Legislature(2017 - 2018)BUTROVICH 205
03/01/2018 01:30 PM Senate TRANSPORTATION
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB163 | |
| HB204 | |
| HB82 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | SB 163 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | HB 204 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | HB 82 | TELECONFERENCED | |
HB 82-OFF HWY DRIVER'S LIC; REGISTRATION; INSURANCE
2:17:57 PM
CHAIR STEDMAN announced the consideration of HB 82.
2:18:15 PM
NOAH STAR, Staff, Representative Kreiss-Tomkins, Alaska State
Legislature, Juneau, Alaska, provided the following overview of
HB 82:
HB 82 seeks to restore off-highway driver's license
eligibility to the communities of Kake, Hoonah,
Angoon, Seldovia, and Hyder. What is an off-highway
driver's license? An off-highway license allows
drivers to become legally licensed without taking a
road test, exempting residents of small communities
from traveling by ferry or plane to a far away DMV
office. To obtain an off-highway driver's license an
individual only has to complete a written test. As of
last year, there were 1,120 off-highway driver's
licenses in Alaska operating in 294 off-highway
communities.
In 2012, constituents from Angoon notified
Representative Kreiss-Tomkins that residents of
Angoon, Kake, and Hoonah had been denied off-highway
driver's licenses. Despite a multi-decade history of
applying for and using off-highway driver's licenses,
these residents were no longer eligible for off-
highway licenses. Suddenly, Angoon, Kake, and Hoonah
residents were faced with uncomfortable decisions.
Residents had to choose either pay hundreds of dollars
to fly to Juneau to take a road test using an
unfamiliar vehicle or stop driving legally. In the
supporting letters that accompany today's presentation
as well as the testimony, you will read how off-
highway driver's license ineligibility affected these
constituents.
Why did Angoon, Kake, and Hoonah find themselves
ineligible for the licenses that they had historically
used? New regulation with inconsistent application. To
be eligible in the status quo a community must not be
"Connected to the land-connected state highway system
with no access to a DMV office." Additionally, a
community must have an average traffic count lower
than 499 cars in order to be eligible for an off-
highway driver's license, but these regulations are
inconsistently applied; for example, Metlakatla and
Sand Point have ferry access but are off-highway
driver's license eligible.
HB 82 realigns off-highway driver's license
eligibility with a common sense and historical
understanding of which communities need off-highway
driver's licenses. HB 82 is simple, the bill asks:
one, is an area off the road system, and two, does the
area not have a DMV? A "yes" to both of those
questions means a community should qualify for an off-
highway driver's license, that's what our bill does.
2:21:17 PM
MR. STAR referenced a sectional analysis for HB 82 as follows:
Section 1
Amends AS.28.10.011, the vehicle registration
exemption statute. It exempts non-commercial vehicles
driven in off-road eligible areas by drivers with
valid driver's licenses, including off-road system
restricted noncommercial driver's license, from
registration. The requirements for off-highway
commercial driver's licenses remain unchanged to
comply with federal law.
Section 2
Amends section AS 28.10.011. Requires the department
to publish a list of areas which don't have land-
connected road access to a driver's test once a year.
Drivers in communities on this list are eligible for
off-highway licenses.
Section 3
Amends AS 28.15.201(d) to use the word "area" instead
of "community" in the statute on drivers required to
use in-vehicle ignition interlock devices and updates
the statutory citation that references off-highway
areas.
Section 4
Amends AS 28.15.201(g) to use the word "area" instead
of "community" in the statute on court limitations of
driver's licenses and updates the statutory citation
that references off-highway areas.
Section 5
Amends AS 28.22.011 to maintain that non-commercial
vehicles driven in off-road areas (as dictated by
updated list published by the department) are exempt
from vehicle insurance.
Section 6
Amends AS 28.35.030(t). Uses the word "areas" instead
of "communities" to include off-road system eligible
places in existing statutes on ignition interlock
devices and updates the statutory citation for off-
highway areas.
Section 7
Amends 28.35.032(t). Uses the word "areas" instead of
"communities" to include off-highway restricted
eligible drivers in existing statutes on ignition
interlock devices and updates the statutory citation
for off-highway areas.
Section 8
Repeals 28.22.011(b), which required the DMV to
annually publish a list of communities exempt from
registration and insurance under the old eligibility
guidelines, since the new list is required to be
published under AS 28.10.011(b).
2:23:27 PM
SENATOR WILSON commented as follows:
We are constantly reminded by our Juneau senator upon
how a lot of the folks don't pay their fair share of
the roadways. DOT&PF does maintain some of the roads
or builds some of the new highway miles within some of
these communities and so the fee is not being paid is
a bit of a concern, but more of a concern is why not
have motor vehicle insurance be required for some of
the drivers of off-road access; that just seems that
other motor vehicle lists for if they do get into an
accident because they may not go through the same
training or have a driver's road test so some may
theorize that those folks may not be as safe as
someone who would go through the DMV process, take the
written test and the road test to be commercially
licensed to not to have those individuals who drive
motor vehicles which can be considered a deadly weapon
for some to not be insured. I just don't understand
the reason of why.
MR. STAR replied that the current insurance exemption is
untouched by the bill and detailed as follows:
The policy question of whether off-highway communities
should be exempt from registration or insurance is
untouched by HB 82, that exemption is already on the
books and was on the books for the period of time that
I mentioned where the communities of Angoon, Kake, and
Hoonah had off-highway eligibility. So, HB 82 only
seeks to conform existing statute which affords an
exemption to these communities to the new method that
we suggest being used to determine if a community is
off-highway.
2:25:19 PM
SENATOR WILSON asked if the Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS)
was included. He inquired if the off-road communities commute
through AMHS to another off-road community can continue to be
exempt.
MR. STAR answered as follows:
My understanding is that if someone with an off-
highway driver's license were to drive onto a ferry,
take the ferry to another off-highway community, they
would be able to drive with their off-highway driver's
license. If they were to take the ferry from an off-
highway community to Juneau, they would need someone
with a normal license to accompany in a vehicle
similar to how a provisional license might work if you
were driving in Anchorage or Juneau.
SENATOR MACKINNON commented as follows:
What's great about surveying the people of Alaska is
understanding individual needs in other communities. I
appreciate that these are existing policies, but the
interlock seems to be a new policy. Can you speak to
me about the new policy on interlock, first?
MR. STAR answered as follows:
The interlock conforming changes in the bill is not a
new policy, in fact, it is actually just a conforming
change so the same list that was used to determine
off-highway communities was used to exclude
communities from being required from purchasing an
interlock ignition device, the reason for that being
based on our conversations with folks is that it can
be prohibitively difficult to acquire an interlock
ignition device in these same communities which is why
the same list is used.
2:27:09 PM
SENATOR MACKINNON inquired as follows:
Is that because transmitting electronically
information or do you know historically why that
hasn't been done? Again, it's an opportunity to learn
about a community. Why has Alaska chosen that in the
past?
MR. STAR stated that he will get back to the committee with
historical data. He reiterated that off-highway constituents
have said interlock ignition devices are prohibitively difficult
to install.
SENATOR MACKINNON asked if there is a distinction between a
regular driver's license and an off-highway driver's license.
MR. STAR answered that the two licenses look different.
SENATOR MACKINNON shared her concerns as follows:
It concerns me that we are creating a different group
of folks that don't have to have insurance and that
could be unsafe in their community based on not having
equitable distribution of regulations or laws, but I
will withhold judgement until I hear more because I do
know that individual communities struggle with
different things. I lived on Dutch Harbor before there
was a bridge so it's isolated, it's very small, about
two miles wide, and so it would have been difficult
without a boat to get over to Unalaska to find
groceries. So, I know that depending on where you live
the challenges are different, so I will refrain
judgement until I hear a little bit more.
2:30:02 PM
SENATOR BISHOP remarked that the change occurred when somebody
interpreted AMHS as counting as access.
MR. STAR answered correct. He detailed that in 2014 a traffic-
count component was also added. He opined that traffic count was
problematic because the count was not always kept up in rural
communities.
CHAIR STEDMAN asked Mr. Star to get back to the committee on the
AMHS reference because the AMHS is considered a highway and why
should it be excluded.
SENATOR MACKINNON concurred as follows:
I appreciate you acknowledging the Marine Highway is a
highway because we have those arguments where I've
been known to challenge the fee structure of the
Marine Highway and so now the Marine Highway isn't a
highway and that's inconsistent also. I appreciate you
raising that issue because depending on where you live
in Alaska these are different issues. If you live in
Juneau or any other community and you benefit from the
Marine Highway System, you fight for that and the
subsequent dollars that the state invests on those
communities on behalf to run that system and if you
are on the highway system you are burdened from some
perspective with insurance and interlock systems and
other state regulation that now is being treated
different because of the Marine Highway. So, I'm not
going to get controversial about it, but I would
concur that we are asking for a different treatment
when you are connected to the Marine Highway System
under this particular scenario.
CHAIR STEDMAN remarked that AMHS is a highway, a scenic byway.
2:32:51 PM
MARLA THOMPSON, Director, Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV),
Alaska Department of Administration, Anchorage, Alaska,
explained that off-highway licenses are marked as a restriction.
She added that the off-highway license has been redesigned to
clearly show that the license is off-highway.
CHAIR STEDMAN noted that there was an earlier concern on an
interpretation change dealing with some of the remote
communities that are attached to AMHS. He asked if Ms. Thompson
had any comments on the AMHS issue.
MS. THOMPSON replied as follows:
The only thing that I would comment on is that because
the DOT&PF only does the traffic counts on a schedule
that they've got, it's not always accurate and things
can change. From the DMV's point of view, if it
changes it becomes more confusing for the people who
live there because one day, they might have an off-
highway license and then the next day because now it's
498, the traffic, then we have to take that away from
them and frankly that's an expense and it is very
confusing for folks.
SENATOR WILSON asked Ms. Thompson to address his previous
comment on "fees not paid" as well as where the normal DMV
registration fees go for communities that are not off-road.
MR. THOMPSON replied that DMV is strictly responsible for
collecting fees. She added that there would not be a
registration fee from those communities any longer.
CHAIR STEDMAN asked David Epstein from DOT&PF if AMHS is
considered a highway.
2:35:56 PM
DAVID EPSTEIN, South Coast Region Traffic and Safety Engineer,
Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities,
Juneau, Alaska, replied that he has not done much with AMHS and
noted that the department does not do traffic counts on the
ships. He said the closest association he has with AMHS is
signing and striping in the parking lots.
SENATOR MACKINNON commented as follows:
I believe we are provided AMHS counts on a regular
basis, so I just wanted to make sure the record
reflects that we might have a different analysis of
that.
CHAIR STEDMAN said the Legislature receives an accurate count of
the car-deck and ridership on AMHS from point-to-point.
2:37:51 PM
GEORGINA DAVIS-GASTELUM, representing self, Kake, Alaska,
testified in support of HB 82. She said the bill addresses the
financial and geographical difficulties that rural residents
face when having to travel to take road tests at DMV offices.
She requested including Kake, Angoon, and Hoonah as locations
authorized for off-highway driver's licenses.
SENATOR EGAN emphasized that AMHS is on the federal aid to
highway systems.
CHAIR STEDMAN concurred that AMHS is a highway. He emphasized
that there was no confusion with the chairman of the Senate
Transportation Committee that AHMS is a highway.
2:41:07 PM
CHAIR STEDMAN closed public testimony.
SENATOR WILSON commented as follows:
I guess that clarification if AMHS is a federal
highway it thus would be illegal to drive on to that
federal highway with the off-road license, so you
would be stuck on your current location if you have an
off-road vehicle. I just wanted to get that legal
clarification.
CHAIR STEDMAN noted that the committee has asked the bill
sponsor to comeback with a clarification on the issue that
Senator Wilson addressed.
2:42:07 PM
CHAIR STEDMAN held HB 82 in committee.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| HB 204 Version J 4.19.17.pdf |
STRA 3/1/2018 1:30:00 PM |
HB 204 |
| HB 204 Senate Transportation Committee Memo.pdf |
STRA 3/1/2018 1:30:00 PM |
HB 204 |
| HB 204 Minor Offences Table.pdf |
STRA 3/1/2018 1:30:00 PM |
HB 204 |
| HB 204 Explanation of Changes.pdf |
STRA 3/1/2018 1:30:00 PM |
HB 204 |
| HB 204 DOT Work Zone Safety Week PR.pdf |
STRA 3/1/2018 1:30:00 PM |
HB 204 |
| HB 204 CS (JUD) Sponsor Statement.pdf |
STRA 3/1/2018 1:30:00 PM |
HB 204 |
| HB 204 Citation Statistics.pdf |
STRA 3/1/2018 1:30:00 PM |
HB 204 |
| HB 204 AAA Support Letter.pdf |
STRA 3/1/2018 1:30:00 PM |
HB 204 |
| HB 204 NWZAW Poster.pdf |
STRA 3/1/2018 1:30:00 PM |
HB 204 |
| HB 204 - FN DPS.pdf |
STRA 3/1/2018 1:30:00 PM |
HB 204 |
| HB 204 - FN DOA.pdf |
STRA 3/1/2018 1:30:00 PM |
HB 204 |
| HB 82 ver J.A 2.26.18.pdf |
STRA 3/1/2018 1:30:00 PM |
HB 82 |
| HB 82 Supporting Documents - Powerpoint 4.11.2017.pdf |
STRA 3/1/2018 1:30:00 PM |
HB 82 |
| HB 82 Summary of Changes.pdf |
STRA 3/1/2018 1:30:00 PM |
HB 82 |
| HB 82 Sponsor Statement 4.11.2017.pdf |
STRA 3/1/2018 1:30:00 PM |
HB 82 |
| HB 82 Sectional Analysis.pdf |
STRA 3/1/2018 1:30:00 PM |
HB 82 |
| HB 82 Letters of Support 2.15.18.pdf |
STRA 3/1/2018 1:30:00 PM |
HB 82 |
| HB 82 - FN DOA.pdf |
STRA 3/1/2018 1:30:00 PM |
HB 82 |
| SB163 Fiscal Note DOT-MSCVE 1.29.18.pdf |
STRA 3/1/2018 1:30:00 PM |
SB 163 |
| SB163 Hearing Request 1.29.18.pdf |
STRA 3/1/2018 1:30:00 PM |
SB 163 |
| SB163 ver A 1.29.18.pdf |
STRA 3/1/2018 1:30:00 PM |
SB 163 |
| SB163 Sponsor Statement 1.29.18.pdf |
STRA 3/1/2018 1:30:00 PM |
SB 163 |