Legislature(2005 - 2006)CAPITOL 17
04/15/2005 03:15 PM House LABOR & COMMERCE
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB226 | |
| HB181 | |
| HB243 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | HB 181 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | HB 243 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| = | HB 226 | ||
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE LABOR AND COMMERCE STANDING COMMITTEE
April 15, 2005
3:29 p.m.
(THERE WERE SOUND IRREGULARITIES IN THIS RECORDING)
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Pete Kott
Representative Gabrielle LeDoux
Representative Bob Lynn
Representative Norman Rokeberg
Representative David Guttenberg
MEMBERS ABSENT
Representative Tom Anderson, Chair
Representative Harry Crawford
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
HOUSE BILL NO. 226
"An Act relating to breaches of security involving personal
information; and relating to credit report security freezes."
- MOVED CSHB 226(L&C) OUT OF COMMITTEE
HOUSE BILL NO. 181
"An Act establishing a waiver for active duty military service
of continuing education requirements for renewal of occupational
licenses."
- MOVED CSHB 181(L&C) OUT OF COMMITTEE
HOUSE BILL NO. 243
"An Act relating to the maximum annual regulatory cost charge
collected from certain regulated public utilities and pipeline
carriers; and providing for an effective date."
- MOVED HB 243 OUT OF COMMITTEE
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: HB 226
SHORT TITLE: PERSONAL INFORMATION BREACH
SPONSOR(S): REPRESENTATIVE(S) GARA
03/21/05 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
03/21/05 (H) L&C, JUD
04/06/05 (H) L&C AT 3:15 PM CAPITOL 17
04/06/05 (H) <Bill Hearing Postponed>
04/13/05 (H) L&C AT 3:15 PM CAPITOL 17
04/13/05 (H) Heard & Held
04/13/05 (H) MINUTE(L&C)
04/15/05 (H) L&C AT 3:15 PM CAPITOL 17
BILL: HB 181
SHORT TITLE: WAIVE CONTINUING EDUC. REQ FOR MILITARY
SPONSOR(S): REPRESENTATIVE(S) COGHILL
02/28/05 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
02/28/05 (H) MLV, L&C
03/17/05 (H) MLV AT 1:00 PM CAPITOL 124
03/17/05 (H) Moved Out of Committee
03/17/05 (H) MINUTE(MLV)
03/18/05 (H) MLV RPT CS(MLV) 6DP
03/18/05 (H) DP: THOMAS, GRUENBERG, CISSNA, ELKINS,
MCGUIRE, LYNN
04/15/05 (H) L&C AT 3:15 PM CAPITOL 17
BILL: HB 243
SHORT TITLE: SWAN LAKE-TYEE LAKE INTERTIE
SPONSOR(S): RULES BY REQUEST OF THE GOVERNOR
04/01/05 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
04/01/05 (H) L&C, FIN
04/15/05 (H) L&C AT 3:15 PM CAPITOL 17
WITNESS REGISTER
REPRESENTATIVE LES GARA
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified as the sponsor of HB 226.
KAREN LISTER, Staff
to Representative John Coghill
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented HB 181 on behalf of the sponsor,
Representative Coghill.
KATE GIARD, Commissioner, Chair
Regulatory Commission of Alaska (RCA)
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented HB 243 and answered questions.
RICK FREYMILLER, Director
Regulatory Affairs and Pricing
Chugach Electric Association
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of HB 243.
DAN DIECKGRAEFF, Treasurer/Manager
Finance and Rates
ENSTAR Natural Gas Company
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of HB 243.
ACTION NARRATIVE
REPRESENTATIVE PETE KOTT, acting Chair, called the House Labor
and Commerce Standing Committee meeting to order at 3:29:42 PM.
Representatives Kott, Rokeberg, and Guttenberg were present at
the call to order. Representatives LeDoux and Lynn arrived as
the meeting was in progress.
HB 226-PERSONAL INFORMATION BREACH
REPRESENTATIVE KOTT announced that the first order of business
would be HOUSE BILL NO. 226, "An Act relating to breaches of
security involving personal information; and relating to credit
report security freezes." [Before the committee was CSHB 226,
Version 24-LS0689\I.)
REPRESENTATIVE KOTT reminded the committee that HB 226 had been
held over for amendments and that public testimony had been
closed at the prior hearing.
3:30:17 PM
REPRESENTATIVE GUTTENBERG moved that the committee adopt
Amendment 1, which read:
Page 1, lines 7 - 8:
Delete "engages in business activities in the
state, uses in the business"
Insert "engages in activities in the state, uses"
Page 2, line 3:
Delete ""business activities in the state" means
business activities"
Insert ""activities in the state" means
activities"
Page 2, line 5:
Delete "business"
Page 2, line 17:
Delete "business"
Insert "person"
Page 2, line 18:
Delete "business"
Insert "person"
Page 2, line 19:
Delete "person"
Insert "individual"
Page 2, line 24:
Delete "for the business"
Page 2, line 31:
Delete "business"
Insert "person's activities"
Page 3, line 2:
Delete "business"
Insert "person's activities"
Page 3, line 19:
Delete "business"
Insert "person"
Page 3, following line 19:
Insert a new paragraph to read:
"(2) "person" means a business entity or a
state or local governmental body, subdivision, or
agency, except for an agency of a judicial branch of
state government."
Renumber the following paragraph accordingly.
REPRESENTATIVE ROKEBERG objected for discussion purposes.
REPRESENTATIVE LES GARA, Alaska State Legislature, sponsor,
explained that Amendment 1 addresses the desire for government
to inform an individual when it accidentally breaches his/her
security.
REPRESENTATIVE GUTTENBERG asked if there have been any cases in
which the government has had this problem.
REPRESENTATIVE GARA replied no, but indicated that there could
be such a case in the future.
3:31:51 PM
REPRESENTATIVE ROKEBERG directed attention to page 1, line 7,
which says, "If a person engages in business activity in the
state". He expressed concern with the use of the term "person"
because per the drafting manual that term would be defined as
including a business.
REPRESENTATIVE GARA said that the term "person" is defined in
statute to include business, and with Amendment 1 it would also
include the state. He relayed that the intention is to make
this apply to businesses that hold one's personal information
and the term "person" is defined to include companies as well.
3:32:58 PM
REPRESENTATIVE ROKEBERG asked if the term "person" includes that
a "person is a person" and not some other entity.
REPRESENTATIVE GARA agreed that the term "person" should be
defined to include a "person."
3:33:23 PM
REPRESENTATIVE ROKEBERG commented that there seems to be an
intertwining between activities, business, and persons.
REPRESENTATIVE LYNN related his understanding then that a
"person" can be a corporate entity or an individual.
3:34:39 PM
REPRESENTATIVE KOTT clarified that corporations and business
entities are now considered "persons" while people are
"individuals."
REPRESENTATIVE ROKEBERG pointed out that under Amendment 1 the
definition of "person" doesn't include people.
3:36:07 PM
REPRESENTATIVE GARA acknowledged that at some time there was a
decision to define "person" as something that doesn't include
people. In order to be clear, Representative Gara stated that
HB 226 is intended to apply to businesses, corporations,
[individuals], and governments.
3:36:32 PM
REPRESENTATIVE GARA clarified that the term "person" in the law
and HB 226 refer to a governmental entity, a business entity,
and a person.
REPRESENTATIVE ROKEBERG said that the legislation doesn't say
that and in fact, says that the judicial branch is excluded.
3:37:07 PM
REPRESENTATIVE GARA agreed that Amendment 1 could be amended to
insert that a "person" includes a person.
REPRESENTATIVE GUTTENBERG inquired as to why the judicial branch
is being excluded. He then inquired as to whether the
definition of "person" is different than what's in statute.
REPRESENTATIVE ROKEBERG opined that it's fairly consistent with
the law.
REPRESENTATIVE KOTT pointed out that Amendment 1 deletes
"person" and inserts "individual".
REPRESENTATIVE GARA noted that there is a statutory definition
of "person." [Within Amendment 1], the bill drafter was
responding to the suggestion that HB 226 should also apply to
governmental entities, and thus drafted it such that the
definition of "government entity" includes a person.
3:38:59 PM
REPRESENTATIVE GARA suggested that perhaps at the end of line 20
on page 2 the following could be inserted, ", and as defined in
AS 01.10.060". He pointed out that in AS 01.10.060 the
definition of "person" is as follows: "(8) "person" includes a
corporation, company, partnership, firm, association,
organization, business trust, or society, as well as a natural
person;". However, that definition doesn't include a
governmental entity, which is why the drafter had to include
"government entity" on line 18.
REPRESENTATIVE ROKEBERG characterized that as "awfully sloppy"
because there would be two definitions of "person."
3:39:58 PM
REPRESENTATIVE KOTT asked if the language in AS 01.10.060 that
defines "person" could be utilized as well as language
specifying that the definition of "person" also includes "a
governmental entity" in AS 45.
REPRESENTATIVE GARA replied yes.
3:41:00 PM
REPRESENTATIVE KOTT, upon determining that his suggestion
addressed Representative Rokeberg's concern, [offered] a
conceptual amendment to Amendment 1 such that "person" would be
defined as it is under AS 01.10.060 and include a governmental
entity.
REPRESENTATIVE GUTTENBERG accepted that as a friendly amendment.
3:42:02 PM
REPRESENTATIVE ROKEBERG said that he didn't object to the
conceptual amendment to Amendment 1. [Amendment 1 was treated
as adopted.]
REPRESENTATIVE KOTT announced then that Amendment 1, as amended,
was before the committee.
REPRESENTATIVE ROKEBERG removed his objection.
There being no further objection, Amendment 1, as amended, was
adopted.
REPRESENTATIVE LYNN moved to report CSHB 226, Version 24-
LS0689\I, as amended, out of committee with individual
recommendations and the accompanying zero fiscal note. There
being no objection, CSHB 226(L&C) was reported from the House
Labor and Commerce Standing Committee.
HB 181-WAIVE CONTINUING EDUC. REQ FOR MILITARY
REPRESENTATIVE KOTT announced that the next order of business
would be HOUSE BILL NO. 181, "An Act establishing a waiver for
active duty military service of continuing education
requirements for renewal of occupational licenses." [Before the
committee was CSHB 181(MLV).]
3:43:14 PM
REPRESENTATIVE ROKEBERG moved to adopt CSHB 181, Version 24-
LS0685\L dated 4/15/05, as the working document. There being no
objection, Version L was before the committee.
KAREN LISTER, Staff to Representative John Coghill, Alaska State
Legislature, explained that this bill was introduced to
eliminate the possibility that a professional licensee would
lose his/her license because of failure to fulfill the statutory
requirements for continuing education while serving on active
duty. This bill provides active duty military personnel the
opportunity to make up the necessary education requirements once
such personnel return to the states. Furthermore, HB 181 would
provide the boards and commissions the ability to waive the
educational requirements for those professionals which they
govern and the Department of Commerce, Community, & Economic
Development would have the same ability for those professions
for which there is no board or commission.
3:45:33 PM
MS. LISTER highlighted the major change made in the House
Special Committee on Military and Veterans' Affairs, which was
to include all active duty military rather than only individuals
in the National Guard and Reserves. The aforementioned change
came about after realizing that state licenses are held by full-
time soldiers and sailors as well as part-time military
personnel. She noted that HB 181 has a zero fiscal note.
3:46:46 PM
REPRESENTATIVE ROKEBERG surmised then that the bill does not
stipulate what branch of service the individual is serving in,
as long as the individual is [classified as] on active duty.
MS. LISTER answered that was correct.
REPRESENTATIVE KOTT, upon determining there were no further
questions, closed public testimony.
3:48:17 PM
REPRESENTATIVE ROKEBERG characterized HB 181 as a good bill.
REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX moved to report CSHB 181, Version 24-
LS0685\L, out of committee with individual recommendations and
zero fiscal note. There being no objection, CSHB 181(L&C) was
reported out of the House Labor and Commerce Standing Committee.
HB 243-REG. COST CHARGES: UTILITIES/PIPELINES
REPRESENTATIVE KOTT announced that the final order of business
would be HOUSE BILL NO. 243, "An Act relating to the maximum
annual regulatory cost charge collected from certain regulated
public utilities and pipeline carriers; and providing for an
effective date."
KATE GIARD, Commissioner, Chair, Regulatory Commission of Alaska
(RCA), began by informing the committee that one of the reasons
she ran for chair was because she felt there were many issues
the RCA needed to address before its renewal comes before the
legislature in 2007. She recalled that she was confirmed during
the so-called "phone wars" in 2003 and thus she was familiar
with the frustrations the legislature had with the RCA. As soon
as she became chair, she began an outreach effort to the public
utilities and pipelines that it regulates in order to find out
more about how the RCA doesn't meet the needs of those entities.
3:51:23 PM
MS. GIARD said that the aforementioned entities expressed a
great deal of frustration related to any number of areas. She
said that the RCA has a tremendous amount of work before it can
come before the legislature in 2007 and say that it has dealt
with the concerns of 2003. Part of the frustration from the
utilities and the pipelines is because they don't know where
their materials are when they enter the RCA. Furthermore, the
RCA itself frequently doesn't know where the materials are. Ms.
Giard stated that the RCA lacks systems, management, and normal
ongoing processes expected to track, follow, monitor, and manage
data in order to get its work done in a timely manner.
MS. GIARD informed the committee that the legislation before the
committee is the result of a group effort between the utilities,
the pipeline companies, and the RCA. This legislation is a
proposal to fund several information technology (IT) initiatives
to bring the RCA up to "snuff" and allow the utilities and
pipeline companies to interact with the RCA at a much lower cost
to all parties. The systems that this funding mechanism will
support are laid out in a letter to Chair Anderson. She
explained that the 2 percent increase is for a three-year period
and will terminate on July 1, 2008. The goal is to bring in
sufficient additional revenues to support the acquisition and
implementation of these systems after which the RCA would return
to its current funding level. Ms. Giard concluded by noting
that she would appreciate the committee's support of HB 243.
3:54:10 PM
REPRESENTATIVE KOTT said that he is fairly confident that this
legislation will bring about some efficiencies that have not
been addressed in the past.
REPRESENTATIVE GUTTENBERG asked if there will be a way the RCA
can evaluate these changes each year and show that to the
legislature or the regulated entities.
MS. GIARD informed the committee that the utilities, during the
public hearing process, asked for an advisory group. She said
that the advisory group will be kept active and informed
throughout the process. The information, she opined, will flow
freely [between the RCA and the regulated entities] such that
the legislature will not receive complaints as the RCA improves.
However, she acknowledged that there will still be areas in
which the RCA makes decisions with which the public utilities
aren't happy. If those decisions and requests for information
are made in a timely fashion, the complaining about the RCA will
stop, she opined.
3:57:24 PM
REPRESENTATIVE GIARD, in response to Representative Kott,
explained that her term as chair is only for four years. In
further response to Representative Kott, Ms. Giard explained
that the RCA will move to an electronic filing method, but not
mandate such because smaller entities may not have the
capability.
3:59:08 PM
REPRESENTATIVE ROKEBERG said that although he shared Ms. Giard's
desire to quiet the controversy surrounding the RCA, he wasn't
as optimistic even if everything is achieved under HB 243. He
then inquired as to the history of the RCA's rate structure in
the last decade or so.
MS. GIARD noted that she had provided Representative Rokeberg
with a letter discussing the revenue history. She informed the
committee that the RCA has historically been at .8 percent of
regulated revenues from 1995-2004. In 2004 it was raised from
1.7 percent to 8.7 percent of which 1.7 percent goes to the
Department of Law to fund the public advocate; the RCA's portion
was reduced to .7 percent. Therefore, the RCA now collects .7
percent of total regulated revenues and the Department of Law
collects 1.7 percent to fund its actions. Ms. Giard specified
that the RCA collects about $5.2 million to fund its operations
this year.
REPRESENTATIVE ROKEBERG asked if the Department of Commerce,
Community, & Economic Development (DCCED) takes any part of the
monies collected under the RCA.
MS. GIARD confirmed that the RCA is assessed intergovernmental
charges for its lease, accounting, and administration in similar
fashion to any agency that is an arm of DCCED.
4:01:54 PM
REPRESENTATIVE ROKEBERG commented that the committee has always
looked at that overhead burden with a great amount of interest.
Therefore, he surmised that this increase would be subject to
the same allocation to overhead to the commissioner's office.
4:02:12 PM
MS. GIARD expressed her hope that it wouldn't be. She explained
that those numbers are fairly fixed and will come out of the
RCA's budget. Furthermore, those numbers are based on an
allocation formula DCCED uses. The money that the RCA collects
will come into the operating revenue rather than the capital
revenue and then the RCA will contract with a project manager,
put out request for proposals (RFPs), and purchase the systems
necessary. Because the total amount that the RCA is going to
spend could be $2-$3 million, she didn't want the money to sit
on the capital side because it's money that ratepayers have
paid. With the money coming into the operating account, any
leftover money falls to the next year and reduces the need for
the RCA in that next year. Therefore, Ms. Giard said she
anticipated collecting the full $3 million that the utility
advisory group said might be necessary. If that [full] amount
isn't necessary, it will fall to the bottom line and reduce the
regulatory cost charge (RCC) rate for the ratepayers in the next
year. Ms. Giard said she would make sure that DCCED doesn't
take additional overhead.
4:04:13 PM
REPRESENTATIVE GUTTENBERG asked if, under this proposal, the RCA
is taking into consideration the possibility of a major
expansion of Alaska's gas industry.
MS. GIARD opined that she wasn't sure that a gas expansion would
occur during the three-year period in which the RCCs are
collected. Therefore, the expansion probably will not impact
the amount we collect. With regard to whether the systems will
be sufficient to address more regulated efforts, Ms. Giard
highlighted that the system will be designed to be flexible and
contract as necessary.
4:05:21 PM
REPRESENTATIVE KOTT announced that the committee has a copy of
Ms. Giard's letter to Representative Rokeberg, which will be
included in the committee packet.
REPRESENTATIVE ROKEBERG expressed concern that Ms. Giard has
mentioned a $3 million budget while the fiscal note is for $3.9
million. He expressed concern specifically for the $900,000 in
overhead.
MS. GIARD said that the RCA doesn't know the total amount that
it will collect because it's based on regulated utility
revenues. The inability to have a fixed amount is part of the
reason why any amount that isn't spent will be used to reduce
the RCC for the next year.
4:07:28 PM
RICK FREYMILLER, Director, Regulatory Affairs and Pricing,
Chugach Electric Association, informed the committee that
Chugach Electric Association is the largest electric utility in
the state. On behalf of Chugach Electric Association and its
retail members, Mr. Freymiller testified in favor of the HB 243,
which provides a modest increase in the RCC to allow the RCA to
implement an IT plan. He related that Chugach Electric
Association believes this will be a significant productivity
enhancement for the RCA as well as for the utilities it
regulates. As stated earlier, [the utility business] needs to
share significant amounts of information in order for all
involved to be informed and make good decisions. Increased use
of information technology can significantly enhance industry
productivity and ultimately result in lower costs to members.
Mr. Freymiller relayed that the Chugach Electric Association is
pleased that the RCA has established a working group of IT
professionals from its staff as well as from the utilities;
working together ensures that all individual efforts can mesh
together to effectively produce required information in a timely
manner. The aforementioned will result in less time being spent
producing information and more time addressing substantive
issues in the regulatory process. In conclusion, Mr. Freymiller
urged the committee to pass HB 243.
4:09:11 PM
DAN DIECKGRAEFF, Treasurer/Manager, Finance and Rates, ENSTAR
Natural Gas Company, began by informing the committee that
ENSTAR is the largest energy utility in the state. He noted
that he has dealt with the RCA and its predecessor for over 20
years. Mr. Dieckgraeff related ENSTAR's support for HB 243
because it can see the efficiencies the proposed systems will
bring to the RCA and the utilities it regulates. Some of the
advantages include tracking cases and costs, researching
precedence, providing information in a more timely fashion for
everyone involved, and saving on storage costs. As a result of
this proposal, the ratepayers will save money and receive better
regulation.
REPRESENTATIVE KOTT, upon determining there were no further
witnesses wishing to testify, closed public testimony.
REPRESENTATIVE ROKEBERG moved to report HB 243 out of committee
with individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal
notes. There being no objection, it was so ordered.
4:11:54 PM
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Labor and Commerce Standing Committee meeting was adjourned at
4:11 p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|