House proposal to change age of consent to 18 hits roadblock on House floor

JUNEAU, Alaska (KTUU) - After lawmakers expressed their concerns over the unintended consequences of a proposal to change the state’s age of consent law, the amendment in question has been sent back to committee.

Rep. Andrew Gray, D-Anchorage, proposed changing the state’s legal age of consent from 16 to 18 through an amendment to House Bill 264, which was discussed by lawmakers last week.

According to the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Sarah Vance, R-Homer, the legislation was only meant to improve the screening process for minors in sexual abuse cases,

Last week, the handwritten age of consent amendment was passed as part of Vance’s proposal for state employees who work on child sex abuse cases, including trafficking allegations, to receive universal training in an effort to improve the screening process and better support victims.

Gray argued raising the age of consent is needed so minors are not treated the same as adults in sexual abuse cases, and deter older men in positions of authority, from having intimate relationships with someone under the age of 18.

However, even those who voted for the amendment now worry about the amendment as it is currently written, which opens the door for an 18-year-old who has an intimate relationship with someone less than four years younger, to be charged with a felony. This, some lawmakers say, would work in conflict with Alaska’s Romeo and Juliet provision, which does not criminalize such relationships.

Rep. Andy Josephson, D-Anchorage, who voted in support of the amendment, agrees the bill should be sent back to committee.

“The real problem is that we need to carry forward the other language on position of authority because that’s really what we were trying to say,” he said. “We weren’t surely trying to say that when 18-year-old Billy is intimate with 17-year-old Suzy, that that should be a felony. That’s sort of silly, for obvious reasons. So we need to fix this.”

Vance said she is frustrated by what has happened to her bill.

“I’m simply wanting to help save our children from exploitation, and this bill would help be able to create a standard to do that so that we can save more kids from trafficking,” she said. “This just slows that process down from further achieving that goal. But I have hope that the Legislature will come together and be able to do what we can to help protect children.”

House Speaker Rep. Cathy Tilton, R-Wasilla, sent the bill back to House Rules.

Josephson said the other option was to send the bill back to be amended on the House floor, but that would have taken a supermajority vote by the House.

Original story

A handwritten amendment added to a child sex abuse, trafficking and exploitation bill — that passed 32-6 during a House floor vote on Friday — would change the state’s age of consent law from 16 to 18, if it holds when members are scheduled to cast their final vote on the proposed change to House Bill 264 on Monday.

The move by Rep. Andrew Gray, D-Anchorage, caused an unexpected and at times passionate hour-long debate to the original bill by Rep. Sarah Vance, R-Homer.

Vance is proposing requiring the state’s Department of Family and Community Services adopt uniform screening practices, arguing they would make it more likely for minors hesitant to disclose their experiences to talk to investigators charged with finding if sexual abuse occurred.

While Gray supports the idea in principle, he argued an age of consent statute change is also needed, saying current language can force scenarios where 16- and 17-year-olds have to act as adults, proving they did not consent to a sex acts by having to undergo invasive pelvic exams.

“As our statutes currently stand, a 16-year-old is treated the same as the 35-year-old when reporting a sexual assault, Gray said. “The entire issue of the crime is no longer about protecting vulnerable minors from a predatory adult. It is about establishing whether or not that minor consented to the act.”

“As our statutes currently stand, if a 40-year-old man engages in sex acts with a 15-year-old, there’s no question that a crime has occurred. If the same act happened and the girl was a few weeks older, suddenly, the onus is on her to prove she didn’t consent,” Gray went on to argue.

Gray’s single sentence amendment takes things farther in changing stature.

“Being 18 years of age or older, the offender engages in sexual penetration with a person who is under 18 [16] years of age,” Gray’s Amendment 5 to HB264 reads.

It was unclear where Gray’s proposed law change would head Monday, since Vance, who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, has not argued for an age of consent change as part of HB264. And, as one of the six votes against Gray’s amendment, Vance said it had not had enough vetting time.

“I would like to reiterate that House Bill 264 is not a crime bill. It is a bill to require the Department of Family and Community Services to develop a shared screening methodology to screen children for sexual exploitation. This Amendment Number 5 relates to crime, and it’s a heavy policy that I believe needs great deliberation,” Vance said.

Raising additional concerns about what she feels could be the amendment’s unintended consequences, House Judiciary Vice Chair Jamie Allard, R-Eagle River, emphasized the role the current 16-year-old age of consent plays in state law.

“In the State of Alaska, you could get married at the age of 16. In the State of Alaska, you can drive at the age of 16. In the State of Alaska, you can also be emancipated and move out of your parent’s house at the age of 16. At the age of 16, you can also go to college. And at the age of 16, you can actually say, ‘I want an abortion,’” Allard said.

Vance also expressed concern changing the age of consent from 16 to 18 years-old would create an additional $4 million fiscal impact to her bill, which had a zero fiscal note.

“As far as a fiscal note, this is what I have to say. Who cares,” Gray responded. “Who cares how much it cost to protect our 16- and 17-year-olds. Who cares how much it cost. So I would urge people who keep talking about fiscal notes what your are asking. This is about protecting our minors.”

Rep. Will Stapp, R- Fairbanks, suggested the bill be sent back to House Finance to address fiscal concerns regarding the bill. He later withdrew his motion.

On the other side, House Minority Leader Calvin Schrage, NA-Anchorage, questioned Vance’s argument.

“We’ve seen all the time amendments offered by both Majority and Minority members to bills that stray maybe slightly from the original topic of the bill. I think we’ve all seen what happened to SB 140, originally a [Broadband Assistance Grant] bill, all sorts of things that were not in line with the original intent added to that bill,” Scharge said.

Joining Vance in voting no: House Majority Leader Dan Saddler, R-Eagle River and House Rules Chair Craig Johnson, R-Anchorage, along with Rep. Mike Cronk, R-Tok; Rep. Tom McKay, R-Anchorage; and Rep. Mike Prax, R-North Pole.

Rep. Jennie Armstrong, D-Anchorage and Thomas Baker, R-Kotzebue, had been previously excused and did not vote.

The House is adjourned until Monday, when the amended bill is scheduled to be taken back up and voted on.

Editor’s note: This article has been updated to include additional clarification about the effects of HB 264.

Copyright 2024 KTUU. All rights reserved.