Legislature(2007 - 2008)CAPITOL 106
03/13/2008 08:00 AM House STATE AFFAIRS
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB406 | |
| HJR19 | |
| HJR38 | |
| HJR19 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | HJR 19 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | HJR 38 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | HJR 37 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| += | HB 406 | TELECONFERENCED | |
HJR 19-OPPOSE FEDERAL ID REQUIREMENTS 8:40:04 AM VICE CHAIR ROSES announced that the next order of business was HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 19, Relating to opposition to the Real ID Act of 2005. 8:40:22 AM REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL moved to adopt the proposed committee substitute (CS) for HJR 19, Version 25-LS0844\E, Luckhaupt, 2/21/08, as a work draft. [No objection was stated, and Version E was treated as a work draft before committee.] REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL offered an initial introduction of HJR 19 as prime sponsor. He said since 2005, the issue surrounding the Real ID Act has become a question of balancing the state's responsibility to verify people's identification (ID) or the federal government mandating how the state must do so. He said he does not support an international ID card. The original Act passed in an appropriation bill. Currently, it looks like there will be a division between the federal government and the state. He said, "If the 'feds' continue going down the road, ... unless we accept their ID requirements, we can't get into their federal buildings." He said he does not think the people of America should be divided up in that manner. He indicated that Article 10 of the Constitution [of the State of Alaska] "requires us to say we don't think that's the best way to go about it," and that is the purpose of HJR 19. The resolution tells the federal government that Alaska is considering the Real ID Act, but may not implement it exactly as written. 8:44:06 AM RYNNIEVA MOSS, Staff, Representative John Coghill, Alaska State Legislature, offered a more in depth explanation of HJR 19 on behalf of Representative Coghill, prime sponsor. She said, "If powers aren't delegated to the U.S. Government by the Constitution, those are reserved to the state and the people." She said she thinks the term, "the people," is the issue that Representative Coghill is trying to bring forth. MS. MOSS explained that the Real ID Act would not punish states for noncompliance by withdrawing funds, as normal; it would punish the people of the state by not allowing them access to airports for travel or to federal facilities. She indicated that May 2008 is the date by which states must comply with the Real ID Act, and she reminded the committee that states have had the administrative authority for drivers' licenses for approximately 100 years. She summarized that the reason for HJR 19 is that [the Real ID Act] is an unfunded mandate, is contrary to the Tenth Amendment, and would punish citizens "for the actions of a government." 8:46:16 AM BRODY ANDERSON, Staff, Representative Scott Kawasaki, Alaska State Legislature, offered a perspective on HJR 19 on behalf of Representative Kawasaki, co-sponsor. He stated that [the Department of] Homeland Security overlooked the consequences that Alaska and Hawaii would face regarding noncompliance of the Real ID Act when it related that the Act would not impede people's travel between states but would simply not allow people to fly on federally regulated commercial airlines. Without a Real ID card or passport, people in Alaska would be essentially landlocked, Mr. Anderson said. 8:47:56 AM REPRESENTATIVE DOLL asked what the impact of the proposed resolution would be. 8:48:19 AM MS. MOSS described HJR 19 as "soft ball" compared to resolutions that have been passed in some other states. In fact, she noted, many states have passed laws into statute that prohibit the use of state funds to implement the Real ID Act. Ms. Moss relayed that the sponsor of the resolution realizes that changes must be made in response to changing times; however, he wants to get the message across that the federal government needs to work with states to make the country safer - not order states under unfunded mandates to "do things that are contrary to what states have been doing for 100 years." She recollected when Representative Coghill first came to the legislature he introduced a bill that would remove the requirement that people include their social security numbers on hunting and fishing licenses. At the time, Representative Coghill was told the state would lose federal dollars if it passed that legislation. In researching the bill, she said, Representative Coghill's office found that two other states had already passed similar legislation and had lost no federal dollars. Ms. Moss offered her understanding that Alaska has not lost a single penny because of that legislation. 8:49:50 AM REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG recollected that extensive hearings had taken place during the Twenty-Fourth Alaska State Legislature related to the implementation of the Real ID Act. Involved in those hearings was the then director of the Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) who no longer serves in that capacity. He said a law suit was brought about because "they published a regulation that implemented the Real ID without any statutory authority whatsoever." The [law suit] was subsequently dismissed on a technicality, which Representative Gruenberg said is unfortunate. He opined that that regulation "is still hanging out there, ... entirely illegally." He said this is a very serious liability that the state faces. He offered further details, and said he assumes the sponsor would not like any of this additional information added to what he called, "a naked resolution." MS. MOSS responded that HJR 19 is geared toward the federal government and its actions, but she thinks Representative Gruenberg brought up a good point that needs to be pursued. She confirmed that the director of DMV, to which Representative Gruenberg referred, no longer holds that position, and [the fact that the resolution is still on the books] "should be corrected." 8:52:25 AM REPRESENTATIVE JOHNSON moved to report the committee substitute (CS) for HJR 19, Version 25-LS0844\E, Luckhaupt, 2/21/08, out of committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal notes. There being no objection, CSHJR 19(STA) was reported out of the House State Affairs Standing Committee. [Later in the hearing further testimony on HJR 19 was heard.] HJR 19-OPPOSE FEDERAL ID REQUIREMENTS 8:56:47 AM VICE CHAIR ROSES announced that although CSHJR 19(STA) had already been reported out of committee, he had overlooked a request to testify that had been made by Kevin Brooks, and he said he would now hear that testimony. 8:57:05 AM KEVIN BROOKS, Deputy Commissioner, Department of Administration, outlined the work that has been going on in the department in relation to the Real ID Act. The committee took an at-ease from 8:57:33 AM to 8:58:28 AM. 8:58:30 AM MR. BROOKS said he does not dispute the passage of HJR 19, because the department has "some very strong concerns about Real ID, as well." Regarding the aforementioned regulations, he said they are written out in nearly 200 pages of rules. Some of those rules are good, he said, and some Alaska is already following. The concern is that there is an unfunded mandate placed upon the state, and the department is attempting to determine the cost to the state for compliance. MR. BROOKS said the State of Alaska, along with 44 other states, has applied for and received an extension to December 2009. He said that does not commit the state to complying at the end of that extension, but gives the state time to "analyze those rules and see how they would impact us." Mr. Brooks stated, "There are things that the state does that arguably are in compliance with the Real ID Act, but they don't make us compliant, if that distinction is clear." MR. BROOKS mentioned the National Governors' Association and working with other states in terms of trying to be responsible in the state's approach to this matter while preserving the rights of Alaska's citizens. He confirmed the problem that Alaska and Hawaii would have in relation to complying with the Real ID Act and attempting to fly out of state. MR. BROOKS stated for the record that the department passed regulations a couple years ago, but those regulations did not implement the Real ID Act. He said, "We're not compliant today; we weren't when they passed the regulations." The regulations that passed, he noted, were the result of about a two-year effort to update the DMV regulations, which had not been updated for over a decade. There were numerous references to the Division of Motor Vehicles when it existed in the Department of Public Safety, for example. The regulations that the department passed reflected that the DMV was now in the Department of Administration, and those regulations updated the division's rules with current statute - not with any prospective statute that had yet to pass. Regarding the reference to the former DMV director, Mr. Brooks clarified, "There was no relationship with his no longer working for us in the passage of those regulations." Mr. Brooks said the department believes that the regulations were the result of a good work effort by a lot of people and comprehensive legal review, and they withstood the test of a lawsuit. He said the department stands by those regulations today. 9:02:23 AM REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG asked: Is it not true that they did not reach the issue of the legality of the regulations in that lawsuit; that they dismissed it, because the main plaintiff didn't have standing? MR. BROOKS responded that that is an accurate statement. [Earlier in the meeting, CSHJR 19(STA) was reported out of the House State Affairs Standing Committee.]
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