04/02/2008 01:00 PM House JUDICIARY

SB 260 - 2008 REVISOR'S BILL                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
1:23:45 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
VICE CHAIR  DAHLSTROM announced that  the only order  of business                                                               
would  be  CS  FOR  SENATE  BILL NO.  260(STA),  "An  Act  making                                                               
corrective amendments  to the Alaska  Statutes as  recommended by                                                               
the revisor of statutes; and providing for an effective date."                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
1:24:17 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
PAMELA  FINLEY,  Revisor  of   Statutes,  Legislative  Legal  and                                                               
Research Division,  Legislative Affairs Agency (LAA),  relayed on                                                               
behalf  of  the  Senate  Rules  Standing  Committee,  sponsor  by                                                               
request  of  Legislative  Council,  that the  revisor's  bill  is                                                               
provided  for by  statute and  is mentioned  in the  Alaska State                                                               
Constitution as an  exception to the "single subject"  rule.  The                                                               
purpose of a revisor's bill is  to correct errors in the statutes                                                               
without making any policy changes.                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
MS. FINLEY said that SB 260:   [removes references in statute] to                                                               
the Board  of Dispensing Opticians  because that board  no longer                                                               
exists; changes the word, "crime"  to the word, "offense" in some                                                               
criminal  statutes  because  the   thing  being  described  is  a                                                               
violation;  [updates  references]  to federal  statutes  such  as                                                               
those  that  pertain  to  education,   the  Jones  Act,  and  the                                                               
Interstate  Commerce Commission  (ICC),  which  was abolished  in                                                               
1995; adds  a short title for  the public records Act;  and moves                                                               
the  definition  of  "cigarettes"  to the  correct  place.    She                                                               
observed that members' packets also  contain a sectional analysis                                                               
of SB 260.                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  COGHILL  referred to  Section  53  - proposed  AS                                                               
47.14.100(m)  - and  asked  what the  difference  is between  the                                                               
language  being deleted  -  "GROUNDS  FOR DENIAL  OF"  - and  the                                                               
language  that's  replacing  it  -   "the  failure  to  meet  the                                                           
requirements for", and whether there was a regulation adopted.                                                              
                                                                                                                                
MS. FINLEY explained that it used  to be that AS 47.35.019 and AS                                                               
47.35.021 referred to  the denying of a foster  care license, but                                                               
those provisions  were repealed  in 2005,  and the  Department of                                                               
Health  and  Social Services  (DHSS)  was  instead authorized  to                                                               
promulgate regulations to impose  licensing requirements.  So the                                                               
language  referencing  statutory  grounds  for  denial  is  being                                                               
changed  to language  referencing  a failure  to meet  regulatory                                                               
licensing requirements;  this change  was requested by  the DHSS.                                                               
In response to  a question, she said that  AS 47.14.100(m) should                                                               
have  been  amended  in  this  fashion  when  the  aforementioned                                                               
statutes were repealed, but it wasn't.                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL referred to  Section 55, which changes the                                                               
term "census date" to "census data".                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
MS.  FINLEY   indicated  that  this  change   merely  corrects  a                                                               
typographical error, and  was requested by the  Department of Law                                                               
(DOL).                                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
MS. FINLEY,  in response  to a question,  said that  her division                                                               
doesn't  have a  specific method  by which  to be  made aware  of                                                               
changes to  federal law, though she  does try and keep  an eye on                                                               
what occurs  at the  federal level  in that  regard; furthermore,                                                               
the division  reads approximately  seven to eight  federal titles                                                               
every year, and many things are  caught during that process.  For                                                               
the  most  part,   though,  such  changes  are   brought  to  the                                                               
division's  attention  by  others.   In  response  to  a  further                                                               
question, she relayed that there is  a person in her division who                                                               
specifically  looks at  the state's  regulations and  will notify                                                               
her of  mistakes.  A  lot of the  errors that the  revisor's bill                                                               
addresses  are found  through review  by her  division, the  DOL,                                                               
members of the  public, attorneys, or legislators,  or during the                                                               
committee process with bills that make substantive changes.                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL  said he always considers  revisor's bills                                                               
carefully  because  of  the  sections  that  repeal  statute  and                                                               
because of  the "gender-neutral  change" that was  meant to  be a                                                               
conforming  change  [but instead  in  part  sparked the  same-sex                                                               
marriage debate].                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  GRUENBERG noted  that with  regard to  the change                                                               
proposed  via Section  31, the  sectional analysis  says in  part                                                               
that Ms. Finley was directed to speak to "Griz".                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
MS. FINLEY  confirmed that when  she'd gone to the  Department of                                                               
Public  Safety (DPS)  and asked  about fireworks  regulations and                                                               
how  statute  should be  changed  given  that  the ICC  has  been                                                               
abolished, Mr.  Belanger of the DPS  told her that "Griz"  of the                                                               
Alaska Pyrotechnics Guild could best address her questions.                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
1:32:51 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  SAMUELS  moved to  report  CSSB  260(STA) out  of                                                               
committee  with individual  recommendations and  the accompanying                                                               
fiscal  notes.   There  being  no  objection, CSSB  260(STA)  was                                                               
reported from the House Judiciary Standing Committee.