Legislature(2017 - 2018)GRUENBERG 120
03/05/2018 01:00 PM House JUDICIARY
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Audio | Topic |
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Start | |
HB259 | |
HB319 | |
Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+= | HB 319 | TELECONFERENCED | |
+= | HB 259 | TELECONFERENCED | |
+ | TELECONFERENCED |
HB 319-RENEW MARIJUANA LICENSE:BACKGROUND CHECKS 2:18:46 PM CHAIR CLAMAN announced that the final order of business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 319, "An Act relating to criminal background checks for marijuana establishment registrations and renewals; and providing for an effective date." [Before the committee was CSHB 319(STA).] 2:19:25 PM REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS moved to adopt Amendment 1, 30- LS1334\D.1, Radford, 2/28/18, which read as follows: Page 1, line 14: Delete "six" Insert "10" REPRESENTATIVE STUTES objected. 2:19:35 PM REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS explained that Amendment 1 increases the current fingerprint requirement from six years to ten years because the ten years requirement is less of an intrusion and burden on proprietors of legal businesses. Ten years is still not quite what is required of proprietors of alcohol establishments, but it appears to be a fair compromise and the marijuana industry finds it reasonable, he offered. 2:20:32 PM MEGAN HOLLAND, Staff, Representative Andy Josephson, Alaska State Legislature, advised that the sponsor reviewed the amendment and he does not support it for the same reasons as the Department of Commerce, Community & Economic Development (DCCED). 2:21:33 PM KIM KOLE, Secretary/Board Member, Alaska Marijuana Industry Association, advised that the Alaska Marijuana Industry Association Board agreed that extending the fingerprint requirement to ten years will definitely be good for the license holders as well as their staff. She acknowledged that these individuals are already overworked and this will help ease their burden by giving them more time. A red flag could be raised if the committee moved the fingerprint requirement beyond ten years and Amendment 1 is a good compromise upon which everyone can agree, she pointed out. 2:23:00 PM ERIKA MCCONNEL, Director, Alcohol & Marijuana Control Office, Department of Commerce, Community & Economic Development (DCCED), advised that AS 17.38.010(b)(2) read as follows: (b) In the interest of the health and public safety of our citizenry, the people of the state of Alaska further find and declare that the production and sale of marijuana should be regulated so that ... (2) legitimate, taxpaying business people, and not criminal actors, will conduct sales of marijuana; and MS. MCCONNEL referred to AS 17.48.200(i), and paraphrased as follows: (i) a marijuana establishment may not be registered, which means licensed, under this chapter if a person who is an owner, officer, or agent of the establishment has been convicted of a felony and either less than five years has elapsed from the time of the person's conviction, or the person is currently on probation or parole for that felony. MS. MCCONNEL referred to 3 AAC 306.010, which read as follows: (d) The board will not issue a marijuana establishment license to a person that (1) is prohibited under AS 17.38.200(i) ... 2:23:57 PM MS. MCCONNEL commented that the statutes and regulations are clear that there are certain criminal histories disqualifying for a period of a minimum of five years. On the alcohol side, she referred to AS 04.11.295 Criminal justice information and records statute, which read as follows: (a) ... The board shall use the information obtained under this section in its determination of an applicant's qualification for issuance, transfer, or renewal of a license or a conditional contractor's permit. MS. MCCONNEL referred to its regulations, and paraphrased as follows: Factors the board will, in its discretion, consider in determining whether it is in the public interest to deny or revoke, suspend, or refuse to renew or transfer a license include that a person's criminal history. 2:24:48 PM MS. MCCONNEL described it as "very black and white" on the marijuana side, and "very discretionary" on the alcohol side. In the event the background check period was to be extended to ten years, the department would not be able to say it was implementing and enforcing its statutes or be able to assure the public that the people are legitimate taxpaying businesses and that criminal actors are not conducting the sales of marijuana. 2:25:20 PM REPRESENTATIVE EASTMAN noted that there are many different boards and licensing bodies in Alaska and if someone is convicted of a crime, depending upon the crime, they are at risk of losing their license and having their next license renewal turned down for that reason. He asked why that would not be the same for the Marijuana Control Board licenses and renewals because there is already the opportunity to identify whether someone is committing crimes in Alaska. It was his understanding, he offered, that the only effect of this amendment is that the state does not require someone to check for recent crimes committed in other states, or federal crimes such as the federal marijuana laws. He asked why the legislature should treat this board so differently than other boards. MS. MCCONNEL responded that marijuana is a highly regulated substance and it is illegal at the federal level. She referred to the "Cole Memorandum" and advised that it provided guidance by the United States Department of Justice on its enforcement priorities but it was recently rescinded so there is no longer that guidance in terms of how it will enforce federal law with respect to marijuana. At this time, she explained, marijuana licensees are different from other types of licensees. She related that her job, the job of the board and its staff is to enforce the statute. Her concern, as stated, is that with Amendment 1, it would not be able to inform the legislature that it is enforcing the rules the legislature provided to the department, she said. 2:27:43 PM REPRESENTATIVE EASTMAN asked whether it is her professional belief that the ability of competitors to assist in policing this industry is different than competing businesses assisting in policing themselves in other industries. MS. MCCONNEL asked whether his question was inferring that licensees would turn in other licensees if they were aware that someone had committed a crime. REPRESENTATIVE EASTMAN explained that his question is that whenever the state enforces anything, it relies on industries policing themselves and providing that type of information if the state does not already have it at its disposal. He asked whether it is her understanding that this industry would not police itself. MS. MCCONNEL answered that she has no reason to believe the people in the marijuana industry would operate differently from the people in other industries. 2:30:00 PM NOAH STAR, Staff, to Representative Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, Alaska State Legislature, offered that the sponsor's conversations with the industry representatives indicate that the ten years requirement is consistent with what it would like to see and consistent with its interpretation of being in compliance with the statute. REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS said he would be interested in the marijuana industry's response to Ms. McConnel's testimony. CHAIR CLAMAN responded that the marijuana industry's position was previously offered. 2:30:55 PM REPRESENTATIVE REINBOLD commented that she is a no-vote on this amendment because "I took a concealed carry, ten minutes to get fingerprints, no big deal." The marijuana industry is new and, she opined, the state needs to have extremely high standards and she would put the fingerprinting requirement at two years. She offered concern about edibles and that the legislature has an absolutely responsibility to the public to monitor this industry carefully. The transactions are all performed in cash which can cause the temptation to not pay taxes, and she does not know whether they are established taxpayers. She advised that the legislature needs to be cautious and that public safety is the highest mandate, and risks are associated with this industry so she will be a no-vote. 2:32:42 PM REPRESENTATIVE KOPP opined that without the bill of which the amendment is to, the standard right now is annual fingerprint checking, and this bill changes it to fingerprints every six years. He asked whether his understanding was correct. CHAIR CLAMAN related that Ms. Holland was nodding her head and indicating yes as to the current status. 2:33:17 PM REPRESENTATIVE STUTES asked Ms. Holland whether the sponsor is amendable to this amendment. MS. HOLLAND advised that the sponsor is not amenable to this amendment. 2:33:48 PM REPRESENTATIVE EASTMAN commented that he supports Amendment 1 because it is simply a common-sense reduction in the size of wasteful government. Previously, he pointed out, testimony was heard wherein there has not been a single instance, in the four years since marijuana was legalized, where this background check has caught anyone doing anything wrong. Each year, every member of this industry must have a national background check involving fingerprinting, costs, and the involvement of state employees, he pointed out. He said that he has to ask why, and the only answer he can come up with is that those who opposed the legalization of marijuana four years ago feel more comfortable by continuing to have these regulations on the books. Thereby, he said, hoping that at some point it will catch someone running afoul of federal laws for doing the very thing Alaska legalized. The fact is that the federal government comes in and prosecutes someone for doing what Alaska has deemed legal, and while that may be a federal issue, it is not of great interest to him because the marijuana industry has been legalized. The public asked the legislature to regulate the marijuana industry and in regulating it, the legislature's responsibility is to regulate efficiently and this is neither efficient or prudent, it is just more government with little return to the taxpayer. 2:35:54 PM CHAIR CLAMAN offered his understanding of the previous discussions that the real gist of this legislation is to have enough background checks to reassure the public, and to a lesser extent the federal government because "you never really know what makes the federal government happy, or not happy, or satisfied." The reason for the frequency of the fingerprinting requirement, in contrast to other professions and industries that require fingerprinting, is to go through the federal government background check at some periodic level. The marijuana industry is comfortable with this timing and he will follow the industry's request because he does not see this as critical to the state's supervisory role, he said. 2:36:37 PM REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS noted that one of the primary functions of the fingerprinting requirement is to basically show the federal government that this is not a criminal enterprise or attract undue attention from the federal government. He pointed out that the marijuana industry has something to lose if it does attract the federal government's attention, and an important and telling point is that the marijuana industry is supportive of the 10 years fingerprinting requirement and it does not feel that this timing will jeopardize the existence of the industry. Secondly, he offered, the other value of this is to prevent criminals from running these establishment. The state can already determine whether they are criminals in Alaska because the department has access to that data, and the value of these fingerprints in particular is to check whether these people have committed felonies outside of Alaska. He said that he struggles with the presumption that no matter how watered down the fingerprint requirement is, there is some likelihood that people are committing felonies outside of Alaska and the department needs to check it out on a relatively regular basis. He offered that the sponsor is carrying this legislation on behalf of the Department of Commerce, Community & Economic Development (DCCED) and he appreciates Ms. McConnel's comments, but there have not been any problems during the last four years and moving to 10 years is a reasonable compromise. 2:38:33 PM A roll call vote was taken. Representatives Eastman, Stutes, Kreiss-Tomkins, and Claman voted in favor of the adoption of Amendment 1. Representatives Reinbold and Kopp voted against it. Therefore, Amendment 1 was adopted by a vote of 4-2. 2:39:31 PM REPRESENTATIVE REINBOLD commented that she will be a no-vote on moving this bill out of committee because "I absolutely think we just made a silly mistake." 2:39:48 PM REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS moved to report CSHB 319(STA), as amended, out of committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal notes. REPRESENTATIVE REINBOLD objected. 2:40:01 PM A roll call vote was taken. Representatives Kreiss-Tomkins, Eastman, Stutes, and Claman voted in favor of the motion to report CSHB 319(STA), as amended, out of committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal notes. Representatives Reinbold and Kopp voted against it. Therefore, CSHB 319(JUD) was reported out of the House Judiciary Standing Committee by a vote of 4-2.
Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
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HB319 ver D 2.26.18.pdf |
HJUD 2/26/2018 1:00:00 PM HJUD 3/5/2018 1:00:00 PM |
HB 319 |
HB319 Supporting Document-Public Comment 3.5.18.pdf |
HJUD 3/5/2018 1:00:00 PM |
HB 319 |
HB319 Opposing Document-Public Comment (Amend) 3.5.18.pdf |
HJUD 3/5/2018 1:00:00 PM |
HB 319 |
HB319 Amendment #1 3.5.18.pdf |
HJUD 3/5/2018 1:00:00 PM |
HB 319 |
HB319 Amendment #1 HJUD Final Vote 3.5.18.pdf |
HJUD 3/5/2018 1:00:00 PM |
HB 319 |
HB259 Work Draft Committee Substitute ver L 2.23.18.pdf |
HJUD 2/23/2018 1:30:00 PM HJUD 3/5/2018 1:00:00 PM |
HB 259 |
HB259 Opposing Document-Alaska Trucking Association Letter 3.5.18.pdf |
HJUD 3/5/2018 1:00:00 PM |
HB 259 |
HB259 Amendments #1-5 3.5.18.pdf |
HJUD 3/5/2018 1:00:00 PM |
HB 259 |
HB259 Amendments #1-5 HJUD Final Votes 3.5.18.pdf |
HJUD 3/5/2018 1:00:00 PM |
HB 259 |