March 13, 2014 Gary Worthan Newsletter The end of this week is the second funnel of the session.

To remain alive a bill must have passed either the Senate or the House and also have been approved in committee in the opposite chamber. This funnel is not as hectic as the first because the number of bills was drastically reduced by the first funnel and some of the bills passed in either chamber and sent across the rotunda garner no interest where the opposite party is in the majority. With the passage of the second funnel for policy bills the focus in both chambers will shift to the budget. As I wrote last week, the agreement on joint budget targets between the House and the Senate is a huge step toward the individual budget committees ability to move forward and complete their responsibilities. Without joint targets, the individual bills could be millions of dollars apart when they come out of their respective House or Senate committees and those differences would have to be reconciled before there was any consideration of the differences between individual department budgets or line items within those budgets. With release of the budget targets last week, the House Justice Systems Budget Committee has worked through the numbers. With the monies allotted to us, we have agreed on a framework that will fund the departments for which we are responsible. Justice Systems, at $729 million, represents about 10.5% of the states general fund budget. The largest share of that, $375 million goes to the Department of Corrections, second would be the Court System at $175 million and third is the Department of Public Safety at $93 million. We will discuss the spending plan tomorrow in a joint meeting with the Senate Justice Systems Budget Committee where we will compare priorities, determine where we agree, where we differ, and decide if there is a possibility on agreeing to a joint House-Senate budget that we could present to our respective chambers. If there is a possibility of a compromise, Senator Courtney, chairman of the Senate Justice Systems Budget Committee and I will sit down and hammer out an agreement and bring it back to the full committee for their approval. We have debated several interesting bills in Judiciary Committee this week. Today we approved a bill strengthening the protection for vulnerable elders. This bill will expand the definition of elder abuse to include inappropriate financial transactions by conservators, guardians, or those with a power of attorney over seniors who cannot manage their affairs. It also addresses the issues of what constitutes physical and or mental abuse and neglect. Another bill dealt with human trafficking. This bill extends the statute of limitations for the crime of sexual exploitation of a minor, increases the penalties for trafficking minors for the purpose of prostitution and allows local prosecutors to determine whether a minor involved in prostitution is dealt with under criminal law or is referred to the Department of Human Services as a child in need of assistance. A third bill concerned the criminal transmission of contagious or infectious diseases. Currently anyone who transmits a contagious or infectious disease that is unaware they are infected is subject to the same penalties as someone who did it intentionally. While the bill maintains or increases the penalties for the person who knowingly and intentionally transmits hepatitis, meningococcal disease, AIDS, or HIV to another person, it reduces the punishment for those who are unaware they are infected or informed the second person of that fact and the second

party declined to refrain from any risky activities. It is hoped that removing the more severe penalties for those without intent or knowledge will encourage more people to be tested and therefore decrease the rate of transmission.

PLEASE JOIN ME AT THE FORUMS AND COFFEES; I WILL BE HAPPY TO ANSWER QUESTIONS AND DISCUSS ISSUES WITH YOU. March 22 10:00 am Kings Pointe Regatta Grill