Legislature(2005 - 2006)
05/02/2005 02:09 PM House JUD
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB104 | |
| SB101 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
SB 101 - REVISOR'S BILL 2:18:18 PM CHAIR McGUIRE announced that the final order of business would be CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 101(JUD), "An Act making corrective amendments to the Alaska Statutes as recommended by the revisor of statutes; and providing for an effective date." JAMES CRAWFORD, Assistant Revisor, Legislative Legal Counsel, Legislative Legal and Research Services, Legislative Affairs Agency (LAA), presented SB 101 on behalf of the Senate Rules Standing Committee, sponsor of the bill by request of Legislative Council. He relayed that revisor's bills are prepared annually under the authority of AS 01.05.036, which commands the revisor to fix problems in statute. Those problems and their solutions fall into three general categories. The first category involves problems the solutions for which improve the form or substance of the law, and this is the most common category of solution found in SB 101 and include grammatical corrections and conforming statutes to the drafting-manual style. For example, Section 66, which pertains to AS 46.14.010(b), proposes to replace the term "emission unit" with "emissions unit" because the latter term mirrors the federal term, as is now required by federal regulations regarding air quality control. MR. CRAWFORD relayed that the second category of problem addressed by revisor's bills involves solutions that correct oversights or errors. In other words, if language in a particular section of statute doesn't exactly match the legislative intent, the revisor's bill tries to conform that language with the intent, intent as it pertains to a policy choice that has already been made. This is the least common category of solution in SB 101, though one example is Section 21, which pertains to AS 13.26.332 - statutory form power of attorney - and which proposes to replace the phrase "as I have checked" with the phrase "as indicated"; the latter phrase is more correct because according to the remainder of the form's language, checking an item never actually occurs. He also relayed that the third category of problem addressed by revisor's bills involve solutions for obsolete provisions. Provisions can become obsolete either through the passage of time or through the repeal of other provisions. For example, Section 35 - which pertains to AS 16.43.460(b) - proposes to reflect the repeal of AS 16.43.901 and AS 16.43.906. MR. CRAWFORD went on to explain that the changes proposed in revisor's bills address problems that have been brought to the revisor's attention, either through statute reviews conducted by Legislative Legal and Research Services, or through statute reviews conducted by the Department of Law (DOL) or other departments. After a revisor's bill is initially drafted, all three of the LAA's revisors review the proposed changes to ensure that they are appropriate to include in a revisor's bill, since such bills must be nonpartisan and policy-neutral. It is very important that revisor's bills do not make any new policy choices, even inadvertently. After the aforementioned review, a revisor's bill is sent to the DOL where it is parceled out for further review. After this occurs, the bill is returned to Legislative Legal and Research Services for finalization and submission to Legislative Council. 2:24:01 PM REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG referred to page 9, line 16, and asked whether there should be a comma [added] after the word "below". MR. CRAWFORD said that from a grammatical standpoint, the language is fine as is, but he would not object to such a change. REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG turned attention to Section 42, and asked why it is proposing to eliminate the intent language currently included in AS 26.10.060(a). MR. CRAWFORD explained that that intent language refers to reemployment benefits granted by a federal statute, and the provisions in that federal statute which granted those benefits have since been repealed. In response to a further question, he relayed that [Section 91] proposes to repeal AS 14.08.031(d) - which stipulates that U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) schools shall be included in a regional educational attendance area (REAA) boundary - because the BIA does not manage or supervise schools in the state of Alaska; proposes to repeal AS 18.50.950(4) - which stipulates that "child adoption agency" means a child adoption agency licensed under AS 47.35 - because the term being defined is not used in AS 18.50 and so it is not necessary to include such a definition there; and proposes to repeal AS 46.14.250(e) - which stipulates in part that with regard to emission fees, the department shall set the initial fee rate for the first two years following approval of the permit program under this chapter by the federal administrator on the basis of dollars per ton of assessable emissions - because the time frame referenced in that language has come and gone. REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG asked Mr. Crawford to do further research regarding the proposed repeal of AS 18.50.950(4). MR. CRAWFORD agreed to do so. 2:28:55 PM CHAIR McGUIRE announced that SB 101 would be held over for the purpose of further reviewing the proposed changes.
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