Senate Finance, 5/11/26, 9am

Call Senate Finance Committee to order. Today is May 11th, 9:00 a.m., in the Senate Finance Room in the State Capitol. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] Chairman Olson, Chairman Senator Steadman, Senator Keele, Senator Merrick, Senator Kaufman, Senator Cronkite, myself, Senator Hoffman, we have a quorum to conduct business. We have one item on today's calendar, that being HB 239, criminal neglect and homicide.

This is the first hearing on this piece of legislation. I invite Representative Kopp and whomever he wants to assist him to the table to introduce the legislation to the Senate Finance Committee.

Thank you. Good morning, Mr. Chairman, members of the Senate Finance Committee. It is— my name is Chuck Kopp, representative for House District 10. Carrying the omnibus crime bill here, House Bill 239. I'm accompanied by my very able team member, Mr. Gary Zepp.

Mr. Chairman, members of the committee, this version of House Bill 239 in front of you is an omnibus public safety and justice bill that brings together several House and Senate measures into one coordinated package. Its focus is very straightforward, is to protect, uh, victims of crime, close known loopholes in the law, and improve efficiency across Alaska's justice system without overcriminalization. The slide— is that up where they— everybody can see it? Um, the, the first, uh, slide that I will highlight, uh, for the committee— there it is, it is up now, thank you. Is these are the main bills or policies that have been incorporated into this package.

We have a little over 80 amendments to current statutes, and most of these are conforming to some primary themes. The first theme is brought out in House Bill 101, which raises the protected age of child victims of sex crimes from those children who are under 16 to all children who are under 18. And this also aligns us with most other states. So again, raising the age of consent for sexual activity, uh, from being those who are 16, raise that age of consent to 18. And if you're less than 18, you're considered in a protected class.

Second, you see under House Bill 62 there that is rape kit reform that provides that the Department of Public Safety is going to roll out a digital sexual assault kit tracking system where victims can see where their kit is at in the process, what the testing results are, and it also sets timelines for both the sexual assault response teams to process evidence from victims timelines for law enforcement to get the evidence submitted to a lab, and timelines for the lab to then process, all while keeping victims notified of that. You see, uh, going across that first slide, the DOC, the medical release section. This is— provides the commissioner the authority to release on electric monitoring those patients who are so physically infirm that number one, they have made a determination that no public safety risk is known or can be conceived of being an issue to the public by allowing them out on electronic monitoring. So they still have to be monitored or some other form of being actively tracked. And the release must be because it saves the state money.

And many of these situations could be dialysis situations or Other situations where you might imagine we have somebody who's completely infirm, geriatric patient, and needs assisted living care, things like that. So, an important part of that is the bill explicitly states it does not create a liberty interest for the prisoner. In other words, they have no right of staying out at any time. The commissioner can revoke that and bring them back into custody. House Bill 384, going across the top, you see that tribal Victim service providers are being added as a list of designated authorized counseling centers to receive state and federal grants for counseling services.

So it's not just state, municipal, or other nonprofits. Tribal victim counseling centers were not listed before. This puts them in there as clearly authorized recipients of these funds and providers of these counseling services. Senate Bill 247, and going across the second row now, is a significant policy that addresses the digital age of child sexual abuse material. This is where we see AI-generated child porn, all kinds of both sadistic and sexual acts to and with children that are now AI-generated, sometimes using portions of a real child and then— and or using children themselves.

But it is, it is AI-generated. And this deals with distribution of that material and with possession of that material. This has before this not been addressed in our law. When we are not using an actual picture of a real child, there's, there's been a problem. Law enforcement has highlighted that You start with a real image and then you digitize it and you can create all kinds of things that play into the sexual addictions in this area that are hard to stop and hard to prosecute because our law does not address AI-generated distribution and possession.

The Cruelty to Animals section has to do with digital pictures of bestiality. Really need to say more than that, but that, that's what it is. That hasn't been prosecutable before, but the, the, um, trading, selling, and producing of, of pictures of animals that are being treated and abused sexually, and this would allow law enforcement to address that. House Bill 239, actually, this is how this bill originally started, deals with hit-and-run fatalities, and that addresses a known set and seen problem in the law where we have scores of hit-and-run fatalities where a person has been abandoned to die at the scene and the offender is frequently getting maybe 4 to 6 to 8 months to serve. And families have spoken out very strongly that there— that does not seem to reflect the sense of justice or community justice.

And that has to do with first offender status being a B felony, which is 1 to 3 years. And if you are a first offender, you're likely to get 1, and then you get time off for good time for that. And by the time it works out, a person is just doing months before they're out. And this says that if you leave someone to die in the road, whether it's a cyclist, a pedestrian, or another motorist, that it's not a B felony anymore, it's an A felony, which raises that sentencing up to 2 to 4 for a first time. And you're more likely to get more than a year for doing something like that.

And a lot of testimony of support for that. Senate Bill 17, airbag fraud is in this. You just cannot knowingly import, sell, install anything that you know is defective or counterfeit. If you do that, it's an A misdemeanor if someone's hurt. Or dies, you're in felony land.

That is strongly supported by obviously the motor vehicle industry. And there are exceptions. If you are selling your own vehicle and you say, hey, I don't know if the airbag works or not, or I have an airbag light on, I just don't know, it may not be working, you're fine as a private seller as long as if you think there could be an issue that you've disclosed that. House Bill 242, on that third line down low, healthcare worker assault. This addresses a deficiency in the law where a healthcare worker, a provider in a professional environment, was able to get away with sexual penetration or sexual contact in a nonprofessional treatment sense, as long as they had an understanding that the patient was unaware that they were being sexually abused, penetrated, or assaulted.

And the— this— we recently had a court case here in Juneau where a doctor was found not guilty because in fact they thought the patient was aware that they were being sexually penetrated. And but in that environment of, of that intimidation of a doctor and a patient, The, the assault certainly occurred. So how this bill addresses that says, you know, it doesn't matter what the awareness is of the provider of whether the victim knew what was happening or not. It's simply that you do not have sexual penetration or sexual contact in a professional treatment setting when it is not a course of a professional treatment. So it's just forbidden.

Keeps it in sexual assault first-degree land where it belongs if it's penetration, regardless of the knowledge of the victim of what was happening to them. You just don't have sex with patients in a professional treatment environment. House Bill 81, marijuana record sealing. This addresses— this is kind of a job force focus where many young people that had possessed the misdemeanor level of marijuana before it was legalized and did not have any other offenses that went along with that, it was simple marijuana possession, that that record would not be visible to the public. It will help them get jobs and help them even be eligible for military service, things like that.

Law enforcement would still still have access to these records if they needed it, so it doesn't like go away, go away. But for general job search, it's stuff people can't look up and say, hey, I saw 6 years ago you had a marijuana possession, so you know, you don't get a, get a crack at this job. So again, it can only be for those offenses where it was simple marijuana possession and there were no other offenses charged at that time. So you weren't doing anything else that was reckless. If you were, then you're not eligible.

Senate Bill 109 makes all mail theft a misdemeanor. It's just, just a straightforward— this comes to us from also Public Safety saying that this actually is very unclear if someone's going through a mailbox as to when it's criminal or not to be possessing someone else's mail. Just making it a misdemeanor makes it really clear that No matter what the records are, no matter what you have from somebody else's mail, if you're not authorized to have it, you're in misdemeanor land. And then finally, the Controlled Substance Advisory Committee transition from the Department of Law to the Department of Commerce is being requested for a matter of administrative oversight. Law is, is not really prepared to handle this committee in the administrative sense where Department of Commerce and Economic Development is.

So those are the highlights. I would highlight for the committee we did get a memo from department— our legislative legal— saying that that Senate Bill 233 may be a violation of the title on this because it's an administrative transfer of housing and agency, which really, even though you're dealing with the Controlled Substances Advisory Committee, they said technically it's not They didn't see it really being part of the crime bill, so they made a caution as a possible amendment the committee may want to consider. Mr. Chairman, that is the highlight of the whole bill. About 80% of this bill is House Bill 101 and Senate Bill 247. Again, House Bill 101 is about 30 amendments that deal with making sure that children under the age of 18 are in a protected status for sex trafficking, for sexual abuse of a minor, for sexual assault, and those types of crimes.

And Senate Bill 247 just addresses the distribution and possession of generated— AI-generated child sexual abuse material. Mr. Zep, as I said, is with me, and he can talk through a smattering of the sectionals so you get an idea of how most of these are conforming amendments. To the law. Most of this is not new law. Most of this is a conforming amendment just to generate children being protected under 18 and AI-generated child sexual abuse material.

That's it in a very highlight. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE] Committee to order. Do members of the Senate Finance Committee have questions of Representative Kopp at this At this time.

Seeing none, we'll go to Mr. Zepp. Please identify yourself for the record and present the committee with your comments. Good morning, Mr. Co-chair, Senator Olson, Senator Hoffman, Senator Steadman, and committee members. It's good to be in Senate Finance again.

We have the Senate Committee Substitute for Committee Substitute House Bill 239 version H, and I'm going to refer to that as House Bill 239, to present to you today. We've tried to provide various levels of information at a high level, a mid, and also detailed to the committee members and staff about which bills and language sections are contained within HB 239. We can provide a brief history of the bill, the changes from the original version to the current form. We highlight the bill materials that are in front of you. They are cross-referenced.

If you look at your bill that has a B in the upper right-hand corner and your sectional has an A in the upper right-hand corner, they cross-reference each other. Um, we also have, uh, of note, we have, uh, Casey Schroeder from the Department of Law, Nancy Mead from the court system, individual bill sponsors and their staff, Commissioner Cockrell from the Department of Public Safety, Kevin Worley from the Department of Corrections. The municipality of Anchorage Police Chief Case is also available for questions about the provisions within the bill.

HB 239 had two bill amendments. It started out as a very narrowly focused bill, but in House Judiciary it was amended two places. Very simply, it changed the presumptive sentence range from 7 to 11 years to 4 to 7 years. And it also clarified a consecutive sentencing provision which requires the sentencing court to impose some consecutive term. In Senate Judiciary, the first committee substitute, version G, came out.

That was amended to incorporate 9 various crime and justice bills and sections. The second committee substitute that came out of Senate Judiciary is version H, which is before you today. Included refinements to HB 101, Senate Bill 100, Senate Bill 247, and 2 language sections inserted.

As Rep. Cobb noted, both HB 101 and Senate Bill 247 account for 73% of the volume of the bill. The other bills only account for 27% of the bill volume itself. And if it's at the will of the co-chair Hoffman, I can start on the PowerPoint.

Along as— Call the meeting back to order. I'm on slide 2 of the PowerPoint, and the first— before I start on this, the PowerPoint takes each individual bill and language section within the current version of HB 239, provides the bill, some brief highlights, and the sections within the bill that apply only to that individual bill or language section, just so you understand the— what it comprised of. HB 101 expands provisions of sexual assault against minors. This bill aligns child protection statutes with the standard age of 18. It raises the age threshold consent from 16 to 18 years of age for over 24 criminal offenses, and you can see the various statutes and provisions that it touches upon.

I'm not going to read each and every one. Next slide. This again continues— this touches— HB 101 touches, as I mentioned, over 24 provisions, criminal statutes, uh, currently. These are some of the highlights of what it touches on. I'll move on to the next slide.

Before you go on, on that slide, were any of these provisions contentious in any previous committee hearings? Mr. Chairman, no. Thank you. Mr. Chair.

Senator Kaufman. Just wondering how you want to handle questions relative to this bill. As we go, you can— anytime. Go ahead, Senator Kaufman. I have a question on the previous slide.

In this, the close age gap, so for 16, 17-year-olds, 6 years, that seems to be a lot down at that lower age. I'm just wondering what's the thought behind that?

Through the chair, Senator Kaufman, the thought behind that is to not criminalize close-in-age sexual relationships. This with, uh, between young people. We're not looking at trying to get kids in trouble for this. We're trying to protect them from predators. So that's why you see the age range, uh, being in trouble.

If, if there is a greater than 6-year age range, then you're, you're not focusing on your age group. You're, you're targeting, um, a, a child. By definition in the law. So that is why we have that at least 6 years younger than the offender, so that when they're closer than that, if they're 16 or 17, it wouldn't be a criminal offense. Senator Kaufman, thank you.

Thank you. Please proceed, Mr. Zipp.

As I mentioned on the slide here about referencing the previously the many statutes that HB 101 touches on.

And there are quite a few sections that this bill touches on, as you can see.

And just for the committee's awareness, again, this is Representative Chuck Kopp, District 10. Those sections are all conforming amendments that recognize that we are now protecting children under the age of 18 rather than just children under the age of 16. Because we're raising the age of consent for sex to 18 years of age. Prior to this, if someone was being trafficked for sex and they were 17 years old but they said, "Hey, I'm good with it," there was nothing law enforcement could do. Because legally they could consent even at 16.

They could consent to being trafficked. So this says if you're under 18, you, you are not of the age of consent. And so every aspect of the law that you see here are all conforming amendments to reflect the protected status of young people under 18.

Please proceed. Okay, we're on the slide for Senate Bill 247, which is the AI-generated CSAM age gap provisions, sentencing, and licensing. And the bill aligns generated obscene child sexual abuse material sentencing limits and presumptions on par with distribution or possession. I'll call it CSAM for short. It makes it a crime to distribute or possess generated obscene CSAM materials.

It creates two new felony offenses targeting AI-generated and digitally manipulated obscene sexual abuse materials, and also expands the existing unlawful exploitation of a minor statute. And you can see all three of those referenced on the PowerPoint slide, Mr. Chairman. If you want me to move on, I can, or I can read through Questions on this slide? Senator Kaufman. I had a question generally in this section.

So the licenses that one could lose if engaged in any of this activity, and maybe we're coming up on it, but I'm just wondering, so we had teaching, bus driving, and some others. Is that comprehensive? Are other licenses or permits in other sections of statute that also cover this? I'm just wondering, are we covering everything that should be hit in that section? Representative Kopp.

Through the Chair, Senator Kaufman, yes, we do cover the Professional Teaching Practices Commission, school bus drivers, et cetera. That's coming up in the bill. So it does reflect the these new crimes as being prohibitions for keeping or obtaining those certificates that you just mentioned. Representative— Senator Kaufman. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just because this one was originally mine along with a member of the other body, Maybe a shorter way to say it is same as all the other sex offenses. Same, same catchment when it comes to licenses. Thank you, Senator Keele. Further questions on this slide?

Please proceed.

And these are the many sectional provisions that Senate Bill 247 touches on. This is 35% of the bill volume or 28 sections. It touches on many of these provisions. I'm just going to scan through them for the sake of time. I have a question.

Do any of these sections— were any of them controversial? No, sir, Mr. Chairman.

Again, most of these, Mr. Chairman, for the record, Representative Chuck Kopp, are conforming amendments showing that the law across all classes of sex offenses recognizes now that AI-generated child sex abuse material is now part of our law. So it's just a matter of making sure it shows up across the criminal and juvenile justice statutes in every area where it would otherwise not be mentioned. Okay, Mr. Zipp. Okay, moving on to, uh, HB 242, sexual assault healthcare worker provisions. Uh, HB 242 addresses a gap in Alaska sexual assault statutes that make it harder to prosecute healthcare workers who sexually assault patients, making it a crime for healthcare workers to engage in sexual penetration or sexual contact with a patient during the course of professional treatment, regardless of the victim's awareness.

And I'll just repeat that because that is the whole crux of this particular one— regardless of the victim's awareness. Just keep that in mind. Uh, gives a little blurb on the left about the current law and the new provisions contained within HB 242 on the right.

The two provisions that it touches on amends Section 7 and 8, first-degree and second-degree sexual assault.

Mr. Chairman, if I'm moving too quickly, please let me know. I'm on to House Bill 62, Sexual Assault Examination Kit Reform. This provides new evidence processing timelines a statewide kit tracking system, updated victim rights, and criminal record sealing for certain minor drug prevention— oh wait, that's wrong. Updated victim rights.

And again, there's victim rights and notifications, there's processing timelines and responsibilities, and the tracking system that are spelled out on this page, but again, with our time constraints, I'll leave that for further reading. Questions on this slide from Senate Finance members? See none, please proceed.

And the statutes that are related to HB 62, as you can see on this page.

And the next is public safety. This is cruelty to animals, bestiality material. This adds possession viewing or accessing of obscene material depicting sexual contact with animals as a new category of animal cruelty. And you can see the 3 bill sections that are— that apply to this language section within the bill.

Questions? Please proceed. The next bill is HB 81, Criminal Justice Records, Record Sealing and Victims' Rights. This adds a new subsection for restricting the release of criminal justice information regarding marijuana convictions when the offender was convicted of 1 or less of marijuana, 1 ounce or less of marijuana, was 21 years of age or older at the time of the offense, was not convicted for any other charges in that case, and requests the agency not to release the records. And you can see the 4 bill sections that are listed below that.

Questions by Senate Finance members? Seeing none, carry on. The next section regarding the Department of Corrections.

Medical release for service of sentence by electronic monitoring. This authorizes the Commissioner of Corrections to release seriously or terminally ill allow prisoners to serve their sentence on electronic monitoring if they pose no threat to the public. And the 3 bill section provisions listed below.

Senator Kaufman. Thank you. Just wondering on this section, this topic, do we have any provisions to carve out certain things that don't necessarily the person's not rendered harmless. Child molestation, other crimes against kids, even with a serious illness or an infirmity, sometimes that compulsion is rather durable. So is there anything that handles that differently to deal with some of the things that are compulsive that may not be attenuated by poor health.

Representative Kopp, we have—. Through the chair, so the commissioner must require electronic monitoring. It's not, it's not optional. This person has to be actively monitored, and they have to be in such poor condition that there's a determination that even considering the, as you say, the predilections to certain behavior, that they do not pose a risk. And it also must result in a cost savings to the state.

And it does not create a liberty interest. At any time the commissioner can, regardless of how sick they are, if there's something that's observed or something happens, they can go right back, right back to prison. So it is an active monitoring environment. There is no sense of being released and not being monitored actively. Senator Kaufman.

I appreciate that, but would there be anything to assure that they would not have access to kids as part of this release? [Speaker] Representative. [Speaker] So already in the law, if you are convicted of a child sexual offense, yes, that would be part of their probation— their release requirements is they could not be around children. I can say that with all confidence. That is the law now.

I know the Commissioner of Corrections behind me would certainly verify if I was wrong on that. They couldn't release someone and have that not be a requirement on them. Senator Kaufman. Thank you. That gap, that risk is just something I would like to be sure of before we are done.

Thank you. Thank you, Senator Kaufman. Mr. Zep. Sure. Thank you, Mr. Co-Chair.

As a reminder, we do have a slew of people available if you have some really detailed questions for the bill.

Moving on from the Department of Corrections, this is HB 239. This was the original sports car that came out of the House.

Consecutive sentencing for criminally negligent homicide. This mandates consecutive imprisonment terms for conviction of criminally negligent homicide and homicide of an unborn child for each additional crime of failure to stop and render aid and flee paying the assistance. And, uh, Mr. Chairman, for the record, Representative Chuck Cobb, House District 10. On this, the idea behind this is when you strike a motorist or a cyclist or a pedestrian and you— and you leave that person to die, sometimes you can have multiple fatalities in one accident where you can have 3 or 4 people killed in a car. We wanted the courts to have the discretion to look at the separate incidences of failure to stop or failure to render aid, recognizing that each life is important.

You didn't maybe just hit one person, but you wiped out a soccer mom and her minivan of kids. And for the courts to be able to say there will be some consecutive time— it doesn't say what that will be— also recognizing that you could have a pregnant female, and the law already provides criminally negligent homicide of an unborn child if a mother's child is taken away in a traumatic incident like this. That would give public safety and law enforcement a chance to carry out the will of the mother if they wanted that homicide of an unborn child. It's in statute now, so it just keeps the law consistent. We're not adding a new crime, we're just saying that we recognize that a mother could survive could lose the baby.

And that is why that's also included in here. That's considered an unwanted, uh, travesty of abandoning someone after you strike them. Thank you. Questions? Mr. Zipp.

The next provision, bill, within HB 239 is Senate Bill 265, hit Hit-and-Run Failure to Render Aid upgraded penalties. This elevates failure to render aid to injured persons from a de facto misdemeanor to a Class B felony. It creates a new Class A felony for fatal accidents, and you can see the 3 provisions within HB 239 listed on the screen there.

Questions? Please proceed. Senate bill next is also contained within HB 239, theft in the third degree, mail theft. Excuse me. As theft of mail is a standalone third-degree theft offense regardless of monetary value, and you can see the bill section that's referenced down below.

Questions? Mr. Zep. The next bill contained within HB 239 is HB 384, Victim Counseling Center, the tribal government inclusion. This expands the victim counseling center definition to include tribal government agencies, ensuring Alaska Native victims receive the same confidential communication privileges, uh, to their clients. And you can see the bill section 60 listed below.

Please proceed. The next bill contained within HB 239 is Senate Bill 17, Airbag Fraud: A New Crime. Creates a new criminal offense— excuse me— creates a new criminal offense targeting the sale, installation, or manufacture of counterfeit or non-functioning airbags. And you can see the 4 bill sections listed below.

Questions?

And last but not least, we have Senate Bill 233 within HB 239, Controlled Substances Advisory Committee and Agency Transfer. This relocates the administrative home of the Controlled Substances Advisory Committee from the Department of Law to the Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development. You can see the bill section referenced below that. Thank you, Mr. Zipp. Before we go to invited testimony, Representative Kopp, any comments?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. That was a very good overview. Thank you, Mr. Zipp. I would just highlight again for the committee, it's this controlled substances advisory committee agency transfer section that legislative legal cautioned us that maybe it should not be part of this bill to stay consistent with the single subject rule.

Thank you, Representative. We will go to invited testimony. The first individual to testify is Jamie Ann Hesselquist, victim-survivor. Please come forward. Identify yourself and give us your invited testimony, Jamie.

Good morning, everyone. It's good to see you guys.

Hello, my name is Jamie Ann Zephtin. I am Tlingit, Tlingit, Deysh'itana, the Raven's Bones House of I was raised here on Akwesasne territory, just one block up from the state capitol building. And as children, we used to play tag in the parking lot here. And because there weren't many flat surfaces for roller skating, I used to do that in the lower parking lot. I remember as a child looking at the building thinking one day I'm going to work in there.

And I did, as the assistant building manager, or assistant to the building manager, from 2000 to 2002, and then served as the Senate Sergeant at Arms for the Alaska State Senate from 2002 to 2004. Today I'm here to support HB 242, now 239. I'm here because I experienced sexual harm by my healthcare provider. Like many Alaska Native people, I also experienced sexual assault as a minor. That earlier trauma made physical contact and boundaries more confusing with the healthcare setting, especially with someone I thought to trust.

The physical therapist, Jeffrey Foltz, was acquitted on my charges because of a loophole in the law. The law required that I be unaware that the assault is happening in order for it to qualify as sexual abuse, for a sexual assault. And I want to be clear, knowing that harmful things are happening to your body does not mean that you consent to them. Awareness is not consent. Freezing is not consent.

And trusting your healthcare provider is is not consent. Patients are often vulnerable, isolated, in pain, partially clothed, and taught to trust, taught to trust the person. There is an inherent power balance in these spaces, and that trust was violated. At least a dozen of us women have come forward in this case, and there is still an ongoing case. This This bill will not affect that case, but it will help protect people in the future and close a dangerous gap in the law.

HB 239 closes this loophole and helps ensure health care providers can be held accountable for the harm they commit and the trust they break with their patients. During this legal process, the courts have allowed Jeffrey Foltz to move out of state first to New Mexico and now to Colorado Springs where he resides. Meanwhile, Alaska Native women here continue carrying the weight of this harm while continuing to move forward through the legal process. I would like to thank, um, all of you today for listening and taking all this into consideration, and thank Representative Kopp for his invitation to testify today, and also to Sarah Hannon and her staffer Hunter for bringing people together, for listening to survivors, and for the work they put into closing this dangerous loophole in the law that will hold perpetrator healthcare providers accountable for their crimes. And I'd also like to send strength to the women.

There was a dozen of us at least who came forward, and they are still going on with the case. The case is now being proposed to move to Anchorage, and I hadn't seen I have never said his name in front of any of you until today. And the reason I said his name, Jeffrey Foltz, is because of them proposing to move the case to Anchorage. Gunalchéesh. Thank you for your time again and your consideration and for hearing my testimony today.

And please close this loophole in the law for the people. Thank you, Jamie, for coming forward. Providing your testimony. I know in many cases it's painful to come forward and I thank you for sharing that with the committee. Are there any questions that committee members may have?

Thank you for recognizing that, Senator Hoffman. Giniishiiizh. We will go to Mr. and Mrs. Trent.

Are you in the room or online?

You're on the line. Please identify yourself. This is Kelly Trent. Please proceed with your in writing testimony.

Okay, thank you. Good morning, my name is Kelly Trent. I'll be sharing with you the loss of my son Chase Bowersen. On January 2nd, 2021, me and my family experienced the unthinkable. My son Chase Bowerson was found alongside the Glen Highway, killed from a hit and run.

That day changed all our lives, not only from the unimaginable loss of Chase, but also because we would soon learn that our judicial system would not hold his killer adequately accountable. He left him to die alongside a major highway, discarded, as if human life doesn't matter, and it was to take. That is the definition of a killer. From the first court date to the last, my husband and I attended them all. The court dates were approximately every 4 to 8 weeks for over 4 years.

We've never missed one. We were focused on justice for Chase. To our dismay, the man that killed our son was released on ankle monitor almost immediately after he killed him. The disappointment we felt in our judicial system began slowly but quickly became undeniable. Over the course of waiting for justice, we became very aware of the plague of hit-and-run deaths that were occurring in our community.

It was unreal. We thought surely that Chase's case would set an example of justice and that the future cases would follow suit, that justice would come through our courts. That did not happen though. Chase's case began with the killer being charged with murder one manslaughter, and felony failure to render aid. About a year before we were going to go to trial, the DA decided to pursue manslaughter only.

Then the day before trial was to start, the DA let us know they were going to offer a plea deal to the defendant of criminally negligent homicide and leaving the scene, with him only receiving a 2.5-year sentence and with good time only having to serve 8 months. Since he had served 6 months already in 2022 for violating conditions, he only had to serve a few weeks in jail after sentencing. Criminally negligent homicide felony to render aid has consequences in place right now that are not adequate to how horrible a crime it is. Failure to render aid and leaving a person to die alongside the road is a choice, and it is a choice that needs to bear consequence. The judicial system that is supposed to help victims did not do this.

I have never felt so disheartened by my home state of Alaska. My son Chase was a caring, hardworking young man. He owned his own home and was planning on building a cabin on his land in Homer. He just turned 26 years old, just 2 weeks before being killed. He was a contributing member of Alaska and gave back to our community.

After we lost Chase, we found out so much more about his giving spirit. He made donations to shelters for women and children. He gave shoes he had in his vehicle to unhoused people many times. We found out he saved an elder's life a few years before he was killed, allowing this Alaskan elder more years with his family. His loss has had a rippling effect not only on my family and his friends, but on Alaska as well.

The things that he could have achieved are endless. Not only did we lose Chase, but we lost his future and what he would have given to our family in the community. I've thought many times about how I would have felt if his killer would have stopped after he'd hit him with his car. He made the choice to leave him alongside the cold, dark Glen Highway after hitting him. If he had stopped, called for help, and been with Chase until help arrived, I wouldn't even be here addressing you all.

But his killer made the choice to leave to die along the road, and he drove another 20 minutes to his home, and he went to bed. Chase's body wasn't found for approximately 4 hours. 4 Long, cold hours alone and discarded by another human that thought it was okay to do that. That part of Chase's death will haunt me forever. No person deserves that.

Failure to render aid cannot go without consequences. Hitting a human being with a human— with a vehicle and then making the choice to leave them there and not call for help is horrendous. Our state needs to do better and show the communities of Alaska that they value life and that victims of this horrific death deserve justice. The sentence that Chase's killer received is not justice. It is a sentence that tells our community that human life doesn't mean what it should to the state of Alaska.

That is not the Alaska that I want to live in. House Bill 239 will set a standard that Alaska needs to have in place. People need to know that if they hit someone with their car, they must stay, call for help, and render aid. If they don't do this, the consequences will outweigh any other option. What is in place now does not ensure that human life is not something that a person can choose to throw away because of the selfish choice of fleeing and leaving them to die.

Please stand with our family and community in support of House Bill 239 so so that no one in Alaska will experience this gross injustice of a life being ripped away and the consequences not being adequate. Thank you for the opportunity to speak. Making this bill law will demonstrate to Alaskans that have lost faith in the system that there are changes being made. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mrs. Trent, for that most compelling testimony.

Condolences to you and Mr. Trent. We'll move on to Teresa Worble with the Alaska Trust.

Are you online?

Good morning. Uh, for the record, my name is Teresa Worble, Director for Policy and Advocacy at the Alaska Children's Trust, the statewide lead organization focused on the prevention of child abuse and neglect. Thank you for the opportunity to speak in support of House Bill 239. And the components from Senate Bill 247 that protect children from generated obscene child sexual abuse materials, or CSAM. CSAM is a term that has replaced child pornography in both common uses and, thanks to recent legislative action, in Alaska statute.

The Alaska Children's Trust applauds the legislature for updating this language, recognizing that the new terminology more accurately reflects the grave reality of these crimes. The real prevalence of child sexual abuse is not known because so many victims do not disclose or report their abuse. However, adult retrospective studies by the CDC shows that 1 in 4 women and 1 in 6 men were sexually abused before the age of 18. Alaska has one of the highest per capita rates of child sexual abuse in the nation. Here are some statistics for you.

Child sexual abuse cases reported by Child Protective Services nearly doubled from 155 in 2015 to a peak of 295 cases in 2016. Cases in 2020 before settling at 262 cases in 2022. Over this period, sexual abuse grew as a share of all child maltreatment— grew as a share of all child maltreatment cases, rising from 5% in 2015 to 10% in 2022. From 2013 to 2015, 13.7% of Alaska adults reported experiencing child sexual abuse, and in 2020, 35% of Alaska women reported experiencing sexual abuse when they were a child. AI-generated child sexual abuse materials now represents one of the most urgent and fast, fastest-moving threats facing children today.

In 2023, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received 4,700 reports of AI-related CSAM. By 2024, that number had grown to 67,000, and in the first half of 2025 alone, they received more than 400,000 such reports, an average of over 2,000 every single day. At the same time, sextortion, where offenders use real or AI-generated images to blackmail children, continues to surge. In 2023, an estimated 106,000 American children were victims of sextortion. By the first half of 2025, financial sextortion reports to the National Center had nearly doubled compared the same period the year before.

The National Center is aware of at least 36 teenage boys who have taken their own lives as a result of sextortion. These are not emerging threats on the horizon. They are happening now in our communities to our children. Alaska is not immune to this issue. In 2024, an Army soldier stationed at JBER was arrested in 2024 for creating AI-generated CSAMs.

This case revealed that Alaska had no state statute addressing it, and the soldier was prosecuted under federal law. In conversations with law enforcement, sex torture is happening to Alaska's children on a regular basis. The impact of this type of child sexual abuse is lifelong. Survivors face dramatically higher rates of depression, anxiety, PTSD, substance abuse, and suicide, and often struggle with relationships, education, and economic stability well into adulthood. For victims of child sexual abuse materials, the trauma never fully ends As the knowledge that images of their abuse exist and may be shared indefinitely means they are re-victimized every time that material is accessed.

Advances in AI technology have made it possible to create sexual images of children that are indistinguishable from real children, and at times use real children as models. The creation and circulation of child sexual abuse material, whether involving real or synthetic images, normalizes exploitation, fuels demand, and perpetuates harm. Senate Bill 247 and components of House Bill 239 would ensure our legal system keeps pace with these emerging threats by addressing a critical gap in Alaska law. House Bill 239 would now align Alaska with the national and international legal landscape. Research by Enough of Youth shows that 45 states have criminalized AI-generated or computer-edited child sexual abuse materials.

The bill will appropriately expand Alaska's criminal statutes to ensure that individuals who those who create, possess, or distribute this material can be held accountable. This legislation is an opportunity to close a loophole that is actively exploited and sends a clear message that Alaska is not a haven for this form of abuse. It will not stop child sexual abuse or sextortion, but it is a step in the right direction to protect Alaska's children from these harms. On behalf of Alaska Children's Trust, I urge your support for House Bill 239. Thank you for the opportunity to provide testimony.

Thank you, Theresa Werbel, for those comments. We will go to Senator Keele for the review of the fiscal notes before we hear closing comments from the sponsor. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Big bill, tall stack. I'll begin with a few unnumbered fiscal notes, if I may, and then we'll get to the ones with numbers on them.

First up, the judicial branch, the Alaska Court System trial courts, submitted a fiscal note with a general fund cost of $369,200, so $369,200 of unrestricted general funds and 2 permanent full-time positions for pro tem judge work. And an in-court clerk. The next fiscal note without a number on it is the Department of Corrections. In the institution director's office, the department submits an indeterminate fiscal note. They say the bill increases both the likelihood of incarceration and the length of stay for certain offenders, but they do not have a cost estimate for that.

Moving on to fiscal notes that have numbers on them, we'll start with number 5 is the most up to date. The Department of Administration and the Public Defender Agency, they show a cost of $536.0, so just a little more than half a million dollars of unrestricted general fund. That is for 2 permanent full-time positions, an attorney in Anchorage and an attorney in Palmer. Next is fiscal note number 7. That's from the Department of Law's Criminal Division in Criminal Justice Litigation.

They show a cost of $441.8 million in year 1, becoming $427.2 million, just a little lower in the out years. That is also for 2 permanent full-time positions, an attorney and a law office assistant, both in Palmer. Department of Law Criminal Division has a Criminal Appeals and Special Litigation fiscal note as well. That's fiscal note number 8. First-year cost of $325.9 million, becoming $280.6 million in the out years.

That is for one permanent full-time position. That's also an attorney. This one's in Anchorage. So the Department of Public Safety, Alaska State Troopers, submits a zero fiscal note. They believe they can absorb the additional trooper work with existing resources.

The Department of Public Safety Bureau of Investigation similarly shows a zero fiscal note. They have the investigator resources they believe they will need. The Department of Public Safety Victim Services Admin and Support, also a zero fiscal note. They can use existing resources. And then Department of Public Safety Criminal Justice Information Systems Program does show a cost.

In year 1, $144.4 million. In year 2, that becomes $126.0 million. That is for one full-time position for the two years, a criminal justice technician. That is unrestricted general funds. Our last fiscal note, also from the Department of Public Safety, is in laboratory services.

That is a first-year fiscal a fiscal note of $209.0. That rises very slowly in the out years to $11.6, eventually $222.5. The $209.0 is all unrestricted general fund. It is for one permanent full-time position related to the sexual assault kits processing time and tracking, and will require regulation changes. Those are the fiscal Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Senator Kiel. Do members of the Senate Finance Committee have questions regarding the fiscal notes that Senator Kiel has went over?

None. We will go to Representative Kopp. Do you have opposing comments before we set this bill aside for further consideration by the Senate Finance Committee?

Thank you, Chair Hoffman, members of the Finance Committee. I really want to thank the committee for hearing this collaborative Senate and House package. I think across the board we see that it strengthens public safety. It will protect a lot of vulnerable Alaskans, and it really modernizes our laws due to the digital age we're in through very targeted reforms. I would say proven reforms.

That have been done in other states. We're not inventing the wheel here. Currently, this bill would just close the gaps in our law. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you.

Do members of the Finance Committee have questions of the prime sponsor at this time?

Seeing none, we will set this bill aside for further consideration. That concludes this morning's meeting. Our next Next meeting will be at 1:30 this afternoon where we will hear Senate Bill 110, Museum Construction Grants, and House Bill 28, Teacher/State Employee Student Loan Program. Anything else to come before the committee? We are adjourned.