Legislature(2007 - 2008)CAPITOL 106
04/12/2007 08:00 AM House STATE AFFAIRS
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB59 | |
| HJR6 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | SB 59 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HJR 6 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
SB 59-GAMING: BROADCASTING/CABBAGE CLASSICS 8:06:37 AM CHAIR LYNN announced that the first order of business was CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 59(FIN), "An Act relating to the use of broadcasting to promote charitable raffles and lotteries and to establishing cabbage classics as a form of charitable gaming." 8:07:03 AM REPRESENTATIVE JOHNSON declared a conflict of interest. He explained that his wife works for a television station in Anchorage and sits on the board of directors of the Alaska Broadcast Association, the entity that is bringing the bill forward. He asked that he be excused from discussion and voting on SB 59. REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL objected, and said he thinks Representative Johnson should participate. CHAIR LYNN requested that Representative Johnson participate in the committee process, including voting. 8:07:41 AM DOUG LETCH, Staff to Senator Gary Stevens, Alaska State Legislature, presented SB 59 on behalf of Senator Stevens, prime sponsor. He said the bill relates to the use of broadcast media to promote raffles and lotteries. One section of the bill, he noted, addresses the Palmer Cabbage Classic. He stated the sponsor's intent is to level the playing field for Alaska's broadcasters, while helping out local charities around the state by allowing the charities to advertise raffles and lotteries on the radio. Currently, charities are allowed to put out such advertisements only by newspaper and other print media. He noted that federal law allows states to set their own regulations regarding this issue. 8:09:18 AM MR. LETCH revealed that he is a former broadcaster. He relayed that he worked at the public radio station in McGrath, in 1992, and this issue was prominent then, because there was no newspaper that served the McGrath area. He spoke of his involvement with various charities in Kodiak, and said the ability to use radio would help in that community's fundraising efforts, as well. 8:10:32 AM MR. LETCH, in response to Chair Lynn, emphasized that the proposed legislation "is not in any way, shape, or form an expansion of gambling in the state of Alaska." He said there is a zero fiscal note. In response to a follow-up question, he suggested that Mr. Egan could better answer questions related to the amount broadcasting companies would charge. Notwithstanding that, he shared his knowledge that nonprofit organizations are given a special advertising rate. 8:11:46 AM MR. LETCH, in response to Representative Roses, offered his understanding that radio stations cannot even mention that a nonprofit entity is holding a raffle, without getting in trouble. In response to a follow-up question, he offered his understanding that if the bill were to pass, the broadcasters would have the flexibility to decide whether to charge a nonprofit group or offer air time for advertising a raffle, for example, as a community service announcement. 8:13:20 AM DENNIS EGAN, President and General Manager, Alaska Juneau Communications; Board Member and Past President of the Alaska Broadcasters' Association, testified in support of SB 59. He said the bill would afford a solution to the disparate treatment currently being imposed on Alaska's broadcasters by current Alaska statute. He continued: Alaska statute bans - but only by way of radio and television [("TV")] - the advertising of lawful, charitable gaming or conduct. Newspapers and related media are free to advertise the very same activity and conduct that radio and TV stations may not advertise. Recognizing the unfair burden placed upon broadcasters, [U.S.] Congress passed the charity games advertising clarification Act of 1988. It's been in effect since 1990. Congress opened the door for broadcasters to advertise for a charity, not to conduct charitable gaming. The new federal law left it up to the individual states to ratify the federal law, and to this date, nearly every state has allowed broadcasters in their respective states to become fully consistent with federal law. Under the Charity Games Advertising Act, signed into law by President [Ronald] Reagan in 1988, federal law prohibits the acceptance of any advertising from a business whose primary purpose is the conducting of a gaming activity, charitable or otherwise. We feel that being allowed to announce that the local volunteer fire department is having a raffle to raise funds for CPR equipment or the senior center is selling tickets on an afghan to raise funds for the senior citizen Care-a-van or that the high school sports teams are selling tickets for a raffle to raise funds for travel is not detrimental to anyone. Alaska's broadcasters are not trying to suggest to you what activities should be permissible in the state. What we are asking is that all media, including print, electronic, direct mail have the same ground rules when it comes to promotion. MR. EGAN remarked that the passage of the Act in 1988 was a long time ago. He continued: As a federal licensee, broadcasters are one of the most highly regulated industries in the United States, and we urge you to provide equity and give your favorable consideration to ... SB 59. 8:16:06 AM REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL said he knows this issue has been brought to the legislature before, and he asked what the prior barriers to its acceptance have been. MR. EGAN confirmed that there have been attempts to get a form of this legislation passed since 1991. He said timing was a significant issue, and he noted that there were gaming issues at that time, including pull tabs. Multiple amendments confused the issue, Mr. Egan said, and the attempted legislation "lost track of exactly what broadcasters were trying to do." He specified that he has no objections to the amendments slated for proposal to amend SB 59. REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL mentioned pull tabs, card gaming, and casino gaming, and suggested that "this just kind of got caught up in the dust storm that those issues create." He said he thinks SB 59 is an important bill that he would like to see "get through" this year. MR. EGAN reiterated that the bill has nothing to do with gaming; where gaming is prohibited, it would remain so. 8:18:42 AM MR. EGAN, in response to Chair Lynn, confirmed that the vast majority of radio stations have nonprofit rates. He said, "If they don't purchase advertising anywhere, in any competing media, we give it to them. I mean, we're there trying to help the community, and we're more than happy to ... extend our facilities for them to promote their raffles or whatever they're doing." In response to a follow-up question, he confirmed that the aforementioned nonprofit rates are lower than the rates for commercial and political advertising. 8:19:51 AM REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL noted that the word lottery is in the title of the bill, and the definition of it is broad, which concerns him. He said the definition is found in [AS 05.15.690, paragraph (40)], which read as follows: (40) "raffle and lottery" means the selling of rights to participate and the awarding of prizes in a game of chance conducted by the drawing for prizes by lot; REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL said the bill deals primarily with charitable (lotteries); however, he warned, "There's going to come a day when we're going to have to hold the defense up for another type of lottery." In response to Chair Lynn, he said he would be offering an amendment for a title change, which would require "a title resolution on the [House] floor." 8:22:58 AM GRETCHEN KLEIN testified on behalf of herself in support of SB 59. She listed all the nonprofit organizations with which she has been active. She said nonprofit organizations will always struggle to diversify their funding and are dependent on federal and state funding to exist. Raffles, she noted, can fund up to 20 percent of nonprofit programming or events. She confirmed that nonprofit organizations do receive better rates for advertising. She said the programs of nonprofit organizations improve the quality of life for communities. She indicated that being able to advertise on the radio would not do anyone harm, and nonprofit organizations sometimes just want to get on the radio and talk about their programs. She indicated that these organizations want to abide by the law, thus, adopting SB 59 would help them get their message out on the air legally. 8:26:16 AM MS. KLEIN, in response to a request from Representative Johansen, recollected that there had been an incident last summer during a swim event to benefit diabetes. The nonprofit organization involved had paid to have "a live remote" follow the swimmers. She indicated that the related raffle was accidentally mentioned on the radio. Another radio station reported this to the state's regulating board, and the radio station in question was investigated. She said potentially there could have been a fine of $100,000, even though the event itself only made $12,000. She said she wrote letters to explain that the incident was a mistake. 8:29:35 AM DENNIS BOOKEY, Manager, Morris Communications, testified in support of SB 59. He said he is also a partner in the commercial stations in Kodiak, as well as being the Past President of the Alaska Broadcasters Association - as Mr. Egan is. He concurred that this is an issue of creating an equal playing field. He said radio stations will regularly air nonprofit events at no charge during leftover time slots. Furthermore, he said it has been the policy of every broadcast company he has ever worked for that it will match the order of a nonprofit organization. In other words, the station will charge the regular rate and then duplicate the order at no charge, which basically means that organization is paying about half price. 8:32:04 AM DAVID LAMBERT, Past President, Alaska Dog Mushers Association, told the committee that he has been "very involved in gaming over the years." He stated, "I'm strongly in support of Representative Coghill's proposal addressing dog mushers' contests." He said those contests are gaming events. He stated, "Currently it is illegal ... to promote the Iditarod, Yukon Quest, or any of those on radio and television. Several years ago we tried to correct this through regulations, but it's in state statute; it clearly identifies dog mushing contests." He posited that it is time to make a change and allow those events to be broadcast legally. He commented that lotteries are no different than raffles. 8:33:41 AM CHAIR LYNN, after ascertaining that there was no one else to testify, closed public testimony. 8:34:07 AM REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL moved to adopt Amendment 1, labeled 25- LS0410\E.2, Luckhaupt, 3/31/07, which read as follows: Page 1, line 1, following "promote": Insert "dog mushers' contests and" Page 2, line 20, following "derby": Insert ", a dog mushers' contest," REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL spoke to Amendment 1. He stated that he thinks dog mushers' contests fit "well within the range of what we're trying to do here." CHAIR LYNN announced that there being no objection, Amendment 1 was adopted. 8:35:48 AM REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG directed attention to the sectional analysis prepared by Gerald P. Luckhaupt, Legislative Legal and Research Services [included in the committee packet], in which Mr. Luckhaupt recommends, through footnotes, that the occurrence of the term, "a cabbage classic", be changed to "cabbage classics". 8:36:12 AM REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG moved to adopt Amendment 2, as follows: On page 1, line 10: Delete "a cabbage classic" Insert "cabbage classics" On page 2, line 4: Delete "a cabbage classic" Insert "cabbage classics" On page 2, line 10: Delete "a cabbage classic" Insert "cabbage classics" 8:37:49 AM REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG, in response to a question from Representative Coghill, said it would not be necessary to pluralize the language in the definition section of the bill. 8:38:04 AM REPRESENTATIVE ROSES directed attention to page 2, lines 30-31, which addresses a "Giant Cabbage Weigh-Off at the Alaska State Fair in Palmer operated and administered by the Palmer Rotary Club." He asked why - if the idea is to use the plural, "cabbage classics" - the bill language would single out one particular event and sponsor. He said he supports the concept, but is concerned that if in the future the sponsorship changed hands, then the event would no longer be legal. 8:39:36 AM REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG responded that he had been concerned that Section 5 of the bill would violate Article 2, Section 19, which read [original punctuation provided]: SECTION 19. Local or Special Acts.The legislature shall pass no local or special act if a general act can be made applicable. Whether a general act can be made applicable shall be subject to judicial determination. Local acts necessitating appropriations by a political subdivision may not become effective unless approved by a majority of the qualified voters voting thereon in the subdivision affected. REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG related that Mr. Luckhaupt told him it has been the legislature's policy, in dealing with issues related to "these kinds of specific gambling arrangements," to make the language specific so that the legislature "reviews each one separately and does not just give wholesale approval, but very narrowly goes forward in this area." He noted that there is precedent for listing events in plural form. For example, there is a specific Deep Freeze Classic in Delta Junction and a Canned Salmon Classic in Petersburg, yet the bill lists "deep freeze classics, canned salmon classics". He concluded by stating, "I wanted to put it on the record that we had, as a committee, looked into this, and we believe that this advances a very specific beneficial policy purpose, and we do not believe that this is unconstitutional." MR. LETCH, in response to a question from Representative Gruenberg, told him that he thinks he is "on track" with this language. He deferred further comment to Senator Lyda Green's staff. 8:42:22 AM DARWIN PETERSON, Staff to Senator Lyda Green, Alaska State Legislature, on behalf of Senator Green, explained that the reason for the specific language previously highlighted by Representative Roses, in Section 5 of the bill, was to specify that "this is the only place that we intend for this charitable event to occur." Regarding plural versus singular, he explained that Senator Kim Elton had offered an amendment that changed the events from a plural listing to a singular one, because that is how they were listed under "the definition." However, Mr. Peterson said he thinks Representative Gruenberg is correct. 8:44:51 AM REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG said he can understand what [Sen. Elton] was thinking, but legally, Mr. Luckhaupt is correct. 8:45:21 AM REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL indicated that he does not see the necessity of pluralizing the classics listed in the bill until "we get to that policy call." 8:46:03 AM REPRESENTATIVE ROSES questioned restricting the cabbage classic to the Alaska State Fair, when the title uses the term "cabbage classics". He stated his preference would be to read: "the cabbage weigh-off at the Alaska State Fair." 8:47:23 AM REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL said he would remove his objection [expressed through discussion, but not as an outright objection]. 8:48:44 AM CHAIR LYNN announced that with no further objection, Amendment 2 was adopted. 8:49:05 AM REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL moved to report CSSB 59(FIN), as amended, out of committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal notes. There being no objection, HCS CSSB 59(STA) was reported out of the House State Affairs Standing Committee. REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL reminded Chair Lynn that no action would need to be taken regarding the aforementioned resolution, but it would need to go to the House floor with the bill.
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