noted the difficulty in measuring the effectiveness of a VPSO. He pointed out that a good VPSO can prevent crime through village involvement. Co-Chair Hanley agreed that the goal is to reduce the number of AST responses through VPSO action. In response to a question by Representative Kelly, Captain Flothe explained that VPSO officers are trained ETT agents. They can reduce injuries through first response care. He noted that it is difficult to measure a reduction of injuries. Co-Chair Hanley acknowledged that it would be difficult to gauge many of the performance measures. He expressed the hope that the Department of Public Safety would make suggestions for improvement. Representative Davies suggested that one measure could track another measure to be more efficient. ROBIN LOWN, COORDINATOR, VILLAGE PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICERS PROGRAM, TLINGIT AND HAIDA NATIVE CORPORATION stressed that performance measures are good things to know if they are possible to measure. He maintained that many would be difficult if not impossible to measure. He agreed that VPSO coordinators and the Department of Public Safety should be considering better measures for the future. Co-Chair Hanley noted that it is a fluid process. He indicated that the Legislature would welcome suggestions. Representative Foster noted that some VPSO officers are more active then others in pursuing prevention. Co-Chair Hanley acknowledged that communities that have high crime or search and rescue cases would probably be given priority. He observed that VPSO's might be put in communities that are less willing to take care of themselves. Representative Davies stressed that the number of searches should be included. He agreed that all of the performance measures are indicators. Co-Chair Hanley noted that Attachment 2 would be amended to include normalization for population. Representative Foster MOVED to ADOPT the mission statement and performance measures in Attachment 2 as amended to normalize for population. There being NO OBJECTION, it was so ordered. Mr. Flothe expressed his appreciation for the process of creating a mission statement and performance measures. CHILD SUPPORT ENFORCEMENT DIVISION Members were provided with a proposed mission statement and performance measures for the Child Support Enforcement Division, Attachment 3 (copy on file). BARBARA MIKLOS, DIRECTOR, CHILD SUPPORT ENFORCEMENT DIVISION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES reviewed the mission statement: "To assure that parents equitably support their children monetarily and medically." She referred to the performance measures. The Division recommends that performance measures 3 and 6 be deleted. She provided members with information demonstrating how the Division would gauge the performance measures using existing data (copy on file). Ms. Miklos also provided members with a memorandum relating to the number of arrearages that CSED carries and how they would be handled (copy on file). She proposed to replace, "arrearage cases in collections compared to total arrearage cases" with the number of cases with arrearages that are collected on compared to the total number of cases with arrearages. Arrearages continue to grow geometrically every month by $4 million dollars. The Division will attempt to close cases and remove cases that do not belong. There is a program to reduce orders that have been established arbitrarily. She stressed that a performance measure comparing the number of cases with arrearages that are collected on with the total number of cases with arrearages will show that cases are being closed and that collections are being made. In response to a question by Representative Foster, Ms. Miklos noted that the total in arrearage is $351 million dollars. This amount includes Alaska Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) collections and money that is owed from one parent to another parent. The amount is growing. The federal government is considering a rule change that would allow cases to be closed. The Division is allowed to close a case after three years if the absent parent cannot be found. The new computer system will automatically track these cases. Some of the arrearage cases are old. Representative Martin noted that there was a jump in arrearage cases between 1987 and 1997 due to a change in federal requirements. He emphasized the need to evaluate the success of removing mothers from welfare. Ms. Miklos noted that there has been a significant drop in welfare cases in the last year. The federal government estimated that CSED reduced welfare cases by approximately 2,800. In response to a question by Representative Foster, Ms. Miklos noted that the Division does not have a "ten most wanted list". There is an investigative unit with three positions. Representative Davies clarified that "current" should be before "total" in performance measure number four. In response to a question by Representative Davies, Ms. Miklos clarified that current cases could be compared to total cases in the Division's database. Representative Davies asserted that current cases compared to total cases would be the best overall measurement. Total cases would include total current obligation and total arrearage cases. Total cases would be compared to current cases. Ideally all cases would be current. Co-Chair Hanley MOVED to ADOPT a new performance measure to compare total cases to current cases. There being NO OBJECTION, it was so ordered. Co-Chair Hanley MOVED to delete performance measures three and six. There being NO OBJECTION, it was so ordered. Representative Martin observed that the Department of Law has not prosecuted cases that were identified by CSED. He spoke in support of a new performance measure to identify the number of cases prosecuted by the Department of Law. Ms. Miklos noted that a new prosecutor position is currently working on some CSED cases. Representative Martin noted that it is frustrating for CSED to locate individuals in arrears and not have them prosecuted by the Department of Law. Representative Davies suggested that a performance measure be included in the Department of Law. Co-Chair Therriault MOVED to ADOPT the mission statement and performance measures included in Attachment 3 as amended. There being NO OBJECTION, it was so ordered. Representative Martin asked the Division to provide a list of the top 100 cases in arrears. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 9:00 a.m. House Finance Committee 6 2/27/98am