The woman who inspired a now-contentious sexual abuse prevention bill in the Alaska Legislature is accusing a state Senate committee of weakening and politicizing the measure.
Erin Merryn, a sexual abuse survivor and advocate from Illinois, said changes proposed to the bill by Alaska's Senate Education Committee would "completely gut it."
"What's happening in Alaska is a joke," Merryn said in a phone interview from Chicago on Wednesday. "It's like, get it together. I don't understand this back and forth and these games these politicians are playing."
The education committee on Wednesday advanced a substitute version for House Bill 44, which is modeled on legislation known as Erin's Law that was first introduced last year.
The previous version of House Bill 44, sponsored by Rep. Charisse Millett, R-Anchorage, required school districts to give students information about sexual abuse and dating violence, with an emphasis on prevention and awareness.
It passed the House last month by a wide bipartisan margin, 34 to 6.
The new substitute is from Sen. Mike Dunleavy, a Wasilla Republican and social conservative who chairs the education committee and who said earlier this week that he was contemplating a primary challenge against U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski.
His substitute bill makes House Bill 44's sexual abuse and dating violence education programs optional for school districts. It also adds new pieces borrowed from three other bills -- including one controversial item banning "abortion services providers" like Planned Parenthood from teaching students about sexuality or sexually transmitted diseases.
The education committee on Wednesday passed Dunleavy's bill along to its next stop, the Senate Finance Committee.
In their final action on the bill in the education committee, Dunleavy, Sen. Charlie Huggins, R-Wasilla, and Sen. Cathy Giessel, R-Anchorage, recommended passage of the bill, while Sen. Gary Stevens, a Republican from Kodiak, said the measure needed amending.
In a tweet after the hearing, Merryn said that if Alaska lawmakers failed to pass Erin's Law "the right way," she would "blast the media … showing how you failed" Alaska children.
Merryn came to Alaska last year to testify in support of an earlier version of Erin's Law sponsored by Rep. Geran Tarr, D-Anchorage. Similar versions of the bill have been enacted in 23 states, according to Merryn's website.
Merryn said in a phone interview that the battle over the bill in Alaska is "turning out to be one of the worst," rivaled only by the process in New York state. She said she was especially upset by the Dunleavy provision that made the sexual abuse education program optional.
"The problem is, not all the school districts are doing it, only a few," Merryn said. "That's why we have to get the mandate, the 'shall,' in place."
During the hearing, Dunleavy gave a long speech justifying his changes to the bill and said he wouldn't object to his daughters receiving the training that his bill would make optional, adding: "And I think I'm a pretty decent parent."
But in an interview afterward, he said he was wary of adding any mandates for school districts given the state's fiscal predicament. The Legislature is proposing cuts to the state's per-student education funding formula as it tries to close a multibillion-dollar budget deficit stemming from low oil prices.
"We are in a budget crisis, and to put another straw on the camel's back may break it," Dunleavy said.
He said he thought half of the state's school districts are already teaching sexual assault and dating violence prevention. And he said money would ultimately be found to expand the programs with the assistance of the Rasmuson Foundation.
"I would be shocked if there is one school district within the next year that is not educating their kids in the components of the bill dealing with sexual abuse of kids and the dating violence issue," he added.
Asked to respond to Merryn's criticism, Dunleavy said, "I'm sorry she feels that way."
"But sometimes when you're outside the legislative process, it looks pretty strange, and it's certainly subject to criticism," he added. "But I strongly believe in these components in the bill and that they will be taught. And I think we're going to have a better state for it."